Neon Cascade
A single line of light rides the beat while a curtain of falling sparks cascades beneath it, over your artwork and an optional photo or video backdrop — a cascading audio visualizer suited to moody lo-fi, ambient or lyric videos.
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About this template
Shape and layout
A single bright horizontal line of light crosses the full width of the frame, with a dense curtain of falling glowing dust beneath it. About 160 narrow spectrum bars hang from the line and stab downward into the curtain, deepest in the bass on the left. Your artwork sits behind the scene, movable and resizable, with the title seeded to the left and a small elapsed timer in the lower corner.
Motion
The 160 bars follow the spectrum with a fast attack and short release, stabbing down from the horizon line. Falling dust particles drift down at a constant rate on their own clock, unaffected by the beat, while a soft glow haze breathes with the overall loudness. There is no camera motion or hue rotation; the scene stays deliberately still.
Look and colour
The palette cycles through six neon hues by default, or holds on one preset or a custom accent colour, colouring the horizon line, bars and dust in the same shade at any instant. A halo glows behind your artwork and a soft bloom lifts the whole scene, over a dimmable photo or video backdrop. The mood is calm and restrained rather than busy.
What you can customize
Every setting below is yours to change in the editor, with the live preview updating as the track plays.
Visualizer
- Vertical position
- Moves the whole visualizer up or down the frame.
- Color preset
- A ready-made colour scheme; pick Custom to choose your own colours.
- CycleOriginalUltravioletSunsetEmeraldCustom
- Custom color
- Particles
- How dense the curtain of falling sparks below the light line is. Zero removes it.
- Particle speed
- Audio reactivity
- How strongly the visualizer moves with the music — lower for calmer motion, higher for a punchier response.
- Attack
- How quickly the visualizer responds when the sound gets louder.
- Release
- How quickly the visualizer settles after the sound drops.
- Noise floor
- The level below which quiet bands are ignored — raise it to keep hiss and room noise from showing.
- Peak contrast
- How much the loudest bands stand out from the rest — higher makes peaks sharper and quiet bands lower.
- Idle height
- How tall the columns sit when there is nothing to react to.
- Peak height
- Bass emphasis
- How much the low notes at the start of the line tower over the quieter mids and highs further along. Zero levels the whole strip.
- Bloom
- The soft light halo around the bright parts. Higher spreads it further.
- Vignette
- Grain
- Adds fine film-like noise over the frame for a textured, less digital look.
- Timer
- Shows how much of the track has played so far.
- OnOff
Artwork
- Artwork image
- Artwork dim
- Darkens the artwork so the visualizer stands out against it.
- Artwork size
- Artwork X
- Slides the artwork left or right; you can also drag it in the preview.
- Artwork Y
- Slides the artwork up or down; you can also drag it in the preview.
- Artwork audio reaction
- How much the artwork pulses with the beat. Zero keeps it still.
Background
- Background image
- Background video
- Background dimming
- Darkens the background photo or video so the visualizer and text stay readable.
- Background blur
- Softens the background photo or video so it reads as a backdrop, not the subject.
Backdrop effects
Effects for your photo or video backdrop, shared by every template.
- Zoom pump
- How much the background photo or video zooms in on the bass. Zero keeps it at a fixed size.
- Travel
- How far the background photo or video wanders around the frame as the track plays. Zero holds it still.
- Camera shake
- A short camera shake on every kick — a vibration with a slight roll — plus a low rumble with the level. Zero holds the camera still.
- Shockwave
- Ripple rings spread out from the centre on the kicks and warp the picture as they pass. Zero never fires.
- Lens
- A lens bulge that pumps on the kicks, with a colour fringe in the outer frame that grows with the level.
- Zoom blur
- Radial streaks shoot out from the centre on the kicks, as if the camera rushed in. Zero never streaks.
- Glow pulse
- A soft bloom around the bright parts of the picture that swells on the kicks.
- Light leaks
- Warm patches of light drift slowly over the picture, brighter the louder the music — a film look.
- Light rays
- Shafts of light from the top-left corner, blocked by the darker parts of the picture, brighter with the music and flaring on the kicks. Zero keeps them off.
- Light sweep
- A soft, slanted band of light crosses the picture once a bar — or, without the track’s analysis, on a strong kick every few seconds at most. Zero never sweeps.
- Lens flare
- Long horizontal streaks of bluish light stretch out of the brightest parts of the picture on the kicks, and rest faintly in between. Zero keeps them off.
- Fog
- Slow drifting mist over the picture, thicker toward the bottom and breathing gently with the music. Zero keeps the air clear.
- Particle overlay
- A layer of drifting particles over the picture that brightens with the music.
- OffDustBokehSnowSparksRainFirefliesConfettiBubblesStars
- Particle amount
- How many particles fill the frame.
- Rain on glass
- Raindrops on a pane in front of the picture: small beads, and bigger drops that slide down and bend the picture. Zero keeps the glass dry.
