Troubleshooting

Datamosh that is doing nothing emits an exact copy of its input. So does a Datamosh that failed to load, a locked one, and one whose settings cancel out. They all look the same, so check in this order.

Nothing is moshing

1. Is it locked?

Look at the last control, the Licence field. If its name starts Licence: locked, there is no licence or trial on this computer, and a locked effect passes video through untouched. Type your licence key or your email address into it and press Enter. See Licence field.

On Resolume 7.3 the name does not change. Type folder into the field and read README.txt, or look in Resolume's log for datamosh: locked.

2. Is anything opening the gate?

Mosh Amount at 0 with Auto Mode on Manual and nothing pressed is an exact passthrough, by design. Raise Mosh Amount to 0.5 to check the effect is alive.

3. Is the shot moving?

Datamosh needs movement. A still image, a locked-off shot or a slow fade has nothing to move pixels with.

4. Is Motion Threshold too high?

Motion Threshold stops anything moving slower than it from moshing. Choosing Custom in Style does not reset it, and the Drag style leaves it at 0.5. Set it to 0 to check, or choose Default in Style.

5. Is the mask shutting it out?

Mask Amount above 0 on dark footage stops the dark areas moshing, and at 1 on a dark shot nothing moshes anywhere. It defaults to 0; if it reads anything else, try 0.

6. Is the motion held at zero?

Motion Smoothing at 1 (the Bloom style sets it) holds whatever motion there was when it got there. If that was a still moment, it holds no motion. Press Reset, then let something move.

7. Is Mix down?

Mix at 0 shows the untouched input.

Ask the plugin

Set View to Motion. Black means Datamosh sees no movement, and nothing above will help. If it is lit, switch to Gate: red means Motion Threshold is refusing it, grey means the mask is, and dim green means the gate is open but nothing is holding pixels, so look at Mosh Amount and Decay. Set View back to Result afterwards.

A control does nothing

Trigger, Hold, Auto Mode or Audio Amount do nothing

Mosh Amount is at 1. They all open the same gate, and it is already fully open. Bring Mosh Amount down to leave room; 0 to play entirely by hand.

Motion Lag does nothing

Motion Smoothing is at 1, as the Bloom style sets it. Every past frame then holds the same motion, so lagging it changes nothing. High smoothing weakens Motion Lag gradually.

Motion Gain does nothing in places

Quantise is high and the footage is slow. Movement smaller than half the Quantise step rounds to nothing, so those blocks hold still. Lower Quantise or Block Size.

Cut Sensitivity or Beat Divisor is missing

They only appear when they apply: Cut Sensitivity when Auto Mode is On Cut (Comp), Beat Divisor when it is On Beat.

On Cut never fires

• On a layer, On Cut only sees that layer's own clip changes. For clip changes across the composition, put Datamosh on the composition.
• Raise Cut Sensitivity. A cut out of a busy shot may not fire at 0.5; 0.8 catches most.
• Mosh Amount at 1 hides it (see above).

On Beat never fires

Resolume's tempo must be running. Check the BPM is playing, then check Mosh Amount is below 1.

A style keeps switching to Custom

Changing any control a style sets (Motion, Damage, Block Size, Spread) switches the dropdown to Custom, so it never names a look the settings no longer match. Playing controls such as Mosh Amount, Trigger, Hold, Mix or the mask do not. A composition saved on a style reopens as Custom with the same settings.

It looks wrong

It looks like a smooth morph, not a mosh

The motion is being tracked too well. Raise Motion Lag to 4 or more, then Motion Gain. See When it looks too smooth.

The picture has collapsed and never recovers

At Mosh Amount 1 nothing refreshes, ever. Press Reset, lower Mosh Amount, or add a little Decay (0.1 to 0.2) so the live picture always bleeds back.

Held areas go blurry

Pixel Snap is below 1 (the Liquid style sets it to 0). Raise it to 1 to keep held pixels crisp.

Mosh Transplant makes the layer disappear

That is either Mosh Amount at 0 (Mosh Transplant shows only the layer below, unmoved) or a locked plugin. See Using Mosh Transplant.

The plugins do not appear

On macOS

• Did you quit Resolume before installing? It only scans for plugins at start-up.
• If you copied from the zip, clear the quarantine flag (see Installing), or use the installer instead. A quarantined plugin is refused with no error.
• Apple Silicon needs Resolume 7.11 or later.

On Windows

• Smart App Control on Windows 11 silently blocks unsigned DLLs. See Installing.
• If your Documents folder is in OneDrive, the DLLs must be in the OneDrive copy of Documents\Resolume Arena\Extra Effects.

Mosh Transplant is not in the Effects list

It is not supposed to be. It is a blend mode: open a layer's blend-mode dropdown.

Performance

Lower Quality first: it is the control made for this. Then raise Block Size to 32 px. Neither breaks the effect; the motion is just measured more roughly.

An error in the log

If Resolume's log shows datamosh: error in ..., caught and passed through, Datamosh hit a problem in that frame, showed the input untouched instead, and carried on. It keeps the log readable by writing the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th... occurrence. The Licence field's name will offer to send a report; type send if you are happy to, or discard. See Crash reports.