Layers and visualizations

A scene is what's on screen: a stack of up to six layers, each showing one visualization, plus the overall look on top. You build scenes in the Scene tab.

Layers

Under Layers, each layer is a collapsible section, with the top layer first. Click a layer's name to open it (it becomes the selected layer); click again to fold it.

In each layer's header:

Control	What it does
Checkbox	Switch the layer on or off without removing it.
Name	Open or fold the layer. An own look badge means it has its own colours or effects.
Blend menu	How the layer combines with the layers below it (not shown on the bottom layer).
	Move the layer up or down the stack.
	Remove the layer.

+ Add layer opens a picker; choose a visualization and it's added on top. New layers start half-transparent with the Add blend (some visualizations, like Crowd, choose their own blend).

Blend modes

Mode	Use it for
Normal	Covering what's below (use opacity to mix).
Add	Light on light: lasers, particles and glows.
Screen	Like Add but gentler.
Multiply	Darkening: silhouettes, shadows.
Overlay	Extra contrast.
Difference	Psychedelic inversions where layers overlap.
Lighten / Darken	Keep the brighter or darker of the two.
Over (black = clear)	Shapes drawn on black keep their own colours on top of the layer below.

See Palettes and blend modes for more detail.

Choosing a visualization

Open a layer and its Visualization list is shown (click the name button to fold it away):

• All / Full-screen / Shapes & particles filters the list. Full-screen visualizations fill the picture (tunnels, fractals, space scenes). Shapes & particles are drawn on black and made for layering over something else.
• Search finds visualizations by name, description or style.
• If the MilkDrop pack is on (see Managing visualizations), its presets appear when you search, or with Show … MilkDrop presets.

Click one to put it on the layer. ] and [ step the selected layer through the list, and \ picks a random one. More keys for the selected layer: , / . select the layer below / above (with ⇧, move it), ; / ' fade it out / in, L switches it off and on, N adds a layer and Backspace removes the selected one (undo brings it back).

Over 70 come built in — see the full visualization reference, with every control explained. Hidden visualizations (in the Visuals tab) don't appear here.

Controls

Under Controls, each layer has:

• Opacity (when there's more than one layer).
• The visualization's own settings — speed, size, colour mode and so on. Sliders, switches or menus, depending on the setting.
• Reset returns them to their defaults.

Next to every slider:

Button	What it does
	Oscillate: swing the value back and forth around where you set it, in time with the beat.
	Modulate: drive the value from the music, an LFO, the melody or a MIDI knob.
M	MIDI learn (when MIDI is on): move a knob to map it.

See Modulation.

Some controls are marked quality in the reference (detail, step counts): they trade detail for speed, and are lowered automatically on slower computers.

The layer's look

Each layer also has Colours and Effects. By default a layer uses the overall palette and effects; you can give it its own instead — say, a kaleidoscope on just the lasers, or a different palette for the background. See Colours and effects.

Ideas for combinations

• A full-screen background with a shapes layer on top using Over: Nebula + Spectrum Bars, Plasma Flow + Beat Rings.
• Lasers with Add: Laser Show + Edge Lasers, then the Crowd layer on top (it uses Multiply).
• Haze over Laser Haze or Laser Cone, for beams cutting through smoke.
• A melody visualization (Melody Ribbon, Chroma Wheel) over a calm background.