prism docs · Looks · Every look

Every look

All 93 looks that come with prism, pictured by prism itself. Browse them here, then find one in the library by typing its name. Each picture is the look at its own settings; its presets and settings can make it look very different.

Built in93 looks in 13 groups, 279 presets
🎵 Music33 can react to the sound or the beat
⏱ Transitions22 play from one state to another
✎ Outlines18 follow the shape of the surface
1 · Use a look from this page 2 · What the badges mean 3 · Basic (3) 4 · Light & strobe (9) 5 · Edges & outlines (7) 6 · Audio-reactive (10) 7 · Patterns (6) 8 · Geometric (15) 9 · Organic (5) 10 · Nature & elements (7) 11 · Retro & glitch (5) 12 · Illusions (13) 13 · Wipes & reveals (9) 14 · Utility (1) 15 · Media & text (3) 16 · Hints and tips 17 · When something looks wrong

1Use a look from this page

  1. In Design, select the surface: click it on the canvas or in the Surfaces list.
  2. Click its look (the material slot at the top of the inspector). The library opens beside it.
  3. Type the look’s name in Search, then click its tile. The look goes on the surface and the look panel opens with its presets and settings.
The library with a search for edge, showing the matching looks
Searching the library: every word you type must match the name, the group or the description, so “edge” finds all the outline looks.
Try before you choose. Hover a tile in the library to see it move, and press Space on a tile for its details. Every change is one Ctrl+Z away.

2What the badges mean

BadgeWhat it means
🎵 Reacts to the musicIt moves with the sound or the beat. The Audio-reactive looks react as they are. Most others have an Audio amount setting in their Audio group (Fireworks: Bursts on kicks) that sets how much they react; it starts at 0, and some also step with the beat on their own (Surface Chase, Scene Wave, Step Sequencer). Without music the beat runs at 120 BPM.
⏱ A transitionIt goes from one state to another: with Auto-play it plays by itself (loop, bounce or once); switched off, Progress sets how far it has got, so a fader, a ramp or a cue can drive it. The pictures here are held part-way.
✎ Follows the outlineIt is built round the surface’s outline: light along the edges or an effect creeping in from them. It fits any shape, not just rectangles.
How the pictures were made. Each look went on one surface of 640 × 360 projector pixels (outline looks on a slightly smaller one inside it, the chases on six columns) and was drawn by prism’s own renderer at its default settings, with a test song playing so the music looks show what they do. Sizes set in pixels, such as a dash or a comet’s width, look finer on a bigger surface.
See-through looks. Rain, snow, sparkles, sweeps, strobes, smoke and most illusions and wipes are see-through where nothing is lit. Here they sit on black; on a surface they show whatever is below them, so put them on a layer above another look.

3Basic

The mapping staples: one colour, a soft gradient, a breathing glow. Plain looks are also the base you stack see-through looks on.

Solid: Fills the surface with one flat, even colour.
Solid
Blocking a surface out in one even colour, and a base for see-through looks.
Main settings: Colour · Brightness
Presets: Warm white, Deep blue, Magenta
Gradient: A smooth linear or radial blend between two colours that slowly drifts.
Gradient
Soft washes on walls and plinths; calm backgrounds behind text.
Main settings: Colour A · Colour B · Type · Drift speed
Presets: Sunset, Ocean glow, Candy
Pulse: A colour whose brightness breathes, beats or blinks between two levels.
Pulse
A gentle breathing glow for quiet moments, heartbeats and warning blinks.
Main settings: Colour · Rate · Shape
Presets: Slow breath, Heartbeat, Signal blink

4Light & strobe

Light that moves: flashes, washes, sweeps, spotlights, lasers, and chases that run across all your surfaces.

