Backgrounds & Parallax
Every control in the Background panel: the Pristine, Obsidian and Custom looks, animated background effects, the 156-effect Parallax Engine, image and video backdrops and the repeating text pattern.
Where the Background Controls Live
Open the Arts tab and expand the Background panel. It has two tabs at the top: Environment Canvas (the base colour and an optional animated effect) and Parallax Engine (a moving layer drawn on top of the base, for depth and atmosphere). The two tabs draw on separate layers, so you can use both at once.
Environment Canvas is available on every plan, including Free. Parallax Engine is available on every plan, including Free. If a tab ever shows a lock and an Unlock button, the tab bar itself stays usable so you can always switch back.
These controls draw on the flat 2D canvas. In a 3D mode the Arts tab shows a note saying so, and the backdrop is set in the 3D tab instead (Scene & Platform, then Background). See "3D Scene, Lighting & Materials".
Atmosphere: Pristine, Obsidian or Custom
The Atmosphere row is the quickest way to set the whole mood. It has three buttons and a Surprise button that rolls a random animated background with random colours.
| Button | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pristine | A clean white background. Also switches the Studio to its light look. | Turns the animated background off. |
| Obsidian | A near-black background (#09090b). Also switches the Studio to its dark look. | Default. Turns the animated background off. |
| Custom | Turns the animated background on and shows the effect grid and colour controls. | Pick an effect and colours below. |
| Surprise | Picks a random effect, three random colours, a random speed, opacity and detail, and turns animation on. | Press it again for another roll. |
Animated Background and Effects
The Animated Background switch is off by default, because a full-screen animated background has to be repainted every frame. Turn it on (or press Custom) to choose one of the effects below. Your choice is highlighted in the grid.
| Group | Effect | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Geometric | Solid | One flat colour (Primary). |
| Geometric | Linear Gradient | A straight blend between your colours. |
| Geometric | Radial Gradient | A blend that spreads out from the centre. |
| Geometric | Vignette | A dark falloff towards the edges of the frame. |
| Dynamic | Mesh Gradient | Soft colour blobs that drift and blend. |
| Dynamic | Plasma | Flowing, liquid colour fields. |
| Dynamic | Aurora Base | Slow northern-light style bands. |
| Atmospheric | Starfield | Moving stars. |
| Atmospheric | Deep Space | A dark space scene with depth. |
| Atmospheric | Scanline | Retro screen lines. |
| Atmospheric | Noise Grain | Film-style grain. |
| Atmospheric | Matrix Code | Falling code characters. |
Tip
- Older projects may name a background effect that has since been merged into another one. They still load and show the replacement, so nothing ever goes blank.
Background Colours and Motion
Once Custom is on, these controls shape the effect you picked.
| Control | What it does | Range / default | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | The main base colour of the effect. | Colour. Default #09090b | This is the one colour Solid uses. |
| Secondary | The second colour, used by gradients and multi-tone effects. | Colour. Default #09090b | Set it clearly different from Primary to see a gradient. |
| Accent | A third colour for the more complex effects. | Colour. Default #09090b | A small bright accent adds depth. |
| Background Opacity | How solid the effect is. Lower values let the canvas colour underneath show through. | 0 to 1. Default 1 | Around 0.6 keeps a busy effect in the background. |
| Animation Speed | How fast the effect moves. | 0 to 5. Default 0.8 | 0 freezes it. |
| Detail Complexity | How much fine detail the effect draws. | 0.1 to 5. Default 2 | Higher detail costs more to preview. |
| Canvas Ambient Color | The colour of the canvas outside the arena, under everything else. | Colour. Default #09090b | Always visible, even with the animated background off. |
The Parallax Engine
Parallax is a moving layer drawn over the base background. Turn on Enable Parallax, pick a Style Category, then click an effect. There are 156 effects. Randomize (top right of the tab) picks a random effect and random settings for it, and jumps to that effect's category.
| Category | Effects | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| All | 156 | Every effect in one list. |
| Core | 3 | Grid World, Particle Field, Watermark (repeating text, see below). |
| Nature | 27 | Ocean Waves, Lava Flow, Falling Leaves, Snow Flurry, Cherry Blossom, Fire Embers, Thunder Storm, Sun Beams. |
| Cosmic | 33 | Starry Night (default), Nebula Drift, Spiral Galaxy, Wormhole, Meteor Shower, Aurora Borealis, Black Hole Singularity. |
| Cyber | 34 | Matrix Rain, Circuit Board, Retro Grid, Cyber Punk City, DNA Helix, Radar Sweep, Neural Network. |
| Abstract | 32 | Sacred Geometry, Kaleidoscope Mirror, Fractal Mandalas, Mandelbrot Set, Voronoi Cells, Penrose Tiling, Hypnotic Spirals. |
| Artistic | 22 | Oil Painting, Stained Glass, Watercolor, Pop Art, VHS Glitch, Synthwave Grid, Vapor Wave, Marble Texture. |
| Media | 5 | Image Overlay, Scrolling Image, Video Backdrop, Video Texture, Media Mosaic (your own image or video, see below). |
Parallax Controls
These sliders appear under the effect grid while parallax is on. The first four are the ones you will use most; the rest sit in the Advanced Settings box.
