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Music Visualizer Lab
Create a Visualizer

Free transparent music visualizer

Export the visualizer on its own, with a real alpha channel, so you can drop it over your own footage instead of the background this tool draws. Free, and it renders in your browser.

Create a VisualizerBrowse templates

How to do it

Load your track and set up the visualizer as normal. When you are ready to export, open the Export dialog and set the background to Transparent. You can then choose the format: WebM for a small file, or ProRes for the format most editors prefer for alpha.

The editor background and the export background are separate on purpose. Keep a background in the editor to judge contrast while you work, and the export still comes out with real transparency.

The clip has no audio. A transparent overlay takes its sound from the timeline you drop it onto, so there is no need to bake the track in.

How the transparent export works

Every frame is rendered on its own, with the background layer left off, so the alpha is genuine rather than a black or green fill. The frames are then encoded in your browser with a bundled build of FFmpeg. That is the part that makes real alpha video possible.

The usual browser video path, MediaRecorder, cannot keep an alpha channel, and WebCodecs does not encode alpha either, so those routes would quietly flatten your visualizer onto black. Encoding the frames with FFmpeg is slower, but it is the one method that actually keeps the transparency.

Rendering frame by frame also means the timing is exact. Each frame is analysed at its own timestamp, so the clip lines up with the audio when you place it against the track in your editor.

Compositing tips

Go easy on the glow. A white glow that looks subtle over a dark editor background shows as a pale halo once there is nothing behind it. Turn it down for a clean cut out, and add glow in your editor over the top of the footage instead.

Match the frame rate. Export at the frame rate of your timeline. A 30 frame per second clip on a 24 frame per second timeline will be retimed or drop frames.

Trails composite fine. The trail effect fades previous frames rather than clearing them and keeps the alpha correct, so trails carry over. The first frame of a section just starts before any trail has built up.

For the other export options, see the music visualizer page.

Questions

What formats can I export?

Two, both with a real alpha channel. WebM with VP8 alpha is small and imports into most editors, and it is the default. ProRes 4444 in a MOV is the format most editors treat as the standard for alpha, at the cost of much larger files. Pick whichever your editor is happier with.

Does it work in my browser?

The encoder runs on WebAssembly, so any current browser can produce the file. The first transparent export downloads a one time encoder of about 32 MB, then it is cached. The WebM alpha files play back in Chrome and Firefox, and the ProRes files open in Premiere, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut.

Should I use green screen instead?

It is a good option, especially for a glowy look. Set the background to a solid green, export a normal video, and key the green out in your editor. You keep full control of the keying, and a soft glow has a solid backdrop to sit against rather than showing as a white halo on transparency.

Does the glow come through cleanly?

A strong glow shows as a pale halo once there is no background behind it, and video compression can make that halo chunky. If you want a clean cut out, turn the glow down before you export and add it back in your editor, where it has the footage to glow against. Green screen avoids the problem entirely.

Does the text and logo come through too?

Yes. The transparent export skips the background layer only. The visualizer, any text and any logo keep their own transparency.

How long can the clip be?

The frames are held in memory while the encoder runs, so there is a cap of 1800 frames, which is a minute at 30 frames per second. Export a long piece in sections, or lower the frame rate.

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