Cinematic Effects

Sets the effect to fill the whole document as an opaque background layer, including its own dark backdrop. Use this when the effect is the base of your design.

Sets the effect to render on transparent alpha so it sits on top of your existing design. Use this to add glow, particles or light over artwork you already have.

Tip. In Overlay mode the Backdrop control is hidden because there is no background.

Renders your current design once and places it behind the transparent overlay preview, so you see the effect over the real artwork instead of the checkerboard. Only appears in Overlay mode when the editor can render the document.

Tip. When editing an existing effect layer, that layer is excluded from the preview so its old baked frame does not show through.

Click and drag on the preview to orbit the camera around the scene. This sets the horizontal and vertical camera angles.

Scroll the mouse wheel over the preview to zoom. Beyond the classic range the camera first flies deep into the scene, then tightens its field of view like a telephoto lens for true macro close-ups - procedural effects stay perfectly sharp at any magnification.

Double-click the preview to jump to a random different palette. A quick way to try new color schemes without opening the palette list.

Every animated value is built from whole-number cycles per loop, so the first and last frame are pixel-identical. This is why exported loops never jump.

Tip. Everything runs locally in WebGL. There is no network call and no AI.

A transport bar under the preview: play or pause the loop and scrub the timeline to any moment. Stills and inserted layers bake exactly the frame you paused on, so you can snapshot the loop at its best.

Tip. Pause, scrub to the nicest frame, then insert - the baked layer keeps that moment while the saved settings still replay the full loop.

One tile per motif with a live-rendered thumbnail. Clicking a tile adds the effect to the stack; clicking it again removes it. When the stack is full with three layers, a click swaps the last layer for the picked motif, and the last remaining effect cannot be removed.

Each family is a collapsible group with its motif count in the header. Fold the families you do not need to keep the list short; the panel remembers your folds while the editor stays open.

The search field filters tiles by motif name across all families and temporarily opens every family with a match. Clearing the search restores your folds.

Active effects show a numbered badge on their tile. The number is the layer's position in the stack and matches the order of the layer cards in the right panel.

A dropdown that picks which of the 82 motifs this layer plays. It is grouped into the fifteen families (Energy, Particle forms, Light, Atmosphere, Cosmos, Retro sci-fi, Wonders, Fluid & material, Volumetric, Sculpted objects, Lens & film, Sci-fi & tech, Light color & music, Motion & organic, Waves & audio). Changing it rebuilds the layer with that motif's defaults but keeps your opacity.

The dice button on a layer rolls a fresh random variation seed for that motif, reshuffling its internal look (positions, rotations, arrangement) without touching your sliders. Use it to get a different take on the same motif.

Tip. Each surprise roll also gives every layer a new variation seed.

The crosshair button on a layer arms it for placement: drag in the preview and the effect follows the pointer in the camera plane, so every effect can sit at its own spot in 3D. Orbit first to place it in depth. A double-click in the preview sends the armed effect back to the center.

The small x on a layer deletes that layer from the stack. It is disabled when only one layer remains, since the stack always needs at least one motif.

Controls the density, count or strike rate of the motif, for example the number of particles, beams, strikes or bars. Higher means busier and fuller.

Tip. Each motif maps this to its own count range, for example 2 to 6 lightning strikes or 900 to 4200 sphere particles.

Controls the size of the motif's elements, for example beam length, particle spread, ring radius or globe size. Higher makes the elements larger.

Controls how fast the motif animates. It maps to a whole-number of cycles per loop (1 to 6), which keeps the loop seamless at any tempo.

Sets how strong this layer is in the mix. Lower it to let a layer sit quietly behind the others.

The A swatch spreads the layer across all of the palette's colors automatically. This is the default and gives a varied, multi-color look.

The four color chips lock the layer to a single palette color instead of the auto spread. Pick one to make the motif a single consistent hue.

Opens the editor's own color picker to tint the layer with any exact hex color, overriding the palette. Uses the editor's swatch and popover, not a native OS picker.

Tip. Only shown when the host editor provides its color-button component.

Sets how this layer mixes with the layers below it. Add and Screen make it glow and brighten, Normal stacks it flatly, and Multiply darkens.

