Installation

1. Download the Kaleidoscopter plugin
2. Unzip the downloaded zip file
3. Drag the Kaleidoscopter.zip file onto the Cavalry interface
4. Find Kaleidoscopter in the Add Layers window

Main Controllers

Segments

Controls number of “pieces” that are visible and used in reflection.

Rotation

Overall rotation of the design.

Phase Shift

Rotation of individual pieces.

Bloat/Pinch

Depends on the asset size you use with this filter and how it’s offset with Image Offset, you may notice a “hole” in the middle of it. You can “fix it” by pinching or bloating central pixels. Image will behave like a “balloon” in the center and simply will be squished together to cover up any holes.

Image Offset

Offset the reflection point with X and Y controllers. It simply pushes the “source” asset around the composition, which changes how reflection looks like.

Extra Padding

At extreme distortion, it is necessary to add extra padding to sides of the image to avoid “clipping”.

Some of the modes below have individual unique controllers for a specific mode only.

Modes Explained

Classic

The standard kaleidoscope - wedges are mirrored back-and-forth around the center, creating clean bilateral symmetry per segment.

Pinwheel (Linear Twist)

Like Classic, but the wedges twist progressively from the center outward, creating a rotating “pinwheel” feel. Angle is increased by a twist amount that scales linearly with radius (center → edge).

Multi-Mirror (Extra-Dense Symmetry)

A denser, more “crystalline” mirror effect. It feels like each segment is subdivided into extra mirrored facets, increasing repetition without changing the segment count. This mode performs an additional mirror fold at half the segment width, effectively doubling the mirroring density.

Starburst (Repeat Without Mirror)

A radial “spoke” repetition where wedges repeat around the center, but don’t mirror. This preserves directional features (text, asymmetry) more than mirror modes. This mode uses angular wrap and repeat only - no mirror folding.

Ring

Symmetry is combined with concentric rings. The image folds in bands outward from the center, and each band can have its own internal reflection pattern. Radius is remapped into Ring Count bands; within each band, a triangular fold creates “reflections per ring”, then the result is mapped back to radius.

Spiral (Quadratic Twist)

A stronger spiral than Pinwheel — the twist accelerates toward the edges, producing a more dramatic swirl. Angle twist scales quadratically with radius - subtle near center, intense near edge.

Glass (Facet Quantize)

A “cut glass / gemstone” look - wedge angles snap into discrete steps, forming hard-edged facets instead of smooth mirrored curves. After mirror folding, the folded angle is quantized across the half-wedge.

Triangular (Extra Folded Mirror)

More “triangular” symmetry with sharper, peak-like wedge shapes — as if each mirrored wedge is folded again into a triangular repetition. Mirror fold is applied, then folded again using half the segment span - different folding path than Multi-Mirror, resulting in a distinct triangular feel.

Square (Mirrored Tile Kaleidoscope)

A grid of square tiles, each tile behaving like a mini kaleidoscope. The pattern repeats across the screen with mirrored tiling. First coordinates are mirrored in a checkerboard tile grid with controllable tile size. Then inside each tile, the tile’s polar angle is mirror-folded by Segments.

Hex (Segmented Polygonal Symmetry)

A radial kaleidoscope that can feel more like a polygon/N-gon boundary rather than purely circular wedges. With higher strength it reads as “faceted polygon symmetry”. It uses Segments as the polygon side count and it is not fixed to 6 sides. It mirrors sides into a wedge, then blends between a normal wedge mapping and a polygon-corrected mapping.