On the way to creating some more VJX-basics tutorials I have found myself distracted, hopelessly so, by the topic of feedback. Video feedback is of course a very common and simple “technique”, available in many forms, both hardware and software. However, in most incarnations the result is quite similar and recognizable. Not so with the VJX. The combination of 4 layers, per-layer blend modes and effects, and internal routing create a staggering range of possibilities. I’ve previously posted some examples, and now I’d like take apart and explain the most popular of those, the black and white mirror morph effect.

Vixid Advanced: Feedback Setup and Demo from Create Digital Media on Vimeo.

Input/Patch Setup

Camera or other source feed plugged in to Track 4. Select the appropriate input on Track 4.
Output 1: Connect via patch cable to input on Track 3. S-Video or Composite - Each will give different effects, as will using poor-quality cables, as noise in the patch cable will create more interference in the feedback loop.
Output 2: Connect via patch cable to input on track 2.
Output 3: Final Output - Connect to projector, screen, capture or preview.

The Setup

The VJX is in “Compositing” mode.
Outputs: All set to “Master 1″ (this is what builds the feedback, as the composited output is immediately routed back into tracks 2 and 3).

Track 4: Camera Input. Layer Order D (bottom). BCS (Brightness, Contrast, Saturation) Contrast on 255. Opacity at 100%. This effect works best with a moving, high-contrast, white on black source.
Track 3: First feedback layer. Input from Output 1. Blend Mode: Difference. Layer Order C (second from bottom). Opacity around 40%. Gain 255.
Track 2: Second feedback layer. Input from Output 2. Blend mode: Normal. Layer opacity 25%. Gain 220. Effects: Flip Horizontal, Negative.
Track 1: Not used (could be utilized as an additional feedback loop).

How it Works

The key to this effect is the Negative and Flip effects on track 2. Various combinations of a negative layer applied over a negative blend mode will give you other similar looks. Tweaking the opacity of tracks 2 and 3 will change the “bleed” speed, and depending on the brightness of your source input they may need to be tweaked up or down slightly.

I’m very pleased with this effect. It’s relatively simple to setup, and gives a beautiful, organic look. I’m not sure how well it would work on stage, but it has huge potential for post-production work.

While I’m in a sharing mood. I’ve been spending some time with Feedback effects in the VJX this week, as I was planning to do my next “advanced” tutorial on VJX feedback and effects. However, after losing several hours in experimenting with different blend modes, input and output routing - and creating a huge range of effects and looks - I came to the realization that feedback in the VJX is such a huge topic that we couldn’t hope to cover it properly in a single tutorial.

So instead I’m going to focus on some interesting effects I have discovered, and documenting the exact combination of layers, routing, effects, and other parameters are required to achieve them.

This one is rather complicated. Using the mixer in Battle mode it to isolate two layers as a “feedback loop”, it brings a camera input from track 4, over to the feedback loop on layers 1&2, and then composites them back over the camera input with layer 3. With Difference, Subtraction and Negative blend modes used, and an Inverse effect, I can’t really tell you what’s happening here, but it looks great. The entire effect is controlled with just the gain on the camera input, and tweaking this from 1-255 gives all of the various effects you see in the video.

This one is a little easier, and documented on the Vimeo page. The black/white butterfly effect is achieved by overlaying a Difference blend mode over a layer which is flipped horizontally and has Negative effect applied.

I’ll give proper instruction on creating these effects, and more, soon.

I have been making progress in my voyage of Midi, Cameras and Vixid. I haven’t shared this on Vixid.noisepages.com yet, as I wanted to create a more robust solution in the freely available PD rather than Max/MSP, but in the meantime Vince from Vixid has come to the rescue, with a Vixid Input Switching patch for PD.

Download vixid-pd-4layerswitch.zip (4KB).

This patch doesn’t do input switching - just track/layer sequencing - but because it is working with tracks that are frame locked by the VJX, the switching can be frame-by-frame, which gives some extremely interesting effects when used with multiple camera inputs.

The next step, of course, is to bring input switching into the mix. We’re planning a series of frameworks which you can use to create your own Vixid control setups, but while you wait, here’s a reminder of what can happen if you stay up too late learning to code with lots of video cameras and a VJX nearby.

Vixid Multi Input Test 2 - Cunningham Style from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Be careful out there.

VJX owner Tiago Pereira (previously spotted on CDM) is fusing technology with tradition in the OMIRI A/V project.

With Vasco Ribeiro Casais on electronic bouzouki, nyckelharpa, flute, loops, beats, effects pedals, laptop and other enhancements, the sound is a complex mix of past, present and future, and - with the help of João Chaves - the visuals help build this into a consistent performance. The historical basis of these pieces is in dance, so the content is spot on, with dance from a huge range of cultures making an appearance.

OMIRI LIVE - Teatro da Luz - Xotiça Marmeleira from Tiago Pereira on Vimeo.

Being Vixid.Noisepages, this performance does indeed feature a VJX as the hub which glues the visual show together. There’s some fitting use of blend modes on display, but we need not forget that the VJX is a mixer at heart. You don’t need to use effects just because they’re there, and Tiago doesn’t fall into this trap.

Recently I had two matched projectors for a couple of hours, so I decided to try and achieve a seamless scrolling effect with live camera sources.

