visuals

[ritaheed]

anyone do them for club nights??

looking for a visuals program - any ideas? preferably free and easy to use - never done it before but would luv to try......any tips or tht??

[RDR]

I do.

There's not much for free out there in afraid.. nothing thats amazing anyway..

Although DVNT might know of something.

I use Resolume for mine, although you can download a demo of ARKAOS which is free, it overlays www.arkaos.net over it but you can still see the images clearly.

[ritaheed]

cheers man - il look into reslolume.....

so do u just get all yer own images from the net??

a take it ye can "grab" images from say a manga film and import them into yer visuals program n that and have multiple shit happening at the same time??

take it you have a projector for it aswell?? wot are the sort of prices?? no looking to get anything any time soon just wanna know..

[TechMouse]

Mac or PC?

Weapon of choice for PC seems to be Resolume.

For Mac it's either Modul8 or VDMX.

[ritaheed]

p.c mate - just looked @ tht arkaos.....it looks amazing!!

defo gonna purchase something when a get paid....

see the effects you get for the programs are they compatible with all programs or do u need to get certain ones for certain programs....?

[TechMouse]

I believe there's a kind of plugin you can get, like VST but for visuals.

It's supported by most of the major applications AFAIK.

[RDR]

The FX you're talking about are Freeframe effects, there are some really good free ones out there as well.

I use a projector with my stuff, you'll also need a Scan converter as well. unless you go straight into the projector.

[robin m]

OpenTZT is a good open source VJ util... it's not exactly intuititive but follow the tutorials and have a mess around and it gets clearer quite quickly.

It certainly does the job well when you get the hang of it, for the live performance side of things at least.

http://opentzt.sourceforge.net/

[stjohn]

there is a free one out there... www.VVVV.org

its not like the others tho, it woud probly equate to Max MSP for Video. and IMo is alot better and easier to get to know than Jitter. I've just started to get into it and this was one of my first compositions...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixh2TPc7T4

sorry about the dreadful youtube quality.. and the white at the beginning bleaches out alot of the dots


its all done in VVVV (pronouced 4V) using directx for 3d stuff. there is a bit of a learning curve, but the idea of synthesizing video from scratch ahs always intruiged me.. check it out anyway... there is literally no limits with it.

[DVNT]

Hello.

What do you want to know. VVVV and OpenTZT aren't overly user friendly. VVVV is not a pick up and go VJ program. It's modular and you will need to be a bit coding savvy to do it.

Check out www.vjforums.com, lots of helpful 'Get Started' threads and advice. Also check out www.softwarevj.com for a easy to use comparission site.

Tbh, it isn't important what software you have. It's about content. Make sure it's properly compressed and that. If you are PC, Resolume (as others have said) is the easiest to get on with. It's also I imagine the most widely used VJ software.

[ritaheed]

cheers boyo's.....ive downloaded resolume - its looks kool!

[eyeswithoutaface]

yeah massively interested in this myself, mainly for doing cool graphics video's to go with tracks i do.

Rory that example you did is perfect, exactly the kind of thing i want to do, was it relatively hard to get results like that?

not interested in doing this Live or in clubs etc at all, just want to be able to create cool almost promotional graphics video's i can pair up with tracks to create something a little different

[stjohn]

cool Scott! i woldnt say it was 'hard' but ive been messing with the program for a while! have u used Max MSP before? it pretty much the same principles as that, but for Video. I actually found VVVV that little bit easier to get to grips with, because the tutorials and stuff are kinda 'funny' in their approach. the manual is online, and only about 50 odd pages. so alot of the learning comes from breaking down other peoples patches and messing about! doing some stuff a bit more authored now... will post a link ina few weeks :)

check this dude out: : :

http://desaxismundi.blogspot.com/

[TechMouse]

Best visuals I have ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfwD05XA2YQ

[stjohn]

Best visuals I have ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfwD05XA2YQ

i didnt even have to look! i already knew what it was!! pure absolute genius!

probably the sole reason i am learning VVVV too.. the dampning filters and animation nodes create some very grantz graf style movement

[TechMouse]

For live visuals, Hexstatic take some beating.

Though I understand the Light Surgeons are very good.

[eyeswithoutaface]

ive looked at MAX before but never actually tried to use it

i think il sit down with VVVV over the weekend and try and see if il be able to get to grips with it, ive got Resolume and find that particulary easy to get going with, but VVVV seems alot more complicated at first glance

catch me on msn we'l have a natter about it, im very interested in all of this, ive always loved Grantz Graf and if there was any way of creating visuals similiar (although im not naive, i understand it wouldnt be at that level) then i am very intriuged as to find out how

would also love to see if its possible to sync such visuals with music already produced, like syncing a track of mine to the visuals im doing. Im going to see if it can be done in Resolume tommorow, ive not had a chance to get that in depth yet, any other Resolume users know if thats possible?

