2D Solar

2D Solar is an animated mini solar system for Resolume Arena. The Earth orbits the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth twelve times a year, both planets show live shadows and phases, and glowing orbit lines trace their paths across the screen.

This patch is free and unlocked. It was built to be opened and studied, not just used. Every cluster of nodes has a built-in note explaining what it does and why, so you can follow the patch section by section: Motion, Sun, Earth, Moon, Number, Line and Comp.

What you’ll learn:

• One clock drives everything: a single Saw controls the Earth’s orbit, the Moon’s orbit, the shadows, the phases and the counters, so every element stays perfectly in sync.
• Orbits with From Polar: turn a 0–1 cycle into circular motion, and multiply it to make the Moon orbit 12 times per year.
• Camera 2D: move the camera along the orbit instead of moving the planet.
• Mesh 2D and 2D Render: build planets from simple geometry and textures, and draw several meshes in one render with Join to save GPU.
• Shadows and moon phases: use Mask and Shape Render to cut a lit side that always faces the Sun. Both planets’ shadows are drawn in a single pass.
• Text that follows an object: use Text Render as the material of a Rectangle mesh, so a live number moves with the planet.
• Tracers with Blur + Greater: shrink an object to a tiny dot that acts as a pen.
• Feedback loops with Video Mixer + Delay: draw long orbit lines and drifting echo trails from those dots.
• Optimization: shared geometry, fewer 2D Renders, and half-resolution processing where full resolution isn’t needed.