Flight of the Navigator
Skim a sunset sea of cloud tops beside the silver Trimaxion, morph it into its tapered First Class speed form, or fly above a sunlit ocean with a continuous cinematic camera.
Flight of the Navigator offers two continuous forward flights with the Trimaxion held in view. The ship flies nose first, and its polished silver hull mirrors the bright sky above and the clouds or water below as they stream past. Clouds skims just above an endless sea of cloud tops at sunset: rolling billows stretch to a lumpy horizon under a violet sky, their sunlit tops glow warm while their shadowed sides fall to cool blue, and the low sun can set behind a passing billow with a soft lens flare. The factory Cinematic camera films one continuous take that slowly circles the ship, rising and falling and moving closer and farther, while the ship flies level and banks gently into its turns. Choose Water and the clouds part to reveal moving sunlit ripples and a distant atmospheric horizon. The Camera section also offers the forward Chase view, eased Front, Side and Rear views, a continuous Orbit, and a Dolly that travels from the front to the back while changing distance. Under Camera, set Drag Control to Camera to orbit with a mouse or finger and hold the angle when you release. Choose a different Shot, change its framing, or reset Camera to resume the camera move. Choose Ship and turn on Fly Ship to steer over Water; release it and the autopilot eases back in. Under Ship, Ship Form switches the hull between its rounded Cruise shape and First Class, its long speed form: the shell settles, then a softly rounded nose extends from the front while overlapping shells sweep back to the rear fins, in about two seconds. Bass lifts and swells the cloud tops or waves, mids push the flight forward, highs sharpen finer detail, and beats brighten the shared light. Six complete looks change the weather, pace, course, and palette in either scene.
Open Flight of the Navigator
Launch the visualizer with its matching left-nav entry selected.
Quick start
- Start the demo track, choose a local audio file, or enable a live input.
- Try a preset or style first, then open the section for the part of the image you want to change.
- On a control with Assign modulation, open the source picker, choose a signal, and watch the slider's live fill.
- Use Reset to Defaults whenever you want to return to the original look.
Presets and styles
Golden Passage · Blue Dawn · Violet Night · Coral Storm · Arctic Light · Mauve Dream
Audio modulation
On a control with Assign modulation, select the activity icon to open Modulate with. Choose a named source, or choose — None to leave the control unmodulated. After you assign one, its name appears below the slider; select that name to edit the route, or use Clear modulation to remove it. The slider track shows the live signal reaching the control.
| Modulated control | Section | What the route changes |
|---|---|---|
| Density | Cloud Field | Thickens the cloud sea, firming its tops and deepening its shadowed bodies. |
| Billow Scale | Cloud Field | Changes the size and height of the rounded billows across the cloud sea. |
| Fine Erosion | Cloud Field | Carves finer edges and sunlit rims into the tops of the billows. |
| Turbulence | Cloud Field | Twists the billows into rougher, more uneven shapes across the sea. |
| Wave Size | Water | Changes the spacing and visible breakup of moving sunlit ripples across the water. |
| Water Distortion | Water | Bends reflected sky and sunlight more strongly across each wave. |
| Flight Speed | Flight | Sets how quickly the flight advances over the cloud tops or across the water. |
| Course Sweep | Flight | Widens the flight's smooth lateral course, gentle banking, and restrained pitch and yaw changes. |
| Sun Height | Low Sun | Moves the low sun and its light above or below the cloud horizon. |
| Sun Azimuth | Low Sun | Moves the low sun and its light from left to right. |
| Warmth | Low Sun | Blends more coral and orange light into the cloud tops, horizon, and reflected sun. |
Settings reference
Presets
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Scene | CLOUDS, WATER | Chooses the sunset cloud sea or reflective ocean flight scene. |
Cloud Field
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Density | 0.45–1.8 | Thickens the cloud sea, firming its tops and deepening its shadowed bodies. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Billow Scale | 0.4–2.2 | Changes the size and height of the rounded billows across the cloud sea. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Fine Erosion | 0–1.5 | Carves finer edges and sunlit rims into the tops of the billows. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Turbulence | 0–1.6 | Twists the billows into rougher, more uneven shapes across the sea. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Water
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Wave Size | 0.25–8 | Changes the spacing and visible breakup of moving sunlit ripples across the water. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Water Distortion | 0–8 | Bends reflected sky and sunlight more strongly across each wave. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Flight Height | 0.35m–4m | Raises or lowers the camera above the passing water surface. |
| Water Color | Color | Chooses the deep color below the reflected sky and bright wave crests. |
Flight