[RDR]

ive looked at MAX before but never actually tried to use it

i think il sit down with VVVV over the weekend and try and see if il be able to get to grips with it, ive got Resolume and find that particulary easy to get going with, but VVVV seems alot more complicated at first glance

catch me on msn we'l have a natter about it, im very interested in all of this, ive always loved Grantz Graf and if there was any way of creating visuals similiar (although im not naive, i understand it wouldnt be at that level) then i am very intriuged as to find out how

would also love to see if its possible to sync such visuals with music already produced, like syncing a track of mine to the visuals im doing. Im going to see if it can be done in Resolume tommorow, ive not had a chance to get that in depth yet, any other Resolume users know if thats possible?

Fairly sure it is, i know Resolume will sync to MIDI clock, some users have been working it with albeton using dummy MIDI clips.

[tocsin]

p.c mate - just looked @ tht arkaos.....it looks amazing!!

defo gonna purchase something when a get paid....

see the effects you get for the programs are they compatible with all programs or do u need to get certain ones for certain programs....?

Hey. I use Arkaos as the main controller for what I do. However, I do NOT recomend buying it. It is absolutely rare when I actually advocate piracy of a program. But, having paid for that program in version 2, only to have the event recorder not work (which made rendering videos to be distributed by DVD later near impossible), I was told by their support that all I had to do was purchase the new version. Easy right? Pay an additional couple hundred dollars just to get the software to work as it was supposed to when I bought it. Their tech support and attitude, in my opinion, absolutely sucks, especially considering what they charge.

However, that being said, as a live tool, I absolutely love Arkaos. Especially since it gives me no hiccups with Divx, where other programs have the tendency of crashing with it. What you'll probably find in the end, if you play with a number of the demo softwares out there, is that you can pretty much get good results with all of them, but each will have it's own little quirks here and there which, depending on how you do things, will either be a major annoyance, or completely unnoticable.

One thing I like about Arkaos is, if you have a MIDI keyboard and are familiar with MIDI, it's pretty friendly to setup. However, the built in media navigation/library leaves a bit to be desired.

In the end though, what you're going to find is that most of the time is going to be spent behind editors, whether a video editing software, or something like photoshop for images, to set up the material you want. It's the most time consuming part, and also the most important.

For example, for your Manga question, that will involve a number of steps. First, you're going to have to rip the DVD. Then, you may need to convert the ripped VOB file into a format that is readbale by your editor (if it won't read a VOB file which is possible). Then, you're going to have to edit the video itself to remove all the crap you don't want. Then, you'll need to save with a particular codec, as your laptop HD will run out of space soon if you use uncompressed clips. Finding the right codec, and the right settings for that codec, can be a pretty time consuming process. And different codecs may be better for different types of visual material. Depending on how fast your machine is, this is where most of your time is going to be spent.

As for needing a projector, that depends on the venue. Some places have them and some don't. Just make sure you've got an adapter that can send an appropriate video signal from your laptop to a projector that's inhouse. I always have an adapter, RCA, S-Video, and VGA cable with me. One of those will always work.

[RDR]

Hey. I use Arkaos as the main controller for what I do. However, I do NOT recomend buying it. It is absolutely rare when I actually advocate piracy of a program. But, having paid for that program in version 2, only to have the event recorder not work (which made rendering videos to be distributed by DVD later near impossible), I was told by their support that all I had to do was purchase the new version. Easy right? Pay an additional couple hundred dollars just to get the software to work as it was supposed to when I bought it. Their tech support and attitude, in my opinion, absolutely sucks, especially considering what they charge.

However, that being said, as a live tool, I absolutely love Arkaos. Especially since it gives me no hiccups with Divx, where other programs have the tendency of crashing with it. What you'll probably find in the end, if you play with a number of the demo softwares out there, is that you can pretty much get good results with all of them, but each will have it's own little quirks here and there which, depending on how you do things, will either be a major annoyance, or completely unnoticable.

One thing I like about Arkaos is, if you have a MIDI keyboard and are familiar with MIDI, it's pretty friendly to setup. However, the built in media navigation/library leaves a bit to be desired.

In the end though, what you're going to find is that most of the time is going to be spent behind editors, whether a video editing software, or something like photoshop for images, to set up the material you want. It's the most time consuming part, and also the most important.

For example, for your Manga question, that will involve a number of steps. First, you're going to have to rip the DVD. Then, you may need to convert the ripped VOB file into a format that is readbale by your editor (if it won't read a VOB file which is possible). Then, you're going to have to edit the video itself to remove all the crap you don't want. Then, you'll need to save with a particular codec, as your laptop HD will run out of space soon if you use uncompressed clips. Finding the right codec, and the right settings for that codec, can be a pretty time consuming process. And different codecs may be better for different types of visual material. Depending on how fast your machine is, this is where most of your time is going to be spent.

As for needing a projector, that depends on the venue. Some places have them and some don't. Just make sure you've got an adapter that can send an appropriate video signal from your laptop to a projector that's inhouse. I always have an adapter, RCA, S-Video, and VGA cable with me. One of those will always work.

VJing is a MINEfield for sure.

I recommend Vegas Pro for video editing on the PC.. I love it. better built in FX than premiere.

also Adobe After FX for video FX afterwards as well, although honestly Arkaos/Resolume will give you great results.

I know what you mean about Arkaos... V2.x and some of 3.x were truly bad. Things not working, this is why i never bought it.