- Echo
- The previous frame lingers, slightly enlarged, so motion leaves trails and the kicks pull you into a tunnel.
- Neon edges
- The picture's own outlines traced in cycling neon colours, brightest on the kicks.
- Glitch
- Digital bursts on the kicks: sliced rows jump sideways, blocks freeze and the colour channels split. Zero never fires.
- Pixelate
- The picture breaks into square blocks on the kicks and sharpens again within a quarter of a second. Zero keeps it sharp.
- Beat pulse
- The picture breathes in time with the music, swelling and glowing just before each beat so it lands on it. Needs the track’s analysis.
- Perspective tilt
- Tilts the picture like a card in 3D, swaying slowly with the music and nodding on the kicks, with a light that follows the turn. Zero keeps it face-on.
- Liquid
- The picture ripples like a liquid surface, more strongly the louder the music. Zero keeps it flat.
- Flash
- A short flash toward white on the strongest kicks, at most two per second. Zero never flashes.
- Retro VHS
- Tape look: a gentle wobble, colour bleed, scan lines, noise and a tracking band that rolls through on the beat.
- Old film
- Projector look: flicker, hair scratches, dust, a gentle weave and a sepia lean.
- Backdrop grain
- Adds fine film-like noise over the frame for a textured, less digital look.
- Color grade
- A colour treatment over the whole picture — and the colours of the built-in backdrop when you set no photo or video.
- NaturalWarmCoolMonoFaded
- Duotone
- Maps the picture’s light and shade onto two colours, dark to light. Custom uses the two colours you pick below.
- OffMidnightSunsetForestGoldRoseCustom
- Duotone shadows
- The colour the darkest parts of the picture turn into.
- Duotone highlights
- The colour the brightest parts of the picture turn into.
- Motion follows
- What the camera moves follow — zoom pump, shake, tilt, shockwave, lens, zoom blur, liquid, depth, subject pop and focus. A stem needs the track’s stems.
- Whole mixDrumsBassVocals
- Light follows
- What the light follows — glow, flashes, light leaks, rays, sweep, lens flare, fog, vignette, spotlight, rim light and hue steps. A stem needs the track’s stems.
- Whole mixDrumsBassVocals
- Texture follows
- What the texture effects follow — glitch, pixelate, VHS, echo trails, neon edges, particles, rain on glass and subject ghost trails. A stem needs the track’s stems.
- Whole mixDrumsBassVocals
- Drop
- The picture tightens, dims and drains of colour over the bars before a drop, then bursts open on it. Needs the track’s analysis.
- Follow the song
- Calmer reactions in the quiet parts of the song and bigger ones in the loud parts, easing at each change. Needs the track’s analysis.
- Hue drift
- The colours slowly cycle around the hue wheel and take a step on every kick. Zero keeps them as they are.
- Depth parallax
- Sways the near parts of the photo more than the far ones, and swells them on the kicks, so a flat picture gains depth. Needs the photo's depth map: off until it is ready, and on a video.
- Focus rack
- Blurs by depth like a lens: at rest the near part is sharp and the far part soft, and the focus pulls to the background and back on the kicks. Needs the photo's depth map; off until it is ready.
- Depth fog
- A pale haze over the far parts of the picture that breathes with the music, so the near parts stand out. Needs the photo's depth map; off until it is ready.
- Keep subject crisp
- Keeps the photo's subject untouched while blur, glow, echo, tape, grade and grain go to the background only. Needs the photo's subject map; off until it is ready.
- Subject rim light
- A neon rim of light hugging the photo's subject, with a soft halo behind it, flaring on the kicks. Needs the photo's subject map; off until it is ready, and on a video.
- Subject ghost trails
- Pale copies of the subject linger and drift outward with the music while the background stays put. Needs the photo's subject map; off until it is ready, and on a video.
- Subject pop
- The photo's subject swells toward the viewer on the kicks while the background holds still. Needs the photo's subject map; off until it is ready, and on a video.
- Subject spotlight
- Darkens the picture around the subject, like a spotlight that follows it and breathes with the music. Needs the photo's subject map; off until it is ready, and on a video.
- Beat sync
- Lands the stepping effects — the kaleidoscope, the hue drift and the shockwave rings — on the beat or the bar instead of on every bass hit. Needs the track’s analysis.
- OffEvery beatEvery bar
- Focus pulse
- The picture softens and dims as the music settles and snaps sharp and bright on the hits. Zero keeps it steady.
- Vignette pulse
- Mirror
- Folds the picture into mirrored copies. The kaleidoscope turns slowly and steps on the kicks.
- OffLeft-rightFour-wayKaleidoscope
- Particles behind subject
- Spreads the particles through the scene's depth, so some pass behind the photo's subject. Needs the photo's depth map; off until it is ready, and on a video.
- NoYes