Through luck rather than planning, all of my video cameras are from Sony, and they all have the same type of cable for composite analog-out. Looking for better quality, I picked up half a dozen of these replacement cables, which have both S-Video and Composite jacks. This allows me to send a single camera output to 2 separate layers, setting the stage for some multi-screen spanning.

The Setup

Put the VJX into Battle Mode (Menu > Video > Mixmode > Battle 2*2)
Set Outputs for separate projectors (Menu > Video > Outputs > Choose “Master 1″ for first projector, “Master 2″ for second)

Plug one output from each camera into each side of the mixer:
Camera 1:
Composite Output - Track 1, Input 1
S-Video Output - Track 3, Input 3
Camera 2:
Composite Output - Track 2, Input 1
S-Video Output - Track 4, Input 3
… and then hold down the “Input” button and select these inputs.
For each track in turn:
Enable Background Alpha
Enable Scroll FX

Midi Control

The VJX has a complete midi map, covering almost every function available (apart from saving and loading of presets). The VJX has a pretty intuitive control setup for the huge amount of options available, but it would be physically impossible to control independent parameters for 4 tracks concurrently, which is where external midi enters the picture.

The VJX16-4 controls aren’t outrageously different from a “traditional” video mixer, but there are a couple of initial concepts you need to master to get started. This Vixid101 video covers concepts from the left side of the mixer, the big ones being: Choosing inputs, routing outputs, previews, layer selection and ordering, and blend modes.

While these are the “basic” functions of the mixer, they also contain the core of what makes the VJX such a revolutionary tool. As you start to come to terms with these new capabilities, they will suggest to you whole new ways of working with video.

In the coming months I’ll be covering these new methods as I come up with them, as well as more of the basics. This site isn’t just about me though, there are plenty of other VJX users out there doing great things. If you have something you’d like to share, please get in touch.

2008 is an exciting year to be a visualist. One of the reasons for this excitement is the long-awaited commercial release of the Vixid VJX16-4 video mixer. We think that this mixer - with its 16 inputs, 4 layer compositing, flexible routing options and myriad internal effects and control options - is immensely important for the future of visualism. Not only because it’s a new type of “Video Mixer”, but because it is designed thoughtfully, in a way which gives both great technical capability and artistic flexibility.

With great power comes increased complexity, so Vixid have teamed up with CDM to create a site designed to provide information on how to get started with the VJX, advanced tips and tricks, step by step tutorials, and information from other artists who are pushing the frontiers of visual performance and production.

“Pushing the frontiers” is an apt description for how far evolved the VJX is from a “traditional” video mixer. We were able to spend some time with a unit in December 2007, and shot a video covering some of its functions.

This small taste of the VJX convinced us to invite Vixid to be the first video-centric company to be a part of our pilot Noisepages program. Our intention is that - as a Noisepages sponsor - Vixid can invest in creating real content, which will remain available as a lasting resource to assist current or future users. Vixid is a small company, with a developing user base, but we believe that what they’re doing will have lasting effects. So we’re creating this site as a place to help existing VJX owners understand this tool better, to discover new ideas and techniques, and for future Vixid owners to learn more about why we think this tool is essential to what we think the future of VJing and live video production will be.

We’re also very interested in what other people are doing with their VJXs. If you have anything you’d like to share, or things you’d like to hear more about, please get in contact.

Welcome to Vixid.Noisepages.

These videos by Deepvisual have been previously posted to CreateDigitalMotion, but they’re a very useful initial look some of the functions which make the VJX16-4 different from other video mixers.

Selecting Inputs, Blend Modes, Effects, Keying

Blend Modes, Layer Ordering, Previews

If you’d like to catch a performance being run through a VJX16-4, Deepvisual is playing a run of shows with The Orb during May and June:

MAY
Thursday 01 Scala London
Friday 02 Concorde 2 Brighton
Sunday 04 Wedgewood Rooms Portsmouth
Thursday 08 Ambassador Dublin
Friday 09 Festival Belfast
Saturday 10 Barfly Birmingham
Sunday 11 Academy 3 Manchester
Thursday 15 Rescue Rooms Nottingham
Friday 16 The Arches Glasgow
Friday 30 Chibuku TBC Liverpool TBC
Saturday 31 Sunrise Festival Nr Aylesbury

JUNE
Sunday 01 Trinity Bristol
Sunday 08 Rock Ness Festival Scotland

The continuation of a long collaboration, these shows will surely see the Vixid put to great use.

Most unboxing pictures are rather regimented and ordered - cables and wrapping all laid out neatly. This behaviour belies the actual excitement which - in my case, and I’m sure for others too - is being experienced by the unboxer. So here’s what a VJX16-4 looks like when being unwrapped by an excited visualist:

So now that I have it, and it has been brought home, what next?

This site is being put together in collaboration with Vixid. The idea is that the VJX16-4 is such a deep topic that we would like to spend more time with it and get in deeper than our normal blog-posting habits (and readers) would allow on CreateDigitalMotion or CreateDigitalMusic.

So we have created this site as a hub for those who are might be considering the purchase of a Vixid mixer, or who have made that purchase and might not be quite sure what to do next. We hope to attract like-minded Vixid Lovers, who can help each other increase their skills and improve their performances with this remarkable tool.