Strobe: Hard flashes of light at a set rate, in sync on every surface, per surface or in random blocks, and see-through between flashes so it can sit over other layers.
Strobe
Hard flashes over other looks for drops and peaks (flash-limited for safety).
Main settings: Colour · Rate · Flash length · Flash
Presets: Club white, Storm scatter, Pixel party
Colour Cycle: The surface washes through the rainbow, as one colour or spread in bands, rings or a colour wheel, smoothly or jumping between colours like a stage light.
Colour Cycle 🎵
Rainbow washes and stage-light colour changes.
Main settings: Speed · Spread · Shape · Saturation
Presets: Slow wash, Colour wheel, Jump chase
Light Sweep: A band of light glints across the surface like a shine over glass, or swings back and forth like a scanner with an afterglow, see-through around the light so it can sit over a logo or picture.
Light Sweep
A shine across a logo or picture, or a scanner sweep.
Main settings: Colour · Direction · Sweeps per second · Width
Presets: Glass shine, Scanner, Laser line
Spotlights: Soft pools of light wander over the surface like moving-head spotlights on a wall, adding up where they cross, see-through in the dark so they can light the layers below.
Spotlights 🎵
Moving-head pools of light that light up the looks below.
Main settings: Colour · Lights · Size · Speed
Presets: Warm theatre, Disco, Searchlights
Laser Fan: Thin laser beams fan out from a point and swing, spin or scissor across the surface like a club laser, see-through between the beams.
Laser Fan 🎵
Club laser beams fanning, spinning and scissoring across a wall.
Main settings: Colour · Beams · Motion · Speed
Presets: Green fan, Rainbow spin, Red scissors
Surface Chase: Surfaces light up one after another in their list order, like a lighting desk’s chase: running, bouncing, building up, at random or odd and even, stepped by the beat.
Surface Chase 🎵
Running lights across many surfaces in list order, stepped by the beat.
Main settings: Colour · Pattern · Surfaces lit · BPM sync
Presets: Warm chase, Rainbow bounce, Neon build
Scene Wave: A wave of light sweeps across the whole scene and lights each surface in turn as it passes, as a pulse, a fill or back and forth.
Scene Wave 🎵
A wave of light across the whole room, lighting each surface as it passes.
Main settings: Colour · Direction · Width · BPM sync
Presets: Blue wave, Amber fill, Scanner
Fireworks: Rockets climb and burst into showers of sparks that trail, fall and twinkle out, and every kick drum can fire an extra burst.
Fireworks 🎵
Celebrations, countdowns and finales; kicks can fire extra bursts.
Main settings: Palette · Spark size · Trail · Bursts per second
Presets: Festival, Gold willow, Kick bursts
God Rays: Soft beams of light fan out from a point through hazy air, shifting slowly, with specks of dust drifting through them.
God Rays
Cathedral light, underwater shafts and stage beams through haze.
Main settings: Colour · Intensity · Rays · Speed
Presets: Cathedral, Underwater, Stage beam

Presets worth trying

Colour Cycle with its Colour wheel preset
Colour Cycle ▸ Colour wheel
The whole rainbow turning round a centre point.
Spotlights with its Disco preset
Spotlights ▸ Disco
Coloured pools of light that mix where they cross.
Laser Fan with its Rainbow spin preset
Laser Fan ▸ Rainbow spin
Rainbow beams spinning from the middle of the surface.
God Rays with its Underwater preset
God Rays ▸ Underwater
Blue shafts of light with specks drifting through.

5Edges & outlines

Light that follows the outline of each shape: the classic mapping look that makes a real object pop.

Edge Chase: Comets of light race round the outline of the surface, trailing soft tails.
Edge Chase ✎
Racing lights round a shape’s outline, or police lights.
Main settings: Colour · Comets · Tail length · Speed
Presets: Racing lights, Police, Lone comet
Outline Draw: A line of light draws the outline in, holds it, then erases it and starts again.
Outline Draw 🎵 ⏱ ✎
Drawing an outline in, in seconds or in bars of the music.
Main settings: Colour · Width · Style · Auto-play
Presets: Pen stroke, Bar builder, Slow reveal
Marching Ants: A dashed or dotted line runs round the outline, its dashes marching along it.
Marching Ants ✎
Dashed outlines, runway lights and hazard tape.
Main settings: Dash colour · Dash · Width · Speed
Presets: Selection, Runway dots, Hazard tape
Neon Tube: A bent neon tube follows the outline just inside it, with a white-hot core, a halo and an old sign’s flicker.
Neon Tube ✎
A neon sign that follows the outline, flicker and all.
Main settings: Colour · Tube width · Halo · Flicker
Presets: Bar sign, Failing tube, Warm white
Edge Ripples: Lines that follow the outline ripple inward from the edge, or outward towards it.
Edge Ripples ✎
Sonar and contour lines rippling in from the edge.
Main settings: Colour · Inner colour · Spacing · Speed
Presets: Sonar, Contour map, Pulse in
Electric Edge: Arcs of lightning leap and crawl along the outline with a white-hot core and a crackling glow, and kicks send surges racing round.
Electric Edge 🎵 ✎
Tesla arcs crawling along the outline; kicks send surges round.
Main settings: Core colour · Glow colour · Reach · Speed
Presets: Tesla blue, Toxic crackle, Plasma arcs
Marquee Bulbs: A row of theatre bulbs runs round the outline, chasing, alternating, twinkling or filling up, in time with the beat if you like.
Marquee Bulbs 🎵 ✎
Theatre and carnival bulbs round a sign or a doorway.
Main settings: Bulb colour · Spacing · Pattern · Speed
Presets: Broadway, Carnival, Dressing room

Presets worth trying

Edge Chase with its Police preset
Edge Chase ▸ Police
Red and blue lights racing round the edge.
Marching Ants with its Hazard tape preset
Marching Ants ▸ Hazard tape
Yellow and black hazard tape marching round.
Edge Ripples with its Contour map preset
Edge Ripples ▸ Contour map
Fine contour lines, like a map of the shape.
Electric Edge with its Toxic crackle preset
Electric Edge ▸ Toxic crackle
Green arcs crackling all along the outline.

