Imimot

Lumen - analog-style software video synthesizer

Our friends at Paracosm just released their hyper-cool analog-style video synthesizer software Lumen.

Lumen is a Mac App that makes it easy to create engaging visuals in real time. With a semi-modular design that is both playable and deep, Lumen is the perfect way to get into video synthesis. Traditional analog video synths use the the same technological principles as audio synthesizers, operating on analog video signals instead of audio signals.

“Analog-Style”, while it operates in a fully digital manner, Lumen allows artists to use the same creative process they would with a hardware video synth - exploring through patching cables and twisting knobs.

As soon as Lumen starts up it’s generating a video signal through a set of interconnected “Submodules”. Twisting the knobs and flipping the switches changes the way those submodules process and create video signals. This is already very powerful, but when the user dives into the advanced patch panel on the “back” of the synth, they can rewire the synth to create novel effects.

Back panel cable patching Lumen has built-in Syphon output, so you can feed CoGe by Lumen's output pretty easily - just create a SyphonSource in CoGe, and you are ready to go!

  • Lumen was released on April 22nd, 2016, and is available through Paracosm’s online store.
  • Lumen’s list price is $129, but will be available for a limited-time for the early-access price of $99.
  • Lumen is compatible with all Macs running OS X 10.8 or higher.