A visualizer video is the fastest way to put a new song on YouTube or social media with something moving on screen. Astrofox is a free, open-source (MIT) motion graphics app built for exactly this. It runs in a browser or as a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, needs no account, and had about 2,000 stars on GitHub on 25 October 2026.
Before you start
- Your finished song as a WAV or MP3 (see the free song workflow if it isn't mastered yet).
- Your cover art or a background image.
- For the best export, install the desktop app from astrofox.io/download; it renders offline and saves MP4 (H.264 video, AAC audio) using a bundled ffmpeg. The web version records with your browser and may save WebM instead.
Step by step
- New project. Select New project. It starts with Image, Bar Spectrum and Text layers already in place.
- Project settings. Open Project settings and set the size: 1920 × 1080 for YouTube, 1080 × 1920 for Shorts, Reels and TikTok, 1080 × 1080 for a square post. Pick a background colour from your cover.
- Load audio. Select Load audio and choose your song. Use the player at the bottom to play it.
- Add your cover. Select the Image layer and load your artwork. Centre it, or place it to one side.
- Style the spectrum. Select Bar Spectrum and adjust colours, size, frequency range and smoothing in the Controls panel. Prefer a different look? Add a Radial Spectrum around the cover or a Wave Spectrum along the bottom.
- Make things pulse. Open Reactors, add a reactor that follows the low end of the spectrum (the kick and bass), and connect it to the cover's scale so it pumps on the beat. Keep it subtle.
- Text and polish. Put your artist name and song title in the Text layer, exactly as on the release. Add a light Bloom, Film Grain or Vignette effect if you like.
- Save the project. Select Save project to keep an editable .afx file for the next single.
- Export. Select Save video, confirm the audio, set the range (the whole song, or 15 to 30 seconds for a teaser), choose 30 fps and High quality, and save.
Astrofox suggests testing a short range at Medium quality first, because higher frame rates, sizes and quality settings take longer to render.
Match YouTube's recommended upload settings
| Setting | YouTube recommends | In Astrofox |
|---|---|---|
| Container and video codec | MP4, H.264 | Desktop export with the x264 encoder |
| Audio | AAC-LC, 48 kHz, 384 kbps for stereo | Desktop export includes AAC audio; start from a 48 kHz master if you can |
| 1080p bitrate | 8 Mbps at 24 to 30 fps, 12 Mbps at 48 to 60 fps | Use High quality for the final export |
| Frame rate | Keep it constant; 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 or 60 | 30 fps for most songs, 60 for fast motion |
Five ideas that look better than a plain spectrum
- Cover on blur: a blurred, darkened copy of the cover as background with the sharp cover on top.
- Lyric cards: add Text layers for the chorus lines and show each one only during its section.
- Loop clip: export a 10-second seamless loop for Spotify Canvas-style posts.
- Vertical teaser: a 1080 × 1920 version of the hook for Shorts and Reels.
- Classic Milkdrop look: for psychedelic visuals, the open-source projectM and Butterchurn projects recreate the Winamp Milkdrop visualizer.
Rights check
Use only images you made, licensed or generated with a model that allows commercial use, and only audio you own. Content ID on YouTube matches audio, so samples you haven't cleared can get the video claimed.
Questions people ask
Is Astrofox free?
Yes. Astrofox is free and open source under the MIT licence, with a web version and desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, and no account needed.
What size should a YouTube music video be?
1920 × 1080 for a standard YouTube video, or 1080 × 1920 for Shorts. Export MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, which matches YouTube's recommended settings.
Why export from the desktop app instead of the browser?
The desktop app renders frames offline and encodes MP4 with ffmpeg, so timing is exact. The web version records with your browser and may produce WebM.
