newbie > Mac VJ

[eyegasm]

Hey guys,

Great forum, tons of info here. My good friend is a DJ at the clubs here in Seoul, Korea and the VJ movement is really in it's infant stages but there's a lot of interest as the club scene is really getting developed. I'm a Creative Director in advertising so i'm not a stranger to film and video editing although post production is not really my specialty.

I recently bought the new Macbook Pro 15" i7, with upgraded display, and 7200 RPM HD. I'm going to check out the links for Mac VJ software but if anyone can recommend one that's easiest interface for newbies that'd be great. Also, any tips for Mac VJ and also when doing VJ for techno / electronic clubbing music? I'm guessing i will have to at least partially beat sync. Most likely i'll probably create a premade set based on my friend's DJ set first instead of doing real time mixes until i get more experienced.

I'm a big fan of anime (Japanese, Korean, and American) and no one in Korea is doing VJ with animation here so i want to make that kinda my "specialty". Also i have an enormous collection of it (about 5 TB worth). Most are English subs so i'll have to figure out a way to strip the subs from them, i don't think they're all hardsubbed.

Equipment: can i get by with my Macbook Pro, and a couple external FW drives? Do i need a piece of hardware like a MIDI controller? All my videos are on ext. HD will i need the mini-DVD player? I have an adapter that can output into from SDMI to HDMI or VGA.

Video Formats: most animation comes in h.264 compressed with MKV. It's not difficult to convert but what format do most VJ software (for Mac) prefer? AVI?

Thanks in advance!

[Kyle]

HI,
Welcome to the forums. Check out:

www.softwarevj.com

I use Modul8. It's a great piece of software. Check out some of the demos for the other softs to see what suits your needs.

On the content end...I love anime too but I wouldn't make my whole sets based on it. Maybe mixed tastefully it will have a better impact. Personally I would avoid any violent or hentai stuff. Can't imagine anyone wanting to see that at a dance club.

There are ton of free content resources to get your started. Try www.vjvault.com and www.archive.org to start off with.

When it gets down to converting I like to stick with Quicktime .mov PJPEG 75-100% quality. Depending on your software, machine and how many layers you will be working with will make all the difference. The external FW drive will help and a midi controller, especially with Modul8 is really recommended.

There's a ton of info in the forums. Try digging through with the search function. Good luck Korea sounds like a nice place to start a VJ movement.

[eyegasm]

Originally Posted by Kyle

HI,
Welcome to the forums. Check out:

www.softwarevj.com

I use Modul8. It's a great piece of software. Check out some of the demos for the other softs to see what suits your needs.

On the content end...I love anime too but I wouldn't make my whole sets based on it. Maybe mixed tastefully it will have a better impact. Personally I would avoid any violent or hentai stuff. Can't imagine anyone wanting to see that at a dance club.

There are ton of free content resources to get your started. Try www.vjvault.com and www.archive.org to start off with.

When it gets down to converting I like to stick with Quicktime .mov PJPEG 75-100% quality. Depending on your software, machine and how many layers you will be working with will make all the difference. The external FW drive will help and a midi controller, especially with Modul8 is really recommended.

There's a ton of info in the forums. Try digging through with the search function. Good luck Korea sounds like a nice place to start a VJ movement.

Thanks for the info! There are a few good VJ's here already i've seen them at the clubs but most are using the Winamp VJ style with the cheesy Bryce3D effects... Most likely what i'll try to do is layer effects on top of anime clips, and i'll use parts that are a bit more abstract. Definitely NOT any hentai or overly violent anime. Might even cut and paste together different clips to create a whole new animation sequence. I like what this guy did using clips from the Animatrix.

YouTube- VJ in the Matrix

YouTube- VJ in the Matrix

Any particular MIDI controller you recommend with Modul8? And, why do i need a MIDI controller if i'm only doing the visuals and my friend is doing the DJ with his equipment? Is it to beat sync? Thoughts on Motion Dive?

[Christoffer]

I've tried Arkaos Grand VJ, Resolume and Modul8 and I definitely prefer Modul8, but try the different programs and find what you like (http://www.softwarevj.com). The program you choose should the one, that you are going to stick with for a long time, there's not any "beginner-programs".

I will not recommend you to do any premade sets. First of all, if your friend is resident, it can happen that he should play for 6 hours? And that's really boring to mix a 6 hours long premade set and then will your Dj be locked to the same set. He'll have to read the floor, so the music that works one night might not do it next time. It is not that hard to mix live and remember people are not constantly starring at your and they are drunk, so basically you are working with people at a very simple stage.

About the beat sync, don't do it too much, then you will just look like a WinAmp visualizer, but of course should your footage follow the music.

The idea of Anime sounds very good, but you might need to cut up the footage, so you just have the most usable clips. As long as the harddrives are running into your mac through firewire, then will not cause any problem. Just make sure that your harddrives are placed safely, they can be pretty sensitive.

AVI is not a format, but a container. I'm not a expert when it comes to formats and container, so i will let the other guys answer on that one

Oh and btw, welcome to the forum

[Christoffer]

There is a ton of midi-controllers so find your personal favourite. I prefer the UC33E for Modul8. It helps a lot, when it comes to controlling the software.

[eyegasm]

Yeah great points. He's not a resident DJ but he's a regular at the clubs, and most club owners know him. He can play however long he wants but i think the minimum i've seen him play is 3 hours. I will definitely cut up the anime footage, and like i mentioned probably do a lot of layering to make it more abstract. I don't want it to seem like those YouTube anime remixes where they put different music to anime clips. :P What do you think of the one clip i posted? Because of my work in TVC, i also plan to use different TV commercial footage as well - some retro, some modern.

I'll be working closely with my friend so i will probably keep beat syncing to the main themes, he'll be able to tell me what those are. I was a bit scared at doing live real time mixing but the way you state it seems much less pressure. haha.

Thanks for the advice, you guys rule.

P.S. Mac software recommendations to do simple cut/paste of video? Final Cut? iVideo?

[Christoffer]

I think you are a bit to happy about the idea of beat sync, personally i prefer to follow the music, so learn the basics of edm (4/4, beat, bars and phrases).

Just keep in mind if your friend is part of a lineup, you'll probably be doing visuals for the whole night and not just your friend.

iMovie will do just fine when it comes to simple video-cutting.

[eyegasm]

Originally Posted by Christoffer

I think you are a bit to happy about the idea of beat sync, personally i prefer to follow the music, so learn the basics of edm (4/4, beat, bars and phrases).

Just keep in mind if your friend is part of a lineup, you'll probably be doing visuals for the whole night and not just your friend.

iMovie will do just fine when it comes to simple video-cutting.

I guess i've not gotten the full meeting of "beat sync", i thought that's what it was - to follow the music so that the visuals coordinate with the music? I was a music minor so i already have the basics of music theory. And at the clubs in Korea, my friend and i would come on as a set - doing VJ for the other DJ's in the lineup would be totally my option or would have to be pre-arranged, some of them have their own VJ's too.

[Christoffer]

They way i understand beat sync is that you have something that is "defined" by the bassline. To follow the music is essential imo, you won't have a constantly flashing clips in the middle of a break.

Remember to get that clear with the club owners, because it would look pretty odd when the visuals are turned off after 2 hours.