How to use Phosphene, free VJ software that runs in your browser
Phosphene is a free music visualizer and VJ tool that lives in a web page. Give it a song, a microphone or a line from the DJ mixer and it draws live, audio-reactive visuals you can steer from the keyboard, a MIDI controller or a phone. This guide gets you from an empty tab to a full-screen show, then covers performing, projecting and the questions people ask most.
Open PhospheneFree, no sign-up. It runs in your browser.
- Price
- Free. No account, no sign-up, nothing to install.
- Runs in
- Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on WebGL. Chrome or Edge for MIDI and Phosphene Link.
- Offline
- Works offline after the first load, and installs as an app.
- Version
- 4.1.0
What you need
- A browser with WebGL. Phosphene works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. Use Chrome or Edge if you plan to plug in a MIDI controller or use Phosphene Link.
- Something to listen to. A music file, a microphone or a line input. Or nothing at all: the built-in Sound Bath makes its own tones.
- Optional extras. A projector or second screen, a MIDI controller, and a webcam if you want the visuals to follow people.
A stronger graphics card helps at high resolutions, and it sets the ceiling for how large a still you can export.
Your first five minutes
- Open Phosphene. Go to beautifulengine.com/phosphene. The app loads in the tab and is ready to play.
- Give it sound. Load a music file, switch to your microphone or line input (the browser asks for permission first), or start Sound Bath.
- Pick an engine. Press 1 to 9 for the first nine engines, then 0, - and = for engines 10 to 12. Each draws a different kind of image; the engines page shows all of them.
- Step through scenes. W moves to the next scene preset and Q goes back. More than 100 come built in.
- Set how it reacts. The bass, mid and treble mapping sliders decide how hard each part of the music pushes the picture. If the beat feels off, tap T along with the kick.
- Add a Look. One tap on Clean, VHS, LED Wall, Acid, Spiral, Poster, Ghost or Cyber applies a ready-made combination of effects.
- Go full screen. F fills the screen and H hides the control panel. With a projector or second display, press O for the output window instead.
Sound sources
Music files
Load a track from your computer and Phosphene plays and analyzes it at the same time. MP3, WAV, AIFF, M4A, OGG and FLAC can all work; which ones play depends on the formats your browser supports.
Microphone or line-in
Use this when the music comes from somewhere else: a DJ mixer, a band, a speaker at a party. A mic is fine in a quiet room, but in a loud one it hears the crowd along with the music. For a club set, a line feed from the mixer's booth or record output into an audio interface gives Phosphene a much cleaner signal.
Sound Bath
Sound Bath is a tone generator built into Phosphene. It's handy for checking a projector when nothing is playing, and for ambient installs where the sound and the picture should come from the same place.
Making it react to the beat
Phosphene splits the audio into bass, mids and treble, and the mapping sliders set how much each band moves the picture. On top of that it listens for the beat: beat detection catches the hits, BPM detection works out the tempo, and a phase-locked beat clock keeps time between them.
The beat clock is what keeps a show tight. The strobe is synced to it, autoplay uses it to switch scenes on the bar, and launch quantize uses it to hold your changes until the next beat or bar. If the detected tempo drifts, tap T in time to set it yourself.
Color, effects and Looks
Every engine can wear any of 12 color palettes, or a custom palette you build from four colors of your own.
After the engine draws, 16 post-processing effects can run on the image: real bloom, neon edges (Sobel edge detection), lens chromatic aberration, RGB split, mirror, barrel lens, Droste spiral, liquid melt, LED wall, duotone, posterize, pixelate, hue rotate, VHS, scanlines and film grain. Feedback trails add zoom, rotation and hue drift on top.
The eight FX Looks are one-tap combinations of those effects: Clean, VHS, LED Wall, Acid, Spiral, Poster, Ghost and Cyber. Reach for a Look when you want a fast change mid-set, and for individual effects when you want something specific.
Projecting onto a wall? A projector can't show black, so the darkest parts of the image take on the color of the surface. Brighter palettes and a little bloom read better there than very dark scenes.
Performing live
Phosphene is meant to be played, not just left running.
- A/B decks and crossfader. Load a different scene on each deck and fade between them, the way a DJ blends two records.
- Macros and XY pad. Two performance macros and an XY pad give you a few big controls to grab during a set.
- Setlist and cue list. Build a list of cues where each one lasts a set number of bars, and the show follows the music.
- Launch quantize. Engine, scene and Look changes wait for the next beat or bar, so a slightly late press still lands on time.
- Live transitions. Both scenes keep moving while one becomes the other. Scenes on the same engine glide their settings into each other; switching engines blends the two live scenes with a Fade, Dissolve, Melt or Zoom. Set the length in seconds, or lock it to 1 beat, 2 beats, 1, 2 or 4 bars in the VJ tab.
- Hand and mouse push. Move the mouse across the picture and it's pushed and smeared in the direction you move, like a hand through liquid, then relaxes back over about a second. Strength, Size and Recovery sliders sit under Hand & mouse push in the Live tab.
- Keys you'll reach for. Hold B for blackout and X for strobe. G freezes the frame and Z undoes the last change.
- MIDI controllers. Phosphene uses Web MIDI, so a controller plugged into the computer works in the browser. Launchpad- and APC-style pad controllers get LED feedback. Use Chrome or Edge.
