Lines
Vortex Tunnel
Neon contour lines wrap a breathing vortex mouth and stream out of it, splitting into red, green and blue on each beat as the bass claps it open.
Vortex Tunnel draws ninety parallel contour lines wrapped around a dark mouth a little off center. It opens on Chroma Rift: red and blue lines that pull apart into red, green and blue on every beat, inside a soft vignette. The lines bend into slow lobes, the mouth opens and closes, and the contours stream out of it as if you were drifting into a funnel. Every sound travels across the lines: a hit moves the contours nearest the mouth first and reaches the outer ones a moment later, the waveform ripples each line as it passes, and each beat sends a ring of light outward. By default the bass claps the mouth open, the mids deepen the warp, the highs tangle the nearest lines and the beat splits the colors.
Open Vortex Tunnel
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
Chroma Rift · Mirror Maw · Endless Drain · Ghost Spiral · Neon Well · Phosphor Tube · Silver Thread · Ember Funnel · Undertow
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mouth Size | Vortex | How wide the dark opening at the heart of the vortex is. |
| Reach | Vortex | How far out the outermost contour reaches. |
| Crowd | Vortex | How tightly the contours pack toward the mouth. |
| Lean | Vortex | How far each contour shifts as it grows, so the mouth recedes off center. |
| Center X | Vortex | Moves the mouth left or right. |
| Center Y | Vortex | Moves the mouth down or up. |
| Funnel Depth | Vortex | How far the mouth sinks away from you as the contours crowd toward it; shows best with a wide LENS. |
| Layer Spread | Vortex | How far apart in depth the three interleaved sets of contours sit; 0 lays them in one. |
| Depth Fade | Vortex | How much dimmer the farthest set of contours is than the nearest. |
| Warp | Weft | How deep the wavy lobes bend the contours. |
| Lobes | Weft | How many lobes run around each contour. |
| Weave | Weft | How far the lobes slide from one contour to the next: low keeps the contours parallel, high weaves them into a tangle. |
| Spectrum Lift | Weft | How much a loud frequency deepens the warp of its own contour, lows at the mouth and highs at the rim. |
| Line Width | Lines | How thick each contour draws on screen. |
| Brightness | Lines | How bright the contours are. |
| Glow | Lines | A soft glow around the brightest contours. |
| First Hue | Color | One of the two colors the contours alternate between. |
| Second Hue | Color | The other color the contours alternate between. |
| Color Bands | Color | How quickly the contours alternate between the two colors: low gives broad bands, high alternates line by line. |
| Hue Cycle | Color | Turns both colors around the color wheel over time; below zero they turn the other way. |
| Saturation | Color | How colorful the contours are; 0 turns them gray. |
| Split | Chroma | How far red and blue pull apart; set to the beat by default, so they split on each beat. |
| Split Angle | Chroma | The direction red pulls in while blue pulls the opposite way. |
| Vignette | Chroma | Darkens the corners of the picture; 0 leaves them as bright as the middle. |
| Bass Mouth | Sound | How hard the bass claps the mouth open; set to the bass by default. |
| Mid Warp | Sound | How much the mids deepen the warp of the middle set of contours; set to the mids by default. |
| High Tangle | Sound | How much the highs tangle the nearest set of contours; set to the highs by default. |
| Echo Delay | Sound | How long a sound takes to travel across the contours, in seconds; 0 moves them all at once. |
| Waveform | Sound | How far the waveform ripples each contour as it travels. |
| Beat Rings | Sound | How brightly each beat lights the contours, a ring of light that travels with the echo. |
| Flow Speed | Flow | How many contours a second stream out of the mouth; below zero they drain into it. |
| Spin | Flow | How fast the whole vortex turns; below zero it turns the other way. |
| Twist | Flow | How far the inner contours turn ahead of the outer ones, winding the lobes into a spiral. |
| Open Rate | Flow | How fast the mouth opens and closes. |
| Open Depth | Flow | How far the mouth opens and closes; 0 holds it still. |
| Camera Speed | Camera | How fast the AUDIO camera travels. |
| Camera Swing | Camera | How far the AUDIO camera swings around the vortex. |
| Orbit | Camera | Turns the view around the vortex. |
| Height | Camera | Raises or lowers the view. |
| Roll | Camera | Tilts the picture. |
| Distance | Camera | How far the camera sits from the vortex. |
| Lens | Camera | From wide and close, where the funnel reads as a tunnel, to a long lens far away that flattens it. |
Settings reference
Vortex
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Mouth Size | 0.01–0.6 | How wide the dark opening at the heart of the vortex is. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Reach | 0.3–3 | How far out the outermost contour reaches. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Crowd | 0.5–3 | How tightly the contours pack toward the mouth. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Lean | 0–1.2 | How far each contour shifts as it grows, so the mouth recedes off center. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Center X | -0.9–0.9 | Moves the mouth left or right. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Center Y | -0.9–0.9 | Moves the mouth down or up. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Funnel Depth | 0–2 | How far the mouth sinks away from you as the contours crowd toward it; shows best with a wide LENS. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Layer Spread | 0–1.5 | How far apart in depth the three interleaved sets of contours sit; 0 lays them in one. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Depth Fade | 0–1 | How much dimmer the farthest set of contours is than the nearest. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Weft
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Warp | 0–1 | How deep the wavy lobes bend the contours. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Lobes | 0.5–8 | How many lobes run around each contour. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Weave | 0–0.25 | How far the lobes slide from one contour to the next: low keeps the contours parallel, high weaves them into a tangle. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Spectrum Lift | 0–1.5 | How much a loud frequency deepens the warp of its own contour, lows at the mouth and highs at the rim. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Lines
