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RESONON

Render Visuals to Frames

render(screen, n) renders what is routed to screen for n cycles, as PNG frames. With master beside it, the mix is written too, in sync with the frames.

Render the picture and the mix

Section titled “Render the picture and the mix”

Route the picture to screen, then render master and screen together:

use "std/instruments" { Sampler, Kit };
use "std/visuals" as gfx;


set_project_title("Frames");


let drums = AudioTrack("drums");
drums.set_instrument(Sampler(Kit("CR-78")));
drums << [bd sd bd sd];


let field = gfx.Noise("field");
let soft = gfx.Blur("soft");
soft.parameter("radius") << drums.rms.smooth(80).range(0, 20);
field >> soft >> screen;


render(#[master, screen], 1);

Then, in the project folder:

Terminal window
resonon run

A level or spectrum bound to the picture reads the render’s own audio, so the frames move with the mix. No window has to be open.

Render only the picture

Section titled “Render only the picture”
render(screen, 1);

The mix is still rendered to drive the bound levels; it is not written.

Find the frames

Section titled “Find the frames”

The frames are in the render’s folder under renders/, beside master.wav:

renders/
  frames_2026-09-30_18-00-00/
    master.wav
    frames/
      frame_00000.png
      frame_00001.png
      …

There are 60 frames a second, at 1920 × 1080. In the render’s folder, an encoder such as ffmpeg turns them and the mix into a video:

Terminal window
ffmpeg -framerate 60 -i frames/frame_%05d.png -i master.wav -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac video.mp4

A section’s screen lane is not rendered yet: render(screen) refuses one. Route a single picture with v >> screen to render it.

Section titled “Related”