New Year's Eve party visuals for your TV or projector

Early evening: keep it calm

While people arrive, the TV should set the mood without asking for attention. A slow scene with the Speed and Brightness turned down works — in Dancy Ants, try Aurora, Caustics or Light Leak. If there's a TV broadcast you want to catch later, this is the time it can still play muted.

From 11pm: let it follow the music

When the music goes up, switch to visuals that move with it. Turn on Autopilot and it runs the whole thing — picks the scenes, holds through the build, changes on the drop — so the host can be at the party instead of at the laptop.

Midnight: the year on the wall

Set up the Type layer with the new year before the night starts and leave it switched off. At midnight, switch it on. The countdown is yours to shout; the wall is ready the moment it lands.

Want a countdown on screen too? There isn't one built in. Keep the clock on a phone, and let the wall answer the moment it hits.

If you have a projector

New Year's Eve is the night to use it. A pale wall in a dark room turns the whole wall into the party. It connects like a TV — an HDMI cable from the laptop and Send to Screen 2. More in TV tonight, wall later.

Keep the night

Dancy Ants can record what's on screen to a video file — a clip of the wall at midnight is a better souvenir than another blurry phone video.

The day before

• Open dancyants.com on the laptop you'll use, so it works even if the Wi-Fi goes down at the party.
• Connect it to the TV or projector and run the Quick check (Setup → Test run): it tests the screen, the sound and MIDI in a few seconds.
• Type the new year into the Type layer, then switch it off until midnight.
• Decide where the music comes from — a speaker the laptop can hear, or the laptop itself with Listen to this computer.
• Plug the laptop into power. It'll be on for hours.

Questions