| Control | What it does | Range / default | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intensity | Strength of the depth effect. | 0 to 1. Default 0.5 | |
| Speed | How fast the layers flow. | 0 to 5. Default 1 | 0 holds the layer still. |
| Layers | How many depth layers are drawn. | 1 to 10. Default 3 | Each layer adds preview cost; a cost dot next to the slider shows how heavy it is. |
| Opacity | Overall transparency of the parallax layer. | 0 to 1. Default 0.5 | Keep it lower behind a busy simulation. |
| Blur | Softens the layer, like a shallow depth of field. | 0 to 20. Default 0 | A little blur pushes it behind the action. |
| Scale | Size of the shapes and textures. | 0.1 to 5. Default 1 | |
| Complexity | Detail of the pattern. | 0.1 to 5. Default 1 | |
| Rotation | Rotates the whole layer, in degrees. | -180 to 180. Default 0 | |
| Density | How packed or repeated the pattern is. | 0.1 to 3. Default 1 | |
| Zoom Inf. | How much the camera zoom affects the parallax depth. | 0 to 1. Default 0.5 | Matters when you use camera zoom. |
| Bright / Contr. / Satur. | Brightness, contrast and saturation of the layer. | 0 to 2 each. Default 1 | Drop Satur. to make a colourful effect sit quietly. |
| Auto X / Auto Y | A constant drift sideways or up and down. | -2 to 2. Default 0 | Negative values drift the other way. |
| Glow Effect | Adds a bloom to bright parts. Shows Glow Rad. and Glow Opac. when on. | Off by default. Glow Rad. 0 to 100 (20), Glow Opac. 0 to 1 (0.5) | Glow makes each layer more expensive. |
| Color Mode | Theme Adaptive follows the effect's own colours and your light or dark look. Custom Color tints it with one colour. Rainbow Cycle shifts through hues. | Default Theme Adaptive | Custom shows a Custom Color picker. |
Image and Video Backdrops
To put your own picture or clip behind the simulation, open Parallax Engine, choose the Media category and pick one of its five effects. A Media Content Configuration box appears.
Image Overlay, Scrolling Image and Media Mosaic use the Image URL. Video Backdrop and Video Texture use the Video URL. Paste a direct link to the file itself (a PNG or JPG for images, an MP4 for video), not a link to a web page that shows it.
| Control | What it does | Options / default |
|---|---|---|
| Image URL | Direct link to a PNG or JPG. | Text field. |
| Video URL | Direct link to an MP4. | Text field. |
| Fitting Mode | How the media fills the frame. | Cover (Fill), default; Contain (Best Fit); Stretch; Tile (Repeat). |
| Media Opacity | How solid the media is. | 0 to 1. Default 1 |
Tip
- Lower Media Opacity (around 0.4 to 0.6) keeps the balls readable on top of a detailed photo.
- Some sites block their files from being shown elsewhere. If your link does not appear in the preview, host the file somewhere that allows direct links, then do a short test export to confirm it shows in the video.
- The uploaded images in Ball Studio (Custom Image) are for the ball and for 3D textures and backgrounds. The 2D backdrop here always uses a link.
Repeating Text Pattern (Watermark effect)
The Watermark effect in the Core category fills the background with your own text, repeated in a tilted grid that slowly scrolls. It is a background decoration drawn behind the simulation. It is not the export watermark: that one is set in the Video tab (see "Titles, Counters, HUD & Branding").
| Control | What it does | Range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Watermark Text | The text that repeats. | Default "HYPNOTIC" |
| Font Family | Inter, Space Grotesk, JetBrains Mono, Outfit or Playfair Display. | Default Inter |
| Font Weight | Thin, Normal, Bold or Black. | Default Black |
| Color | Text colour. | Default white |
| Use Ball Color | Uses the ball colour instead of Color. | Off |
| Opacity | How visible the text is. | 0 to 1. Default 0.1 |
| Font Size | Size of each word. | 10 to 200. Default 40 |
| Density | Grid spacing. | 0.1 to 2. Default 0.5 |
| Speed | Scroll speed. | 0 to 10. Default 0.5 |
| Repeat X / Repeat Y | How many times the text repeats across and down. | 1 to 50. Default 5 |
| Angle | Tilt of the grid in degrees. | -180 to 180. Default -45 |
| Shadow Color, Shadow Blur, Shadow X, Shadow Y | A drop shadow behind the text. | Blur 0 to 50 (0), offsets -50 to 50 (0) |
Tip
- Your channel handle at an Opacity of about 0.05 to 0.1 makes a subtle branded texture that survives re-uploads and crops.
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