sync problems... have i reached the end?

[apricotandpearjam]

hi.

im currently using resolume to program a visual show synced to ableton live via network midi. to put it simply i have created custom animations timed to 100bpm which i trigger to resolume in time with audio from ableton.

at the moment my clips are not playing back in sync... they are not horrendously out of time, but so much so that it looks bad to me. maybe a beat at the most... but this is too much for rhythmic visual material that needs to be in sync.

i have a new macbookpro 2.66GHz i7 laptop, 4GB ram & NVIDIA GeForce GT330M 512MB dedicated graphics card.

my animations have been made using adobe after effects and are currently being exported at 1920x1080.

myself and resolume (who have been very helpful) have been doing some tests...with smaller resolution graphics which smpte and white flashes and the problem is consistent with these.... basically... it hasnt improved...

this makes it seem that its more resolume than the graphics card, computer or resolution/codec of the animations. im not sure?

i need to ask some questions from people who know more about this than me and see what feedback i get. am i asking too much from a computer?

i do understand that there will always be some latency when i get to the club as it takes time for the video to get down the wire, into the projector, out of it and into peoples eyes... but again... im not sure whether it is possible to have graphics in perfect sync with audio?

i did try putting ableton 180ms back out of time and it corrected the sync... but it meant that i had 180ms of latency when controlling live fx and hitting samples.

im thinking the next move might be to try it with other software and see whether it helps.

can anyone offer any advice?

thanks!!

benji.

[VJair]

video is far more latent than audio. there is no simple way round this. this is why you have delay settings for the audio in avenue - even running from the same software there will be difference in latency.

couple of ideas:

1)maybe put predelay on the ableton channels which control the video? ( ie -180 ms )

if you use the same channels for audio and video, maybe look at duplicating the channles and adding predelay, maybe even using ghost clips to trigger both channels if that helps.

2) another option is to use a hardware delay AFTER you monitor the audio.

so, audio out put goes to mixer, which you monitor from so you can play in real time, then the main audio output goes to a delay unit which you set to 180ms and use a full wet signal - ie JUST the delay, and send that to the main PA.

[apricotandpearjam]

thanks for getting back!

youve suggested a couple of really good things and its got me thinking!

firstly, ive tried minus offsetting/pre-delaying the midi tracks sending out to ableton but this just puts all the audio back 180ms as it cant see into the future.... so that idea although seemingly logical is not because i work with a lot of live fx that need to be instant.

the other idea of offsetting the monitor to the club is a good one but it could potentially cause some problems...

i think firstly i would find this very hard, especially if the soundsystem is very loud and could overpower the monitors, unless i blast them into my ears, which i dont want to do even if i have got earplugs in.

the second thing is that i would seem out of sync with my audience... but this would probably be so small that they wouldnt notice... its just making it work for me... and that insists on a good monitoring system... which unless your fatboy slim isnt always possible...

how would you offset the monitor from the audio output anyway?

i had a couple of ideas... what do you think?

1. i could re-time all my material to be ahead of the beat so although when watching it alone it seems too fast BUT when its experienced latency its in time...

im not sure about this as im wondering whether it would mean there is space at the end of the loop or the beginning jumps? what do you think?

2. if resolume offered a way to still keep the entire video clip on full loop but allowed you to set the start point then i could move it to 180ms in and it would potentially put the video in time.

this might mean that on the trigger the video jitters slightly but would be in time from then on as it would loop in its entirety...

let me know what you think?

[VJair]

i will get back to you on this, but it might take me a day or two.

im in the initial throws of making an av set myself , so its things i also need to tackle.

im gonna have a play about tomorrow and see try out your thoughts and see if they spur any ideas on ( its gone midnight here, my neighbours wont like me experimenting now...hehe )

[apricotandpearjam]

cool!

i see youre in kent...

im in brighton.

not far!

[VJair]

not far at all ( ashford here ) im in brighton quite often, maybe we should meet up and natter in the flesh sometime

[apricotandpearjam]

cool. ill pm you.

if anyone else has any feedback on these issues id really appreciate your input!

cheers..

[vjfranzk]

hello,

I'm strongly considering registering this program,
(though I have other VJ software already)

largely because of it's promising A/V set abilities,
which I want to do a lot more of in future

right now am building a performance set only in Avenue
(using a completed music video I made for friends in the past)
unlike on Ableton live, am having a lot of issues with loops
drifting out of synch with eachother?
(Is the audio visual feature set truly robust enough to use ONLY this app?)

are there some good hints to get loops of EXACTLY the same length,
as in the demo set?

also, is there a way to zoom in on the waveform view so I can loop the beats more precisely?

thank you for hints! asap

I'm going to do this show in 2 days, one way or another! WIT
can you help me make it a Resolume day?

[Joris]

Hey Franzk

Don't know if this is still in time for your performance, but...

are there some good hints to get loops of EXACTLY the same length,
as in the demo set?

You can set your loops to play back in BPM Sync mode via the clip properties panel, then you can let them play back in exactly the same number of beats.

also, is there a way to zoom in on the waveform view so I can loop the beats more precisely?

You can use the little magnifying glass icon in the top right of the clip properties for that.

Hope that answers your questions!

Joris

[vjfranzk]

Thank you for hints! Getting used to new user interface

I did buy Resolume and used it at the film fest yesterday to VJ my entry live
They loved it! I was VERY pleased with the efficiency of the software,
unlike most video apps I run, no overheating laptop at all.
Used DXV codec as suggested

re: Beat mode
Is there a way?
I would really like to be able to specify a BPM that I know the music is at, AND specify the amount of beats
(setting the IN point manually,
and have it AUTOmatically set the out point that many beats later? based on tempo math)
that's the way they do it in Ableton* on some modes

on the current "beats" mode it's very easy to make the pitch of sounds "detuned"
when selecting a smaller portion, so I ended up exporting all audio in blocks from ableton*

I was using the "beat loopr" for that sort of functionality, but noticed that it's settings aren't saved with the set?
It'd be nice to have even more settings for the loopr, perhaps even "gliching" parameters

Maybe I'll start a newly named thread somewhere,
because I can see this is only the beginning of the AV music I will be making with Avenue!

Thanks a lot!