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Bass Pixel Motion — FAQ & Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Bass Pixel Motion?

Bass Pixel Motion (BPM) is a real-time audio-reactive video engine. It analyzes music and generates visuals that move, pulse, and breathe with the sound — driven entirely by GPU shaders (WGSL / WebGPU).

What are the system requirements?

OS: Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
GPU: A DirectX 11 compatible graphics card (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel)
Video Memory: At least 512 MB dedicated VRAM (2 GB+ recommended)
FFmpeg: Required for final MP4 output — must be available in your system PATH

Which export formats are supported?

BPM exports video as H.265 (HEVC) by default. H.264 is also available. Output is encoded on the GPU using hardware encoders (Media Foundation or NVIDIA NVENC) and muxed into MP4 containers via FFmpeg.

Where does BPM store its data?

User content: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BassPixelMotion\Content\User\
System content: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BassPixelMotion\Content\System\
Crash reports: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BassPixelMotion\CrashReports\

How do I update BPM?

Download the latest release and replace your existing installation. Your user content and projects are stored separately and will not be affected.

Can I use my own audio files?

Yes. BPM supports WAV, MP3, FLAC, and OGG audio files. Drag and drop your audio file into the project, or set the audio path in the project settings.

What is "Hijack Mode"?

Hijack Mode captures the audio output of another application running on your system (e.g., Spotify, a DAW, or a game) and uses it as a live audio source for real-time visualization — no audio file needed.

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Troubleshooting

My export fails or produces no output

Export failures are almost always caused by a missing or incompatible component in the GPU → Encode → Mux pipeline. Follow these steps:

#### Step 1: Run the built-in diagnostics

Open a terminal (Command Prompt or PowerShell) and run:

bpm.exe diagnose

This command collects detailed information about your system:

Operating System — Windows version, build number, edition
GPU Adapters — All graphics cards detected via DXGI (name, vendor, VRAM, D3D11 feature level)
DLL Availability — Checks whether critical system libraries are present (nvEncodeAPI64.dll, mfplat.dll, d3d11.dll, etc.)
Encoder Support — Probes Media Foundation and NVENC for H.264 and H.265 encoding capability
FFmpeg — Checks if FFmpeg is installed and reachable
Render Test — Renders a 5-second test video through the full GPU pipeline and reports success or failure

If something is broken, the diagnose output will tell you exactly what failed.

#### Step 2: Share the output

Copy the entire output of bpm.exe diagnose (from === BPM HARDWARE & CODEC DIAGNOSTICS === to === END DIAGNOSTICS ===) and send it to us via Discord or email. This gives us everything we need to help you.

#### Step 3: Common fixes

| Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix | |---|---|---| | nvEncodeAPI64.dll : NOT FOUND | NVIDIA drivers too old or not installed | Update to the latest NVIDIA Game Ready or Studio driver | | mfplat.dll : NOT FOUND | Media Foundation not available | Install the "Media Feature Pack" from Windows Settings → Apps → Optional Features | | ffmpeg : NOT FOUND in PATH | FFmpeg not installed or not in PATH | Download FFmpeg from ffmpeg.org and add its bin\ folder to your system PATH | | Render Test shows FAILED | GPU driver issue or broken DirectX installation | Update your GPU drivers; if the problem persists, try running sfc /scannow in an admin terminal | | WARP is the only GPU adapter | No hardware GPU detected | Check that your GPU drivers are installed; WARP is a software fallback and cannot encode video | | H.265 encoder not found | HEVC Video Extensions missing | Install "HEVC Video Extensions" from the Microsoft Store (may require a small purchase) |

The preview works but export fails

This usually means the GPU can render but the encode step fails. Common reasons:

No hardware encoder available — Your GPU may support rendering but lack a hardware video encoder. The diagnose output will show this under "Encoder Support".
Driver mismatch — Some older drivers have buggy Media Foundation implementations. Update to the latest driver.
Antivirus blocking — Some security software blocks DLL loading. Temporarily disable real-time scanning and try again.

The exported video is black or corrupted

Make sure your GPU has enough free VRAM. Close other GPU-intensive applications.
Try exporting at a lower resolution (e.g., 1280×720 instead of 1920×1080).
Check the export metrics report (.report.json file next to the output) for detailed timing and error information.

FFmpeg errors during export

If the render succeeds but FFmpeg muxing fails:

Verify FFmpeg is installed: run ffmpeg -version in your terminal.
Make sure you have FFmpeg 4.4 or later (version 5+ recommended).
Check that the output folder exists and you have write permissions.

BPM crashes on startup

1. Check for crash reports in %LOCALAPPDATA%\BassPixelMotion\CrashReports\. 2. Update your GPU drivers to the latest version. 3. If the crash persists, run bpm.exe diagnose — it is designed to be extremely stable and will collect system info even if the main application crashes.

Audio analysis is slow or fails

Large audio files (>10 minutes) take longer to analyze. This is normal.
If stem separation fails, ensure you have at least 4 GB of free RAM.
Supported formats: WAV (recommended), MP3, FLAC, OGG. Other formats may not work.

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Getting Help

If the troubleshooting steps above don't resolve your issue:

1. Run bpm.exe diagnose and copy the full output. 2. Describe what you were doing when the problem occurred. 3. Share both on our Discord server or via email.

We'll get back to you as quickly as possible.