How Do I Make an ASCII Hand Window Without TouchDesigner?
To make a TouchDesigner-style hand-controlled window in your browser, open BeamTracer Performer and combine TRACK, MASK → HANDS, GRADIENT MAP, POSTERIZE and ASCII. The window follows your thumbs and index fingers, colorful characters play inside it, and TRACK draws the hand bones. You can build this effect without installing TouchDesigner or wiring a node patch.
Hi, I'm Trina with BeamTracer.com. If a viral TouchDesigner video brought you here, this is a browser-based route to that hand-window look. The opening shows the glowing window and hand bones, then switches through ten character and effect variations while the same TRINA · HANDS video keeps playing. The settings cards show what changes.
One continuous take: the glowing ASCII hand window, 6px cells, 26px cells, SHAPE, TONE, ANSI 16, KANJI, thermal color, kaleidoscope and body-only ASCII. A settings card identifies each change. The source plays at 0.25× throughout and keeps moving as the effects switch.
Watch me build the whole stack step by step, from Reset FX Rack to the recorded MP4:
How do I put ASCII on my own footage?
Use VIDEO · IMAGE to load a file in Performer, then add ASCII from PIXELS & PRINT. Start with FIELD → PICTURE, MATCH → SHAPE, and the STANDARD character set. This keeps the effect tied to the source while you choose how much detail to retain.
- Open Visualizers and select PERFORMER.
- Open FX Rack and select VISUAL SOURCE.
- Choose VIDEO · IMAGE and load your footage, or try the built-in TRINA · HANDS video.
- Add ASCII under PIXELS & PRINT and leave FIELD on PICTURE.
- Start playback and check that the hands or another feature in the source are moving.
- Adjust CELL SIZE while watching a recognizable detail such as an eye, hand or edge.
- Press RECORD, perform the take, then press STOP to download the video as MP4.
For a fixed uploaded video, the separate uploaded-video render workflow lets you render the file with the rack effects. Live camera, screen and performance changes use RECORD.
Start with a clear subject
Choose TRINA · HANDS for a moving example. The separate TRINA option is a still portrait. Check that the source itself is playing before adjusting ASCII; moving characters need changing source frames.
How do I make the glowing hand window with ASCII inside?
The POP FRAME look is a magenta window between the hands with a pop-color picture inside. Add ASCII after its color effects so the window becomes characters. Put TRACK above MASK so the hand bones remain visible outside the window.
VISUAL SOURCE → TRACK → MASK → GRADIENT MAP → POSTERIZE → ASCII. The original footage stays visible outside the hand-controlled window.
- Open FX Rack and use Reset FX Rack to start this recipe with a clean stack. Under VISUAL SOURCE, choose TRINA · HANDS or load your own hand footage, then start playback.
- Set the source's SPEED → 0.25× to match this slower demonstration. For your own footage, choose the speed that suits your movement.
- Add MASK and choose SHAPE → HANDS and AREA → INSIDE, with GROW → 0.00 and SOFT EDGE → 0.004. For the magenta border, use OUTLINE → 0.004, OUTLINE COLOR → #ff3df2, GLOW → 0.70, GLOW SIZE → 0.05 and SMOOTHING → 0.25.
- Add GRADIENT MAP below MASK and choose POP. Add POSTERIZE below it with LEVELS → 2. Leave GRADIENT MAP's CYCLE at 0, and set POSTERIZE's BLACK CRUSH to 0 (it starts at 0.04) for this example.
- Add ASCII below POSTERIZE. Choose CELL SIZE → 14px, MATCH → TONE, COLOR → SOURCE and MIX → 1.00. Use FILL → 0.10, BACKDROP → 0.10, SATURATION → 1.60, BRIGHTNESS → 0.12 and CONTRAST → 1.10. MASK confines these characters to the window.
- Add TRACK and drag it above MASK. Check the order: VISUAL SOURCE → TRACK → MASK → GRADIENT MAP → POSTERIZE → ASCII. You can also focus an effect's reorder handle and use the up and down arrow keys.
- Set TRACK's FOLLOW → HANDS. Under SHOW GUIDES, leave HAND BONES → ON and HAND OPACITY → 1.00. Turn CONSTELLATION → ON, BOXES + LABELS → OFF, PLEXUS → OFF and LABELS → OFF. Under STYLE, use LINE COLOR → #62e3ff, LINE SIZE → 2.00 and INTENSITY → 1.80.
- Hold both hands up with your thumbs and index fingers forming a clear window. Check for HAND WINDOW READY, then RECORD and STOP to save your take.
Effects below MASK stay inside the window. TRACK sits above it so its hand lines remain visible outside that area. Keeping ASCII after the color effects turns the pop-colored picture into characters. The tracking and masking guide explains the hand-window controls.
How do I keep the background from turning dark?
ASCII normally places its characters on a dark background. Open COLOR within ASCII and raise BACKDROP to let the source picture show between the characters. FILL adds the sampled cell color behind each character; MIX blends the ASCII treatment with the original picture.
The full-picture examples below use BACKDROP → 1.00, FILL → 1.00 and MIX → 0.85. Under TONE, they use BRIGHTNESS → 0.12 and CONTRAST → 1.10, with SATURATION → 1.60 under COLOR. Those settings keep more of the footage visible while preserving the character pattern. To keep the background completely free of ASCII, use the person mask below.
