VKO1 - A pad-based visual performance instrument for Apple products
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VKO1 is a pad-based visual performance app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Silicon Mac. AutoMix, 53 real-time effects, 25 GPU visualizers, MIDI, Ableton Link.
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Maker
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I needed a great VJ companion that played while I was concentrating on my DJ set. Then I realized this is the app I always dreamt of building, and now I'm obsessed.
Working on VKO1 for Android.
Working on 1.25 update that is adding really nice things, here's a couple:
MEDIAMESH3D — YOUR MEDIA ON A 3D MESH
New generator node that wraps any image, GIF, or video onto a real-time 3D mesh rendered in Metal. Six mesh types selectable in the inspector: Sphere, Cube, Plane, Torus Knot, Icosphere, and custom imported OBJ
Audio-reactive scale — connect Beat Strength or Bass to the Scale pin and the mesh pulses with every hit
Cross-device sessions — custom OBJ files are embedded in the session bundle; open the same session on iPad or Mac and the geometry travels with it
QUICK SHORTCUT MENU
Long-tap + drag down on pad — A floating overlay appears with Edit Graph, Background Color, Speed, and Effects. Quick access without navigating menus
Mac Catalyst mouse button support — Map the shortcut menu to Middle, Button 4, or Button 5 in Settings
NODE GRAPH — NEW INPUT NODES
Microphone — New input node that outputs live microphone amplitude as a 0–1 float. Sensitivity adjustable via inline drag slider directly on the node. Wire it to any numeric pin for microphone-reactive visuals without audio routing setup
Spectrum — New input node that outputs the mean of all 32 frequency bins as a single float. Smooth broadband energy signal — great for driving global intensity when bass or beat alone isn't enough
Rotate — Spin any texture by a fixed angle (0–360°). Patch an LFO or Beat Strength input to the angle pin for continuous audio-reactive rotation. Useful for correcting upside-down textures or adding motion to any generator
NODE LIBRARY FAVORITES
Star any node type to pin it to a Favorites section at the top of the library. Favorites persist across launches so your most-used generators and modifiers are always one tap away
INTERACTIVE NODE CONTROLS
Inline drag sliders on nodes — drag directly on an LFO node to set amplitude, on a Microphone node to set sensitivity, on a MIDI CC node to set the channel. No inspector required
SHADER THUMBNAILS
128×128 first-frame preview — Each Metal shader renders a thumbnail at compile time and caches it to disk. A shimmer skeleton shows while compiling so the UI never shows a blank slot
ON-CANVAS PERFORMANCE HUD
Toggle in the STAT popover under "On-canvas perf HUD". Overlays live RAM, CPU, GPU frame-budget, FPS, and visualizer memory in the bottom-left of the preview, the on-device fullscreen view, and the Node Editor preview (both inline and fullscreen). External output stays clean. Useful when tuning custom shaders — see the cost of a tweak the instant you ship it
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
Reduced CPU and GPU load on slower devices — Smoother playback on older iPhones and iPads across all visualizer types
Bug fixes
Report
Maker
Hi again! I'm developing VKO1 for Android devices, if this sounds amazing you can join my closed beta here: https://forms.gle/tY7nQASU7xU7mJTm9
Android version is built from scratch using a 2D/3D Vulkan rendering engine instead of Apples Metal engine, but in spirit its very much the same as iOS/Mac version. Also, you write shaders as OpenGLSL.
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Hi! Here's a neat short tutorial giving you a couple of tips and tricks on how-to create your own metal shaders:
https://youtu.be/UBaVSENxAvg?si=U0LmfD1kR__Cndx5
Working on 1.25 update that is adding really nice things, here's a couple:
MEDIAMESH3D — YOUR MEDIA ON A 3D MESH
New generator node that wraps any image, GIF, or video onto a real-time 3D mesh rendered in Metal. Six mesh types selectable in the inspector: Sphere, Cube, Plane, Torus Knot, Icosphere, and custom imported OBJ
Audio-reactive scale — connect Beat Strength or Bass to the Scale pin and the mesh pulses with every hit
Cross-device sessions — custom OBJ files are embedded in the session bundle; open the same session on iPad or Mac and the geometry travels with it
QUICK SHORTCUT MENU
Long-tap + drag down on pad — A floating overlay appears with Edit Graph, Background Color, Speed, and Effects. Quick access without navigating menus
Mac Catalyst mouse button support — Map the shortcut menu to Middle, Button 4, or Button 5 in Settings
NODE GRAPH — NEW INPUT NODES
Microphone — New input node that outputs live microphone amplitude as a 0–1 float. Sensitivity adjustable via inline drag slider directly on the node. Wire it to any numeric pin for microphone-reactive visuals without audio routing setup
Spectrum — New input node that outputs the mean of all 32 frequency bins as a single float. Smooth broadband energy signal — great for driving global intensity when bass or beat alone isn't enough
Rotate — Spin any texture by a fixed angle (0–360°). Patch an LFO or Beat Strength input to the angle pin for continuous audio-reactive rotation. Useful for correcting upside-down textures or adding motion to any generator
NODE LIBRARY FAVORITES
Star any node type to pin it to a Favorites section at the top of the library. Favorites persist across launches so your most-used generators and modifiers are always one tap away
INTERACTIVE NODE CONTROLS
Inline drag sliders on nodes — drag directly on an LFO node to set amplitude, on a Microphone node to set sensitivity, on a MIDI CC node to set the channel. No inspector required
SHADER THUMBNAILS
128×128 first-frame preview — Each Metal shader renders a thumbnail at compile time and caches it to disk. A shimmer skeleton shows while compiling so the UI never shows a blank slot
ON-CANVAS PERFORMANCE HUD
Toggle in the STAT popover under "On-canvas perf HUD". Overlays live RAM, CPU, GPU frame-budget, FPS, and visualizer memory in the bottom-left of the preview, the on-device fullscreen view, and the Node Editor preview (both inline and fullscreen). External output stays clean. Useful when tuning custom shaders — see the cost of a tweak the instant you ship it
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
Reduced CPU and GPU load on slower devices — Smoother playback on older iPhones and iPads across all visualizer types
Bug fixes
Hi again! I'm developing VKO1 for Android devices, if this sounds amazing you can join my closed beta here: https://forms.gle/tY7nQASU7xU7mJTm9
Android version is built from scratch using a 2D/3D Vulkan rendering engine instead of Apples Metal engine, but in spirit its very much the same as iOS/Mac version. Also, you write shaders as OpenGLSL.
Read more here: https://temperamento.net/vko1/VKO1-Android.html
Here's a great overview vid for Android beta testers: https://youtu.be/0cvf-lxL8-M?si=02p97NKcYEpaGZAY
Join my beta test for Android!
https://forms.gle/jHsHEQwhP4brpjYB7