How Do I Make a Halftone Video Without TouchDesigner?

To make a halftone video in your browser, open BeamTracer Performer, load a video in VISUAL SOURCE, and add HALFTONE. Choose TREATMENT → INK + PAPER to rebuild the picture from printed marks. Set the dot spacing and ink colors, offset a second plate, then render an MP4 or WebM.

The face, hair and fingers remain recognizable while the two screens overlap. This example uses 95 rows of dots, a 45° first screen and a 75° second screen. These are digital ink treatments; they do not create physical printing separations.

How do I turn a moving portrait into halftone dots?

Use INK + PAPER to replace the video’s tones with marks on a paper color. Larger marks cover darker areas; smaller marks leave more paper showing. A clear face and hands make a useful first source because you can judge whether the screen preserves expression and movement.

The single-ink version makes it easier to judge the screen before adding a second color. The examples use navy #173c59 and cream #f2dfb6.

Increase DOTS for finer portrait detail. Lower it for a coarser poster texture. DOT SIZE changes coverage without changing the row count. If the face fills into a dark block, reduce CONTRAST or raise BRIGHTNESS slightly before changing the whole color scheme. This recipe uses CONTRAST: 1.3 and BRIGHTNESS: 0.04.

FLAT PAPER keeps a uniform paper treatment while Halftone is the last visible effect. Effects placed below it can change the finished brightness, so inspect the complete stack before exporting.

How do I make the inks look slightly misregistered?

Turn on PLATE FINISH and move the two ink plates a few pixels apart. The shift is most visible around fingers, hair and other clear edges. A second screen angle creates a different overlap pattern across the midtones.

Start with a small offset. A large shift can split an eye or mouth enough to make the portrait hard to read. FINISH MIX lets you reduce the plate treatment while keeping the underlying print.

Can I use rings, crosses or the video’s own colors?

Yes. Under SCREEN DESIGN, choose CUSTOM, then use SHAPE → RING, CROSS or SPLIT BARS. INK SOURCE → PICTURE COLORS colors the marks from the video itself. The same settings work on an uploaded portrait or a live camera picture.

This version uses RING, DOTS: 74, ROW STAGGER: 1, MIN SIZE: 0.02, MAX SIZE: 0.9, PICTURE COLORS, and INVERT PRINT → ON over dark paper #12212f.

Keep PLACEMENT VARIATION low when the face needs to stay crisp. Its SEED changes the fixed placement pattern. INK OPACITY blends the marks toward the paper; it is useful when the full-strength colors overwhelm the texture.

How do I add paper grain without making it flicker?

Add FILM GRAIN below HALFTONE. Open its PAPER section and turn PAPER GRAIN on. Set PAPER AMOUNT: 0.2, GRAIN SIZE: 1.5, PAPER SEED: 2026, and PAPER MOTION → FROZEN. Set the separate GRAIN, SCANLINES, and MONO controls to zero for this recipe.

The paper texture stays in place while the portrait moves. Switch PAPER MOTION to DRIFT when you want the texture itself to travel.

How does this relate to the TouchDesigner halftone technique?

bileam tschepe’s halftone tutorial builds a halftone/rasterized image with instancing in TouchDesigner. BeamTracer gives you a ready-made screen in the FX Rack: load the source, choose the marks and inks, and adjust their coverage. The examples here teach a flat animated print treatment.

For the full control reference, open image effects. To confine the print to a face, person or hand window, place MASK above HALFTONE and follow tracking, windows, and masks. The ASCII hand-window tutorial shows a related masked composition with character cells.

How do I keep the print sharp in the saved video?

Judge the file at the size you plan to share. A fine screen can look clean in the editor but disappear when a platform shrinks the video. If the dots shimmer or merge, lower DOTS and test a short export again.

Use RENDER for a fixed uploaded clip and RECORD for live input. Check the saved picture and soundtrack; these article examples are silent so the print can be compared without starting audio. Export access and allowances are listed in pricing, and the rendering guide explains the output settings.