Generator node
Image Switch
A video mixer in one node: WILDCARD image slots (drop cables for exactly as many inputs as needed), Index picks the live one, and every change is a TRANSITION — the GPU blends outgoing and incoming over Ease Time, both sources staying live. Styles: Crossfade, Dip to Black, Wipe L→R, Wipe U→D. Synced Video Players auto-play only while their slot is live (both during a transition) and pause when no switch needs them. Progress, Finished and the Transition structure report the ride.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableOff clears the output and releases both the render demand and the Video Player sync link — synced players return to autonomy. | bool | true |
| IndexWhich slot is live (0-based, over the wildcard slots you cabled). Every change is a TRANSITION over Ease Time — cable a Counter, beat trigger or Keyboard for VJ cuts. A change landing mid-transition fades from the CURRENT mix, never jumps. | int | 0 |
| Ease TimeTransition length in seconds (0 = hard cut). Cable it to make transitions beat-synced. | float | 0.5 |
| Ease TypeThe transition curve: Linear, Ease In, Ease Out, Ease In-Out, Smooth or Expo. | int | 3 |
| StyleHow the pictures trade places: Crossfade (opacity), Dip to Black (out through black, classic stage cut), Wipe L→R or Wipe U→D (soft sweeping edge). Both sources stay LIVE through every style. | int | 0 |
Outputs
| Port | Type |
|---|---|
| Image | image |
| Width | float |
| Height | float |
| Progress | float |
| Finished | bool |
| Transition | structure |
How It Works
Image Switch is the video mixer. Image cables route textures rather than carry values, so images cannot ease through the data Switch — this node does the blend on the GPU instead.
The slots are wildcards: drop a cable and a fresh slot appears below it, as many as the patch needs. Index picks the live one, and every change is a transition: the GPU blends outgoing and incoming over Ease Time with both sources staying live. Styles are Crossfade, Dip to Black, Wipe L→R and Wipe U→D, with the sweep overshooting the borders so a soft edge fully exits the frame. An interrupting transition snapshots the current output and blends from that, so a fade cut short never flashes.
The other half of the node is the playback link, and it needs no cable at all. Each frame the switch declares which sources are wired into it and which must be playing right now — the live slot, plus both sides of an active transition so a fade rolls on two moving pictures. A Video Player with Sync Switch on plays when some switch needs it and pauses only when every consumer agrees.
Progress, Finished and a Transition structure report the ride, naming precisely which slot is leaving and which is entering.
Use Cases
- A VJ programme — A bank of clips on one switch, Index driven by a MIDI pad or a keyboard, crossfading on the beat.
- Efficient playback — Eight clips in the patch, only the one or two that are visible actually decoding.
- Cut between cameras — Several Camera Inputs on one switch with a dip-to-black between them.
- Scene changes — Wipe between two whole rendered compositions, not just two videos.
- Automated shows — A Timeline's marker triggers step the Index through a programme.
Tips
- Ease Time 0 is an instant cut — the classic switch behaviour, with no blend at all.
- Sync Switch on the players is what makes the bank cheap; your own Play port stays the master gate.
- An interrupted transition departs from the current mix, so rapid Index changes glide instead of snapping. That is deliberate.
- The Transition structure is useful downstream: it tells other nodes which clip is arriving before it is fully there.
- For values rather than images, use Switch — it learned to ease too, element-wise, with both sides live.
Open Image Switch in the interactive catalog →
Image Switch is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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