6Audio-reactive

Looks that are driven by the sound itself. They idle gently in silence and come alive with music (see Sound and tempo).

Edge Spectrum: The outline becomes a spectrum analyser: each length of it grows inward with one band of the music.
Edge Spectrum 🎵 ✎
An outline that dances with the music, band by band.
Main settings: Bass colour · Treble colour · Depth
Presets: Club, Fire ring, Equaliser
Bass Swell: Colour swells in from the outline with every bass note, its front rippling like liquid.
Bass Swell 🎵 ✎
Colour swelling in from the edges with every bass note.
Main settings: Edge colour · Front colour · Front glow
Presets: Magenta tide, Lava, Deep sea
Beat Strobe: The surface flashes on every beat, every few beats or on each drum hit, and can step through colours.
Beat Strobe 🎵
A flash on every beat or drum hit (120 BPM until music plays).
Main settings: Colour · Length · Fade
Presets: White strobe, Kick flash, Rainbow chase
Spectrum Bars: Eight bars across the surface dance with the music, from the bass on one side to the treble on the other.
Spectrum Bars 🎵
The classic equaliser: bars from the bass to the treble.
Main settings: Bottom colour · Top colour · Bars grow · LED blocks
Presets: Classic, LED stack, Horizon
VU Fill: The sound level fills the surface like a studio meter, with a peak line that holds and falls.
VU Fill 🎵
A studio level meter filling the surface.
Main settings: Fills · Low colour · High colour · LED blocks
Presets: Studio meter, Bass column, Treble sweep
Kick Ripple: Every kick drum sends a ring of light racing out across the surface, like a drop in water.
Kick Ripple 🎵
A ring of light bursting out on every kick drum.
Main settings: Colour · Fading colour · Ring life · Ring width
Presets: Sonar ping, Shockwave, Rain drop
Step Sequencer: A drum machine’s grid of glowing pads that steps with the beat, kick, snare and hi-hat each in their own colour, flaring when the music’s own drums hit.
Step Sequencer 🎵
A drum machine’s pad grid stepping with the beat.
Main settings: Kick colour · Snare colour · Steps · Pattern
Presets: Drum machine, Neon snake, Beat rain
Oscilloscope: The music’s live waveform or spectrum as a glowing trace: a line, filled, mirrored, round a circle or round the surface’s outline.
Oscilloscope 🎵
The live waveform or spectrum as a glowing trace.
Main settings: Colour · Shape · Line width · Height
Presets: Green scope, Neon ring, Mirrored spectrum
Radial Spectrum: A circular equaliser: bars, flower petals or a glowing ring round a centre stretch with the music from the bass to the treble, mirrored and slowly turning.
Radial Spectrum 🎵
A circular equaliser: bars, petals or a glowing ring.
Main settings: Inner colour · Outer colour · Style · Bars
Presets: Neon bloom, Sunflower, Halo
Beat Particles: Glowing particles drift and link up with lines when they come close, like a plexus network, swelling and flaring with the bass.
Beat Particles 🎵
A plexus network that swells and flares with the bass.
Main settings: Particles · Links · Particles across · Speed
Presets: Plexus, Constellation, Bass web

Presets worth trying

Spectrum Bars with its LED stack preset
Spectrum Bars ▸ LED stack
LED blocks with peak caps: the classic club meter.
Step Sequencer with its Neon snake preset
Step Sequencer ▸ Neon snake
Neon pads lighting up in a snake.
Oscilloscope with its Mirrored spectrum preset
Oscilloscope ▸ Mirrored spectrum
The music’s spectrum, mirrored as a glowing trace.
Radial Spectrum with its Sunflower preset
Radial Spectrum ▸ Sunflower
Flame-coloured petals that open with the music.

7Patterns

Neon edges, scanlines, plasma, sparkles, tiles and blueprints.

Edge Glow: A neon-like glow that hugs the edge of the surface and gently pulses.
Edge Glow ✎
Picking out a shape’s edges in neon: the classic outline look.
Main settings: Colour · Width · Intensity · Pulse rate
Presets: Neon, Soft halo, Alarm
Scanlines: Bright bands with fading tails that sweep across the surface.
Scanlines
Scanner sweeps, retro CRT bands and speed lines.
Main settings: Colour · Bands · Speed · Direction
Presets: Scanner, Retro CRT, Diagonal rush
Plasma: The classic demoscene sine plasma, coloured with one of four palettes.
Plasma 🎵
Bright, hypnotic filler for club nights, with a demoscene feel.
Main settings: Palette · Scale · Speed
Presets: Slow sunset, Ocean, Neon rush
Sparkle: Twinkling star-like points scattered over a transparent background.
Sparkle
Twinkles over another look: stars, glitter, frost.
Main settings: Density · Size · Colour · Twinkle rate
Presets: Starfield, Gold dust, Frost
Tiles: A grid of square tiles that randomly flip over between two colours.
Tiles
Playful flipping mosaics on facades and panels.
Main settings: Tiles · Colour A · Colour B · Flip rate
Presets: Coral & navy, Checkerboard, Mint pop
Blueprint: A technical drawing look: fine grid, bright edge outlines, tick marks and a centre mark.
Blueprint ✎
Technical-drawing looks for architecture shows and reveals.
Main settings: Line colour · Grid density · Paper colour
Presets: Classic, Night grid, Drafting paper

