MATERIAL

Tutorials

Learn MATERIAL in nine short videos.

Each video shows one part of the app, step by step, on the real program. There is no voice: subtitles tell you what is happening, and a yellow frame shows you where. About twelve minutes in total. The first time, watch them in order.

Subtitles in English, Spanish and Catalan: switch them in the player.

01 · 2:15

First steps

What MATERIAL is and how to get going in a minute with a Recipe. You will meet the chain that organises the whole program.

What you will learn

  • Start from a Recipe, a ready-made system
  • Read the chain: source, technique, material, signals and output
  • Where everything is: the Library, the Inspector and the four workspaces
  • Save your project
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02 · 1:33

The source

The image that goes into the system: a generator, the camera, the screen or your own video.

What you will learn

  • Switch between generators
  • Set the source’s speed and scale
  • Use the camera, the screen or a window
  • Open your own videos and images
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03 · 1:23

The technique

The rule that rebuilds every frame, and how to chain several of them.

What you will learn

  • Choose a technique
  • Columns and Lum → Scale in Mosaic
  • Fine control with Shift, and a double-click to reset
  • Chain up to three techniques
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04 · 1:10

The material

The piece that gets repeated: a square, a circle, a line or letters.

What you will learn

  • Change the shape
  • Type your own text
  • Repeat letters, words or the whole phrase
  • Colour from the source, or black and white
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05 · 1:19

Signals

Let the music and the motion move settings for you.

What you will learn

  • Add a song and see its waveform
  • Find the tempo with DETECT
  • Connect the bass to a setting with + ADD MAPPING
  • Spot which settings have a signal connected
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06 · 1:09

Pins and Looks

Keep the moments you like and get back to them instantly.

What you will learn

  • Save a Pin with the Pin button or the P key
  • Go back to a Pin with one click
  • Turn a Pin into a Look
  • Recall Looks with the keys 1 to 9
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07 · 1:15

Playing live

The PLAY workspace: everything you need to perform, without menus.

What you will learn

  • Change Looks in time with SYNC
  • Move from one Look to another gradually with MORPH
  • FREEZE, Macros and Pads
  • Record what you play with REC
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08 · 1:01

Explore

Let MATERIAL suggest variations of your system.

What you will learn

  • Make variations with GENERATE
  • Compare one by holding it down
  • Apply the one you like with a double-click
  • Try candidates with MUTATE, APPLY and DISCARD
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09 · 1:08

Export and Output

Get your work out: as an image, a video, or live on another screen.

What you will learn

  • Choose format, resolution and frame rate
  • Export a range of the timeline
  • Project full screen on another display
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Prefer reading? The first fifteen minutes, step by step →