Parameters

Everything in Resolume is controlled by parameters. Parameters come in a number of shapes and sizes.

Sliders

First and foremost we have sliders. Sliders enable us to set something to a specific value. 

For instance, the Scale of a clip is a slider. To use a slider, click in the slider area and drag the value left or right. If you want to set a parameter to a specific value, click the numerical value, type in the new value and hit return.

Dingetje

Tip! When dragging a slider, Dingetje will pop up. Dingetje is Dutch for "Thingy" or "Gizmo" and Dingetje is useful to quickly enter a numerical value. You can also click on the left and right arrows on Dingetje to increment and decrement the value by a fixed amount. 

Yes, Dingetje is really how we refer to this UI element, both in the office as well as in the code.

Math

You can also do math when typing values. So for instance, if you want to set the X Position of a clip to exactly one third of 1920, simply type "1920 / 3" and Resolume will do the math for you. 

If you knew it was 640 without getting a calculator out, you've been a VJ for too long.


Compound Sliders

Some sliders are compound sliders, which means that they expand to reveal more sliders. For instance the Rotation slider, which by default rotates the image around its center,  expands to reveal Rotation X, Y and Z, for full rotation across all axes in 3D space.

Reset to Default

You can set a slider back to its default value, simply right clicking on the slider or parameter name.

Toggle Buttons

Toggles can be used to turn something on or off. The big B and S buttons on the layer are toggles. They both control the visibility of the layer. B is Bypass or Blind, and turns the layer off. S is for Solo and turns all other layers off.

Every effect also has its own bypass toggle.

You will also see toggles as little boxes that can be ticked. For instance, the Flip effect has toggles for Horizontal and Vertical, which control which axes the image is flipped across. 

Event Buttons

Events are buttons that trigger a certain action. 

The big X on the far left of each layer is an event button. When you click it, it will eject the currently playing clip from that layer. After that, it goes back to being a pretty little X, waiting for you to press it again.

Occasionally, you will come across an event button in an effect as well. For instance, the Cube Tiles effect has an event called Randomize, which randomly re-arranges how the tiles are distributed across the cube.

When you get right down to it, clip triggers are also sort of event buttons. Or are they toggles? Hmmm. This makes my head hurt.

Radio Buttons

Some buttons are grouped together. These are called "Radio Buttons". 

A group of radio buttons can only have one button active at a time. When you click one of the options, the others will automatically be deselected. 

This is how radios worked in, like, the 1940s, so that's why we still call them radio buttons. Because we're old.

A good example are the playhead controls for a clip, which let you set if the clip plays forward, backward, or is paused.

Another example is the Autopilot for every layer.

Dropdowns

Dropdowns will reveal a list of possible choices and let you pick the one you want. 

The Blend on each layer is a dropdown with a huge list of choices. Like, crazy long.

Also, a clip can be switched to a number of different playback modes via a dropdown.

Color

Color is a very important aspect of visual performance. Maybe the most important.

Resolume gives you fine grained control over color. Wherever color is used, Resolume will show a special UI item to set it.

Color Picker

The default view is a standard color picker. Simply move your mouse to pick the exact color that feels right to you.

Eyedropper

There is also an eyedropper. If you've ever used Photoshop, you know how the eyedropper works. But in case you've time traveled to the present from 1982, you can use the eyedropper to move your mouse over any pixel you like and sample its color. Yes, this includes the Output Monitor. Yes, this also includes the actual output.

Don't want to choose a color after all? Hit ESC to exit eyedropper mode.

RGB / HSB Sliders

If you're more of a number person, you can also set the the color using RGB or HSB sliders. In these modes, you can get the color you want by entering the exact Red, Green and Blue, or Hue, Saturation and Brightness values. Using sliders gives you the added advantage of parameter animation, and an extra slider for the alpha value.

Palette

A Color parameter also has the option to show a Palette. On a Palette, you can keep a range of your favorite colors.

If you want to add a color to the Palette, simply drag it from its preview to an empty swatch on the Palette. 

By right-clicking on a swatch, you get even more options! Ye gads, look at all them options!

You can update the swatch with the current color or just get rid of it.

You can also remove all the swatches in the palette or replace them with the default ones.

The Sort and Flip options will reorder the swatches according to the chosen filter.

Tip! The Sort and Flip options are not only useful to keep things organized. When you set the Colorize effect Mode parameter to Palette, and sort the palette to sort by Brightness, you can get some amazing looks, not unlike AE's Colorama effect.

Palette Presets

The Palette comes with its own set of presets. You can access them via the little P dropdown on the far right. Of course you can add your own via the Save and Manage... options on the bottom.

Enabling and Disabling

Does the UI feel cluttered with all those controls? Just click any of the modes to hide them. You can even click off all of them for the ultimate minimalism. 

Need to access them again? They're just one click away.

Control

Parameters can be automated in a number of ways. You can read all about this in the section on Parameter Animation.

Related Articles