I saw videos playing on large screens in clubs, but it was unpleasant because while the DJ was playing a non-stop jam, we were looking at video clips of other songs. New visualizations can live in the rhythm of our music, responding to velocity and spectrum. Visualization themes vary widely. Iridescent, fiery circular shapes dominate Climax. Holiday Dancer features a buxom animated figure.
Punkie weaves a black cross through smoky, surrealistic starbursts.
Visualizations are available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux, although selections are much larger for Windows-based computers. The downloads are small, generally under 400 kilobytes. Once installed, they show up as options inside the music player interface. From there, users can alter how basic shapes change colors and move. Winamp, launched in 1998 by Nullsoft and acquired by America Online in 1999, was one of the first desktop music programs using vis downloads three years ago.