About Nuvotion

In my opinion, live visuals are shockingly niche compared to more popular artistic mediums. I'm determined to change that by helping more artists from around the world explore this rewarding art form.

I've set out to achieve this goal by developing Nuvotion, a powerful yet accessible tool for creating audio-reactive visuals. I'm also producing educational videos and tutorials to share what I've learned with the community.

Amplifying Art

I believe visuals are a great way to mix and amplify other mediums like painting, music, and animation. You can point a video camera at a live painter's canvas, synchronize the shapes and colors of their strokes to the DJ's music, and project it across the venue, creating an interactive multi-sensory experience for all involved.

Many artists have discovered this exciting collaborative power, but I say, not enough!

Inspiring Future Visualists

Let me ask you a question:

Why don't just as many kids become visualists as they do musicians?

I think it's two things:

1. Lack of awareness: Many grow up not even being aware of the medium until they’re adults attending concerts, and often only in particular genres.

2. Lack of accessible tools: Every kid knows what a piano is and where to get one. They’ll be naturally exposed to instruments and get opportunities to learn and play them. What if you wanted to create some album art for your friend's band? Photoshop, easy. But what if you wanted to then take the layers of their album art, morph them together, and project it on stage at their gig, syncing effects to their musical performance? How many kids do you think could honestly answer that? To how many would such an idea even occur?

So what's the answer?

1. Education: Live visuals should be taught in schools just like music appreciation or painting. There should be endless fun and engaging content online covering how to create your own visuals.

2. Distribution: There needs to numerous easy-to-use software programs, like Nuvotion, for anyone to try out freely. Artists of all ages should be able to pick up and play with these visual instruments, with paths to dive deeper and earn money from it in a professional settings.

I'm not saying that doesn't already exist to a degree. I'm saying it's 100x less than it could and should be! So let's grow it together!

Great Music Deserves Great Visuals

I have always been deeply emotionally impacted and energized by music. More so than any other type of art, if I'm being honest.

That's why I envision a world where the best visuals are a direct, inseparable extension of music, amplifying the expression of musicians and their sonic storytelling.

Good music deserves EQUALLY good visuals, a standard not often met.

It's not enough to settle for "these visuals are a good accompaniment for this music." Let's aim higher! "These visuals made me experience the music to a whole new level!"

My Journey in Art and Technology

I've been an artist and technology nerd my whole life. I starting off with pencil drawing, and scouring the neighborhood on trash day with a wagon, looking for broken computers and VCRs to take apart (a sign of things to come).

In high school, I took a photography class and learned Photoshop, which began my infatuation with digital art, but even more so it instilled a sense of wonder in me about how digital art software was even possible.

I went to college at DePaul University in Chicago to study Computer Science, determined to figure out how it all fit together. My art soon evolved to using video cameras and Premiere Pro to make videos.

But I hated waiting for rendering, and syncing audio-reactive effects was time consuming and limited. It was simply the wrong tool for the job, and was never going to do what I wanted in real time.

By 2018, I still hadn't really coded anything outside of school projects. But that summer, I stumbled on Processing, a creative coding framework, and just decided to Google "how to overlay two webcams in Processing." Soon I had blending modes and audio reactivity going, and realized I had stumbled on to something that absolutely captivated my attention.

AVsync.LIVE is Born

I studied abroad in Ireland the next year at University College Cork, and got involved in their entrepreneurship program, as well as UCC Music Society. I would code during the weekdays, and test out the early iterations of my software, now coined "AVsync," at weekend Music Society events.

Moving back to Chicago, I continued working on it full time, coding and performing. I began sharing it with other artists around the world who used it at their shows too.

I also discovered the other side of the coin, in analog visuals, which quickly became just as loved as my work with software.

Nuvotion, a "New Devotion"

In 2024, nearly 6 years since this journey started, both my aesthetics and programming ability had evolved dramatically. I knew it was time for a new name. Inspired by my love of the Art Nouveau movement, I decided to rename what would be v2 of my software Nuvotion, meaning "devotion to the new," and "new motion."

That also came with a new logo and ambassador, Harmony the Hummingbird. You'll be hearing more from her soon. I only recently transitioned to this new site and identity, so thanks for joining me here and being so supportive!

This website and entire software suite was all created by me, by hand. I'm excited for you to try out the software and see what you create with it.

For a deeper understanding of Nuvotion's principles and values, you can read our Charter.

Tutorials and Collaboration

I recently started creating tutorials, which you can check out here. They're available in both video and article form. There will be a pretty big focus on analog visuals and cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions, so I hope you learn something new and get inspired! Maybe you’ll even find your self “trash picking” a hidden gem of a CRT and discover a new artistic obsession.

I'm still based in Chicago, and always excited to meet new artists. I'm available for hire for live events, music videos, album art, and installations.

Get in Touch

If you have questions or suggestions, send me a message on Instagram or Discord.

—Tom