For the Particle formation motif only, chooses whether the particles form from typed Text or from a captured editor Layer. Switches which input appears below.

The text field (shown when Source is Text) types the word the particles gather to spell. Limited to 24 characters.

The button (shown when Source is Layer) captures the currently selected editor layer, trims it and uses its shape as the particle target. A thumbnail preview appears once captured.

Tip. Select a layer in the editor first, or it reports that none is selected.

Adds another motif layer to the stack, up to three total. It picks a motif you are not already using. The button disappears once you have three layers.

Picks the color scheme that tints every layer set to Auto or to a palette swatch. Shows eight curated palettes as gradient bars; click one to apply it.

If your site has brand kits with at least two hex colors, they appear at the end of the palette row so you can tint effects with your own brand colors.

Tip. Brand kits also appear as color-lock options for the Surprise button.

In Background mode, chooses the dark backdrop gradient behind the effect: the palette's own backdrop, or a fixed one. Choosing Custom reveals a color picker for your own backdrop tint.

Controls the glow bloom that spreads light from bright areas. Higher makes the whole effect softer and more luminous.

Darkens the edges of the frame toward the corners. Higher focuses the eye on the center and adds a cinematic feel.

Film grain over the finished frame (0 to 100). Precision-safe noise at full pixel resolution, re-seeded 24 times per loop cycle - alive like real grain, yet the loop stays perfectly seamless. Background mode only.

CRT-style scanlines over the finished frame (0 to 100, default 0): a subtle two-pixel darkening rhythm, multiplicative so transparent pixels stay untouched. Background mode only, sits right below Grain.

Sets the length of the seamless loop in seconds. Shorter loops feel faster and busier; longer loops feel calmer.

Chooses an automatic camera motion over the loop. Static holds still, 360 orbit circles the scene, Pendulum swings back and forth, and Dolly pushes in and out.

Mirrors the frame into a number of radial segments for a symmetric kaleidoscope pattern. Off leaves the scene as-is.

A checkbox that adds a reflected copy of the scene in the lower half, like a still water surface. Good for skyline and cityscape looks.

Applies a refraction field that warps the whole image. Heat haze shimmers, Water ripple waves, Glass bends smoothly, Shockwave pushes rings outward, and Gravity lens swirls space around an orbiting singularity.

An anamorphic post pass that stretches the brightest highlights into horizontal, subtly blue-tinted flares - the cinema-lens signature. 0 turns it off.

Clips the whole effect inside a shape window so it only shows through that shape. Choose a circle, heart, star, or text outline. Text reveals a text field.

The text field (shown when Shape mask is Text) sets the word whose letters mask the effect. Limited to 24 characters.

Rotates the hue of the whole scene over the loop, cycling through colors. Off keeps colors fixed; higher numbers make more full hue turns per loop.

Pulses the overall brightness a set number of times per loop, like a beat. Off holds steady brightness.

A checkbox that seamlessly crossfades the scene between two variations of itself over the loop, so it slowly shifts from one arrangement to another and back.

The random seed that fixes the exact arrangement of every motif. The same seed always reproduces the same look. Type a value or press the dice to roll a new one.

Cool cyan-to-indigo blues. The default palette, good for tech, storm and hyperspace looks.

Hot pinks and magenta running into indigo. Suits laser shows, night city and synthwave.

Warm yellow, amber and orange into red. Suits embers, flames and solar looks.

Acid lime and green into cyan. A punchy cyber and data palette.

White into pale sky blue. Clean and cold, good for aurora, chrome and polar looks.

Cream and amber into deep gold. Warm and luxurious, good for dust and noir looks.

Lavender into deep violet. A dreamy, cosmic palette for nebula and enchanted looks.

White into slate grey, near-neutral. Lets custom colors, color cycling or holo foil carry the hue.

Rolls a fresh curated look and applies it instantly: a random palette, backdrop, finish and a sensible two or three layer stack, each with its own variation seed. Keeps your current mode (background or overlay).

Tip. Every layer in the roll also gets a random variation seed for variety.