Presets worth trying

Plasma with its Neon rush preset
Plasma ▸ Neon rush
Hot pink, yellow and green, moving fast.
Blueprint with its Drafting paper preset
Blueprint ▸ Drafting paper
Red lines on cream drafting paper.

8Geometric

Stripes, checks, spirals, tunnels, grids, mandalas, fractals and turning 3D shapes.

Stripes: Bold bars of two colours slide across the surface at any angle, evenly spaced or irregular like a barcode, straight or bent into waves.
Stripes 🎵
Warning tape, barcodes and bold graphic bars.
Main settings: Stripe colour · Palette · Stripes · Speed
Presets: Warning tape, Barcode, Candy waves
Checkerboard: A two-colour checkerboard that slides, spins, ripples with a wave of shrinking squares, or runs away as an endless floor to the horizon.
Checkerboard
Op-art floors, racing flags and endless-floor illusions.
Main settings: Colour A · Palette · Squares · Speed
Presets: Op-art wave, Endless floor, Racing flag
Halftone: A comic-print screen of dots, squares or lines that swell and shrink with moving waves, ripples, clouds or a sweeping gradient.
Halftone
Pop-art and newsprint dots that ripple.
Main settings: Dot colour · Background · Dots across · Speed
Presets: Pop art, Ripple squares, Newsprint lines
Sunburst: Rays of two colours turn round a centre point like a circus poster, and twist into a hypnotic spiral as the twist goes up.
Sunburst 🎵
Circus posters, rising suns and hypnotic spirals.
Main settings: Ray colour · Palette · Rays · Turns per second
Presets: Circus, Hypno spiral, Rising sun
Tunnel: An endless tunnel of glowing rings or checkered panels rushes toward you from a vanishing point, round, square, hexagonal or triangular, and can twist as it goes.
Tunnel 🎵
Rushing tunnels for doorways and walk-throughs.
Main settings: Colour A · Palette · Density · Speed
Presets: Neon rings, Checker vortex, Hex warp
Hex Grid: A honeycomb of glowing hexagons whose cells light up in ripples from the middle, sweeping bands, random blinks or a slow breath.
Hex Grid
Sci-fi honeycombs, sonar pings and data blinks.
Main settings: Colour · Palette · Cells across · Speed
Presets: Sonar, Honey sweep, Data blink
Kaleidoscope: Jewel-like geometry mirrored into a kaleidoscope, endlessly folding, turning and changing colour.
Kaleidoscope 🎵
Jewel-like mandalas for psychedelic and chill-out moments.
Main settings: Mirrors · Palette · Speed · Zoom
Presets: Jewels, Rose window, Neon mandala
Line Patterns: A MadMapper-style line generator: lines, grids, zigzags or waves in cells, rings or mirrors, with auto move, width, rotate and scale that can lock to the beat.
Line Patterns 🎵
MadMapper-style line work, locked to the beat.
Main settings: Line colour · Pattern · Lines · Move speed
Presets: Beat glide, Neon tunnel, Cell cascade
Voronoi Cells: Slowly shifting cells like stained glass, neon outlines or living tissue, with a few cells lighting up on every beat.
Voronoi Cells 🎵
Stained glass, neon cells or living tissue.
Main settings: Palette · Fill · Cells across · Speed
Presets: Stained glass, Neon cells, Cell culture
Arcs: Concentric rings of glowing arc segments turn at different speeds and in opposite directions, like a sci-fi HUD or a dial.
Arcs
HUD dials, radar screens and sci-fi interfaces.
Main settings: Colour · Accent colour · Rings · Speed
Presets: HUD, Sun dial, Radar
Shape Grid: A grid of circles, squares, triangles, crosses or diamonds that pulse, spin or flip over like cards as waves roll across them.
Shape Grid 🎵
Grids of shapes that pulse, spin and flip in waves on the beat.
Main settings: Colour · Shape · Shapes across · Speed
Presets: Pulse dots, Flip tiles, Beat crosses
Truchet: Randomly turned tiles join into endless flowing curves, a maze or bold triangles, with light running along the lines and tiles now and then turning over.
Truchet
Endless flowing lines and mazes that carry on across surfaces.
Main settings: Lines · Style · Tiles across · Flow speed
Presets: Neon flow, Hex weave, Bold triangles
Moiré: Two fine gratings of lines, rings or spokes drift over each other and make slow, rippling moire bands, smoothed so a projector never shows jaggies or shimmer.
Moiré
Op-art interference that plays tricks on the eye, without shimmer.
Main settings: Light · Pattern · Lines across · Speed
Presets: Op-art rings, Silk lines, Spoke vortex
Wireframe 3D: A cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, dodecahedron or globe drawn in glowing lines turns and tumbles in 3D, its far side dimmed.
Wireframe 3D
Glowing 3D solids and globes turning in space.
Main settings: Colour · Shape · Size · Spin
Presets: Icosahedron, Neon cube, Globe
KIFS Fractal: A kaleidoscopic fractal of glowing lines, folded again and again into snowflakes, mandalas or lattices that slowly breathe and turn.
KIFS Fractal 🎵
Snowflakes, mandalas and fractal lace that slowly breathe.
Main settings: Palette · Mirrors · Zoom · Morph speed
Presets: Jewel mandala, Frost fern, Fire lace

