# How NANALOG thinks

The few ideas the whole studio is built on. Read this once and every panel makes sense.

NANALOG is a visual instrument. It has one live canvas, and you shape what's on it with controls you can touch. It isn't a timeline editor with filters bolted on. Everything plays while you work, and every change shows up right away.

## One canvas, one stack

Everything on the canvas is a **layer**, and layers stack from the bottom up.

- **Pictures** are the things you see: images, video, 3D, generators and text.
- **Effects** change what's under them. An effect works on everything below it, not just the layer it sits on.

Order matters. A grain effect above a color grade grains the graded picture. Move it below the grade and the grade colors the grain. Drag layers in **Layers** to try both.

> NOTE: To aim an effect at one layer only, open its **Mask** tab in Tune and set **Affects** to **Just the layer under it**.

## Effect, look, preset, original

NANALOG uses four words for four different things.

| Word | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Effect** | One unit in the stack, like Film, Bloom, CRT or Riso. |
| **Look** | A saved stack of effects. Looks live on the Looks bar and in My looks. |
| **Preset** | Saved settings for one effect, found at the top of its faceplate. |
| **Original** | An effect written from a prompt with ✦ Generate effect. It works like any other effect. |

## Create, Mix, Tune

The tagline is also a map of the studio.

- **Create** brings things in: a picture, a template, a blank canvas, or something new from ✦ Generate.
- **Mix** combines what exists: layers in Layers, looks on the Looks bar, and ✦ Mix, which builds a look from your words or a reference picture.
- **Tune** is by hand, in the faceplates on the right, where every control is a knob, fader, key or pulse button.

## Reading the lights

The studio speaks in three colors of light, and they mean the same thing everywhere.

| Light | Means |
|---|---|
| **Green** | Running. A layer is on, or a section is doing something. |
| **Amber** | What's set. Readouts, lit keys and values on screens. |
| **Orange** | Where you are. The open tab, the selection, the next thing to press. |

## A faceplate, top to bottom

Every effect has a faceplate in Tune, and every faceplate is laid out the same way.

1. **The screen deck.** A recessed screen on top. Most effects show a loupe, a close-up you aim by hovering. Some add an Aim screen to place things like a light leak.
2. **Sections.** Named groups of controls that mirror the real device, like Deck, Tape and Signal on VHS. Each section has a light, dice to roll new settings, a reset, and a lock that keeps the dice away.
3. **Controls.** Knobs, faders, keys and pulse buttons. Hold [[key:⇧]] while you drag for fine moves, or click any value to type it.

## The loop

Every project is a loop. Its length lives in the transport under the canvas. Effects with motion move in whole cycles of the loop, so they always come back to where they started. That's why exports loop without a seam.

- **Motion** on any control is keyframed on the timeline. Open **Timeline** under the canvas to see each layer's lanes.
- **Pulse buttons** can be recorded. Press them while the loop plays and the press lands on that exact frame every time around.

## Preview and X-Ray

The top bar switches how you see the stack.

- **Preview** shows the finished picture.
- **X-Ray** pulls the stack apart in space, so you can see every layer on its own, pick one, and restack it by hand.

## Saving your work

Projects save in your browser as you work. To move a project somewhere else, use **File › Download project file** (a STUDIO feature). To share a look, use **Share** in the top bar. It makes a link that opens the look in anyone's studio, and nothing is uploaded.