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Speed | 0x–3x | Sets how quickly the flight advances over the cloud tops or across the water. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Course Sweep | 0–1 | Widens the flight's smooth lateral course, gentle banking, and restrained pitch and yaw changes. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Audio Motion | 0–2 | Sets how strongly bass, mids, and highs reshape clouds or water while changing flight speed. |
Ship
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Show Ship | On / Off | Keeps the reflective Trimaxion in the sky through Clouds, the scene transition, and Water. |
| Ship Form | CRUISE, FIRST CLASS | Morphs the live ship between its cruising shape and the long, tapered speed form. |
| Fly Ship | On / Off | Enables mouse or touch steering over Water while preserving cinematic autopilot when idle. |
| Steering | Live readout | Shows the current steering. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Drag Control | CAMERA, SHIP | Chooses whether dragging orbits the camera or steers the ship. |
| Shot | CINEMATIC, CHASE, FRONT, SIDE, REAR, ORBIT, DOLLY | Chooses the current view of the ship, including continuous cinematic camera moves. |
| Elevation | 0°–32° | Raises the selected camera view above the ship. In Cinematic it sets the middle of the rising and falling camera path. |
| Distance | 7m–14m | Moves the selected camera view closer to or farther from the ship. In Cinematic it sets the middle of the close and wide framing. |
| Move Speed | 0.2x–1.5x | Sets the pace of the continuous Cinematic, Orbit, and Dolly camera moves. |
| Ease Time | 0.4s–4s | Sets how long camera changes ease into their new angle without a hard cut. |
Low Sun
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sun Height | -0.4–0.4 | Moves the low sun and its light above or below the cloud horizon. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Sun Azimuth | -0.6–0.6 | Moves the low sun and its light from left to right. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Warmth | 0–2 | Blends more coral and orange light into the cloud tops, horizon, and reflected sun. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Beat Light | 0–2 | Sets the strength of bounded warm illumination pulses through clouds or reflected water. |
| Shadow Color | Color | Chooses the cool color of the shadowed cloud bodies and deep crevices. |
| Cloud Color | Color | Chooses the warm color of the sunlit cloud tops and edges. |
| Sun Color | Color | Chooses the compact sun core and its warm light or water reflection. |
| Sky Color | Color | Chooses the sunset sky color between the violet zenith and the horizon. |
Composite
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Background Opacity | 0–1 | Fades the sky and ocean for layering while the cloud sea remains visible. |
Some controls appear only after you enable a related mode or style. The settings panel always reflects the options available for the current selection.
Tips for a better audio visualization
- Choose Clouds or Water under Scene. Choosing Water parts the clouds to reveal the ocean beneath the airborne ship. Switching scenes keeps the current preset, opacity, shared flight controls, sun position, and camera shot.
- Start with Golden Passage for warm cloud tops under a violet sunset sky, then compare Blue Dawn for pale morning air or Coral Storm for denser, faster flight.
- Raise Density to firm up the cloud tops, then use Billow Scale to choose broad rounded billows or smaller clustered ones.
- Use Fine Erosion for crisper sunlit edges. Turbulence twists the billows into rougher shapes across the sea.
- Raise Flight Speed or Audio Motion to make the cloud tops stream past faster. The billows themselves keep evolving slowly, so speed reads as travel rather than boiling.
- Move Sun Height and Sun Azimuth to place the low sun on the horizon. When the sun is in view, a soft lens flare follows it and fades as the sun slips behind cloud.
- In Water, use Wave Size and Water Distortion to shape the moving reflections, then set Flight Height for a closer skim or a wider horizon.
- Leave Show Ship on to keep the Trimaxion in view through Clouds, the scene change, and Water, or turn it off to hide the ship. For ship steering in Water, choose Ship under Camera → Drag Control, turn on Fly Ship, then drag the picture with a mouse or finger to steer. Release it and the cinematic autopilot smoothly resumes.
- Choose First Class under Ship Form to watch the hull flow like liquid metal into its speed form: a softly rounded nose, overlapping teardrop shells, a rounded rear and swept side fins. Choose Cruise to round it back. Change your mind partway and the hull turns around smoothly from its current shape. A saved First Class opens already in that form.
- Under Camera → Drag Control, choose Camera to orbit the picture with a mouse or finger in either scene. The angle stays when you release while the flight continues. Choose a different Shot, change its framing, or reset Camera to resume the camera move. Ship restores Water steering when Fly Ship is on. Weather presets keep your drag choice.
- Open Camera and keep Cinematic for the continuous circling take. Elevation and Distance set the middle of its rising and widening moves, and Move Speed sets its pace. Choose Chase for the forward flight view, Front, Side, or Rear for a held angle, Orbit for steady circling, or Dolly for an eased front-to-back move. Any new shot eases from the view already on screen.
- Set Audio Motion to zero for a steady authored flight, or raise it so bass, mids, and highs reshape clouds or water and change forward speed.
- Lower Background Opacity when layering the scene over another Studio source. The cloud sea remains visible while the sky fades; Water fades its sky and ocean together.