Presets worth trying

Checkerboard with its Endless floor preset
Checkerboard ▸ Endless floor
A neon floor running off to the horizon.
Sunburst with its Hypno spiral preset
Sunburst ▸ Hypno spiral
A black and white hypnotic spiral.
Tunnel with its Checker vortex preset
Tunnel ▸ Checker vortex
A twisting checkered vortex.
Line Patterns with its Neon tunnel preset
Line Patterns ▸ Neon tunnel
Zigzag rings rushing inwards.
Voronoi Cells with its Neon cells preset
Voronoi Cells ▸ Neon cells
Glowing outlines of shifting cells.
Wireframe 3D with its Globe preset
Wireframe 3D ▸ Globe
A wireframe globe turning in space.

9Organic

Soft, flowing, natural movement: noise, marble, fire, water light and lava-lamp blobs.

Noise Flow: Slow, fluid swirls of domain-warped noise blended across three colours.
Noise Flow
Slow, fluid backgrounds for lobbies and chill-out rooms.
Main settings: Middle colour · Highlight colour · Scale · Speed
Presets: Deep sea, Lava lamp, Aurora
Liquid Marble: Polished marble whose veins slowly flow and curl like liquid.
Liquid Marble
Stone that flows: marble facades, black and gold, jade.
Main settings: Stone colour · Vein colour · Vein scale · Flow speed
Presets: Carrara, Black & gold, Jade
Fire: Flickering flames that rise from the bottom edge of the surface, with drifting embers.
Fire
Flames rising from the bottom edge: fireplaces, hell gates, campfires.
Main settings: Intensity · Flame height · Colour · Speed
Presets: Campfire, Gas burner, Witch fire
Caustics: Rippling networks of light like sunlight on the bottom of a swimming pool.
Caustics
Sunlight on water: pools, aquariums, underwater scenes.
Main settings: Light colour · Scale · Speed
Presets: Pool, Deep ocean, Golden shallows
Metaballs: Glossy blobs drift, merge and split like a lava lamp, as glowing outlines or contour rings, and can swell with the bass.
Metaballs 🎵
Lava lamps and slow organic blobs that can swell with the bass.
Main settings: Colour A · Colour B · Size · Speed
Presets: Lava lamp, Neon contours, Mercury

Presets worth trying

Noise Flow with its Lava lamp preset
Noise Flow ▸ Lava lamp
Molten orange swirls.
Liquid Marble with its Black & gold preset
Liquid Marble ▸ Black & gold
Gold veins flowing through black stone.
Fire with its Witch fire preset
Fire ▸ Witch fire
Violet and pink magic flames.
Metaballs with its Neon contours preset
Metaballs ▸ Neon contours
Contour rings round blobs that merge and split.

10Nature & elements

Weather and sky. Most are see-through between the drops, flakes or stars, so they fall over any other look.

