Visualizers

Building and using Novus Visualizers: reading audio with the Web Audio API, the 13 engines and their 78 modes, the Classic editor and node-based Studio, beat-synced rendering, and exporting release-ready video in the browser with WebCodecs.

29 articles

About the Visualizers thread

Turning a track into video is a rendering problem wearing a music-theory costume. This cluster covers both halves: how audio is analysed in the browser with the Web Audio API and FFT, and how that analysis is turned into motion across the 13 engines in Novus Visualizers (Particles, Trails, Bloom, Character Motion, Radial, Spectrum, Bars, Tunnel, Waveform, Logo, Lattice, Terrain, and Stage Lights), each carrying 6 modes, for 78 in total.

The recurring theme is that beat sync is not one thing. Locking every element to the same kick drum produces something that pulses uniformly and reads as cheap. The articles on multi-band sync work through splitting bass, mid, and treble onto different layers so a visualizer responds to the actual arrangement, which is the single change that most reliably separates an amateur result from a releasable one.

Export is treated as a first-class topic rather than a footnote. Rendering happens locally via WebCodecs, which means no queue and no upload, but it also means the constraints are your device's, and knowing where they bite is the difference between a finished video and a stalled tab.

What this topic covers

Reading audio in the browser: FFT, frequency bands, onset detection, and what the numbers actually represent
The 13 engines and their 78 modes: what each is good at, and how to mix them across layers
Classic Editor vs the node-based Studio Workstation, and which one suits which job
Multi-band beat sync: driving separate layers from bass, mid, and treble
Release formats (vertical shorts, Spotify Canvas, lyric videos) and exporting with WebCodecs

Who it's for

Musicians and labels producing release assets, video editors who want audio-reactive motion without After Effects, and anyone interested in real-time graphics on the web platform.

29 articles in this thread, newest first. Every one is free to read with no signup.

Beyond the articles: Novus Visualizers

Turn a track into a beat-synced video: 78 modes, in the browser. The articles above are commentary; the pages below are the reference material, documentation for how the app works, a tool map listing every surface in it, and step-by-step tutorials.