Organic
Pelagia
A living sea of glowing jellyfish and comb jellies that pulse with the bass, light up the plankton around them, raise young and slowly evolve new shapes and colors.
Pelagia fills deep, dark open water with a community of jellyfish and comb jellies, the far ones fading into the water behind the near ones, and no two of them are alike: each carries its own bell shape, lobes, tentacles, colors, rhythm, appetite for light and lifespan. The jellyfish pulse and glide, trailing tentacles and oral arms dotted with traveling beads of light that drift slowly behind each bell as if through deep, heavy water, while the comb jellies drift with rainbow light rippling along their rows. Marine snow falls through the water as their food. Well-fed animals bud young that inherit their parents' traits with small changes, old or starving ones fade and sink and leave glowing food behind, and the open sea keeps sending newcomers, so the sea slowly drifts into shapes and colors of its own. The plankton are bioluminescent: they light up wherever an animal swims, the pointer passes or a splat lands. Each kind of animal answers the music with its own light: by default the jellyfish swell slowly with the bass, the comb jellies shimmer quickly with the highs, and the plankton flash on the music's sharp changes. The bass also deepens every contraction and the push it gives, the mids stir the current, and each beat drops a splat, a burst of light the animals swim to or flee with the plankton glowing around it.
Open Pelagia
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
Open Sea · Comb Garden · Bloom Tide · Abyss · Ember Drift · Lanterns · Neon Reef · Fast Evolution · Aquarium · Deep Lens
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Population | The most animals alive at once. Lowering it lets the oldest fade and sink, leaving glowing food behind. |
| Lifespan | Population | Scales how long each animal lives before it fades and sinks, leaving glowing food behind. |
| Jellyfish Glow | Light | Brightness of the jellyfish: their bells, canals and margins, tentacles and oral arms. By default it swells slowly with the bass. |
| Comb Jelly Glow | Light | Brightness of the comb jellies: their rainbow comb rows, bodies and tentacles. By default it shimmers quickly with the highs. |
| Plankton Glow | Light | How brightly the plankton light up around passing animals, the pointer and splats. By default it flashes on the music's sharp changes. |
| Depth Fade | Light | How much the animals far behind the swarm's middle fade into the water, for a sense of depth; 0 keeps them all equally bright. |
| Marine Snow | Light | Brightness of the falling flakes the animals feed on. |
| Bloom | Light | The soft glow spreading around everything bright. |
| Speed | Motion | Overall pace of the sea; 0 holds every animal while the camera keeps moving. |
| Pulse | Motion | How deeply each bell contracts, and so how hard it pushes the jellyfish forward. |
| Current | Motion | Strength of the slow swirling current that carries the animals, their tentacles and the snow. |
| Tentacles | Motion | Scales the length of tentacles and oral arms, and how far they reach for food. |
| Water Drag | Motion | How thick the water feels to tentacles and oral arms: at 0 they swing quickly and whip around; higher values make them drift, lag and settle slowly, as in the deep sea. |
| Splat Light | Splats | How strongly each splat lures or scares the animals and lights up the plankton. Its modulation source decides when splats fall. |
| Splat Food | Splats | How much glowing food each splat drops for the animals to chase; 0 drops only light. |
| Splat Spread | Splats | How far from the swarm splats land, from its middle to the edges of the sea. |
| Follow Swarm | Camera | How closely the view centers on the animals as they wander; at 0 it holds the middle of the sea. |
| Camera Speed | Camera | How fast the DRIFT or AUDIO camera travels. |
| Camera Swing | Camera | How far the DRIFT or AUDIO camera swings around the swarm. |
| Orbit | Camera | Turns the view around the swarm. |
| Height | Camera | Raises or lowers the view. |
| Distance | Camera | How far the camera sits from the swarm. |
| Field of View | Camera | From a narrow lens to a wide one. |
| Light Shafts | Water | The soft, drifting beams coming from the water surface above. |
| Water Particles | Water | Brightness of the plankton drifting in the water when nothing stirs them. |
Settings reference
Population
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Palette | WILD, ABYSS, AURORA, CORAL, EMBER, ORCHID | The colors of the sea. The animals ease into a new palette one after another, newcomers are born in it, and their young inherit and slowly change its colors. |
| Population | 4–28 | The most animals alive at once. Lowering it lets the oldest fade and sink, leaving glowing food behind. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Comb Jellies | 0–1 | Share of comb jellies, with rainbow light running along their rows, when a sea opens and among the newcomers that follow; the rest are jellyfish. |
| Evolution | 0–3 | How far young stray from their parent's shape, colors and rhythm; at 0 they are exact copies. |
| Lifespan | 0.25x–3x | Scales how long each animal lives before it fades and sinks, leaving glowing food behind. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Light
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Jellyfish Glow | 0–2 | Brightness of the jellyfish: their bells, canals and margins, tentacles and oral arms. By default it swells slowly with the bass. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Comb Jelly Glow | 0–2 | Brightness of the comb jellies: their rainbow comb rows, bodies and tentacles. By default it shimmers quickly with the highs. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Plankton Glow | 0–3 | How brightly the plankton light up around passing animals, the pointer and splats. By default it flashes on the music's sharp changes. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Depth Fade | 0–1 | How much the animals far behind the swarm's middle fade into the water, for a sense of depth; 0 keeps them all equally bright. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Marine Snow | 0–2 | Brightness of the falling flakes the animals feed on. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Bloom | 0–1.5 | The soft glow spreading around everything bright. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity | 0–3 | How strongly the music drives the sea. |
