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Liquid effect

Fluid Ink

Fluid Ink is a liquid video effect in FRCTL, the browser VJ studio. A real fluid simulation drags the picture around and carries ink through it.

Runs live on video, images, a camera or generated art. Stack it with any other effect, and route LFOs, envelopes or any of ten audio bands to its controls so it moves with the music.

Try Fluid Ink free All effects

The untouched demo art: an eye inside a triangle over wavy teal, blue and peach lines — Source

The eye-in-triangle illustration under a large magenta ink pool at the centre, the edges tinted green — Fluid Ink, default settings

What Fluid Ink does

Runs a real fluid simulation in its own buffer. Movement in the clip stirs the current, Kick fires a radial burst from the centre, and the picture is dragged along the flow while coloured ink rides it. Swirl keeps eddies curling instead of smoothing out, Warp sets how far the picture is dragged, Ink and Hue the dye, and Settle how quickly it all calms.

Using Fluid Ink

Where it works: Dance footage and performance clips, where a dancer's movement leaves a wake of ink. On stills and logos Kick alone drives it, so a static cover can still pulse from the middle.
With the music: Kick is built for audio: send B1 (kick) to it and the fluid bursts from the centre on every kick drum. Motion answers the footage itself, so leave it up on moving clips.
Starting point: Motion centre, Kick hard left, Swirl centre, Warp a quarter, Ink centre, Settle centre, then send B1 to Kick.

Controls

Motion: How hard movement in the clip stirs the fluid.
Kick: Strength of the burst from the middle. Route this to a bass band.
Swirl: How much the fluid curls back on itself instead of smoothing out.
Warp: How far the current drags the picture.
Ink: How much visible dye the fluid carries.
Hue: Ink colour.
Settle: How quickly the current runs out of energy.

Pairs well with Fluid Ink