Hands On Club Install in India - Kitty Su
Guest column by Prashant Yashpal from Activ8Media in India....
Kitty Su is a popular nightclub in New Delhi, India. For its first anniversary on 18th August, 2012, they wanted to add a visual experience to their club. They called upon their trusted partner Most Technical India, who in turn called us, Activ8Media, to create a video/projection area for the club.
[fold][/fold]
The idea was to create a unique visual experience, around the DJ console. At first we thought about putting regular lens projectors to cover the area, but shadows and projection interference is a big problem in night clubs. People standing close to the DJ console always block projection video and the light disturbs the DJ/VJ/Crew. Installing LED panels would not look good at close range, plus the club wanted to maintain its interior design and look.
So we decided to change the cube fabric from the dark brown which adorns the clubs walls to off-white, to give use better color depth.
We finally decided on taking the risk and using Panasonic mirror projectors, generally used for classroom/business environment. The Panasonic PT-CW230 allowed us to mount the projectors at 10 inches from the wall. The challenge was with ultra-short-throw projectors we needed 7 (!) of them to cover the entire wall.
After lots of research and experiments we decided to go with our favorite VJ software Resolume Arena 4, as expected it did the job beautifully. Using a total of 8 outputs from our beastly PC, 7 DVI’s to projectors and 1 for monitor. Giving an output of 4200px X 550px, we fed each projector with 600px X 550px. We know this is not much but the height and width required from each projector didn't require more resolution.
Arena’s advanced output helped tremendously, we could easily slice our input composition inputs into 7 and feed them to individual outputs, then mapping and edge blending each projector carefully. It was like working in After Effects and didn’t take much time at all, compared to a lot of heavy weight media servers.
Also one great thing after slicing and matching inputs to outputs and saving the advanced output settings, we could easily resize our composition without adversely affecting our real output! All mapping and edge blending remained same as before. This was a life saver! As we were trying to figure out the best output resolution once the projectors we installed and on site.
*OH we only had 2 days for setup i.e. we got the console setup and wiring ready on the 16th and show was on the 18th!
All in all, it was a great experience, the client was thrilled! We had used classroom projectors in a club for the first time, the visual effect was simply stunning, without shadows and strange visuals on the crew :). Something we had not done before, Arena proved to be a champion!
Technical Information
PC - 2.9GHz Xenon Quad Core processor, 2x500GB Hard Drive, 1x128mb SSD Drive (for visuals), 12GB Ram, 2xNVS 420 Quadro (we could have gotten better graphic cards, but the budget did not allow).
8xDVI Outputs - 7 for projector, 1 for monitor.
7xPanasonic PT-CW230 projectors.
DVI to HDMI Cables
BCR 2000 Midi Controller
4200px x 576px Advanced output from Arena, for slicing and edge blending
Kitty Su is a popular nightclub in New Delhi, India. For its first anniversary on 18th August, 2012, they wanted to add a visual experience to their club. They called upon their trusted partner Most Technical India, who in turn called us, Activ8Media, to create a video/projection area for the club.
[fold][/fold]
The idea was to create a unique visual experience, around the DJ console. At first we thought about putting regular lens projectors to cover the area, but shadows and projection interference is a big problem in night clubs. People standing close to the DJ console always block projection video and the light disturbs the DJ/VJ/Crew. Installing LED panels would not look good at close range, plus the club wanted to maintain its interior design and look.
So we decided to change the cube fabric from the dark brown which adorns the clubs walls to off-white, to give use better color depth.
We finally decided on taking the risk and using Panasonic mirror projectors, generally used for classroom/business environment. The Panasonic PT-CW230 allowed us to mount the projectors at 10 inches from the wall. The challenge was with ultra-short-throw projectors we needed 7 (!) of them to cover the entire wall.
After lots of research and experiments we decided to go with our favorite VJ software Resolume Arena 4, as expected it did the job beautifully. Using a total of 8 outputs from our beastly PC, 7 DVI’s to projectors and 1 for monitor. Giving an output of 4200px X 550px, we fed each projector with 600px X 550px. We know this is not much but the height and width required from each projector didn't require more resolution.
