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Built-in Scene Editor & Developer Tools

Synesthesia includes a set of developer tools designed to help you create, edit, and debug scenes without leaving the application. These are available in every license tier including trial mode.

Internal Scene Editor

The built-in editor allows you to modify a scene's GLSL and JavaScript code in real-time.

  • Enabling the Editor: You can enable the editor in the Settings tab under the "General" section. Once enabled, a code icon will appear in the left-hand navigation.
  • Optional Auto-compile: Enable auto-compile to see changes automatically compiled as you type, allowing for a live coding experience.
  • Side-by-side View: Use the "Compare" mode to view your current code side-by-side with an auto-saved backup or another scene.
  • Backup System: Synesthesia periodically creates automated backups of your code as you work. You can access these via the "Backups" dropdown in the editor panel.
  • Adjustable UI: You can change the font size of the editor separately from the main UI scaling in the editor settings section or with Ctrl/Cmd + +/-.

The built-in editor is optional and can be disabled in the settings if you prefer to use an external code editor. With the editor disabled, Synesthesia will compile and run your scene when you reload in Synesthesia using the UI or Ctrl/Cmd + R.

Scene Config GUI

The Scene Config sidebar allows you to manage your scene's metadata and inputs without manual JSON editing: - Metadata Editor: Edit Title, Description, Credit, and Tags directly. - Controls Builder: Add or modify sliders, toggles, and other controls. - Asset Management: Browse or automatically import images and cubemaps to make them available as textures in your scene. - Passes: Define extra scene passes and their rendering settings.

Built-in Shadertoy Importer

Synesthesia includes an automatic converter for Shadertoy shaders to help you get started: 1. Open the Import Panel. 2. Paste the Shadertoy URL. 3. Synesthesia will fetch the code and automatically map standard inputs (like iResolution, iTime, iChannel0) to the Synesthesia Shader Format (SSF).

See our Shadertoy Importer Guide for more details on how to use this feature and optimize your imported shaders.