Rain: Rain streaks falling in three layers of depth and slanting with the wind, see-through between the drops so it can pour over any other layer.
Rain
Rain over any look: windows, storms, moody scenes.
Main settings: Colour · Density · Speed
Presets: Shower, Storm, Neon drizzle
Snow: Soft snowflakes drift and sway down in four layers of depth, blown by the wind, see-through between the flakes so it can fall over any other layer.
Snow
Snowfall or blossom over any look.
Main settings: Colour · Density · Flake size · Speed
Presets: Gentle snow, Blizzard, Blossom
Clouds: Soft clouds drift and billow across a sky gradient, or float as see-through smoke and fog over the layers below.
Clouds
Skies and storm fronts, or see-through drifting smoke.
Main settings: Sky top · Cloud colour · Coverage · Speed
Presets: Summer sky, Storm front, Drifting smoke
Starfield: Stars stream out of a vanishing point as if flying through space, from a slow drift to hyperspace streaks, see-through between the stars.
Starfield
Space flights, hyperspace jumps and starry nights.
Main settings: Colour · Speed · Density · Warp streaks
Presets: Deep space, Hyperspace, Golden drift
Aurora: Curtains of northern lights ripple and fold across a starry night sky, green at their hems and fading to violet above.
Aurora
Northern lights for ceilings and calm moments.
Main settings: Hem colour · Top colour · Height · Speed
Presets: Northern lights, Pink dawn, Solar storm
Lightning: Jagged lightning bolts with forking branches strike at random moments, flickering and lighting the whole surface, see-through between strikes.
Lightning
Storm strikes over other looks, see-through between strikes.
Main settings: Colour · Strikes per second · Thickness
Presets: Thunderstorm, Violet energy, Distant flicker
Smoke: See-through smoke rises and curls over the layers below, or pools as a low ground fog, lit warmly from underneath.
Smoke 🎵
See-through smoke or ground fog for spooky and stage scenes.
Main settings: Smoke colour · Light from below · Density · Rise speed
Presets: Stage smoke, Ground fog, Toxic fumes

Presets worth trying

Snow with its Blossom preset
Snow ▸ Blossom
Pink blossom drifting down instead of snow.
Starfield with its Hyperspace preset
Starfield ▸ Hyperspace
Stars stretched into hyperspace streaks.
Aurora with its Pink dawn preset
Aurora ▸ Pink dawn
Pink and blue curtains of light.
Lightning with its Violet energy preset
Lightning ▸ Violet energy
A violet bolt crackling down.

11Retro & glitch

Screens, static, synthwave and pixels.

Code Rain: Columns of flickering computer glyphs rain down with bright heads and fading trails, see-through behind the glyphs so it can run over other layers.
Code Rain
Digital rain and hacker screens.
Main settings: Colour · Columns · Speed
Presets: Digital rain, Blue data, Amber terminal
Glitch: Bursts of digital corruption: blocks of colour, colour-split bars, noisy data strips and tear lines jumping around, see-through elsewhere so it can break up any layer below.
Glitch
Breaking up any look with digital corruption.
Main settings: Amount · Changes per second · Colour A · Colour B
Presets: Corrupted, Meltdown, Occasional blip
TV Static: Analogue television snow with a slowly rolling bar, jittering lines, scanlines and a faint vignette, like a set tuned to a dead channel.
TV Static
Dead-channel TVs and analogue noise.
Main settings: Tint · Grain size · Speed
Presets: Dead channel, Green monitor, Coarse noise
Synthwave: An 80s retro sunset: a striped neon sun sinking behind purple mountains while a glowing grid floor rolls toward you.
Synthwave
80s outrun sunsets with a rolling neon grid.
Main settings: Sun top · Grid colour · Speed · Sun size
Presets: Outrun, Cyber teal, Low sun
Dither: Moving gradients, rings, noise or plasma drawn in chunky Bayer-dithered pixels of two colours, a crisp 1-bit texture that reads on any projector.
Dither
Crisp 1-bit pixel art: Game Boy greens, amber screens.
Main settings: Light · Dark · Pixel size · Speed
Presets: 1-bit plasma, Game Boy, Amber rings

Presets worth trying

Synthwave with its Cyber teal preset
Synthwave ▸ Cyber teal
A teal sun over a cyan grid.
Dither with its Game Boy preset
Dither ▸ Game Boy
Green 1-bit pixels, like an old handheld console.

12Illusions

The projection-mapping tricks: things that seem to happen to the real surface. Most play by themselves on a loop, or follow Progress.

