Guides › Music

The visuals, one by one

4 minute read

Every visualizer style with a picture of each, which ones are free, and how to choose the set that plays.

Choosing which visuals play

  1. Open Settings › Visualizations.
  2. Under Scenes, move down the list, which is grouped by style. Highlighting a scene previews it beside the list; pressing Select includes it in the automatic cycle, or takes it out again. The scenes you include are the ones the visualizer cycles through in the music room, and the ones its swipes and Skip buttons step through.
  3. Turn All Scenes On or Off at the top saves selecting one at a time.
Settings › Visualizations: the Visualizer Engine card, then the Scenes list with a live preview beside it.
Settings › Visualizations.

There are 35 visuals in all. Eleven are free all year, and the Pumpkin Patch is free during October. The rest come with Theatrium Pro and show a small PRO mark. Three of the 35 are Halloween visuals, which appear in this list only while Halloween Mode is on (Settings › Appearance › Halloween Mode); the rest are always listed.

Calm

Aurora. Free. Slow curtains of light, like the northern lights.
Aurora. Free. Slow curtains of light, like the northern lights.
Ocean. Free. Soft pools of light drifting like something seen underwater.
Ocean. Free. Soft pools of light drifting like something seen underwater.
Line Ribbons. Free. Fine threads drifting across the screen.
Line Ribbons. Free. Fine threads drifting across the screen.
Interference. Pro. Overlapping waves making shifting patterns.
Interference. Pro. Overlapping waves making shifting patterns.
Butterfly. Pro. A flight of butterflies at different depths, in the colors of your album, their wings beating with the music.
Butterfly. Pro. A flight of butterflies at different depths, in the colors of your album, their wings beating with the music.
Black Oil. Pro. Glossy black oil, flowing at the pace of the song.
Black Oil. Pro. Glossy black oil, flowing at the pace of the song.

From the album cover

These are built from the song's own artwork.

Silk. Free. The cover flows like fabric.
Silk. Free. The cover flows like fabric.
Prism. Pro. The cover fractured and glitching.
Prism. Pro. The cover fractured and glitching.
Liquid Sand. Pro. The cover pours and settles.
Liquid Sand. Pro. The cover pours and settles.
Gallery. Pro. The cover rebuilt in shifting pieces.
Gallery. Pro. The cover rebuilt in shifting pieces.
Mandala Zoom. Pro. Your album cover mirrored into a mandala that opens slowly and endlessly.
Mandala Zoom. Pro. Your album cover mirrored into a mandala that opens slowly and endlessly.

Retro

The Compact Disc, Mixtape and Click Wheel sit in a darker room, and the Mirrorball reads as mirror glass.

Mixtape. Free. A cassette whose reels turn with the track.
Mixtape. Free. A cassette whose reels turn with the track.
Click Wheel. Pro. A music player of a certain age, scrolling with the song.
Click Wheel. Pro. A music player of a certain age, scrolling with the song.
Compact Disc. Pro. A spinning disc catching the light.
Compact Disc. Pro. A spinning disc catching the light.
Lava Lamp. Pro. Slow blobs of color rising and falling.
Lava Lamp. Pro. Slow blobs of color rising and falling.
Mirrorball. Pro. Spots of light sweeping the room.
Mirrorball. Pro. Spots of light sweeping the room.

Bars and brand

Logo Bars. Free. The Theatrium bars rising with the song.
Logo Bars. Free. The Theatrium bars rising with the song.
Bar Wall. Free. A wall of bars in the song's colors.
Bar Wall. Free. A wall of bars in the song's colors.
Bar Halo. Free. Bars arranged in a ring.
Bar Halo. Free. Bars arranged in a ring.
Theatrium Ribbon. Free. A ribbon of the brand's colors.
Theatrium Ribbon. Free. A ribbon of the brand's colors.

Fractals

Endless mathematical patterns that zoom and turn. They sit on a dark wash of the album's two colors, flow at the pace of the song without flashing, and are sharper on older Apple TVs.

Julia Morph. Free.
Julia Morph. Free.
Fractal Spiral. Pro.
Fractal Spiral. Pro.
Burning Ship. Pro.
Burning Ship. Pro.
Newton. Pro.
Newton. Pro.
Phoenix. Pro.
Phoenix. Pro.

Kinetic and neon

Mandala. Free. Turning rings and spokes, in the song's colors.
Mandala. Free. Turning rings and spokes, in the song's colors.
Kaleidoscope. Pro.
Kaleidoscope. Pro.
Fire. Pro. Flames that breathe with the song.
Fire. Pro. Flames that breathe with the song.
Neon. Pro. Glowing tubes of light.
Neon. Pro. Glowing tubes of light.
Neon Grid. Pro. A glowing grid rushing toward you.
Neon Grid. Pro. A glowing grid rushing toward you.
Circuit Traces. Pro. Light running along circuit-board paths.
Circuit Traces. Pro. Light running along circuit-board paths.
Iron Filings. Pro. Rings of particles pulled about as if by a magnet.
Iron Filings. Pro. Rings of particles pulled about as if by a magnet.

Seasonal

Three Halloween visuals, listed together under Seasonal in Settings. They are listed, and they play, only while Halloween Mode is on. With it on, the cycle plays only the Halloween visuals you have access to; turn it off and your own visuals return exactly as you had them. Pumpkin Patch is free during October and Pro the rest of the year; Mirror Pumpkin and Crimson Drip are Pro all year. See the Halloween pack guide for the whole look.

Pumpkin Patch. Free in October, Pro the rest of the year. Paper pumpkins hop to the beat on a cut-paper hill, with a dancing skeleton, bats and a friendly ghost.
Pumpkin Patch. Free in October, Pro the rest of the year. Paper pumpkins hop to the beat on a cut-paper hill, with a dancing skeleton, bats and a friendly ghost.
Mirror Pumpkin. Pro. A jack-o'-lantern of copper mirror tiles, turning and throwing Halloween colors.
Mirror Pumpkin. Pro. A jack-o'-lantern of copper mirror tiles, turning and throwing Halloween colors.
Crimson Drip. Pro. Your cover on a black gloss floor, glossy blood running down it as lightning cracks the sky behind.
Crimson Drip. Pro. Your cover on a black gloss floor, glossy blood running down it as lightning cracks the sky behind.

Two engines

Settings › Visualizations › Visualizer Engine offers Live (the visuals are drawn live on the Apple TV, the normal choice) and Video Loops (Pro: ready-made video clips, downloaded once, for an older Apple TV that struggles to draw them live). Once downloaded, a Remove downloaded loops button under More visualizer settings frees the space again. The same More visualizer settings row holds the Info Panel and the Tempo and Colors choices; see How the visualizer keeps time.