How do I put ASCII only on the person?
Add MASK before ASCII and choose SHAPE → PERSON with AREA → INSIDE. The mask follows the person in the video, including the hair and hands. Effects below MASK stay inside that area, so the background keeps its original appearance.
VISUAL SOURCE → MASK → ASCII. The background is the original footage; only the detected person receives ASCII.
- Open FX Rack, select VISUAL SOURCE, choose TRINA · HANDS and start playback.
- Add MASK and select SHAPE → PERSON.
- Leave AREA → INSIDE. For this example, set GROW → 0.00, OUTLINE → 0 and GLOW → 0.00.
- Add ASCII below MASK. The rack order should read VISUAL SOURCE → MASK → ASCII.
- Set ASCII to CELL SIZE → 12px and MATCH → TONE. Under TONE, set BRIGHTNESS → 0.12 and CONTRAST → 1.10.
- Set ASCII's MIX → 1.00. Under COLOR, use SOURCE, FILL → 0.15 and BACKDROP → 0.20. These values keep the characters stronger on the person while MASK protects the background.
- Watch the hands move. Adjust GROW and SOFT EDGE if the mask needs a tighter or softer edge, then RECORD and STOP to save your take.
Choose PERSON in MASK, then add ASCII below it. Close the rack to inspect the result. You can also select AREA → OUTSIDE to keep the person clean and apply the effects behind them. See the masking guide for more mask options.
What does CELL SIZE change?
CELL SIZE changes the size of the picture regions represented by characters. A smaller value gives the image more cells; a larger value creates fewer, larger marks. Compare the hands and face at 6px and 26px before changing anything else.
6px cells, SHAPE matching and SOURCE color. The finer grid retains more of the fingers and face.
At 26px the character pattern becomes more obvious and small facial details are reduced. Both cell-size examples use the same moving source, SHAPE matching and SOURCE color.
Choose the size at the output dimensions you plan to use. An effect that looks detailed on a large desktop can become a field of tiny marks in a phone-sized video. Check the actual saved file at the size your audience will see.
Should I choose SHAPE or TONE matching?
SHAPE selects characters by how their shapes fit the source region. TONE selects by character density and picture brightness. Compare both with the same source and cell size, then adjust the treatment you prefer.
SHAPE at 12px. Compare the gesture outlines with the TONE example below.
TONE at 12px, with the same background and color settings as the SHAPE example.
Under CHARACTERS, try a small set before adding more choices. CUSTOM exposes CUSTOM CHARACTERS for your own letters and symbols. Those characters redraw the source; entering a phrase here does not make a timed lyric sequence.
Can I use Kanji instead of numbers and standard ASCII characters?
Yes. Open ASCII's CHARACTERS choices and select KANJI. The effect can use Japanese characters, letters, symbols and other sets; it is not limited to numbers. KANJI is a Unicode character treatment within the effect named ASCII.
CHARACTERS → KANJI, CELL SIZE → 18px, MATCH → TONE and COLOR → SOURCE. This is also one of the settings in the continuous opening demo.
Choose KANJI in the hand-window stack too if you want those characters inside the glowing frame. Try KOREAN HANGUL, LETTERS or SYMBOLS for other treatments. CUSTOM lets you supply your own characters; it does not create timed lyrics.
How do I keep or simplify the colors?
Open COLOR and compare SOURCE with ANSI 16. SOURCE retains the picture's color information in the treatment; ANSI 16 uses a restricted color set. PALETTE offers another controlled color treatment. The ANSI 16 example below uses TONE at 12px, matching the preceding TONE example. The thermal-color variation in the opening demo adds GRADIENT MAP ahead of ASCII.
Use MIX to compare the processed picture against the original. Keep the full effect if the text itself is the point; reduce it when you need more of the source to remain visible.
How do I combine ASCII with another effect?
Place GRADIENT MAP above ASCII to color the footage before the characters sample it, then add KALEIDO below ASCII to fold the character image into rotating wedges. The source keeps moving inside the composition. Each effect processes the picture produced by the effects above it.
VISUAL SOURCE → GRADIENT MAP → ASCII → KALEIDO. This is the native effect stack running in Performer.
- Load TRINA · HANDS under VISUAL SOURCE and start playback.
- Add GRADIENT MAP, choose THERMAL, and set CYCLE to 0.04 turns/s.
- Add ASCII below it with CELL SIZE → 12px, MATCH → TONE, and COLOR → SOURCE with SATURATION → 1.60. Use the full-picture BACKDROP, FILL and MIX settings above.
- Add KALEIDO after ASCII and set SEGMENTS → 6.
- Set SPIN → 0.08 turns/s and ZOOM → 0.85 to reproduce this example.
- Press RECORD, then STOP to save the combined take as MP4.
For the thermal-color portrait treatment in the continuous demo, leave KALEIDO off. For the mirrored composition, keep it after ASCII so the letters themselves are folded. Reversing that order makes ASCII sample an already-folded picture and gives a different arrangement of characters.
Check the finished take
The walkthrough clips are silent. Performer recordings can include the music you play, so check both picture and sound in the downloaded file. Watermarks and export allowances depend on your plan.
Try the ASCII treatment on your own footage.
OPEN PERFORMER →