Water Fill: The surface fills with water from the bottom, with a rippling lit waterline, rising bubbles and caustic light below, see-through above the water so it floods whatever is on the surface.
Water Fill ⏱
A surface filling up with water, bubbles and light.
Main settings: Auto-play · Water colour · Waves · Speed
Presets: Flood, Tropical lagoon, Rising slime
Frost: Ice crystals creep in from the edges of the surface until it frosts over, then thaw, with glinting sparkles, see-through where there is no ice.
Frost ⏱ ✎
Ice creeping in from the edges, then thawing.
Main settings: Auto-play · Ice colour · Thickness · Crystal size
Presets: Window frost, Deep freeze, Hoarfrost
Disintegrate: The surface crumbles into glowing pixels that blow away on the wind, revealing the layers below, then flies back together.
Disintegrate ⏱
A surface crumbling into pixels, then flying back together.
Main settings: Auto-play · Colour · Pixels across · Glow colour
Presets: Digital dust, Ashes, Big blocks
Portal: A swirling vortex tears open in the surface with a crackling rim and energy spiralling in, then closes again, see-through around it.
Portal ⏱
A swirling vortex tearing open in a wall or a door.
Main settings: Auto-play · Rim colour · Depth colour · Size
Presets: Blue vortex, Hell gate, Green rift
Paint Pour: Glossy paint pours over the top edge, runs down in drips and floods the surface, then the next colour pours over it; either colour can be see-through.
Paint Pour ⏱
Paint pouring over the top edge and flooding the surface.
Main settings: Auto-play · Paint colour · Colour underneath · Drip length
Presets: Red over blue, Gold drip reveal, Slime
Hologram: A scan beam materialises the surface as a translucent hologram with scanlines, a glowing outline, flicker and glitching slices, then dematerialises it.
Hologram ⏱ ✎
Sci-fi materialise and dematerialise effects.
Main settings: Auto-play · Colour · Scanlines
Presets: Sci-fi blue, Glitchy red, Calm green
Goo Drips: Glossy slime oozes over the top edge and runs down the surface in drips that stretch, bulge and fall.
Goo Drips ⏱ ✎
Slime, blood or honey oozing over the top edge.
Main settings: Colour · Progress · Runniness · Drip length
Presets: Toxic slime, Blood, Honey
Spreading Cracks: Cracks branch out across the surface from a point or from its edges, glowing or dark, then heal and start again.
Spreading Cracks ⏱
Walls cracking open, glowing or dark, from a point or the edges.
Main settings: Style · Glow colour · Auto-play · Crack size
Presets: Lava cracks, Cracked wall, Energy rift
Growing Vines: Ivy grows round the outline and creeps inward with leaves, tendrils and flowers.
Growing Vines ⏱ ✎
Ivy growing round the outline, with leaves and flowers.
Main settings: Leaf colour · Auto-play · Reach · Flowers
Presets: Ivy, Blossom, Enchanted
Burning Edges: Fire eats inward from the outline behind a glowing, charred edge, throwing embers, until it resets.
Burning Edges ⏱ ✎
Paper burning away from the outline, embers and all.
Main settings: Fire colour · Auto-play · Flames · Char
Presets: Burn away, Burning paper, Hellfire
Bevel Relief: The flat surface looks raised or carved in: a bevel follows its outline and a virtual light rakes across it, throwing highlights and shadows as it moves.
Bevel Relief 🎵 ✎
Flat panels that look raised or carved, lit by a moving light.
Main settings: Face colour · Bevel width · Profile · Speed
Presets: Brass plate, Carved stone, Glass tile
Recessed Box: The surface becomes a box-shaped hole in the wall, with walls running back in perspective, a grid, sunlight falling in through the opening and a hatch that can swing open.
Recessed Box 🎵 ⏱
A hole in the wall: an alcove, a little room, a trapdoor.
Main settings: Walls · Grid colour · Depth · Speed
Presets: Neon room, Sunlit alcove, Trapdoor
Shatter: The surface cracks like a struck pane of glass and its shards tumble away into the dark, revealing what is below, then fly back together.
Shatter 🎵 ⏱
Glass smashing and falling away, then flying back.
Main settings: Auto-play · Glass colour · Crack glow · Cracks
Presets: Window pane, Molten burst, Mirror crash

Presets worth trying

Portal with its Hell gate preset
Portal ▸ Hell gate
A fiery red vortex: a gate to somewhere hot.
Paint Pour with its Slime preset
Paint Pour ▸ Slime
Green slime pouring over the top edge.
Spreading Cracks with its Cracked wall preset
Spreading Cracks ▸ Cracked wall
Dark cracks spreading across a pale wall.
Burning Edges with its Burning paper preset
Burning Edges ▸ Burning paper
A sheet of paper burning away from its edges.
Recessed Box with its Neon room preset
Recessed Box ▸ Neon room
A neon grid room sunk into the wall.
Shatter with its Molten burst preset
Shatter ▸ Molten burst
Glowing red cracks bursting the pane.

13Wipes & reveals

Changes from one state to another. Each side can be see-through, so a wipe can reveal or cover what is below it.

