Beyond the engine-specific controls, Novus provides a set of post-processing effects — glow, bloom, and particle density — that add polish to any visualizer engine.
Available Effects
Glow adds a soft halo around visualizer elements. Bloom pushes bright areas to bleed light outward for a cinematic look. Both are controlled by sliders in the engine-specific Visualizer Settings section.
The Particle Density multiplier (available on particle-based engines like Particles, Ascension, and Vortex) increases or decreases the number of active particles without changing any other settings.
Tips
- →Bloom works best on dark backgrounds. On light backgrounds it can wash out the visualizer.
- →High bloom values (above 0.8) may cause bright colours to look over-exposed in the export — check a test export at a lower resolution first.
Blend Modes
When using multiple engine layers (available in the Template Builder for layered visualizers), the Blend Mode setting controls how the layer composites over the primary engine. Options include Screen, Add, Multiply, and Overlay.
Screen blend mode is the most versatile — it brightens overlapping areas without clipping to white the way Add can.
Layer Opacity
In a multi-layer setup, the Layer Opacity slider controls the transparency of the secondary engine layer. Lower opacity blends it subtly into the primary engine; higher opacity makes it more prominent.
Performance Impact
Effects are rendered in real time in the preview and at export time. Heavier effects (high particle count, high bloom, multiple engine layers) will increase export time. For long tracks this can add several minutes to the render.
To reduce render time: lower particle count by 50%, reduce bloom to 0.4 or below, and use a single engine layer rather than multiple.
Tips
- →Fewer effects often look cleaner — restraint is a design choice, not a limitation.