A dropdown that locks the color of every surprise roll. Leave it on Random colors, or pick a brand kit or a named palette so every roll lands on your chosen colors. Remembered per user.

The star button saves the current look (palette plus lead motif name and full settings) to your favorites for later reuse. Favorites are saved with your WordPress account, so they follow you across browsers and devices.

Each saved favorite appears as a labeled chip. Click it to reload that exact look while keeping your current mode.

Tip. With no favorites yet, a note explains the star saves the current look.

The small x on a favorite chip deletes that favorite from your list.

An Electric Blue storm: fog banks, lightning strikes and god rays over the palette backdrop.

An Ice warp tunnel with anamorphic flares on black. A fast forward rush.

A Violet nebula with a particle sphere floating in it.

A Toxic wave grid with pulse waves and a laser fan on charcoal.

A Fire scene of rising embers, fog and warm god rays.

An Ice aurora with a faint nebula on a midnight backdrop.

Golden embers with god rays and soft fog.

A Magenta laser fan with pulse waves and fog on black.

A Toxic plexus net with an energy orb and anamorphic flares on charcoal.

Gold smoke with light pillars and embers on black, heavy vignette.

A Magenta synthwave grid with a starfield and anamorphic flares.

A Gold black hole with a starfield and infalling debris on black.

An Ice supernova inside a nebula with a meteor shower.

Gold particle formation spelling WOW with a starfield behind it.

Ice liquid chrome with caustics, glass distortion on, on black.

A Toxic circuit flow with a HUD hologram and glitch on charcoal.

A Fire solar surface with a comet and embers, beat pulse 4, on black.

A Mono holo foil with a prism split and music visualizer, color cycle 2x, on black.

Gold fireflies with falling petals and fog on a midnight backdrop.

Magenta neon silk waves with an audio waveform on black.

A Toxic wave field visualizer with spectrum bars and neon flow lines on black.

Raymarched storm clouds lit from inside by lightning, finished with anamorphic lens streaks on the electric palette.

A polished chrome knot floating in fog with embers and lens streaks - cool studio metal on ice.

Crystal shards over a violet nebula, warped by the gravity-lens distortion.

A gyroid lattice around liquid metal blobs in toxic green, with lens streaks.

A full lens flare with iris ghosts over soft fog, plus star glints on the fire palette - a cinematic sun hit.

Light leaks, a sunbeam dust shaft and golden bokeh - warm late-afternoon glow for photos.

Spotlight sweeps crossing over bokeh and star glints - the red-carpet opening shot.

Film dust and scratches, film burn and a soft light leak with heavy grain - an old projected print.

Branching lightning bolts strike down with an ambient sky flash and a fading afterglow between hits.

A fan of straight laser beams spreading from a bright source point, with a haze glow.

Concentric rings expanding outward from a glowing core, like a radar or sonar ping.

Jittery horizontal electric arcs crackling between glowing end-orbs.

A glowing core sphere ringed by orbiting sparks and surface crackle arcs.

Shells that launch and burst into showering sparks that fall and fade.

Three tilted particle rings spinning around a bright core at different speeds, each shell carrying its own electron highlight.

A flat grid of points rippling with two crossing travelling waves, like a rolling landscape of dots.

A breathing sphere of particles that gently pulse in and out.

A forward rush through a tunnel of streaming particles with a clear central bore.

A constellation of nodes joined by lines between near neighbours. The net reacts to the pointer, pushing away from the cursor.

Tip. Move the pointer over the preview to push the nearest nodes.

A drifting field of stars with a few shooting stars streaking across each loop.

A rotating double helix of two particle strands joined by rungs, kept perfectly in sync.

Radiating shafts of light from a bright point, with drifting dust motes floating in the beams.

Wide horizontal lens flares (the cinematic streak) with a bright core that pulses.

Luminous curtains of northern lights that wave and shimmer.

Vertical beams of light rising like stage spotlights or aurora columns.

Out-of-focus lights: big soft discs drifting on tiny loops and breathing in brightness - a photographic backdrop staple.

Slow drifting clouds of soft fog puffs that add depth and haze.

