Datamosh

Before · AfterPlay with it

The sample at Datamosh's defaults. Drag to compare, or press Play with it to tune it live. Open as a shared look

What it's like

You've seen it in music videos. A cut should happen, but the last shot stays on screen and gets pushed around by the motion of the new one. Faces smear into walls, colors pour across the frame, then a fresh frame snaps everything clean. That's a broken file. Datamosh does it on purpose, with you choosing when the picture refreshes.

When to reach for it

• Video with movement in it. Datamosh feeds on motion, so a still picture barely moves unless you turn up Push.
• Transitions, where one shot melts into the next before a clean refresh.
• Music visuals. Set Keyframe to Audio hits and the picture snaps clean on every beat.

How it works

Each frame, Datamosh compares your picture with the one before it and works out which way each block moved. Then, instead of showing the new frame, it takes the last frame it drew and drags it along those same moves. The old picture keeps getting pushed by new motion until a keyframe arrives and the real picture comes back. The start of each loop is always a clean frame.

Controls

10 controls in 5 sections, in the order Tune shows them.

Mosh

• Hero knobMosh 0 to 100 · rests at 70

  The hero. How far the old picture gets dragged by the motion. Low is a gentle smear, high pours.

• KnobHold 0 to 100 · rests at 92

  How long the old picture lingers. High keeps it until the next keyframe, low lets the fresh picture back quickly.

Blocks

• SelectBlocks 81632

  The block size, in pixels. 8 is fine, 32 is chunky.

• KnobBlocky 0 to 100 · rests at 70

  How blocky the motion is. Low flows smoothly, high moves whole blocks at once, like a damaged file.

Keyframes

• SelectKeyframe Each loopHalf loopQuarter loopEighth loopAudio hits

  When the picture refreshes clean. Each loop, Half loop, Quarter loop, Eighth loop, or on Audio hits in your picture's sound.

• Pulse buttonRefresh Momentary · fires and falls back · can be recorded

  Press for a clean frame right now.

Color

• KnobChroma drift 0 to 100 · rests at 20

  Pulls red and blue apart along the motion, so the smears get colored edges.

• KnobBleed 0 to 100 · rests at 30

  The new frame's light and shadow show through the old smear. Shapes from now, color from before.

Push

• KnobPush 0 to 100 · rests at 15

  A steady shove that wanders a little, so even a still picture moshes.

• KnobDirection 0° to 360° · rests at 90°

  Which way Push shoves, around the full circle.