Can someone recommend me a decent priced setup?

[Kukurio]

Hello everyone,

I was really happy to stumble upon this forum...you all seem like a good group of people.

When it comes to DJ/VJing... I have very little experience.
I'm a film editor, been getting decent with after-effects...and I have friends who DJ so I thought maybe I could work being their VJ.

Anyways, I've got all my software ready and I've been learning all that...
however I'm a bit lost when it comes to hardware.

Can somebody help me make a list of what is essential? and maybe what is nice to have but nut neccecary? One of the editors at my work said he has a midi mixer that is worth around $100 that he'll give me..though I'm not even too sure if it's called a "midi mixer" i'm a total newb to audio/video mixing hardware....

I'm not even too sure what kind of projector I should try to invest in... if you can recommend a decent one for me that's not crazy expensive that would be cool too.

[alfaleader]

A good midi controller is for me the most important tool. I have an APC20 (price is about 180€).

It depends if you need a projector. In Belgium all the clubs have their own projectors and the smaller parties can borrow a projector for free from the city.

You also don't need a video mixer (yet). When you start doing live cameras or multiple computers you can always buy one, but I would recommend starting with only a midi controller and when you earn some money you can buy new stuff.

And as always: content > technique!

[Kukurio]

Thank you very much for the reply, I value everyones opinion if anyone else wants to give me theirs...

There aren't a lot of clubs in Toronto... I would totally borrow a projector if I could but I dunno.
I think I remember seeing a really small - pocket sized projector. I guess I could always get one of those to try out at home....


but if I did want to get a decent projector incase I can't borrow one... how much should I expect to fork out do you think? or could anyone recommend a model to me?

[alfaleader]

You should look at the brightness from the projector. Small projectors are useless for vjing on a big screen.

There are a lot of posts on this forum with people searching a projector and if I'm correct you can get a good one from +-800€, just search this forum.

[madsmeskalin]

I use 3x optoma es605st and a triplehead. Short throws are best for smaller venues I think