| Response | 0–1 | Higher values smooth the reaction to the music; lower values follow every hit. |
Motion
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 0x–3x | Overall pace of the sea; 0 holds every animal while the camera keeps moving. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Pulse | 0x–2x | How deeply each bell contracts, and so how hard it pushes the jellyfish forward. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Beat Sync | 0–1 | Share of jellyfish that start a contraction together on each beat. |
| Current | 0x–3x | Strength of the slow swirling current that carries the animals, their tentacles and the snow. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Tentacles | 0.3x–2x | Scales the length of tentacles and oral arms, and how far they reach for food. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Water Drag | 0–1 | How thick the water feels to tentacles and oral arms: at 0 they swing quickly and whip around; higher values make them drift, lag and settle slowly, as in the deep sea. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Splats
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Pointer Lure | On / Off | Animals with an appetite for light follow the pointer over the canvas while shy ones flee it, the plankton light up along its path, and a click or tap drops food. |
| Audio Splats | On / Off | Lets the music drop splats into the sea: a burst of light the animals swim to or flee, with the plankton lighting up around it and glowing food. Each rise of the source on SPLAT LIGHT drops one; by default that is every beat. |
| Splat Light | 0–3 | How strongly each splat lures or scares the animals and lights up the plankton. Its modulation source decides when splats fall. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Splat Food | 0–1 | How much glowing food each splat drops for the animals to chase; 0 drops only light. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Splat Spread | 0–1 | How far from the swarm splats land, from its middle to the edges of the sea. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Send Splat | Action | Drops one splat now from this button, MIDI, keyboard or OSC, whether or not Audio Splats is on. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | DRIFT, STAGE, AUDIO | DRIFT sways slowly around the swarm; STAGE holds the view where you set it; AUDIO swings around it while the music plays. |
| Follow Swarm | 0–1 | How closely the view centers on the animals as they wander; at 0 it holds the middle of the sea. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Camera Speed | 0x–4x | How fast the DRIFT or AUDIO camera travels. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Camera Swing | 0–3 | How far the DRIFT or AUDIO camera swings around the swarm. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Auto Orbit | -1–1 | Keeps the STAGE view turning around the swarm; below zero it turns the other way. |
| Orbit | -3.14–3.14 | Turns the view around the swarm. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Height | -1.2–1.2 | Raises or lowers the view. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Distance | 6–40 | How far the camera sits from the swarm. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Field of View | 25°–90° | From a narrow lens to a wide one. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Water
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | OFF, MOONLIGHT, REEF, DEEP TRENCH, NEON | The open water around the animals. Choose OFF for a black backdrop. |
| Light Shafts | 0–1 | The soft, drifting beams coming from the water surface above. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Water Particles | 0–1 | Brightness of the plankton drifting in the water when nothing stirs them. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Background
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Background Opacity | 0–1 | How much of the water shows; at 0 only the animals, their wake and the snow draw. |
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
- Start with Open Sea, then try Comb Garden for a sea of rainbow comb jellies, Bloom Tide for warm colors in bright reef water that feed and pulse on the beat, Abyss for slow blue animals in the deep, or Fast Evolution to watch generations come and go in minutes.
- Aquarium and Deep Lens add a lens look from the FX Rack: darkened corners, a faint red and blue fringe toward the edges and fine film grain, subtle in Aquarium and stronger in Deep Lens. Choosing any other look clears those effects.
- Choosing a look opens a new sea with its own animals. Choosing a Palette instead keeps the animals you have: they ease into the new colors one after another, and their young carry those colors on.
- Raise Evolution for young that look less like their parents, and lower Lifespan to see more generations; at Evolution 0 the young are exact copies.
- With Audio Splats on, every rise of the source on Splat Light drops a splat; by default that is the beat. Assign the bass or another source to Splat Light to drop splats on that instead, raise Splat Food to feed the animals with each one, and Splat Spread to scatter them farther from the swarm. Send Splat drops one from a button, MIDI, a key or OSC.
- Set each kind of animal's light on its own: Jellyfish Glow, Comb Jelly Glow and Plankton Glow each follow a different part of the music by default, and you can assign any source to each. Pulse and Current are the other controls the music drives. Raise Beat Sync to make more jellyfish contract together on each beat.
- Water Drag sets how thick the water feels to tentacles and oral arms: the default lets them drift and settle slowly, as in the deep sea; lower it toward 0 for quick, whippy tentacles.
- Depth Fade sets how much the animals far behind the swarm fade into the water; lower it to see the whole sea equally bright.
- With Pointer Lure on, move the pointer over the canvas: animals with an appetite for light follow it while shy ones turn away, the plankton light up along its path, and a click or tap drops food.
- Drift sways the camera slowly around the swarm the way the original aquarium does. Lower Follow Swarm to hold the middle of the sea instead, or choose Stage to set your own view with Orbit, Height and Distance.
- The plankton light up in every Water look and with the water Off. Use Light Shafts and Water Particles to set how much of the surface light and the resting plankton shows.
- Lower Background Opacity to layer the animals over another source in Studio; the water fades away while the animals, the glowing plankton and the falling snow stay.