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Line Width | 0.0004–0.008 | How thick each contour draws on screen. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Brightness | 0.05–2 | How bright the contours are. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Glow | 0–1.5 | A soft glow around the brightest contours. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Color
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| First Hue | 0–1 | One of the two colors the contours alternate between. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Second Hue | 0–1 | The other color the contours alternate between. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Color Bands | 0.02–2 | How quickly the contours alternate between the two colors: low gives broad bands, high alternates line by line. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Hue Cycle | -0.5 turns/s–0.5 turns/s | Turns both colors around the color wheel over time; below zero they turn the other way. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Saturation | 0–1 | How colorful the contours are; 0 turns them gray. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Chroma
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Split | 0–0.05 | How far red and blue pull apart; set to the beat by default, so they split on each beat. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Split Angle | 0°–360° | The direction red pulls in while blue pulls the opposite way. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Vignette | 0–1 | Darkens the corners of the picture; 0 leaves them as bright as the middle. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Sound
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Bass Mouth | 0–2 | How hard the bass claps the mouth open; set to the bass by default. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Mid Warp | 0–3 | How much the mids deepen the warp of the middle set of contours; set to the mids by default. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| High Tangle | 0–0.1 | How much the highs tangle the nearest set of contours; set to the highs by default. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Echo Delay | 0s–2s | How long a sound takes to travel across the contours, in seconds; 0 moves them all at once. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Echo Direction | OUT, IN | OUT sends each sound from the mouth to the outer contours; IN sends it from the outer contours into the mouth. |
| Waveform | 0–1 | How far the waveform ripples each contour as it travels. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Beat Rings | 0–2 | How brightly each beat lights the contours, a ring of light that travels with the echo. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity | 0–3 | How strongly the music drives the vortex. |
| Response | 0–1 | Higher values smooth the reaction to the music; lower values follow every hit. |
Flow
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Flow Speed | -6–6 | How many contours a second stream out of the mouth; below zero they drain into it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Spin | -2–2 | How fast the whole vortex turns; below zero it turns the other way. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Twist | -1 turns–1 turns | How far the inner contours turn ahead of the outer ones, winding the lobes into a spiral. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Open Rate | 0–2 | How fast the mouth opens and closes. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Open Depth | 0–1.2 | How far the mouth opens and closes; 0 holds it still. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | STAGE, AUDIO | STAGE holds the camera where you set it; AUDIO swings it around the vortex while the music plays. |
| Camera Speed | 0x–3x | How fast the AUDIO camera travels. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Camera Swing | 0–3.14 | How far the AUDIO camera swings around the vortex. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Orbit | -3.14–3.14 | Turns the view around the vortex. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Height | -1.5–1.5 | Raises or lowers the view. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Roll | -3.14–3.14 | Tilts the picture. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Distance | 0.5–8 | How far the camera sits from the vortex. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Lens | 0–1 | From wide and close, where the funnel reads as a tunnel, to a long lens far away that flattens it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Auto Orbit | -2–2 | Keeps the view turning around the vortex; below zero it turns the other way. |
Background
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Background Opacity | 0–1 | How much of the black background shows; at 0 only the contours 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 Chroma Rift, then try Neon Well for cyan and magenta lines without the split, Ember Funnel to look down the funnel as a tunnel, or Silver Thread for gray lines with light film grain.
- Under Chroma, Split sets how far red and blue pull apart on each beat, Split Angle turns the direction they pull in, and Vignette darkens the corners. Set Split and Vignette to zero for clean lines, or raise Split on any other look to give it the beat split.
- Five looks also turn on Performer effects: Mirror Maw folds the vortex into a kaleidoscope, Endless Drain repeats it inside itself, Ghost Spiral leaves fading trails, Phosphor Tube shows it on a curved screen, and Silver Thread adds film grain. The other looks turn those effects off.
- Raise Flow Speed to stream the contours out of the mouth faster, or set it below zero so they drain into it. Twist winds the lobes into a spiral and Spin turns the whole vortex.
- Use Open Rate and Open Depth to change how the mouth breathes, and Mouth Size, Crowd and Lean to reshape the opening.
- Under Sound, lengthen Echo Delay so each hit takes longer to cross the lines, pick In under Echo Direction to send it toward the mouth instead, and raise Waveform or Beat Rings for stronger ripples and rings of light.
- Lower Lens and Distance and raise Funnel Depth to see the mouth sink away as a tunnel, or pick Audio under Camera so the view swings around the vortex while the music plays.
- Lower Brightness or Glow if the lines wash out on your screen, and lower Background Opacity to layer the vortex over another source in Studio.