Billowing clouds of colored gas with a scattering of stars, like a deep-space cloud.

Glowing embers rising and floating upward like sparks from a fire.

Billowing rising columns of soft smoke.

Glowing rain streaks falling on a seamless wrap, with a faint ground glow where they land.

A dark event horizon ringed by a swirling accretion disk, a thin photon ring and matter spiralling inward.

A star that gathers, collapses, then flashes and bursts outward with an expanding shockwave.

A neon wireframe globe with surface city lights, a glowing atmosphere and an orbiting satellite.

Rim-lit rock shards tumbling through a haze of fine dust.

Meteors streaking across a background star field.

A rotating spiral galaxy with two or three arms and a bright glowing core.

A churning, turbulent star surface with a glowing corona and edge flares.

A real comet: white-hot core inside a colored coma, a curved dust tail that widens and fades behind the head, a straighter ion tail at a slight angle and sparkling debris - all trailing the head along its arc across the frame.

A spinning neutron star firing sweeping beams with expanding rings pulsing outward.

A retro perspective grid receding to the horizon with a striped retro sun.

A tunnel of glowing rings rushing past the camera.

A morphing Julia-set fractal that slowly changes shape over the loop.

Falling columns of glowing glyphs with bright leading heads, the classic code-rain look.

A swirling dimensional portal with a shimmer ring racing along the rim and crackle across the mouth.

Nested rotating wireframe cubes suggesting the four-dimensional hypercube, with glowing corner nodes.

Particles gather to form your typed text or a captured layer's shape, hold it, then scatter and reform. Pick the source with the Source control on the layer.

Blobs of molten lava that flow together and split apart like a lava lamp.

The formation's sibling: your typed text or captured layer disintegrates into drifting ash as a wave sweeping across it, then reassembles - once per loop.

A spiked magnetic-fluid ball whose radial spikes pulse in and out as the whole shape rotates.

A flowing liquid-metal surface with banded, shifting reflections.

Ink spreading outward into soft blooming clouds.

Rippling underwater light patterns like the shifting bright lines on a pool floor.

A rotating wireframe globe with HUD rings, scale ticks, a vertical scan bar and blinking reticle blips.

Datamosh glitch bands with per-row jitter, RGB-split fringing and scanlines.

A circuit board of traces with pulse packets running along the lines and nodes blinking at intersections.

A radar screen with rings, a crosshair and a rotating sweep wedge that lights up blips as it passes.

A honeycomb lattice of glowing rings with a radial pulse sweeping outward from the center.

A white beam entering a prism and splitting into a rainbow fan on the other side.

A shifting iridescent holographic-foil sheen that sweeps rainbow bands across the frame.

Tip. Pairs well with the Mono palette so the foil hues carry the color.

A glowing neon sign (a rounded frame around an inner wave) with a subtle electric flicker.

A radial ring of bars radiating outward and pulsing like an audio equalizer to an internal beat.

Concentric chroma rings breathing outward, palette colors cycling ring by ring around a soft core.

A crystalline shattered-glass cell pattern with glowing cracks that flicker between the facets.

A rotating figure-eight Mobius ribbon with light pulses running along its path.

Gently wandering, twinkling fireflies that drift organically around the frame.

Petals drifting and swaying from side to side as they fall downward.

Wavering upright flame tongues that flicker along the bottom of the frame.

Streaks of light flowing across the frame at varied depths and speeds, like long-exposure traffic.

A whole swarm of glowing motes moving together in gentle flocking loops - denser and busier than the calm fireflies.

A travelling audio waveform drawn as a row of vertical bars that rise and fall with the wave.

Flowing rainbow silk lines that ripple across the frame like layered ribbons.

A rippling 3D grid of dots with rising spike bars, like a landscape equalizer.

A grid of dots undulating in a wave, with a bouncing marker strip riding over the top.

Ribbons of merged neon glows flowing in overlapping waves, with occasional bright sparks.

A row of vertical spectrum bars bouncing up and down to an internal beat.

Expanding water rings from scattered drop points, overlapping into a calm interference pattern.

A 3D cloud slab lit from inside by loop-safe lightning flashes - a storm front with real volume and depth.