Arena’s advanced output helped tremendously, we could easily slice our input composition inputs into 7 and feed them to individual outputs, then mapping and edge blending each projector carefully. It was like working in After Effects and didn’t take much time at all, compared to a lot of heavy weight media servers.
Also one great thing after slicing and matching inputs to outputs and saving the advanced output settings, we could easily resize our composition without adversely affecting our real output! All mapping and edge blending remained same as before. This was a life saver! As we were trying to figure out the best output resolution once the projectors we installed and on site.
*OH we only had 2 days for setup i.e. we got the console setup and wiring ready on the 16th and show was on the 18th!
All in all, it was a great experience, the client was thrilled! We had used classroom projectors in a club for the first time, the visual effect was simply stunning, without shadows and strange visuals on the crew :). Something we had not done before, Arena proved to be a champion!
Technical Information
PC - 2.9GHz Xenon Quad Core processor, 2x500GB Hard Drive, 1x128mb SSD Drive (for visuals), 12GB Ram, 2xNVS 420 Quadro (we could have gotten better graphic cards, but the budget did not allow).
8xDVI Outputs - 7 for projector, 1 for monitor.
7xPanasonic PT-CW230 projectors.
DVI to HDMI Cables
BCR 2000 Midi Controller
4200px x 576px Advanced output from Arena, for slicing and edge blending
Resolume Blog
This blog is about Resolume, VJ-ing and the inspiring things the Resolume users make. Do you have something interesting to show the community? Send in your work!
Highlights
Vezér, Making Resolume Bounce
Tamas Nagy, ( whom you might know as the creator of the wonderful OSX VJ app Coge ) has created a very powerful yet simple and intuitive timeline control app called Vezér. [fold][/fold]
Using the magic of OSC or tried and true Midi, you can control every parameter in Resolume ( and of course any other OSC or Midi enabled app ). Especially interesting for Resolume users, Vezér has a preset system. So if there are certain addresses you often use, you can save these as a preset. These presets can in turn can be sub categorized, per application or per intended use. Tamas has even been kind enough include a few presets and example compositions for the major VJ players.
On the creative side, it sports some very sexy presets for keyframe interpolation. Every animator worth his or her salt knows good animation is made or broken in your bezier curves. Tamas makes it ridiculously easy to smooth, ease, bounce or spring your animation. Anyone that has tried and failed to keyframe the perfect bouncing ball in After Effects can now breath a sigh of relief.
All in all it's a very well designed little app, both visually and workflow wise. Definitely check it out.
http://www.vezerapp.hu
New Mapping Footage: Cuboid. UrbanFuzz & FermionReturns
This month's release is all about thinking outside of the box and finding new ways to create or project content.
First up is a new artist on the roster, Primal Eyes, who spent many a late night re-inventing the VJ standards, using stencils and a spray can. Nothing but lovely fuzzy texture feels on UrbanFuzz.
Then we have the second release from Muzencab; Cuboid who takes his eyewarping skills to the next level by creating content that you can map to any surface you like.
And then we witness the birth of the Son of Fermion in FermionReturns, the second installment of analog techno magic from Netsliders.
Cuboid Projection Mapping Footage by Muzencab
UrbanFuzz VJ Loops by Primal Eyes
FermionReturns VJ Loops by Netsliders
First up is a new artist on the roster, Primal Eyes, who spent many a late night re-inventing the VJ standards, using stencils and a spray can. Nothing but lovely fuzzy texture feels on UrbanFuzz.
Then we have the second release from Muzencab; Cuboid who takes his eyewarping skills to the next level by creating content that you can map to any surface you like.
And then we witness the birth of the Son of Fermion in FermionReturns, the second installment of analog techno magic from Netsliders.
Cuboid Projection Mapping Footage by Muzencab
UrbanFuzz VJ Loops by Primal Eyes
FermionReturns VJ Loops by Netsliders
New VJ Footage by Beeple, VJ Hummer & LucidHouse
This months' releases showcase three very different packs, each with a very distinctive style. And that's the way we like it. Experience an acid flashback to the prehistoric age with AcidCaveman by VJ Hummer, get itchy in places with WormParade by Beeple and get run over by the impression that RoadKill by LucidHouse makes on you.
