Ball Look & Effects
Ball Studio from top to bottom: the 1,204 ball effects, Custom Image uploads, size and squash, Bounce Reaction, colours and textures, outline, glow and multi-ball colours.
Ball Studio at a Glance
Ball Studio is the first panel in the Arts tab. It controls how every ball looks: its surface effect, an optional uploaded image, its size, how it squashes and reacts on a bounce, its fill, outline and glow.
Ball Studio itself is open on every plan, including Free. Inside it, the Custom Image block needs Creator, Pro, Elite and Agency, and the ball effect catalogue is gated per effect (see below).
In 3D modes the Arts tab panels do not affect the scene. Object colour, material and texture are in the 3D tab.
Ball Effects
Ball Effects is a browsable library of 1,204 surface looks in 34 categories, such as Minimal, Metal, Gem, Glass, Energy, Fire, Water, Cosmic, Tech, Neon, Liquid, Crystal, Candy, Festive, Luxury and Kids. Many are animated. Every tile is a live preview drawn in your current Base Color, and effects take that colour too, so the same effect suits any palette.
The list is sorted by plan: the effects you can use come first. 12 effects (the plain Minimal looks every clip needs) are free, Creator opens 42 in total, and Pro opens all of them. Clicking a locked tile shows a note that it needs a higher plan and leaves your current effect unchanged.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Search effects… | Filters by name, category and keywords. The x clears it. |
| Surprise me (shuffle icon) | Picks a random effect from the current filtered list, including ones you have not scrolled to. It only lands on effects your plan can use. |
| All | Shows every effect, with the total count. |
| Star chip | Shows your favourites. Tap the star on any tile to add or remove it. Favourites are remembered on this device. |
| Category chips | Show one category at a time. |
| Show more: N remaining | Loads the next batch of tiles. The grid loads in pages so the panel stays fast. |
| Active: name | The effect currently on the ball, shown under the grid. |
Tip
- Hover a tile to see its name, category, whether it is animated and which plan it needs.
- If an older project still uses a legacy ball style, a note at the top of the browser says so. Picking any effect switches it over.
Custom Image (your own picture on the ball)
The Custom Image block sits under Ball Effects. It puts a picture you upload onto the ball: a logo, a face, a product. It needs Creator, Pro, Elite and Agency.
Uploading or picking an image turns Custom Image on and puts it straight on the ball. The Custom Image switch turns it off again without losing your choice. A live preview shows the ball exactly as the simulation will draw it.
- 1Open Arts, then Ball Studio, and scroll to Custom Image.
- 2Press Upload Image and choose a PNG, JPG, WEBP or GIF.
- 3Give it a name when asked. It appears in your texture list and goes onto the ball.
- 4Choose Fit to Ball or Image Background, then adjust Fit Mode, Image Opacity and Image Zoom.
| Control | What it does | Options / range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Image | Turns the picture on or off. | Off by default |
| Fit to Ball | The image wraps each ball and turns with it. | Default placement |
| Image Background | The image is pinned to the frame and the ball acts as a moving window onto it. | |
| Fit Mode | How the picture is scaled. | Cover (Fill), default; Contain (Fit); Stretch (Exact Fit) |
| Image Opacity | How strongly the picture covers the ball's own colour and effect. | 0 to 1. Starts at 1 the first time you turn it on |
| Image Zoom | Scales the picture inside its fit. Above 1 crops into the middle. | 0.1 to 5. Default 1 |
| Keep Original Quality | Draws the upload at full resolution instead of a downscaled working copy. | Off. Sharper close-ups, more memory |
Technical parameters
- Formats: PNG, JPG, WEBP and GIF.
- Size limit: 10 MB for still images, 25 MB for GIFs.
- GIFs are checked for how much memory they need once decoded: above about 100 MB you are asked to confirm, above 300 MB the upload is refused.
- Uploads are saved to your account's cloud storage. If your storage is full, the image is kept on this device only and marked Local, and syncs once space frees up.
- The same uploaded images are offered as textures and backgrounds in the 3D tab.
