[Macworld]

Post your comments for Secret controls for the new iTunes 8 visualizer here

[Schneb]

I wish there was a way for the Visualizer to guess the beat of the music so that it will slow down for slow tempo and speed up for quick. I listen to soft music and the visualizer is running around like its Joe Satriani!

[Schneb]

>+ and -: Increase or decrease the intensity (brightness) of the particles
Actually, I think it increases or decreases the sensitivity to the volume.

[Zeri]

I don't suppose there's any way to get back the old iTunes visualizer? This one goes to the music better I'll admit, but the old one had SOOOO many more colors. Much nicer to actually look at I think.
Now if they combined the two, that would be interesting.

[ChrisD]

Pressing the space bar cycles through several different effects.

[M a c B o o K]

Hello Mr. Griffiths,
"F" looks like it freezes the rotation of the visualizer, and "i" shows the current song that is playing.
-Mike

[ChrisD]

Pressing the space bar cycles through several different effects- it pauses the music of course, so there may be another way to obtain them.

[ChrisD]

D'oh! Same stuff as you get with the M key. What a noob.

[Penner]

Zeri:
You can easily get the old visualizer back. (I prefer it too.)
Just choose "classic visualizer" from the View menu.

[griffman]

Mike:

Those two keys are listed on the help screen, so they're documented.

cheers;
-rob.

[mac1998]

To get to the old visualizer, go to (in ITunes) View->Visualizer->iTunes Classic Visualizer

[context]

That there are any undocumented features is a disgrace. It simply means that Apple doesn't sufficiently care about customers to let them take full advantage of their computers.

[chevyorange]

Seriously?

[RhymingDesigner]

I have to agree with context. When you access iTunes help, visualizer barely gets a mention. How does that help the user get the most from the product?
Even worse, there is no apparent way to access the kinds of information many user would want to know. What the name (or at least number) of this effect? How many elements (plus or minus) are displaying on this effect? Which color palette is active and how can I change it? Can I make the visual more or less intense? How can I reset one or all of the attributes?
Apple UI people are capable of creating a small virtual controller that would display the above kinds of info. You could access it via a button at the bottom of the window, or a right click within the visualizer window. Or it could appear, like the Dock, when the cursor is moved to the bottom of the window. The controller could be persistent or disappear after n seconds. C'mon, Apple. You can do better.