We're very happy to welcome Beeple to the Resolume footage label. If you do not already know, Beeple is Mike Winkelmann, a graphic designer from Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. His short films have screened at onedotzero, Prix Ars Electronica, the Sydney Biennale, Ann Arbor Film Festival and many others. He has also released a series of Creative Commons live visuals that have been used by electronic acts such as deadmau5, Taio Cruz, Tiësto, Amon Tobin, Wolfgang Gartner, Flying Lotus and many others. He currently releases work on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder imprint. For more examples of his work, visit beeple-crap.com
WormParade VJ Footage by Beeple
RoadKill VJ Footage by LucidHouse
AcidCaveman VJ Footage by VJ Hummer
We're very happy to welcome Beeple to the Resolume footage label. If you do not already know, Beeple is Mike Winkelmann, a graphic designer from Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. His short films have screened at onedotzero, Prix Ars Electronica, the Sydney Biennale, Ann Arbor Film Festival and many others. He has also released a series of Creative Commons live visuals that have been used by electronic acts such as deadmau5, Taio Cruz, Tiësto, Amon Tobin, Wolfgang Gartner, Flying Lotus and many others. He currently releases work on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder imprint. For more examples of his work, visit beeple-crap.com
WormParade VJ Footage by Beeple
RoadKill VJ Footage by LucidHouse
AcidCaveman VJ Footage by VJ Hummer
Tagtool <3 Resolume <3 Neonrost
We're very excited to bring you a guest tutorial on how to use the wonderful Tagtool for iPad as a source in Resolume, using the magic of Syphon.
But before we dive in to the techy goodness, you may be wondering what Tagtool is. I'm glad you asked!
Tagtool is a wonderfully fun application for the iPad, which allows you to unleash your painting skills, and animate and play with the result, all within a simple and intuitive interface. [fold][/fold]You can even link up multiple iPads via Wifi and draw and play collaboratively. We've had a lot of fun with Tagtool, and we're sure you'll agree.
For more info on Tagtool check out http://www.tagtool.at
Then before I leave you with the tutorial itself, I just wanted to say Tagtool one more time. Tagtool. Now I'm done.
Using Resolume & Tagtool
Workshop at the University of Applied Arts on the 22nd May 2013
This tutorial will guide you to the basic steps of how to setup a Tagtool session within Resolume. We use a Macbook Pro – 2.66 GHz – Intel Core 2 Duo – 4GB Ram (DDR3) connected to one projector and one iPad 4 running the latest Tagtool version.
Download the free trial-version of Air Server (4.6.5) to receive the video signal of the iPad. Configure the software settings>Mirroring and change to optimise for “Projector (1024×768)”. It´s important that Laptop and iPad are connected via the same wireless network.
On the iPad open the Airplay settings and select the laptop as the streaming device.
To finally receive the Tagtool output in Resolume Arena just enable the built-in Syphon module within the Preferences>Video Preferences.
Now fire up your iPad and launch the Tagtool app – the laptop is already getting the desktop screen transmitted. Create a new composition according to the size of the syphon stream – 1024×768. In the very right area select the “sources” tab and left-click the syphon source. Render settings and transform settings are correct – so we simply drag&drop this item into the video layer.
Depending on the WiFi signal strength and the resolution size we had a good performance with 1024×768 – but the laptop was struggling with performance as soon as more video layers or effects were added. The frame rate dropped at 3 layers to 14 fps and we stopped the experiment there.
You will get better performance with project sizes like 640×480, but you will have to crop the video stream of the Tagtool. Anyway! Endless fun ahead!
Thanks to the lovely folks at Tagtool and Neonrost for providing this wonderful app and tutorial. Austria VJ maffia!
But before we dive in to the techy goodness, you may be wondering what Tagtool is. I'm glad you asked!
Tagtool is a wonderfully fun application for the iPad, which allows you to unleash your painting skills, and animate and play with the result, all within a simple and intuitive interface. [fold][/fold]You can even link up multiple iPads via Wifi and draw and play collaboratively. We've had a lot of fun with Tagtool, and we're sure you'll agree.
For more info on Tagtool check out http://www.tagtool.at
Then before I leave you with the tutorial itself, I just wanted to say Tagtool one more time. Tagtool. Now I'm done.