Tip
- While a Custom Image is on, the Texture Overlay pattern below greys out, because the image replaces it.
Size & Physics
These controls change the ball's size and how it deforms on impact.
| Control | What it does | Range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Ball Radius | Size of the ball. | 1 to 150. Default 10 |
| Squash & Stretch | Deforms the ball with its speed and on each hit, so it looks elastic. | Off |
| Squash Strength | How strong the squash and stretch is. | 0.1 to 2. Default 0.5 |
| Elastic Decay (s) | How long the wobble takes to die down, in seconds. | 0.1 to 5. Default 1.5 |
| Elastic Frequency | How fast the ball wobbles after a hit. | 1 to 40. Default 15 |
| Pulse Speed | Makes the ball gently pulse in size all the time. | 0 to 20. Default 0 (off) |
Tip
- Some modes grow or shrink the ball on their own. In those modes the ball size you see follows the mode.
Bounce Reaction
Bounce Reaction makes the ball answer every real bounce with a size pop, a glow flash, or both. Because each bounce also plays its sound, this is the simplest way to make the picture hit on the same beat as the audio. The sliders appear when their switch is on.
| Control | What it does | Range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Pulse On Bounce | The ball pops bigger on each impact, then eases back. | Off |
| Pulse Strength | How far it swells. 0 is no pop, 1 is a 1.7x pop. | 0 to 1. Default 0.5 |
| Pulse Decay (s) | How long the pop takes to settle. | 0.03 to 2. Default 0.15 |
| Glow On Bounce | Flashes the ball's glow on each impact. In Rhythmic mode with visualizer bars on, it also breathes with the music. | Off |
| Glow Strength | How bright the flash gets. | 0.1 to 5. Default 1 |
| Glow Decay (s) | How long the flash takes to fade. | 0.03 to 2. Default 0.25 |
Colors & Textures
The fill of the ball. The Base Color is also what ball effects are drawn in, so changing it recolours your effect.
| Control | What it does | Options / range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Fill Type | How the inside of the ball is filled. | Solid (default), Gradient Radial, Gradient Linear, Hollow |
| Base Color | The ball's main colour. Also sets Primary Ball Color below. | Default #3b82f6 (blue) |
| Fill Opacity | Transparency of the fill. | 0 to 1. Default 1 |
| Gradient Core / Gradient Halo | Inner and outer colours. Shown only for the two gradient fill types. | Default white and black |
| Texture Overlay | A pattern drawn over the surface. | None (default), Stripes, Dots, Crosshatch, Noise, Checkerboard, Honeycomb, Circuit, Waves, Stars, Bricks, Swirl |
| Texture Strength | How visible the pattern is. Greyed out until you pick a pattern, or while a Custom Image is on. | 0 to 1. Default 0.2 |
Tip
- If Rainbow Ball Colors is on (RGB Rainbow Lights panel), the rainbow replaces your Base Color while it runs.
Outline / Border and Glow Effects
An outline makes the ball pop against a busy background, and a glow makes it read as light rather than a flat dot.
| Control | What it does | Range / default | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stroke Width | Thickness of the outline. | 0 to 20. Default 0 (no outline) | |
| Stroke Opacity | Transparency of the outline. | 0 to 1. Default 1 | |
| Stroke Color | Outline colour. | Default white | A dark outline helps on light backgrounds. |
| Glow Radius | Size of the glow around the ball. | 0 to 100. Default 0 (no glow) | A cost dot shows how heavy glow is with your ball count. |
| Glow Intensity | How strong the glow is. | 0 to 1. Default 0.5 | |
| Glow Color | Glow colour. | Default white | Match it to the Base Color for a neon look. |
Multi-Ball Colors
For modes with two or more balls, Primary Ball Color and Secondary Ball Color set the two main ball colours. Primary Ball Color and Base Color are the same setting: changing one changes the other. Both default to #3b82f6.
Tip
- On a small phone screen, a bright ball with a moderate glow on a dark background is far easier to follow than a dark, matte ball.
More from BallEngine
Guides, plans and answers for making your videos.