Hello everyone. I´d just like to share this.
I am a designer and I run Resolume for years already, from version 2.2 on. Started working as a VJ almost a decade ago.
I never worked in a disco/dance house. I never worked as a traditional VJ in a big gig. And most important of all, I never cared about using Resolume effects or any other hardware as support or expansion to control it. Also, and therefore, audio sync was never very relevant to me.
What kind of VJ am I? Some would say I was never a VJ at all, so far.
As I work with computer graphics and 3D, I am capable of producing my own videographics content, whenever it is necessary.
The events I work on are more social, like huge birthday parties, marriages, etc.
More recently, with Arena, I´ve been developing my mapping skills and I can tell I´ve done a lot of things so far, althoug never a big outdoor architecture show. My mapping is pretty much an indoor thing.
I developed content to my own DJ Mapping Booth and that was used a couple of times already, once to an audience of more than 4K people!
But naturally, almost after a decade, the time came: a huge eletronic music event in the city. One specific evening and a line up of four international DJs (from usa, italy and spain), each one playing for two hours straight.
Although there were several good and well known VJs around, the opportunity was presented to me: "the evening VJ". "Am I up to that?", I thought.
That was a whole new game to me and I wanted to look good in the picture. I´ve been Vjing in situations where I produce custom content to mix and play them from 2 to 4 or 5 hours, not allways straight.
Well, this gig was also for thousands of people and it would be only me, as a VJ, playing 8 to 9 hours straight. Wow... I trumbled.
Besides, a personal note, I am just emerging (a week ago) from a nose and 'one ear' surgery. Could I take the physical stress? My nose is blocked (mouth breathing) and one ear is in a delicated condition. Could I keep listening to the electronic music beat at a high volume for 9 hours? "I will pop up, have some sort of condition, I know, I know..." , thought.
Well, obviously, after almost a decade, I am pretty sure that I own some very good video content for electronic music gigs. Some personal, some bought, some public. All I needed was some custom content for the specific evening and I was set to go. Also, due to my physical condition and to the duration of the gig, I would need some support from my major tool (Resolume) to keep entertaining Ks of people for so many hours straight: time to sync audio and start using effects for real.
Effects are no big deal, but they are constraint by my macbookpro specs. It is an old model with 512 video only.
So, I setup a 1024x768 composition of 5 layers top. The screen was a LED panel of 6m x 4m.
Gone to the forums to search for bpm sync solutions. Not simple to me, since I do not use any side hardware as support to this. And of course I wanted a simple solution. Sometimes, the most simple answers are the most difficult to find, although they are there.
Waveclock seemed a solution, but I couldn´t make the downloaded demo to work properly and I got no reply from their tech support. So, I blew it.
I was about to give up on that and started learning how to manually tap bpms the day before the gig ; )
After all said so far, scared me? No! ; )
Suddenly I found a post about video properties, video effects and the usage of an external FFT input.
THAT`S THE THING!!! That´s what I was looking for after all!
Well, it would not control the beat and play the videos in synd with the audio, but I was a big deal, since I could sync properties and effects to the audio input. That was it. I was ready and set to go!
After almost a decade, I´ve finally learned some basics of Vjing and Resolume, using simple tools that were there most of the time available to me.
The gig went straight from 22pm to 6am. I played all night long. Felt no pain. Didn´t go crazy or poped up.
Resolume was pretty stable all the time. Effects and properties could be set to sync in real time with the audio input, so I had the tools to perform with a great variety of visuals and effects all night long.
It was a great success. Now I can say I´ve graduated! Now you can say I am a VJ!
Thank you!
