Creating your first music visualizer with Novus takes just a few minutes. This guide walks you through every step from opening the editor to playing back your first animated visualizer.
Opening the Editor
Navigate to the Editor from the top navigation bar or click 'Editor' from your Dashboard. The editor opens with a default Spectrum visualizer already loaded so you can see something moving right away.
The canvas occupies the left side of the screen. On the right you'll find the Settings panel with controls for audio, visuals, text overlays, and export options.
Picking a Template
In the Settings panel, click 'Template Builder' at the top. You'll see a dropdown of all available visualizer engines — Spectrum, Tunnel, Terrain, Particles, and more.
Each engine has a distinct visual style. Spectrum is a great starting point: it shows classic frequency bars that react to bass, mid, and treble in real time. Select any engine and the canvas updates immediately.
Tips
- →Start with Spectrum or Waveform — they're the fastest-rendering engines and easiest to customise.
- →You can switch engines at any time without losing your audio or text overlay settings.
Uploading Audio
Scroll down to the 'Audio' section in the Settings panel. Click the upload area or drag an audio file (MP3, WAV, OGG, or FLAC) directly onto it.
Once uploaded you'll see a waveform in the Timeline at the bottom of the screen. Press the Play button to start playback — the visualizer will react in real time to your music.
Tips
- →No audio file ready? The visualizer still animates in demo mode so you can preview the look without audio.
Playing and Exporting
Use the Play/Pause button below the canvas to preview the visualizer synced to your audio. The Timeline lets you scrub to any point in the track.
When you're happy with the result, scroll to 'Export Settings' in the Settings panel, choose your resolution and format, then click 'Export'. Your video file will be generated and downloaded automatically.
Tips
- →Save a draft first using the 'Save Draft' button at the top — this preserves your settings so you can come back later.
- →1080×1080 at 30fps is a good export setting for social media uploads.