Linear Wipe: A straight edge sweeps colour B over colour A at any angle, by itself or by Progress, and either side can be see-through to reveal or cover the layers below.
Linear Wipe ⏱
A straight wipe to reveal, cover or change colour.
Main settings: Auto-play · Direction · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Colour sweep, Reveal from black, Soft diagonal
Clock Wipe: A clock hand sweeps round a centre point, painting colour B over colour A, with one or several blades; either side can be see-through.
Clock Wipe ⏱
Radar sweeps and countdown reveals.
Main settings: Auto-play · Blades · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Radar, Countdown reveal, Fan blades
Iris: A circle, diamond, square, star, heart or hexagon opens from a point until colour B fills the surface; either side can be see-through to reveal or cover the layers below.
Iris ⏱
A circle, star, heart or hexagon opening from a point.
Main settings: Auto-play · Shape · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Spotlight open, Spinning star, Diamond pop
Blinds: Colour B slides in slat by slat like opening shutters, the slats cascading one after another; either side can be see-through.
Blinds ⏱
Shutter and venetian-blind reveals.
Main settings: Auto-play · Slats · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Shutters, Venetian reveal, Cascade
Burn Dissolve: Colour B eats through colour A in ragged patches, like paper catching fire, with a glowing ember edge; either side can be see-through.
Burn Dissolve ⏱
Burning-paper and rising-ink reveals.
Main settings: Auto-play · Patch size · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Burning paper, Burn away, Ink rising
Tile Flip: The surface turns into tiles, bricks or hexagons that flip over, tip off or shrink away in a wave, revealing another colour or the layers below.
Tile Flip ⏱
Facades that flip over tile by tile or brick by brick.
Main settings: Auto-play · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after) · Columns
Presets: Colour flip, Facade build, Falling hexes
Page Peel: The surface peels away from a corner like a sticker, curling over to show its paper back and a soft shadow, revealing what is underneath.
Page Peel ⏱
A sticker or a page peeling off to show what is underneath.
Main settings: Auto-play · Sticker colour · Corner · Curl
Presets: Sticker, Page turn, Reveal the wall
Mosaic Reveal: Squares, hexagons or triangles pop over one by one, at random or in a sweep, spiral or from the centre, to reveal or cover the layers below (after gl-transitions randomsquares by gre, MIT).
Mosaic Reveal ⏱
Squares or hexagons popping over at random or in a sweep.
Main settings: Auto-play · Tiles across · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Pixel pop, Honeycomb spiral, Triangle sweep
Dots Curtain: A grid of polka dots grows from the centre, along a line or at random until they merge, covering or revealing the layers below (after gl-transitions PolkaDotsCurtain by bobylito, MIT).
Dots Curtain ⏱
Polka dots growing into a curtain that covers or reveals.
Main settings: Auto-play · Dots across · Colour A (before) · Colour B (after)
Presets: Polka curtain, Diagonal wave, Dot reveal

Presets worth trying

Iris with its Spinning star preset
Iris ▸ Spinning star
A spinning star opening from the middle.
Tile Flip with its Falling hexes preset
Tile Flip ▸ Falling hexes
Hexagons falling away to show what is below.
Page Peel with its Page turn preset
Page Peel ▸ Page turn
A page turning over from its corner.
Mosaic Reveal with its Honeycomb spiral preset
Mosaic Reveal ▸ Honeycomb spiral
Hexagons popping over in a spiral.

14Utility

Tools for setting up.

Test Grid: An alignment grid with a centre crosshair, an edge border, and the surface’s number (its place in the surface list, 1 at the top) and name.
Test Grid ✎
Aligning surfaces to the real object: a crooked line shows at once. The big number is the surface’s place in the surface list (1 at the top).
Main settings: Cell size · Line width · Colour
Presets: Fine white, Bold yellow, Green

15Media & text

Your own pictures, videos and words. See Images, video and text.

Image: Shows an image from the media library, with pan, zoom and an optional liquid flow.
Image
Your own picture on a surface, still or with a liquid drift.
Main settings: Image · Zoom · Flow speed · Distortion
Presets: Still, Gentle flow, Liquid dream
Video: Plays a video from the media library, with speed, looping, tint and brightness controls.
Video
Your own clips, kept in sync on every projector and restarted on cue.
Main settings: Video · Clip speed · Tint · Brightness
Presets: Normal, Slow & warm, Cool & dim
Text: Shows your own text in a chosen font, colour and outline, still or scrolling, typed out or blinking.
Text
Titles, names, tickers and messages, still, scrolling or typed out.
Main settings: Text · Font · Size (× surface height) · Colour
Presets: Title, Ticker, Terminal

16Hints and tips

17When something looks wrong

You seeWhyFix
Black where the look should beA see-through look with nothing below it, or a transition at its start (Progress 0).Put a look on a layer underneath; for a transition, check Auto-play or move Progress.
A music look hardly movesNo sound is coming in, or its Audio amount is 0.Start a sound source (Sound and tempo), then turn up Audio amount in the look’s Audio group.
A transition sits stillAuto-play is off, so it waits for Progress.Set Auto-play to loop, bounce or once, or drive Progress with a fader or a ramp.
A diagonal crease inside an outline lookDeep inside a shape the “nearest edge” switches sides (at a rectangle’s diagonals).Keep the effect near the edge: lower its width, reach or depth.
Lines or dashes look too thinThey are set in pixels, and your surface is big.Raise the look’s width or size settings.
Surface Chase lights everything at onceThere is only one surface, so every step lands on it.Use it on several surfaces; the order is the Surfaces list, top first.
Choosing looksThe library, quick picks and applying a look The look panelPresets, settings and Defaults Animation packsReady-made sets of looks React to the musicMake any look move with the sound