The Galaxy effect fills the screen with one of three moving space scenes — a turning 3D spiral galaxy, a warp-drive tunnel of light rings, or a colored starburst — built and rendered live rather than looped from video. It works as a full-screen backdrop behind you on a call or stream, a starting-soon screen, or ambient motion on an idle monitor.
Before you start
- A GPU or browser with graphics acceleration on. Galaxy renders in WebGL, including up to 130,000 individually drawn stars in the Spiral Galaxy view. If motion stutters on older or integrated graphics, lower Star Density.
- A microphone, only if you plan to use Music Reactive. It's off by default and the scene runs the same without it.
Set it up
- Open the Galaxy effect.
- Set View to the scene you want: Spiral Galaxy for a slow, calm turn; Warp Drive for a tunnel of streaking light; Starburst for the multicolor logo-style burst.
- Leave Palette on Signature for the colors each view was designed around, or pick Nebula, Spectrum, Aurora, or Solar to match your own branding.
- Adjust Speed and Star Density to set how fast and how busy the scene feels.
- If the screen sits behind you on camera, turn on Calm Center so the middle of the frame stays dark.
- Select Play Fullscreen.
You'll know it worked when the scene fills the screen with continuous, non-looping motion — stars drifting and twinkling in Spiral Galaxy, rings and streaks rushing past in Warp Drive, or rays pulsing outward in Starburst.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness | 10–100 | Overall output of the scene. Lower it if a camera pointed at you is washing out or the screen is too dominant. |
| View | Spiral Galaxy, Warp Drive, Starburst | Which of the three scenes renders. Everything below responds to whichever view is active. |
| Palette | Signature, Nebula, Spectrum, Aurora, Solar | The color set drawn throughout the scene. Signature uses violet and blue for Spiral Galaxy and Warp Drive, and the full spectrum for Starburst. |
| Speed | 0–100% | How fast the scene moves — the galaxy's spin, the warp tunnel's rush, or the starburst's ray travel. Low values read as a slow drift; high values as hyperspace. |
| Star Density | 10–100% | How much is on screen: more stars and nebula sprites in Spiral Galaxy, more streaks in Warp Drive, more rays in Starburst. |
| Spiral Arms | 2–6 | Number of arms in the disc. Only shown when View is Spiral Galaxy. Rebuilds the galaxy, so it steps rather than sliding smoothly. |
| Viewing Angle | 0–85° | Tilts the disc from face-on (0°) to edge-on (85°). Only shown when View is Spiral Galaxy. |
| Tunnel Twist | 0–100% | Spirals the star streaks around the tunnel instead of letting them fly straight. Only shown when View is Warp Drive. |
| Glow | 0–100% | Bloom and haze intensity around stars, rings, and rays. Applies to all three views. |
| Calm Center | On/off | Darkens the middle of the frame with a soft vignette. Useful when you sit in front of the screen on camera. |
| Music Reactive | On/off | Drives the scene's rotation speed, ring flashes, star sparkle, and ray brightness from your microphone's bass, treble, and beats. |
Common setups
- Video call background. Spiral Galaxy, Speed 15–20, Brightness 35–45, Calm Center on. Slow and dim keeps the motion from competing with your face on camera.
- Starting-soon or BRB screen. Warp Drive, Speed 55–70, Palette Nebula or Spectrum, Star Density 75–90. Fast and dense reads as active rather than paused.
- Party or stage backdrop. Starburst, Palette Spectrum, Speed 50, Music Reactive on. The rays flare with the beat instead of running on a fixed loop.
- Idle second monitor. Spiral Galaxy, Speed 10–15, Viewing Angle 65–80 for an edge-on slice, Brightness 30–40. Subtle enough to run all day without being distracting.
Troubleshooting
The screen stays black and nothing renders. Graphics acceleration is most likely off in your browser. Turn it on in your browser's settings and reload. If that isn't an option, Full Screen Light doesn't need WebGL and will still work.
I turned on Music Reactive but the scene doesn't change. Check your browser's address bar for a blocked microphone permission and allow it. If permission is granted but nothing changes, the microphone may not be picking up enough level — play music closer to it or raise its input volume in your operating system's sound settings.
The scene stutters or drops frames, especially in Spiral Galaxy. Star Density controls how much is actually being drawn. Lower it, or switch to Warp Drive or Starburst, which render a flat shader rather than tens of thousands of individual points.
The effect won't go fullscreen. Some browsers block fullscreen until you interact with the page first. Click anywhere on the page and select Play Fullscreen again, or open the effect URL with #fullscreen on the end to start in fullscreen.
Next steps
For a different animated ambient backdrop, try Aurora Borealis for flowing color bands, or Matrix Rain for a falling-code look.