Skip to content

Quickstart

This guide gets you from zero to a running mix in under 5 minutes.

1. Start both servers

Open two terminals:

cd freqwave/backend
source .venv/bin/activate    # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --port 8000

Expected output: 

INFO:     Uvicorn running on http://127.0.0.1:8000
INFO:     Application startup complete.


cd freqwave/frontend-app
npm run dev

Expected output: 

  VITE v8.x.x  ready in ~300ms
  ➜  Local:   http://localhost:5173/

2. Open the application

Navigate to http://localhost:5173.

The navbar should show a green ● SYS ONLINE indicator. If it shows OFFLINE, the backend is not running.

3. Run the classic FT experiment (5 minutes)

This demonstrates the most famous result in FT image processing: phase carries structure, magnitude carries energy.

Step 1 — Load two images

On the Mixer tab, double-click IMG 01 and load a portrait or face image.
Double-click IMG 02 and load a completely different image (a landscape, object, or second face).

Step 2 — Assign roles

In the right sidebar under Image Contributions:

  • Set IMG 01 role → MAG
  • Set IMG 02 role → PHS

Step 3 — Set weights and mix

  • IMG 01 weight → 1.0
  • IMG 02 weight → 1.0
  • Mix Mode → Mag / Phase

The output appears automatically in OUTPUT 1.

What you should see

The output image will look structurally similar to IMG 02 (because its phase defines the layout) but with the texture energy and frequency content of IMG 01 (because its magnitude defines the brightness pattern).

This is the FT duality principle: phase determines where things are; magnitude determines how strong they are.

4. Try the Emphasizer

Switch to the Emphasizer tab.

  1. Load an image using the Load Image button
  2. Select Shift from the action dropdown
  3. Drag the Shift Y slider back and forth

Watch the four oscilloscope screens: the bottom two update in real time showing the shifted image and its FT. Notice the magnitude spectrum is identical — only the phase spectrum changes. This is the Shift Theorem.

Click "What does this do?" under the parameters to read the full explanation.

Next Steps

→ Full Usage Guide
→ Architecture Overview
→ API Reference