An endless gyroid lattice the camera flies through, exactly one period per loop for a seamless infinite flight.

Molten metal blobs that merge and split in 3D, shaded with color bands and a fresnel rim.

A polished chrome torus knot turning under band lighting, its highlights tinted by the palette.

Floating crystal shards with thin-film dispersion that shifts color with the viewing angle.

A field of cubes riding a wave, each instance offset in phase - a rolling geometric ocean.

A hot light source with a star burst, halo ring and anamorphic streak, plus a chain of iris ghosts (hexagons, rings, discs) mirrored through the frame center. The source orbits once per loop so the whole chain glides across the frame.

Big warm washes of light breathing at the frame edges, plus one leak sweeping through the frame once per loop - the classic analog film-scan look.

Cross-shaped star-filter sparkles that flare up one after another over a soft heart glow - the jewellery-commercial twinkle.

A volumetric light shaft from a top corner with dust motes drifting and twinkling inside it - the projector-room look. Size widens the beam, Amount adds dust.

Stage spotlights sweeping from above, their cones crossing over a soft floor haze like a premiere night. Amount sets the number of beams.

Celluloid catching heat: a smouldering frame edge with burn spots that bloom and fade in their own loop windows, plus a subtle projector gate flicker.

Old-print damage: scratch lines that jump position with each projector frame, drifting hairs, dust specks and a gentle gate flicker. Pairs with the Grain slider for a complete vintage print.

The primary button in Background mode. Inserts the effect as a new full-document image layer, remembering all settings so you can reopen and edit it later.

The primary button in Overlay mode. Inserts the effect as a new transparent overlay layer on top of your design, remembering all settings for later editing.

The primary button when you reopened an existing effect layer to edit it. Rebakes the still and saves the new settings back into that same layer.

Records the animation as a seamless WebM video file and downloads it as 3d-effects-loop.webm. Use this for a looping video background.

Copies a small HTML snippet to your clipboard that plays the live, interactive effect on your website. Paste it into an HTML block. Hidden if the extension's runtime file cannot be located.

Tip. The snippet embeds all your settings and loads the extension's runtime script.

Closes the studio without inserting or changing anything.

The x in the header closes the studio, the same as Cancel.

Group heading for the high-voltage motifs: lightning, lasers, pulse waves, electric arcs, energy orb, fireworks and electron orbitals. Pick from here when you want charged, glowing bursts.

Group heading for shaped particle clouds: wave grid, particle sphere, warp tunnel, plexus net, starfield and DNA helix. Use these for structured, geometric point fields.

Group heading for beam and glow motifs: god rays, anamorphic flares, aurora, light pillars and bokeh lights. Choose these for soft cinematic lighting.

Group heading for ambience motifs: fog banks, nebula, sparks and embers, smoke and neon rain.

Group heading for space motifs: black hole, supernova, neon planet, debris field, meteor shower, galaxy spiral, solar surface, comet and pulsar beacon. The largest family.

Group heading for retro-futuristic looks: synthwave grid, time tunnel, fractal morph, glyph rain, portal and tesseract.

Group heading for the particle-formation pair (build and dissolve your text or layer) plus lava metaballs.

Group heading for liquid and surface motifs: ferrofluid, liquid chrome, ink bloom and caustics.

Group heading for interface motifs: HUD hologram, glitch datamosh, circuit flow, radar sweep and hex pulse.

Group heading for spectral motifs: prism split, holo foil, neon sign, music visualizer and chroma rings.

Group heading for kinetic motifs: crystal shatter, mobius ribbon, fireflies, falling petals, flames, light trails and firefly swarm.

Group heading for wave motifs: audio waveform, neon silk waves, wave field visualizer, dot wave, neon flow lines, spectrum bars and water ripples.

Group heading for the raymarched volume motifs: volumetric storm, gyroid structure and liquid metal blobs.

Group heading for sculpted 3D showpieces: chrome knot, crystal shards and cube ocean.

Group heading for camera-optics and celluloid motifs: lens flare, light leaks, star glints, sunbeam dust, spotlight sweep, film burn and film dust.

