2009 MacBook Pro and Resolume Avenue 4

[edesmarais]

I am very, very new to VJing and am checking out some different software packages. However, I am not sure how my laptop stacks up, and am having trouble figuring it out.

I am not looking to do any crazy projection mapping or anything, I am more interested in running 3 or 4 layers with perhaps some video clips, still photos, maybe a live feed, and and a few effects on a single screen -- definitely not trying to push the software to the limit at this point. I will be running music concurrently, probably using Ableton. One song per clip slot in either mp3 or WAV format (haven't really thought this out all the way though). Shows at really small venues, couple hundred people at most for the foreseeable future.

Here are the specs of my machine:

MacBook Pro, mid 2009
Processor 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Hard drive 500GB, 7200rpm

Final note -- Yes, I understand that if I buy a brand new laptop, everything will run great, but that isn't going to happen for at least year. I want to know if I could get the job done using Resolume on the machine I have, and if not, what other VJ software might be able to do it. Or, if I should just wait until next year when I can get a better laptop.

Thanks!

[Stickygreen]

I have a MBP from the same year, but it's the better model 2.66 CPU, and Nvidia 9600 (512mb)GPU, it still handles resolume very well. But it all comes down to resolution, at 640x480, it hums along without any issues, and lets me do just about anything i ask it. I can have fun VJing all night long. At 720p, i can still play a decent duration set, but the fan is running pretty hard, always worries me. 1080p, forget it... unless it's one layer, with minor effects, or two layers and no effects. (not much fun, but useful for somethings)

I would suspect that your computer will be pretty much the same, but considering the lesser GPU you may expect maybe a 20-25% reduction in performance. but that's just a guess....?

As for capturing video, you will only be able to capture standard definition content via Composite/S-video (USB dongle), as the only way to capture HD on those older MBP's was via the Expresscard 34 slot. your machine will not have that, where as only the top models 15" 2.66, and 17" had the expresscard slot. If you're still interested in capture, check out the Easycap, and videoglide driver, though i think the video glide driver is broken again with 4.1.6, it was working with 4.1.4..? anyway you get my point i hope.

good luck.

[vjslof]

Check your energy settings in the Energy Saver system preferences and set it to Higher Performance. Perhaps your Macbook Pro will switch to the dedicated NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB GPU if it has one.

[edesmarais]

Thanks for the help! I have downloaded the demo version and haven't had any problems so far, but I haven't really done anything too complex yet. Sounds like I will be okay as long as I stay away from HD. Now to convince the wife . . .