For control from a phone, TouchDesigner, Ableton or a Kinect, see body tracking and OSC.
Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? inside Phosphene for the full list. These are the ones to learn first.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| F | Full screen |
| H | Hide or show the control panel |
| O | Open the output window for a second screen or projector |
| 1–9, 0, -, = | Switch to engines 1 to 12 |
| W / Q | Next / previous scene |
| T | Tap tempo |
| B (hold) | Blackout |
| X (hold) | Strobe |
| G | Freeze |
| Z | Undo |
| S | Screenshot |
| ? | Show every shortcut |
Projectors and second screens
With a projector or second display connected, press O to open the output window: the visuals on their own, without the control panel. Move that window to the projector and keep the controls on your laptop. With only one screen, F and H give you a clean full-screen picture instead.
To fit the image onto real objects, such as a row of panels, a stack of boxes or the front of a DJ booth, use the built-in mapper. The projection mapping guide walks through it.
A browser can't publish Syphon, Spout or NDI, so bringing Phosphene into Resolume, MadMapper or OBS takes an extra step. See getting Phosphene into Resolume or MadMapper.
Capture and share
- Stills. S takes a screenshot, and PNG stills can go up to 8K, limited by what your graphics card can render.
- Social formats and video. Capture in social-post frame sizes, or record video of the visuals.
- Share links. A share link recreates the exact scene for whoever opens it. The QR code puts that link on screen so people in the room can open it on their phones.
- Scene library. Export your scenes as a JSON file to back them up or move them to another computer, then import them there.
Install it and use it offline
Phosphene is a progressive web app. Open it once while you're online, then use your browser's install option to add it to your computer like any other app. After that first load it runs without an internet connection, which matters on a beach, out on the playa or in a venue with no Wi-Fi.
Your music files are already on the computer, so an offline show needs only the laptop, the sound and a screen.
Setups that work
Club set with a DJ
Take a line feed from the mixer into your audio interface and let BPM detection find the tempo; tap T if it needs help. Build a cue list that follows the set in bars, leave launch quantize on so changes land on the downbeat, and keep a finger near B and X for drops. Send the output window to the projector or screen.
House party on a projector
Point a projector at a blank wall, open the output window and turn on autoplay, so scenes change on the bar without anyone at the laptop. Put the QR code up for a minute and guests can open the same scene on their phones.
Beach projection or an art car
Load Phosphene and install it before you leave, since there may be no signal where you're going. Outdoors the projector fights ambient light, so pick brighter palettes and wait until it's properly dark. If the art car has flat panels, map each one as a surface; the layout stays saved in the browser from night to night.
Gallery installation
Leave autoplay running and add a webcam. Body tracking follows up to four moving people and pushes the visuals around them, so visitors see the piece move with them, and the camera video never leaves the computer. For separate objects on plinths, map each one in Copy mode.
Frequently asked questions
Is Phosphene free?
Yes. Phosphene is free to use in your browser, with no account, sign-up or install. Phosphene Link, the optional helper for OSC and Kinect, is free too.
Which browsers does Phosphene work in?
Phosphene is built on WebGL and works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. Chrome or Edge is recommended if you want to use a MIDI controller or Phosphene Link.
Does Phosphene work offline?
Yes, after the first load. Open it once with an internet connection, install it as an app from your browser if you like, and it runs without a connection after that.
What can I use as an audio source?
Three things: a music file from your computer (MP3, WAV, AIFF, M4A, OGG or FLAC, depending on what your browser supports), your microphone or line input, or Sound Bath, the tone generator built into Phosphene.
Can I control Phosphene with a MIDI controller?
Yes. Phosphene uses Web MIDI, which works best in Chrome and Edge, and Launchpad- and APC-style pad controllers get LED feedback. You can also control it over OSC from a phone, TouchDesigner or Ableton through Phosphene Link.
How do I show the visuals on a projector?
Connect the projector as a second display, press O to open the output window and move that window to the projector. The controls stay on your laptop. For walls, boxes or stage pieces, the built-in projection mapper handles up to eight corner-pinned surfaces.
Is Phosphene a free alternative to Resolume?
For many shows, yes. Phosphene gives you audio-reactive generative visuals, A/B decks with a crossfader, cue lists, MIDI and OSC control, and projection mapping, free in a browser. It isn't a copy of Resolume, though, and the two can work together.
Can I get Phosphene into Resolume, MadMapper or OBS?
A browser can't publish Syphon, Spout or NDI directly. One free route is to open Phosphene's output window, capture it in OBS Studio and send it on with an NDI output plugin such as DistroAV; Resolume Arena, Resolume Avenue and MadMapper all accept NDI inputs. Or skip the chain and run Phosphene full screen on the projector output.
Do I need a Kinect for body tracking, and is my camera video uploaded?
No Kinect is needed: any webcam can track up to four moving people, and the video never leaves your computer. A Kinect works too, through Delicode NI mate and Phosphene Link, if you want skeleton tracking.
How do I save or share a scene?
Make a share link: it recreates the exact scene for anyone who opens it, and a QR code can put it on screen for an audience. To keep a whole collection, export your scene library as a JSON file and import it later or on another computer.
Open PhospheneIt's free, and there's nothing to install.