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Liquid effect

Ripple Tank

Ripple Tank is a liquid video effect in FRCTL, the browser VJ studio. Floats the picture on real water. Detail and movement drop waves in, and they spread, interfere and come back off the edges.

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 Ripple Tank 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 seen through a glassy teal water surface, its lines embossed and rippled — Ripple Tank, default settings

What Ripple Tank does

Floats the picture under a simulated water surface. The image's detail presses standing chop into the water, anything moving drops fresh rings, and the waves spread, interfere and bounce off the frame edges. Tension sets wave speed, Ring how long the tank keeps ringing, Refract how hard the surface bends the picture, Sheen and Tint the light on the wave faces, and Prism the colour fringing.

Using Ripple Tank

Where it works: Pool-party and underwater visuals, calm intros, and any moving clip where motion should echo outward. On a still image it settles into an embossed glassy surface, which suits cover art.
With the music: Drive injects energy into the tank, so B1 (kick) on it hits the water on every kick and the rings carry on after. Movement in the footage already drops rings in on its own.
Starting point: Drive centre, Tension centre, Ring three-quarters, Refract centre, Sheen a quarter, Prism hard left, then raise Ring until reflections stack.

Controls

Drive: How hard the picture disturbs the water. Detail makes standing chop, movement drops fresh rings in.
Tension: Wave speed. Low is thick and slow with long swells, high is fast and fine.
Ring: How long the tank keeps ringing after it is hit. High enough and reflections stack into a standing interference pattern.
Refract: How hard the surface bends the picture underneath it.
Sheen: Light catching the wave faces. This is what makes it read as a surface rather than a wobble.
Tint: Colour of that light.
Prism: Splits the channels across the bend, so steep faces fringe the way water does.
Key light: Which corner the light on the water comes from.

Pairs well with Ripple Tank