foo_vis_projectm_mac

Native macOS foobar2000 component that embeds the projectM 4 visualizer as a Default UI element.

Features

• projectM/MilkDrop preset rendering through libprojectM 4.
• foobar2000 PCM playback capture for audio-reactive visuals.
• Preset folder and texture folder selection.
• Previous/next preset controls.
• Manual startup mode so projectM does not consume CPU/GPU until enabled.
• Startup behavior preference: manual startup or start automatically.
• Runtime On switch to enable/disable rendering and audio capture.
• Shuffle and auto-rotation.
• Optional static mode with auto-rotation disabled.
• Smooth auto preset transitions.
• Fullscreen mode using the same active visualizer instance.
• Double-click the visualizer to enter or exit fullscreen.
• Cursor auto-hides after 2 seconds of inactivity in fullscreen.
• Right-click context menu on the visualizer.
• Quality modes for slower Macs: Low, Medium, High, Ultra. Quality changes mesh complexity while keeping the visualizer scaled to the full pane.

Using In A Layout

After installing and restarting foobar2000, add the element named projectM Visualisation to your Default UI layout.

Example layout snippet:

splitter horizontal style=thin
 splitter vertical style=thin
  tabs position=top
   playlist-picker tab-name="Playlists"
   albumlist tab-name="Library"
   projectM Visualisation tab-name="Visualizer"
  playlist
 playback-controls

You can also use the short element name:

projectM tab-name="Visualizer"

Keyboard Shortcuts

Click the visualizer first so it has keyboard focus, then use:

Shortcut	Action
F	Enter or exit fullscreen
Esc	Exit fullscreen
Double-click	Enter or exit fullscreen
Right Arrow or N	Next preset
Left Arrow or P	Previous preset
S	Toggle shuffle
A	Toggle auto-rotation
Q	Cycle quality mode
V	Toggle visualizer on/off

Install

• macOS 11 or newer.
• Apple Silicon Mac. The current release is arm64-only.
• foobar2000 for macOS v2.

Download the latest release zip, unzip it, then copy foo_vis_projectm_mac.component into foobar2000's user components folder:

mkdir -p "$HOME/Library/foobar2000-v2/user-components"
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/foobar2000-v2/user-components/foo_vis_projectm_mac.component"
cp -R foo_vis_projectm_mac.component \
  "$HOME/Library/foobar2000-v2/user-components/"

Restart foobar2000 after installing or replacing the component.

The release component is self-contained and includes the projectM runtime library. Users do not need Xcode, the foobar2000 SDK or projectM source code to install it.

Startup and Resource Use

The visualizer defaults to manual startup. In this mode the component stays idle until you turn it on with the On switch, the right-click menu, or the V keyboard shortcut.

To change this behavior, open foobar2000 Preferences and go to:

Display > Visualisations > projectM Visualisation

There you can choose whether projectM starts automatically when foobar2000 starts.

Turning the visualizer off stops audio capture, stops the display link and destroys the active projectM instance. Turning it back on recreates projectM and reloads the saved preset/texture state.

Presets

Presets are not bundled. Use the component's Presets button or right-click menu to choose a folder containing .milk or .prjm files.

Texture packs are also not bundled. If a preset pack needs textures, use the Textures button or right-click menu to choose the texture folder.

Useful projectM preset and texture packs:

• MilkDrop Texture Pack
• Cream of the Crop Presets
• Classic projectM Presets
• Original MilkDrop Presets
• Eo.S. + Phat / EN-D Presets

Build From Source

Build requirements:

• Xcode or Apple Command Line Tools.
• xcode-select configured to an installed developer directory.
• foobar2000 SDK built in Release configuration.
• libprojectM 4 built and installed locally.

The current build script expects this repository to sit next to the SDK and the projectM install prefix:

workspace/
  foobar2000-SDK/
  projectm-install/
  foo_vis_projectm_mac/

projectm-install must contain:

include/projectM-4/projectM.h
lib/libprojectM-4.4.dylib

First build the foobar2000 SDK sample workspace in Release mode so the required static libraries exist in Xcode DerivedData. Then run:

./build_component.sh

The output bundle is:

build/Release/foo_vis_projectm_mac.component

Third-Party Code

This component links against libprojectM 4. projectM is distributed under the LGPL; see the projectM project for its license and source code:

https://github.com/projectM-visualizer/projectm

The foobar2000 SDK is required to build this component but is not included in this repository.