Vizz 1.0
Vizz documentation
What Vizz is, what it connects to, and where to find everything in these docs.
Vizz is a live visual instrument. It turns a particle field, a point cloud, an equation or a live video into a picture that moves with the music, and sends it to Resolume, VDMX, MadMapper, OBS or a projector.
You build a look in the control panel, then play looks from the performance layout with pads, faders and punch buttons. Everything can be driven by audio, MIDI or OSC.
What it talks to
| Connection | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Syphon | out, and in as video | macOS. On by default, published as vizz. |
| NDI | out, and in as video | Any platform. Needs the free NDI runtime. Turn output on with --ndi. |
| Fullscreen | out | F11 fills the monitor the window is on. |
| Recording | out | An image sequence of the output, JPEG or PNG. |
| Audio input | in | Any input device, or a loopback such as BlackHole. Four bands and tempo detection. |
| MIDI | in, and pad lights out | Any controller, by MIDI learn. The Akai APC40 mkII maps itself. MIDI clock sync. |
| OSC | in | UDP port 7000. Every parameter has an address. Follows Resolume Arena's column and deck launches. |
| Point clouds | in | .ply, .xyz, .csv, .pts, images, typed words, 66 equations, 19 simulations, and live streams over TCP. |
| Cameras | in | Cameras and capture cards on a Mac, as a point cloud. |
Spout isn't in 1.0. On Windows, use NDI.
The three screens
Vizz has one window. The picture keeps running under all three screens.
| Screen | Key | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | Tab | Building a look. Every parameter, and the setup for audio, MIDI, outputs and recording. |
| Performance layout | P | Playing looks. Big pads, faders, punch buttons and preset tiles. |
| Modulation canvas | G | Wiring what moves what: LFOs, audio bands and beat triggers into parameters. |
Press ? at any time for the list of keys.
Where to go next
Start here
- Installing: download, the trial, your licence key, updates.
- Getting started: from first launch to a look reacting to music and showing in Resolume, in ten steps.
Guides
- Send it to Resolume: Syphon, NDI, and following Arena's columns.
- Build scenes and a set list: store looks on pads, blend between them, one page per song.
- Make a cloud from an equation: attractors, surfaces, fractals and simulations.
- Make it react to the music: audio input, bands, fit and react.
- Record a take: recording to an image sequence and making a video of it.
Reference
- The control panel: every section, button and setting.
- The performance layout: the status strip, punch, layers, presets, pads and faders.
- Parameters: every parameter, its range and default, and its OSC address.
- The modulation canvas: every node.
- Clouds, generators and simulations: every generator and simulation, and what its knobs do.
- Keyboard, OSC and command line: keys, mouse gestures, OSC, flags, and where files live.
Help
Words used in these docs
- Look (or preset): where every knob is sitting. Saving a look saves the values, not the modulation.
- Patch: a modulation graph, saying what moves what. Patches are stored separately from looks.
- Scene: a pad on the performance layout that holds a look. Firing one blends into it over time.
- Page (or deck): one page of scene and gravity pads, usually one per song. The pages together are the set list.
- Show: everything for one night or one act. That's the pages, pads, looks, patches and fader layout.
- Cloud: a set of points the particles take the shape of. It can come from a file, a word, an equation, a stream or a camera.
- InstallingInstall Vizz on a Mac, start the trial or enter a licence key, keep it up to date, and remove it.
- Getting startedFrom first launch to a look that reacts to the music, saved on a pad and showing in Resolume, in ten steps.
- Send it to ResolumeGet Vizz's output into Resolume over Syphon or NDI, layer it with a transparent background, and have Vizz follow Arena's column and deck launches.
- Build scenes and a set listPut looks on pads, blend between them, let the autopilot walk them on the beat, and keep one page of pads per song.
- Make a cloud from an equationTurn an attractor, a surface, a knot, a fractal or a simulation into a cloud the particles take the shape of, then tune it and play it.
- Make it react to the musicFeed Vizz the mix, set the four bands, lock the tempo, and make the picture move with the kick, the snare and the loudness.
- Record a takeRecord the output to a folder of images, check it will fit on the disk, and turn it into a video.
- The control panelEvery section, button and setting in the control panel, from the status strip to the parameter list.
- The performance layoutThe screen you play from. The punch buttons, layers, preset tiles, set list, gravity and scene pads, and faders, one by one.
- ParametersEvery parameter in Vizz 1.0, its range, its default and what it does, grouped the way the control panel groups them.
- The modulation canvasThe node graph on G that decides what moves what, with every node, its settings and its defaults.
- Clouds, generators and simulationsEvery cloud Vizz can take the shape of, from a scan or a word to 66 equations and 19 simulations, with their settings.
- Keyboard, OSC and the command lineEvery keyboard shortcut and mouse gesture, how OSC control works, every command-line option, and where Vizz keeps its files.
- FAQShort answers about the trial, licences, offline use, platforms, Resolume, controllers and your files.
- TroubleshootingWhat to check when the output doesn't arrive, the audio doesn't move anything, a controller does nothing, or the frame rate drops.