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Dirty Video Mixer

by Jeremy Le Grand

Input A
Drop video or click
Input C
Drop video or click
Mixed Output
Input B
Drop video or click
Input D
Drop video or click
Vector Mix drag to blend A / B / C / D — corners solo, center blends all
A B C D
Overlay
Overlay
100%
Sync Stability
100%
Feedback
0%
Color Bleed
0%
Ghosting
0%
Bit Crush
0%
Luma Threshold
0%

What is a Video Mixer?

A video mixer is a device that combines multiple video sources into a single output. Professional video mixers are used in live broadcasting, concerts, and art installations to blend, switch, and apply effects to video signals in real-time. They allow operators to fade between cameras, overlay graphics, and create visual compositions on the fly.

Analog Inspiration

This Dirty Video Mixer is a digital recreation of vintage analog video mixers from the 1980s and 1990s. Hardware units like the Edirol V-4, Panasonic WJ-AVE5, and the Tachyons+ line of video synthesis tools were beloved for their unpredictable, chaotic behavior. Analog circuitry would drift, signals would interfere with each other, and timing errors would create glitches that became an aesthetic in themselves.

These "dirty" effects—rolling sync, color bleeding, ghosting, and feedback loops—were often considered flaws in professional settings, but video artists embraced them as creative tools. This digital recreation simulates those analog imperfections using WebGL shaders, bringing the chaotic beauty of hardware video mixing to your browser.

Controls Guide

Vector Mix Pad

The main mixing control. Each corner is a video channel—drag the puck toward a corner to bring that source forward, park it in the center to blend all four equally. Edges act like classic two-channel crossfades. This is vector mixing, the same idea behind vintage hardware video mixers and vector synths. Weights automatically rebalance across whichever channels are loaded.

Sync Stability

Simulates horizontal sync instability. At 100%, the image is stable. As you decrease this value, the image begins to tear horizontally and roll vertically— mimicking what happens when analog video signals lose synchronization.

Feedback

Routes the output back into the input, creating recursive visual loops. This was achieved in analog by connecting a mixer's output to one of its inputs. Higher values create intense trailing and kaleidoscopic effects as the image feeds back into itself.

Color Bleed

Separates and offsets the red, green, and blue color channels. In analog video, this occurred due to timing differences in color subcarrier signals. Creates chromatic aberration and rainbow fringing effects, especially visible on edges.

Ghosting

Blends previous frames with the current frame, creating motion trails. In analog systems, this happened due to phosphor persistence in CRT monitors or signal reflections. Moving objects leave ethereal traces behind them.

Bit Crush

Reduces color depth by quantizing colors to fewer levels. This mimics the limited color palettes of early digital video systems and video game consoles. Creates a posterized, retro aesthetic with visible color banding.

Luma Threshold

Splits the picture into brightness bands, one per loaded channel— dark areas reveal one source, bright areas another, with every loaded input getting its own band. Turning the knob sweeps the band boundaries across the image. A form of luminance keying, used in analog mixers for creative compositing effects.

Overlay Channel

An extra video layered over the main mix with classic blend modes: Add, Screen, Multiply, Difference, or Normal, plus an opacity fader. Difference over moving footage is the classic video-synth look. The overlay picks up all the dirt—bit crush, ghosting, feedback, and CRT effects apply to the composite.

Webcam Input

Any channel can use a live camera instead of a file—hit CAM on an input panel. Point the camera at a screen showing the output for genuine analog-style video feedback, the trick that made the original dirty mixers famous.

REC (Live Performance)

Records the output in real time while you perform—every pad move and knob ride is captured exactly as you played it, with the mixed audio. Hit REC, do your take, hit it again to stop and download. Use this when camera inputs are live; use Export for a clean offline render of file sources.

Audio

The vector pad mixes audio too, with an equal-power curve like a DJ mixer—each channel's loudness follows its video weight. You hear the blend live (toggle with the AUDIO button), REC captures it, and Export can render the mix, any single channel solo, or silence into the final MP4.

Output Format

Sets the aspect ratio of the mixed output and export. AUTO matches Video A's native shape—drop in a vertical phone video and you get a vertical export, ready for Reels, TikTok, or Shorts. Or pick 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, and 3:4 manually.

Fill / Fit

Controls how each source maps into the output frame when aspect ratios don't match. FILL crops sources to cover the whole frame (no distortion), while FIT letterboxes them with black bars so nothing gets cropped.

CRT Filter

Adds a scanline overlay and vignette to simulate the appearance of a CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor. CRTs displayed images using horizontal electron beam lines, creating the characteristic scanline look of vintage video.

Extreme Mode

Multiplies all effect intensities and adds random parameter fluctuations. Simulates a malfunctioning mixer with unstable circuits. Unpredictable glitches and chaos ensue—use with caution for maximum dirty aesthetic.

"The glitch is not a mistake—it's a feature." — Video art philosophy

Click to enable video playback

-- FPS