Export video, audio or MIDI

Save the session before you export. That way you can repeat the process or prepare another version without rebuilding your work.

Choose the file you need

Export a full video

1. Prepare the MIDI or recorded performance and check that it plays back correctly.
2. Review the look of the scene.
3. Open File > Export Video… or press Cmd+Shift+E.
4. Choose the aspect ratio, resolution, frame rate, and format.
5. Check the final dimensions shown under Output.
6. Review the bar range.
7. Choose which visual layers to include.
8. Turn on Include Audio if you want sound, and select its sources.
9. Click Export Video and choose a name and destination.
10. Wait for the process to finish, then open the file to check it.

Medussa renders the video frame by frame; it does not record the screen while you play. To export a live performance, first record it as MIDI.

Choose aspect ratio and resolution

The aspect ratios currently available are 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, and 9:16. The resolutions are 720p, 1080p, and 4K. You can choose 30, 60 or 120 fps.

In 16:9 and 4:3, the video matches the full visualizer: choosing one of these ratios here also changes the shape of the visualizer on screen, and vice versa. In vertical and square formats, you pick a crop within the scene using the camera frame, and the shape of the screen doesn't change. To set this up, follow Camera and framing.

The On Screen section of the same panel holds Lock the window to this shape, the same switch found in Settings > Scene > Main.

Resolution sets the size of the image, aspect ratio sets its shape, and fps sets how many images are generated per second. Always check the final width and height in the panel.

Choose a video format

If you'll continue in another editor, check which formats that program supports, especially if you need to keep transparency.

Export only a few bars

1. In Range, enter the first and last bars you want to include.
2. Confirm the fields and check their values.
3. Check the duration and frame count.
4. Export and check the start and end.

The last selected bar is included in the result. This export range is set in its own panel: don't assume it automatically matches the A/B loop.

Leave time before and after the music

1. Set Extra Start to add seconds before the beginning.
2. Set Extra End to leave a tail after the ending.
3. Check the total duration and export.

The visual layers keep animating during these intervals. This extra time can help you avoid an abrupt visual cut.

Choose layers for this export only

The Visualizers section of the panel is labeled Only for this export: it changes which layers appear in the file without touching the session's settings.

Match Session resets the selection to the layers set up in the project. Check this section when you prepare a second version of the video.

Export with transparency

1. In Format, choose an option that includes Alpha.
2. Choose the musical layers you want to keep: waterfall, particles, connections, waves, chords, note names, and pedal.
3. Decide whether to keep the Wood Border and the Floor Image, which are optional in this mode.
4. Export a short section.
5. Import it into your video editor over an image or a color to check the transparent areas.
6. When the result looks right, export the full range.

This mode hides the visualizer background—color, image, and video. The keyboard, the floor, and the active musical layers are kept so you can layer them over other footage. A player may show transparent areas as black; check them in a composition.

The glow travels in a second file

The glow's additive light has no alpha channel, so it can't travel inside a transparent video. If you export with alpha and Glow (HDR Bloom) turned on, Medussa asks before starting:

• Export two files: in addition to the video, it writes "… - Glow.mp4". Place it above the first one in your editor, with the Screen or Add blend mode.
• Export without glow: a single file with no glow, so you can add it later with an effect in your editor.
• Cancel: returns to the panel without exporting.

Choose the video's sound

1. Turn on Include Audio.
2. Turn on Live Instrument to render the MIDI with the selected main source.
3. Turn on Audio Track if you want to include the reference file. It comes out as you hear it in the editor: with its trim, fades, and level. If the track is muted with M, it isn't included.
4. Turn on Metronome only if it should be part of the result.
5. Check the levels before exporting.

In this panel, "Live Instrument" names the main source used to render the MIDI; it does not mean capturing a live device during the export. The practice guide is not offered as a separate source in the current panel.

Export WAV audio only

1. Open the export panel with a piece or recording ready.
2. Turn on Include Audio and select the sources you want.
3. Set the bar range.
4. Choose a WAV quality of 16-bit or 24-bit and a sample rate of 44.1 or 48 kHz.
5. Click Export Audio (WAV).
6. Save and listen to the file.

The WAV quality controls affect the WAV file, not the video's soundtrack.

Export MIDI for a DAW

1. Review the notes and controllers in Editor.
2. Save the session.
3. Choose File > Export MIDI….
4. Choose a name and destination.
5. Import the result into your DAW and check the notes, tempo map, and controllers.
6. Assign the virtual instrument you want to use there.

If the piece has split hands, the file comes out with three tracks: tempo and time signature, Right Hand, and Left Hand. Controllers—sustain and the rest—travel on the right-hand track. With no left-hand notes, the file has its usual shape: one tempo track and one note track.

MIDI contains musical instructions, not the rendered sound, the plugins, or the visual composition. Use WAV if you need to keep the sound, and .mdss if you want to keep your Medussa work.

If a result isn't what you expected, see Troubleshooting.