huff icon
Real-time datamosh & glitch-art for desktop.
Tauri · p5.js · Rust · Syphon · Spout · MIDI · OSC
version platform tauri license

huff is a desktop application for creating real-time datamosh, glitch-art, and feedback effects. Load a video file or connect a webcam, then sculpt the image through a live effect chain — datamosh tile displacement, feedback loops, flow warps, symmetry folds, solarise, scanline corruption, and ghost trails.

It ships with a two-window architecture: a controls panel and a separate fullscreen output window that receives the processed frames over a local WebSocket relay. The output window can be recorded, mirrored to a projector, or shared directly to VJ software via Syphon (macOS) or Spout (Windows).

huff is built for performers and artists who want a tool that behaves predictably under pressure — MIDI-mappable, OSC-receivable, and hot-swappable mid-set.

📸 SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER huff controls window + output window side by side
Replace with: screenshot of the full app in use, ideally during a live performance

Features

  • Datamosh / glitch tiles — temporal tile displacement sampled from a 60-frame ring buffer with cluster physics, spatial gap, smear, and depth scatter
  • Feedback loop — zoom, translate X/Y, and rotate the buffer back onto itself each frame
  • Flow warp — noise-field optical-flow UV distortion with pulse and implosion modes
  • Symmetry — vertical, horizontal, or both axes with a moveable split position
  • Solarise — luminance-threshold colour inversion with per-channel R/G/B tinting
  • Scanline bands — drifting horizontal displacement bands sampled from past frames with gap quantisation and skew
  • Trails — stacked ghost frames with luma keying for motion-smear
  • Camera input — live webcam feed alongside or instead of video files
  • Syphon (macOS) — zero-install Metal texture sharing to Resolume, VDMX, MadMapper, CoGe, and any Syphon receiver
  • Spout (Windows) — D3D11 texture sharing to Resolume Arena, TouchDesigner, MadMapper, and any Spout2 receiver
  • MIDI — full CC/note input via native Rust midir; JSON map files; hardware + virtual ports
  • OSC — UDP listener on port 9000; JSON map files; TouchOSC, Max/MSP, Pure Data, SuperCollider, TouchDesigner
  • Presets — save/recall named parameter snapshots; 7 factory presets included
  • Keyboard shortcuts — P toggles controls panel, F toggles output fullscreen

Quick Start

# 1. Download from Releases, or build from source:
git clone https://github.com/your-org/huff.git
cd huff && npm install && npm run dev

# 2. Load a video file or start your webcam in the Source group
# 3. Enable Glitch — move CORRUPT % above 0
# 4. Open canvas.html in a second monitor window → press F for fullscreen

Documentation

Section What’s covered
How it Works Effect pipeline, data flow diagrams, frame output architecture
Installation macOS DMG, Windows installer, build from source
The Interface Every control group, every parameter explained
MIDI Connecting devices, map format, virtual ports
OSC Setup, map format, TouchOSC, Max/MSP, TouchDesigner
Video Output Syphon, Spout, canvas mirror window
Parameter Reference Complete ID/range table for MIDI + OSC maps
Architecture File structure, Rust internals, WebSocket relay
Caveats Known limitations, platform notes, edge cases
Troubleshooting Common problems and fixes