Adds the effect's light to the layers below, so colors build up and glow brighter. This is the default and suits most glowing motifs.

Lightens the layers underneath but never blows fully to white, a gentler version of Add. Reach for it when Add looks too hot.

Tip. A safer choice for very bright stacks.

Draws the effect straight over the layers below with no lightening, using only its own opacity. Use it when you want the effect to cover rather than glow.

Darkens by multiplying with the layers below, so bright areas survive and dark areas deepen. Handy for smoke or shadowy overlays.

Uses the dark background gradient that ships with the chosen palette, so the backdrop always matches your colors. This is the first option in the list.

Tip. The label reads Palette bg in English.

A deep blue-black gradient, good for cool or icy palettes.

A neutral near-black gradient that stays out of the way of any palette.

A pure flat black backdrop. Best when you want the effect to float on nothing.

Lets you pick your own backdrop color with the editor's color picker. Selecting it reveals a color button next to the dropdown.

The camera holds still and only the effect animates. This is the default.

The camera circles the scene once per loop for a full turntable spin.

The camera swings gently left, then right and back, like a slow pendulum.

The camera pushes in and pulls back along its view axis for a breathing depth move.

No refraction; the scene renders crisp. This is the default.

Warps the image with a rising, shimmering heat-haze ripple.

Adds concentric water-like ripples that bend the picture outward.

Bends the scene as if seen through rippled or frosted glass.

Sends an expanding ring of distortion outward, like a blast wave passing through the frame.

A gravitational lens: space swirls around an orbiting singularity whose dark horizon swallows the light behind a bright photon ring.

The effect fills the whole frame with no clipping. This is the default.

Clips the effect inside a soft circle, hiding everything outside it.

Clips the effect inside a heart outline.

Clips the effect inside a five-point star.

Clips the effect inside your own word or letters. Choosing it reveals the Mask text field where you type the word.

Tip. Turns any motif into glowing text.

Builds the particle formation from a word you type into the text field below the switch. This is the default source.

Builds the particle formation from the outline of a captured editor layer instead of text. Press Use active layer to grab the layer selected in the editor, then the particles form its shape.

Tip. A small preview of the captured layer appears next to the button.

A short three-second cycle for snappier, more energetic repeats.

The default five-second cycle, a balanced pace.

The longest eight-second cycle for slower, calmer motion.

No mirroring; the scene plays normally. This is the default.

Mirrors the frame into two symmetric halves.

Mirrors into three symmetric wedges.

Mirrors into four wedges.

Mirrors into six wedges.

Mirrors into eight wedges for a dense, mandala-like symmetry.

Colors stay as set by the palette. This is the default.

Rotates every color once fully around the hue wheel over one loop.

Two full hue rotations per loop, a faster rainbow shift.

Three full hue rotations per loop, the fastest color churn.

Brightness stays steady. This is the default.

Two brightness pulses per loop, a slow throb.

Four pulses per loop.

Eight pulses per loop, a fast, strobe-like beat.

The card holding the Surprise me! button and its color lock. One click rolls a fresh curated look.

The card that stores looks you keep with the star button. It stays empty, showing a short note, until you save your first favorite.

Tip. Up to 12 favorites are remembered with your WordPress account.

The card of ready-made recipes (Thunderfront, Hyperspace and so on) that you can load in one click.

The stack card where you add, tune and remove effect layers. Its heading shows the current layer count, for example Effects · 2.

The card with the palette, backdrop, finish (bloom, vignette, grain) and every global toggle such as camera move, kaleidoscope and distortion.

The default choice in the Colors lock under the Surprise button: each surprise also rolls a random palette. Switch it to a Brand Kit or a named palette instead so every surprise stays on your colors.

Tip. Your choice is remembered between visits.

The small dice button beside the Seed field. It rolls a new random seed and re-renders, giving the current effects a fresh random arrangement without touching any slider.

Tip. The Seed number field itself accepts 1 to 99999.

The name given to the layer that is added to your document when you insert an effect. Look for 3D Effects in the Layers panel to find or re-edit it later.

Tip. Re-opening the studio on this layer edits the effect in place.