Using Resolume & Tagtool
Workshop at the University of Applied Arts on the 22nd May 2013
This tutorial will guide you to the basic steps of how to setup a Tagtool session within Resolume. We use a Macbook Pro – 2.66 GHz – Intel Core 2 Duo – 4GB Ram (DDR3) connected to one projector and one iPad 4 running the latest Tagtool version.
Download the free trial-version of Air Server (4.6.5) to receive the video signal of the iPad. Configure the software settings>Mirroring and change to optimise for “Projector (1024×768)”. It´s important that Laptop and iPad are connected via the same wireless network.
On the iPad open the Airplay settings and select the laptop as the streaming device.
To finally receive the Tagtool output in Resolume Arena just enable the built-in Syphon module within the Preferences>Video Preferences.
Now fire up your iPad and launch the Tagtool app – the laptop is already getting the desktop screen transmitted. Create a new composition according to the size of the syphon stream – 1024×768. In the very right area select the “sources” tab and left-click the syphon source. Render settings and transform settings are correct – so we simply drag&drop this item into the video layer.
Depending on the WiFi signal strength and the resolution size we had a good performance with 1024×768 – but the laptop was struggling with performance as soon as more video layers or effects were added. The frame rate dropped at 3 layers to 14 fps and we stopped the experiment there.
You will get better performance with project sizes like 640×480, but you will have to crop the video stream of the Tagtool. Anyway! Endless fun ahead!
Thanks to the lovely folks at Tagtool and Neonrost for providing this wonderful app and tutorial. Austria VJ maffia!
Dubassy VJ Loops Triple Whammy
It's time for a Dubassy Triple Whammy! Yes, you read it right, the stock master pulls a hat trick. No less than three releases to make sure you get your fill. Techie LED wall filler with MagicNumbers, disco party ammo with HeyMrDJ and just downright hilarious with GrandpaDJ.
GrandpaDJ VJ Footage by Dubassy
HeyMrDJ VJ Footage by Dubassy
MagicNumbers VJ Footage by Dubassy
GrandpaDJ VJ Footage by Dubassy
HeyMrDJ VJ Footage by Dubassy
MagicNumbers VJ Footage by Dubassy
Resolume Avenue & Arena 4.1.6 Update
Another week, another Resolume update. Version 4.1.6 fixes a problem with OSC on Windows and solves a few Flash oddities. Hit that download!
Every day I try to make my fake smile just a little bit fakerrrrrr.
Every day I try to make my fake smile just a little bit fakerrrrrr.
VVVV to Resolume Bridge is FFFFantastic
Everyone that's been around in the generative scene for a bit, knows VVVV can be used to create amazing realtime visuals.
But as with any generative software, doing a whole 12 hour show by noodling your output together was not something for the faint hearted. You knew it wasn't that hard, but could you really be bothered patching up that front end and putting in those blend modes and warping effects? Of course not, you'd rather focus on the fun parts.
Enter Elio, a prolific VVVV user who was fed up with Syphon envy and decided to take matters in his own hands: http://vvvv.org/contribution/directx-freeframegl-bridge
He has mastered the black art of sharing DirectX textures to OpenGL.
What that means in normal people language is that you can use his plugins to render your VVVV output straight in Resolume, without the need for additional screen capture workarounds! Like a live camera! At 58 fps! Which is awesome!
Read more about it in the link above, or on the thread on our own Res forum: http://resolume.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10334
Add to this the recent plugins by Trypta that allow for sharing video between Touch Designer and Resolume and all of a sudden, the Syphonless part of the world does not look so bleak anymore ( Cinder/oF people, it's time to step up to the plate! )
Show us the fun stuff you're doing with these nerdy setups. We love a good nerd session.
But as with any generative software, doing a whole 12 hour show by noodling your output together was not something for the faint hearted. You knew it wasn't that hard, but could you really be bothered patching up that front end and putting in those blend modes and warping effects? Of course not, you'd rather focus on the fun parts.
Enter Elio, a prolific VVVV user who was fed up with Syphon envy and decided to take matters in his own hands: http://vvvv.org/contribution/directx-freeframegl-bridge
He has mastered the black art of sharing DirectX textures to OpenGL.
