Novus Visualizers
Classic Editor vs Studio Workstation: which to use when
Novus Visualizers has two editors over one saved document and one renderer: the guided Classic Editor and the direct-manipulation Studio Workstation. Learn what each is best at and when to switch.
Novus Visualizers gives you two ways to build the same visualizer. The Classic Editor is the guided path most people start with; the Studio Workstation is a direct-manipulation environment for when you want frame-level control. The important thing to understand up front is that they are not two different apps — they open one saved document and render through one deterministic renderer, so what you see in either editor is what you export.
This tutorial explains what each editor is best at, what the Studio Workstation adds, and how to decide which one a given job calls for.
Contents
Two ways to finish
Guided — Classic Editor
Upload a track, pick an engine and mode, and tune colors, geometry, direction, audio bindings, captions, logos, and overlays. The fastest route to a finished, on-brand visualizer.
Direct — Studio Workstation
Edit the canvas directly with ordered layers, a beat-aware timeline, keyframes and graph curves, clips, masks, groups, and blend modes. Best when you need precise, timed, layered control.
- 1
1. Start in the Classic Editor
The Classic Editor is the beginner-friendly, guided path. You upload a track, pick one of the nine engines and one of its modes, then tune the look: colors, geometry, direction, audio bindings, captions, logos, and overlays. It keeps the decisions in front of you and the surface small, which is why it is the right starting point for most releases.
For a large share of visualizers the Classic Editor is all you need — the engine and mode carry the motion, and the tuning makes it yours.
- Upload, pick engine + mode, then tune colors, geometry, bindings, captions, logos.
- Guided and beginner-friendly; the fastest path to a finished look.
- 2
2. Open the Studio Workstation for direct control
The Studio Workstation is a direct-manipulation canvas for when the guided controls are not granular enough. You edit the canvas directly and work with ordered layers, normalized nodes, and schema-generated controls, so the interface adapts to whatever you are editing.
It is the right choice when a visualizer needs precise composition — several layers arranged deliberately, masked regions, groups, and blend modes — rather than a single engine tuned globally.
- Direct canvas editing with ordered layers and normalized nodes.
- Groups, masks, blend modes, ranges, and schema-generated controls.
- 3
3. Time things on the beat-aware timeline
The Studio Workstation adds a beat-aware timeline with beat and bar markers, keyframes with graph curves, clips, and loop regions. This is what lets you time a change to a specific bar, ease a parameter along a curve, or loop a region while you dial it in — the kind of control the Classic Editor does not expose.
Full-document undo/redo covers the whole workstation, and manual 2D/3D character rigs live here too for the Character Motion engine.
- Beat/bar markers, keyframes + graph curves, clips, and loop regions.
- Full-document undo/redo; manual 2D/3D character rigs; assets.
- 4
4. Move between them — one document, one renderer
Because both editors read and write the same saved document and render through the same deterministic renderer, you can rough a visualizer in quickly with the Classic Editor and then open the Studio Workstation to refine the timing and layering — without rebuilding anything. The preview matches the export in either editor because there is only one renderer under both.
The practical workflow is to choose the editor by the job in front of you: Classic for speed and guidance, Studio for precision, switching between them freely as a project matures.
- One saved document and one renderer under both editors.
- Preview matches export; switch editors without losing work.
Rough it in Classic, refine it in Studio
A reliable pattern is to build the look in the Classic Editor — engine, mode, colors, and audio bindings — then open the Studio Workstation only when you need timed or layered control the guided surface cannot give you. Because it is one document and one renderer, nothing is lost moving between them, so there is no cost to starting simple and reaching for the workstation when a specific job demands it.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to common questions about this topic.
What is the difference between the Classic Editor and the Studio Workstation?
The Classic Editor is the guided path — upload a track, pick an engine and mode, then tune colors, geometry, direction, audio bindings, captions, logos, and overlays. The Studio Workstation is a direct canvas with ordered layers, a beat-aware timeline, keyframes, masks, and blend modes for fine-grained control. Both open the same saved document and use the same renderer.
Do the two editors share the same project?
Yes. They read and write one saved document and share one deterministic renderer, so the preview matches the export in either editor and you can move between them without losing work.