Traktor Visuals

Automatically finds and plays YouTube videos synced to whatever you're playing in Traktor DJ — with animated split-screen transitions as you mix between tracks.

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What it does

• Reads the currently playing track from Traktor in real time
• Searches YouTube and plays the best matching music video automatically
• Displays a full-screen visual with 8 different dramatic track announcement animations (random each song)
• When you mix in a new track, the screen splits — old track on the left, new track on the right
• After 30–60 seconds the new track takes over full screen
• 6 rotating visualiser effects appear at the split point (bars, wave, static, sparkles, rings, helix)
• Falls back to a generic DJ visual if no YouTube match is found

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Requirements

• Traktor Pro 2 or 3 (Windows)
• A free YouTube Data API key (instructions below — takes 5 minutes)
• A browser (Chrome recommended) open on the same machine

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Quick Start — Executable (Recommended)

No coding required.

Step 1 — Download

Go to the Releases page and download traktor-visuals.exe

Step 2 — Set up Traktor Broadcasting

This tells Traktor to send track info to the app.

1. Open Traktor
2. Go to Preferences (cog icon, top right)
3. Click Broadcasting in the left sidebar
4. Fill in these exact values:

Field	Value
Address	127.0.0.1
Port	8000
Mount path	/
Password	traktor123
Format	Ogg Vorbis, 44100 Hz

5. Click Apply and close Preferences

• NOTE: The password can actually be anything — the server accepts any value — so users who already have something set in Traktor's Broadcasting preferences don't need to change it.

Step 3 — Get a YouTube API Key (free)

The app needs this to search YouTube. You only do this once.

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com and sign in with a Google account
2. Click Select a project (top left) → New Project → give it any name → Create
3. In the left menu go to APIs & Services → Enable APIs & Services
4. Search for YouTube Data API v3 → click it → click Enable
5. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → + Create Credentials → API Key
6. Copy the key that appears — you'll paste it into the app in the next step

Step 4 — Run

1. Double-click traktor-visuals.exe
2. A terminal window opens and asks for your YouTube API key — paste it in and press Enter
3. Your key is saved — it won't ask again next time
4. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser
5. In Traktor, open the Audio Recorder panel (the cassette/tape icon in the top bar)
6. Click the antenna icon — it should turn solid and stay on
7. Load a track in Traktor and hit Play The browser page will show a waiting spinner, then the YouTube video appears automatically. 🎉

Note: Traktor needs to be actively playing audio for the broadcast connection to stay open. If the antenna icon keeps flashing on and off, make sure a track is playing first, then click it.

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Running from Source

If you'd prefer to run the Node.js script directly rather than the exe:

Requirements: Node.js v18 or higher

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/Stezzle/traktor-visuals.git
cd traktor-visuals
 
# Run
node server.js

Follow Steps 2–7 from the Quick Start above.

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Visualiser Modes

Six effects rotate automatically at the split point every 18–32 seconds:

Mode	Effect
Bars	Spring-physics equaliser bars, grow symmetrically from centre
Wave	Undulating sine wave that breathes and shifts over time
Static	Chunky coloured noise, like VHS interference
Sparkles	Particles shoot outward from the split line into both videos
Rings	Expanding concentric circles at random heights
Helix	Two interweaving DNA-strand sine waves in pink and blue

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Track Announcement Styles

Each new track gets a random full-screen entrance animation:

Slam · Rush · Rise · Zoom · Flicker · Strobe · Split · Shatter

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Troubleshooting

The browser page shows "Waiting for Traktor" and nothing happens

• Make sure the antenna icon in Traktor's Audio Recorder is solid blue (not flashing)
• Make sure a track is playing before clicking the antenna icon
• Check that port 8000 isn't being used by something else "This video is unavailable" appears
• The app automatically tries backup search results — it should recover on its own within a few seconds The antenna icon keeps flashing on and off
• Traktor disconnects if no audio is streaming. Make sure a track is loaded and playing first YouTube API errors in the terminal
• Double check your API key is correct in config.json
• Make sure YouTube Data API v3 is enabled in your Google Cloud project

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Roadmap

✅ Windows .exe release - Download Here

• Android TV app (display client over local network)
• Crossfader sync via MIDI
• Manual video override / search

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Notes

• Each user needs their own YouTube API key (free tier gives 10,000 searches/day — plenty for a session)
• This is a personal/non-commercial tool
• Tested on Traktor Pro 3.11.1 and Node.js v24 on Windows

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Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome. If something doesn't work on your setup, open an issue with your Traktor version and what the terminal shows.