This patch initializes the VJX, and then allows you to sequence which of the four tracks is shown on which output, save and load presets, and change the switching speed via BPM. I don’t have 3 similarly sized monitors to show this off, so Vince was nice enough to shoot us a demo video from Vixid Headquarters:

Triple Output Sequencing - Vixid and PD from Create Digital Media on Vimeo.

It may look like a simple fruit machine, but this displays how fast and flexible the VJX’s routing controls can be.

As before, Vixid have kindly supplied the patch for others to use and modify to their own needs.
Download vixid-OutSeq-v3.zip (8KB).

If you haven’t used PureData before and are feeling nervous, you really should check it out. It’s free, cross-platform, and really will help you get closer to your Vixid. We’ll be releasing more PD patches over time, perhaps eventually combining them into a super-patch which rolls all of this awesomeness into a single Vixid uber-interface!

Vixid Crop Effect Automation from Create Digital Media on Vimeo. Music by pornophonique.

For the initial crop effect I’m controlling the Crop L and Crop R parameters for the top three camera layers, bringing in control of Opacity, RGB and Blend Mode as the video progresses. Manually controlling all of these things at once would of course be impossible, so another time that the VJX’ full midi map comes to the rescue. As I was looking for a rough prototype to see how these type of effects would look, I turned to VDMX (previously on CDMo) to quickly put together some control routings.

What you can’t see from this screenshot is that the various sliders for Crop and Opacity (which was also used for RGB and Blend) all have various Behaviour Chains applied to them. This lets me take the extremely erratic and fast-moving “drunk” mode and turn it into something more fluid through smoothing, inversion, scaling etc.

For other VDMX users, I’ve uploaded the preset file so you can try it out yourself - vixid-cropmove - all you have to do is choose your midi interface in the Midi Destination on the two MidiOut modules, and you’re set! If you don’t have VDMX, you can try this project file out by downloading the demo.

The above video uses effects which have been exaggerated so you can see what is happening clearly and quickly. In performance these could be tweaked more subtly, triggered by audio or BPM, and combined with feedback, keying, or other tweaks to make a unique and artistic combination.

It goes deeper though. Somehow, on my first several readings of the VJX manual I managed to skip the part about saving and loading entire track presets. This will save all of the above settings for the track.

The “Select” button - your new best friend.

To save a Track preset, press Preset as normal, press the Select button for the track you want to save, then press a Matrix button to save the whole track preset in that matrix location.

This is very useful when you’re working with complex feedback effects, or have different track settings for different inputs. For instance: I’ve been using RGB and HSB tweaks to colour correct my camera inputs, but if I was to switch from a computer input on the same track to the camera I’d want to be able to quickly load these colour tweaks. To reset back to “default” you can do a Track reset, by holding down Reset and pressing the track Select button.

So this gives you almost all the track settings possible in just a couple of button presses. We can’t yet save a “super-preset” of the whole mixer setup including routing, compositing mode etc., although I’m told that this functionality is being investigated for a future firmware update, and in the meantime we can control all of these things via MIDI. Has anyone made an application to save and send VJX setups via MIDI? Sounds like a good candidate for the next PD experiment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

OMIRI LIVE - A la Muse from Tiago Pereira on Vimeo.

On the flip side, I would like to see the VJs here moving away from the barrage-of-clips style and starting to be sympathetic to the structure of the music they’re interpreting. As a visualist you have a huge stage presence before you play a single clip. If you’re not complimenting and working with the flow of the music it’s very easy to pull focus, and I see this happening in these videos.

The tracks being played have plenty of light and shade, highs and lows, breakdowns, effects-driven sections, and yet the vision seems to keep on flashin’ no matter what the musician is doing. This may be due to inexperience, overcompensation for the visualist’s perceived importance on stage, or perhaps a conscious artistic choice to build an environment which is visually overpowering.

OMIRI LIVE Teatro da Luz - Dentro da Matriz from Tiago Pereira on Vimeo.

The above clip at 2:33 is a prime example. We have a drum and bass breakdown with some filter sweeps, and I’d love to see Tiago take the visuals along for the ride with some feedback, echo effects, or even slower footage and fades to allow the eyes and minds to rest. Tiago has displayed this subtlety before in rehearsal video (below, NSFW due to brief nudity), so perhaps the selection of clips we’re seeing are not representative of the performance as a whole.

OMIRI Bourrée from Tiago Pereira on Vimeo.

Criticisms aside, the overall performance is fantastic, and I’d love to see more.

Link: OMIRI on Myspace.

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.

This particular setup used Ableton Live to take care of the midi messages, but you could use anything which is capable of sending midi CCs on specific channels.

(Download the Live project here -  Vixid Projector Spanning.zip - very simple, but it does the job)

This is setup for vertical scrolling, so each channel is sending CC5, which controls the “Scroll Y” parameter on the VJX. When “Scroll Y” is at 0, the layer is scrolled off the top of the canvas and not visible, when it’s at 63 it’s centered, and 127 is scrolled off the bottom of the canvas. To create the seamless scrolling effect we simply offset the inputs for each camera, so Camera 1’s Composite output scrolls down across Projector 1, then as it disappears off Projector 1, the S-Video output starts to appear on Projector 2, giving the appearance of a single, smoothly-scrolling image.

Bugs and Limitations

You’ll notice that slow scrolling in the video is a little jerky. This is because I was only using course midi control - cutting the scroll range (around 1152 pixels) into 128 chunks gives us 9 pixels per single CC value. The VJX understands 14-bit, high resolution midi, and so is capable of perfectly smooth scrolling if you send it high resolution messages.

Also, because of the “Battle Mode” setup, this technique is also limited to “just” 2 projectors. The VJX does have 3 separate outputs, but this technique requires all 3 outputs to have 2 layers active at once. However, there’s nothing stopping you from adding extra cameras or video sources to the mix, as long as it can output S-Video and Composite concurrently, it will work.

You’re looking at that Macbook video adapter a little differently now, aren’t you?

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.

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.