What that means in normal people language is that you can use his plugins to render your VVVV output straight in Resolume, without the need for additional screen capture workarounds! Like a live camera! At 58 fps! Which is awesome!
Read more about it in the link above, or on the thread on our own Res forum: http://resolume.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10334
Add to this the recent plugins by Trypta that allow for sharing video between Touch Designer and Resolume and all of a sudden, the Syphonless part of the world does not look so bleak anymore ( Cinder/oF people, it's time to step up to the plate! )
Show us the fun stuff you're doing with these nerdy setups. We love a good nerd session.
Resolume Arena 4.1.5 DMX Hotfix
We love making Resolume but sometimes ...
We released version 4.1.4 just 2 weeks ago but it introduced a bug in Arena which caused erratic DMX input behavior. This is now fixed in version 4.1.5.
Please download and resume normal operation.
We released version 4.1.4 just 2 weeks ago but it introduced a bug in Arena which caused erratic DMX input behavior. This is now fixed in version 4.1.5.
Please download and resume normal operation.
Resolume 4.1.4 Released - For The 0.0000001%
There are currently over 7 billion people on this planet. 99.99999% of those have never heard of Resolume VJ Software. Most likely they never will.
Still we're plodding away for you, the 0.00001%. Because you matter to us. When we look up to the sky at night, we're not humbled by seeing the context of how small everything actually is. Instead we're thinking of new ways to improve your workflow or how to squash that one annoying bug.
When the sun burns out, we'll be there illuminating the darkness with bright pixels flying past at 60fps. With your help, we'll light up this world with massive glowing screens.
Resolume 4.1.4 adds new features and stomps on critical bugs. Free download
on the site, full release notes below.
Also we updated The Manual to a new format. It's now easier to find things online, and more importantly it's also available in Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. High fives to Carlos, Antonio and Haruka-san!
And of course huge thanks to all of you, from the bottom of the hearts of the whole Resolume team!
PS. 87% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 73% of all people know that.
[NEW] Trigger multiple clips with Enter
[NEW] Master and parameter BPM divide and multiply by two
[NEW] Show more fractional values on parameter when the value is selected
[NEW] Calculate number of beats based on length of clip and default BPM of 120
[NEW] Removed beats counter on toolbar because it had absolutely no purpose whatsoever
[NEW] Crop effect improvements, parameters have bigger range
[NEW] Mirror effect improvements, takes input left or right, top to bottom
[NEW] Norwegian (Norsk Bokmål) interface & help localisation
[FIXED] Flash broken on Windows 8
[FIXED] Multiple clip selection /deselection
[FIXED] Autopilot gets out of sync after a while
[FIXED] Autopilot gets confused after scrubbing playhead
[FIXED] BPM Sync should ignore "continue" setting from the timeline transport
[FIXED] When switching from SMPTE to Timeline the clip does not play
[FIXED] Clip effects get duplicated when quickly loading decks from browser
[FIXED] Syphon composition output no worky when advanced output is active
[FIXED] Crash when triggering a lot of clips quickly via midi and long transition time
[FIXED] Dashboard Dials no worky with effects presets
[FIXED] Crash when ejecting flash clip in other deck
[FIXED] Slice wrap does not show correct pixels
[FIXED] Transition loads previous clip when set to play once and eject
[FIXED] Recorder complains that Quicktime is not installed when it actually is
[FIXED] 1 frame records
[FIXED] Re-triggering a paused clip jumps forward a few frames when clip start offset != 0
[FIXED] ProRes memory leak
[FIXED] h264 thread leak
[FIXED] Window background is white on startup, should be black
[FIXED] Keyboard shortcut with range outside of param's start & stop will not toggle
[FIXED] Can't drop a source on an empty clip panel
[FIXED] Enabling midi out for APC40 dial in relative React mode causes jitter
[FIXED] Strobe effect: frequency 0 should mean strobe off, add fade
[FIXED] Remove black line in mirror and slide plugins
[FIXED] Stop motion effect glitches in superwide composition
[FIXED] Colour pass renders white in some computers
[FIXED] StingySphere quadratic leak
[FIXED] Audio part on clip panel becomes blue when you hide the audio controls
[FIXED] Update Spanish localisation