Filed under: TUAW Tips
TUAW Tip: Control the iTunes visualizer
By now you've probably had the opportunity to play around with the new iTunes Visualizer in iTunes 8. It's pretty cool, eh? Just like the previous visualizer, you can control this one with a few, simple key strokes. By pressing "?" while the visualizer is running, you are presented with a list of keys that customize the visualizer.- ? - Shows/hides the help screen
- M - Changes the mode
- P - Changes the color palette
- I - Displays the track information for the currently playing song
- C - Toggles "auto-cycle" (which is turned on by default)
- F - Toggles the "freeze mode"
- N - Shows/hides the "smoke" in the background
- L - Toggles camera lock
Thanks to Luke and others for the tip!
Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 and TUAW Tips sections.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phoenix said 11:23AM on 10-03-2008
I could have sworn that if you pressed either the 'A' key or 'S' key while the visualizer was on, you could increase or reduce the number of 'particles' around each 'sphere' during the song... or at least their propensity to fly away....
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jkool13 said 3:18PM on 10-05-2008
Yep, it looks so
Joshua Ochs said 11:23AM on 10-03-2008
Shame there's no option to turn off those black "globes". The original Magnetosphere didn't have them, and looked much better to me.
Anyone else agree/disagree?
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Woody Sabran said 11:30AM on 10-03-2008
Anyone know how to display the frame rate?
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MoD said 12:29PM on 10-03-2008
Pressing "+" and "-" changes the size or contrast of the particles.
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JoshK said 1:10PM on 10-03-2008
When will Apple send these visualizers to my AppleTV? This would look so sweet on my HDTV....come on!!!! Do it already
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Ed said 2:34PM on 10-03-2008
It's possible the Apple TV isn't powerful enough to do the 3D work required, though I doubt it.
JoshK said 3:10PM on 10-03-2008
I've heard that but if it can play AppleTV's "HD" video I would think it'd be able to handle a visualizer. I could be wrong here, I'm unsure of what would be involved. But to me I just see a feature begging to be used at a party or even as a nightlight at a bachelor pad.
Ed said 4:04PM on 10-03-2008
The HD video can be processed in hardware. The Apple TV has dedicated hardware for processing h.264 video. Doing 3D rendering of the sort used in the visualizer is probably less intensive than h.264 video at HD resolutions, but the Apple TV probably doesn't have any hardware that is powerful enough to generate it.
Ethan said 12:22PM on 10-04-2008
My macbook with a silly GMA 950 is doing fine at just over 720p, and the appletv has a proper video card, so I think it should be fine.
Alexander said 2:42PM on 10-03-2008
Pressing "A" adds more particles, I believe "S" removes some again...
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JC said 3:39PM on 10-03-2008
Is there any way to capture a still image of the visualizer in action? Sometimes you get to a really cool combination that would be nice to save as a background or whatever...
Gabriel Radic said 10:41AM on 10-19-2008
Yeah, those black hole globes looks like balls on a bulldog.
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Tony said 4:32PM on 10-03-2008
@JC
Yes you can. Simply press Command-Shift-3. This takes a whole picture of the screen. Or you can do Command-Shift-4. This lets you select a part of the screen. Or you can do Command-Shift-4-Spacebar and you can select a window/s. Hope this helps!
-TB
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ryaninc said 5:10PM on 10-03-2008
Anyone know of a way to keep the current Album art/song info on the screen? I love the visualizer, but I often let it play while I'm across the room and I like being able to see what song is playing without getting up and walking over.
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SuperMac said 7:59PM on 10-03-2008
This was on another website a while ago. Macworld, I think...
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John Harrison said 12:03AM on 12-20-2008
Here's a free iTunes visualizer that is very reactive to your music: Manifesto Visualizer.
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John Harrison said 12:05AM on 12-20-2008
Link was removed from previous comment:
http://blog.insightvr.com/?p=47