# Your first loop

From a picture to a finished, seamless loop in a few minutes. Every step happens on one live canvas.

NANALOG is an analog studio for modern media. You bring a picture, shape it with effects you can touch, and export it as a still, a loop or an asset. This page walks one loop from start to finish. It takes about five minutes.

> TRY: The studio has this walk built in. On the New Project screen, press **Make your first loop** and it guides you with the sample picture.

## 1. Bring in a picture

Open [the studio](https://nanalog.studio). The New Project screen asks for something to work on.

- **Drop an image or video** on the input screen, or click it to choose a file. The canvas takes the shape of your first picture.
- **Blank canvas** starts empty at a size you pick (Square, Portrait, Story, HD, 4K, Cinema).
- **Templates** start from a finished scene, like a title card or a logo sting.

Your picture lands in **Layers** on the left. Everything you add stacks above it.

## 2. Try a look

The **Looks bar** runs along the bottom. Each pad is a look, a stack of effects that someone already dialed in.

- Click a pad to put that look on your picture.
- **Add** stacks the look on top of what you have. **Replace** swaps out your effects for the look's.

Click through a few. Nothing is permanent. [[key:⌘Z]] steps back.

## 3. Add an effect

The **Effects** panel lists every effect by group: Film, Lens, Light, Color, Print, Draw, Screen and Warp.

- **Hover** an effect to preview it live on the canvas.
- **Click** it to add it above the selected layer.

Effects work on everything below them, so order matters. Drag a layer in Layers to move it.

## 4. Tune it by hand

Select an effect and its faceplate opens in **Tune** on the right. A faceplate is the effect's panel, with a screen on top and sections of controls below.

- **Knobs** turn when you drag up and down. The big one in a section is the hero knob, the control that matters most.
- **Faders** slide sideways between two ends.
- **Keys** pick one option from a row. A lit key is what's set.
- **Pulse buttons** fire once and fall back, like Flash or Jam.
- Each section has a **light**. Green means the section is doing something. Click it to switch the section off and keep its settings.
- **Presets** at the top of Tune hold ready-made settings for this one effect.

> TIP: Hover the screen at the top of a faceplate to aim the loupe. It shows the effect up close, where you can judge grain, dots and edges.

## 5. Set the loop

Everything in NANALOG is a loop. The transport sits under the canvas, with play, the time readout, and **Loop**, the length in seconds.

Motion in an effect, like drift, flicker or a crawl, is timed to the loop. It lands exactly where it started when the loop comes around, so every export loops without a seam.

## 6. Export

Press **Export** in the top right, or [[key:E]].

| Format | Use it for |
|---|---|
| MP4 video | Posting a loop anywhere video goes |
| PNG sequence (.zip) | Editing in another app, or see-through video |
| GIF loop | Quick shares, with a size limit you set |
| PNG still | One frame at full size |
| Copy PNG | Pasting straight into another app |
| Look link | Sharing the look itself, so someone can open it in NANALOG |

Switch on **Transparent background** to keep the empty parts of the frame clear. See [Export a logo with a transparent background](transparent-logo.html).

## Where to go next

- [How NANALOG thinks](concepts.html) explains layers, effects, looks and Tune in one read.
- [Effects](effects/index.html) shows every effect with pictures, every control and every preset.
- [Looks](looks.html) has every built-in look, ready to open.