How Do I Make a Datamosh Video Without TouchDesigner?
Load a moving video in BeamTracer Performer, add FEEDBACK and choose MODE → MOSH. Adjust MOTION, BLOCK SIZE and MIX, then choose whether fresh picture pixels enter with SOURCE → LIVE or HOLD. RESET → ON BEAT refreshes the retained picture on detected beats. Render the result as MP4 or WebM.
Mosh with Source Hold and Reset On Beat, followed by RGB Channels delay and a small Glow amount. The underlying video keeps playing. These silent previews were rendered with the demo track playing so the effect could receive beats.
Hi, I'm Trina with BeamTracer.com. I want the face to stay recognizable while pieces of its earlier pose hang around. A hand moves, a piece of the earlier picture follows it, then a beat brings the current pose back. You can decide how far that goes before the face gets lost.
How do I make the motion glitch?
Start with a moving video that has clear gestures. The TRINA · HANDS example works well for comparing settings because the hands move through the space around the face. A still image gives the effect much less movement to follow.
- Open BeamTracer Performer and open FX Rack.
- Load a video under VISUAL SOURCE → VIDEO · IMAGE, or try TRINA · HANDS.
- Add FEEDBACK and choose MODE → MOSH.
- Set MOTION to 1.50, BLOCK SIZE to 24 and MIX to 1.00.
- Choose SOURCE → LIVE, set DECAY to 0.25 and leave RESET off for the first study.
- Play the video and watch how a gesture carries fragments into its next position. Try HOLD for a more persistent retained picture.
- Open RENDER, choose MP4 · H.264 or WEBM · VP9, render the clip and choose SAVE VIDEO.
Source Live, Motion 1.50, Block Size 24, Decay 0.25, Mix 1.00 and Reset Off. New picture pixels keep replacing the retained fragments.
MOTION changes how strongly movement carries the retained picture. BLOCK SIZE changes the size of the neighboring pixels that move together. Larger blocks make a gesture break into broader pieces; smaller blocks leave a finer disturbance.
DECAY controls replacement by the current picture in Live mode. Raise it when the picture needs to recover faster. Lower it when you want fragments to linger. MIX blends the treatment with the untreated picture; set it to zero to see the source again.
How do I hold a pose while movement continues?
Choose SOURCE → HOLD. New picture pixels stop entering the Mosh history, but motion can still carry the picture already there. The source video keeps moving and driving the distortion.
Source Hold, Motion 3.00, Block Size 32, Mix 0.85 and Reset Off. The faint untreated picture continues underneath; the stronger retained layer can show an older pose.
At MIX 0.85, some current video remains visible beneath the held fragments. Raise it to 1.00 for the full treatment. With Hold selected, MOTION 0 gives you a still held picture. Return to LIVE when you want fresh pixels to enter again.
Hold belongs to the effect
SOURCE inside FEEDBACK controls the retained picture. It does not stop the video loaded in VISUAL SOURCE. Leave the video moving when you want a gesture to keep pushing the held fragments.
How do I bring the face back on the beat?
Choose RESET → ON BEAT while music is playing. A detected beat refreshes the retained picture, then movement starts pulling it apart again. This creates passages where the person returns clearly before the next smear builds.
Source Hold, Motion 3.00, Block Size 48, Mix 1.00 and Reset On Beat. The demo track drives the refreshes; the delivered preview is silent.
These are the three starting points shown above:
| Treatment | Motion | Block Size | Mix | Source | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moving fragments with fresh picture | 1.50 | 24 | 1.00 | Live | Off |
| Persistent held picture | 3.00 | 32 | 0.85 | Hold | Off |
| Beat refreshes | 3.00 | 48 | 1.00 | Hold | On Beat |
The Live example uses DECAY 0.25. In Hold, new pixels are stopped, so choose Live first when comparing how Decay changes recovery. RESET → ON HIT refreshes when you trigger HIT instead. Use that when you want to decide when the current face returns.
Recover the picture before adding another effect
If the subject becomes unrecognizable, lower Motion or Mix. Choose Source Live and raise Decay to replace old fragments faster. For repeatable refreshes during music, try Reset On Beat; a video without an active beat source will not demonstrate that timing.
How do I add the red and cyan movement?
Place DELAY after FEEDBACK and choose STYLE → RGB CHANNELS. This separates color channels in time: a moving edge can carry red from an earlier moment while blue stays current. It adds color separation to the motion glitch rather than tinting every block one color.
Feedback → Delay → Glow. The beat-reset recipe above, with RGB Channels, Spacing 3, Red Delay 3, Green Delay 1, Blue Delay 0 and Delay Mix 0.45. Glow Strength 0.18, Threshold 0.80.
In RGB CHANNELS, SPACING is measured in frames and each channel's delay is a number of those steps. With Spacing 3, Red Delay 3 uses nine frames of delay, Green Delay 1 uses three and Blue Delay 0 stays live. The duration in seconds depends on frame rate. Keep the same render frame rate when comparing recipes; these examples use 1080P, 16:9 and 30 FPS.
Keep the rack order VISUAL SOURCE → FEEDBACK → DELAY → GLOW for this version. Moving Delay before Feedback feeds the color-separated picture into the glitch instead. Start with the order shown, then change one pass at a time so you can see what it contributes.
Can I do this without a TouchDesigner network?
Yes. This route uses BeamTracer's FEEDBACK controls and an optional Delay pass in the browser. MOSH creates the datamosh appearance visually; it does not modify a file's encoded compression frames. Render an uploaded video with RENDER, or use RECORD to capture a live camera or screen source.
For a node-based exploration of related effects, see exsstas's Glitches, Pixel Sorting and Data Moshing tutorial, also listed by Derivative. It explores several techniques. The examples here use BeamTracer's own controls. They do not reconstruct that project.
The FX Rack Mosh guide covers the controls. Open Performer and try the motion glitch →