This month we welcome Artificially Awake to the Resolume Footage fam.

His first release Displace is great for adding some extra depth to your visuals:

Get Displace by Artificially Awake from the Resolume shop.

Video2000 is back, and this time he's just showing off. Insanely detailed 3d artwork in his new pack Technotron.

Get TechnoTron by Video2000 *exclusive* from the Resolume shop.

And even though we haven't heard from them in a while, the OWK crew is back with a banger.

Get CityDrives by Ostwerker *exclusive* from the Resolume shop.

Visuals have become a major part of live performances all over the world. From local club to concert hall to main stage on major festivals, Resolume can be seen on screens both large and small.

Top 100 DJ's like Armin van Buuren or Hardwell have relied on Resolume for their live video shows for years. The reach of Resolume is growing with bands like Aerosmith also adding live visuals to their shows.


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Resolume is growing, we have a lot of users and a lot of ideas. What we don't have, is enough hands to build it all.

This is where you come in. Do you have hands? Do you have brains? We have a full-time position available at our Resolume HQ in The Hague, The Netherlands. We work in a small team with a flat hierarchy, so your input will help shape the future of Resolume and live visuals.

What we're looking for:
* 5+ years experience in developing software using C/C++ on Mac OS X & Windows

What makes our hearts beat even faster:
* Experience with OpenGL.
* Experience with JUCE Framework.
* Experience with Objective C.
* Experience with digital audio processing.
* Affinity with creative coding environments like openFrameworks, Cinder and Processing.
* Affinity with live visuals or VJ-ing.

So here it is. Your chance to work for one of the worldwide market leaders in the live visual industry. To apply, send a cover letter, your resume and examples of your work to mail@resolume.com, Bart van der Ploeg.

Here is the first footage of 2015. We can already tell it's going to be a big year for visuals.

STV in Motion delivers some delicious eyecandy with his new pack Lolipop.


Buy Lolipop

Best selling artist Ican Agoesdjam shows he's got more than one style up his sleeve.


Buy OpalMonster, *exclusively* on Resolume Footage

And master of retinal detachment Muzencab returns with some more dancefloor oriented work.


But Metric, *exclusively* on Resolume Footage

December is always a busy time for VJs. We're sure you have some crazy holiday gigs lined up!

Grab your chance to stock up on ammo for those NYE screens and X-Mas LED panels.

Newcomer on the label Visual Delight impresses with a fresh new style. Mixing photographic with abstract 3D, this could well be the new trend for 2015.



SpaceOpera by Visual Delight is available exclusively from Resolume Footage

And both Daniel Knight and Ican Agoesdjam need no further introduction. They always deliver the pixelbangers that you know will blow up the screen.



Get MinimAltitude by Ican Agoesdjam, exclusively from Resolume Footage



Get RedGiants VJ Footage by Daniel Knight

One of the great things about hosting Resolume workshops is you get to meet so many amazing people from all over the world.

One such amazing person is Danny Purdue.

After joining us for a session last year, he showed us the impressive work he was doing for Light Nightclub in Las Vegas. Soon after that, we got word he would be running Resolume for the visuals on the Aerosmith world tour. Live visuals are common in EDM and club scenes, but still a relatively new thing on rock shows, so of course we had to get the lowdown on this.

Here's the interview with Danny himself.[fold][/fold]



Who are you and how the heck did you land a job with Aerosmith? What other work have you done?

I’ve spent most of the last ten years touring and producing live video at concerts. I started out running camera and editing, then eventually got into directing and more of the overall show design. On the side I had an interest in VJing, and the two paths crossed when I directed the live video for Swedish House Mafia's “One Last Tour” in 2012. The camera shots needed to be stylized to complement the LED visuals, so I integrated Resolume with a broadcast switcher to mix effects with my line cut. Creatively it was really fun and being out there inspired me to pursue VJing more seriously.

When that tour was over I headed to Las Vegas for a residency at two clubs opening in Mandalay Bay. One was Daylight Beach Club, a straightforward VJ gig, and the other was Cirque du Soleil’s Light Nightclub, an ambitious project to combine the theatrics of Cirque with EDM and the nightclub environment. Light has a massive LED installation, wireless HD cameras, motion tracking equipment for generative visuals, and custom content built for the architecture of the room. It took a lot of talented people to bring all the pieces together and make Light successful.

In March I got a call about putting together a Resolume demo for the upcoming Aerosmith tour. It sounded like a cool opportunity, so I went over to LA and worked out a formula similar to the Swedish House rig with Arena running inline with broadcast video equipment. A few days later Steven Tyler came by, I demoed some looks, then we spent a couple hours trying out all kinds of effects using recordings from previous shows. He liked what he saw and asked me to join the tour.

Why was Resolume chosen over other media servers?

The choice to use Resolume came from Steven. I was pretty surprised he knew about it, and even more so when we first met that he had actually downloaded the demo, gone through footage on the website, and rattled off names of the animators he liked. The man does his homework. After seeing what VJs were doing with Resolume, Steven was excited to use the large palette of effects to create visual moments in Aerosmith's show.

We didn’t have production rehearsals before the tour, so the immediate benefit of Resolume was rapidly developing ideas. Instead a lengthy creative process with renderings and reviewals, we knew a server running Arena could achieve whatever visual treatments we came up with on the road.

How is operating a rock show different from an EDM style event?

The main difference on this project was using visuals and effects to accent a show rather than drive it. What fans want to see at an Aerosmith concert isn’t graphics, it’s these rock icons playing their instruments and Steven Tyler’s wild stage presence. So it was a video-first approach where several elements had to be right for a visual moment to be effective.

After Steven and I developed a concept, I worked with our lighting designer Cosmo Wilson, video director Jeff Claire, and the camera crew to sort out the practical side of things like colors, spotlights, and filming angles. It was a much different environment than VJing at a rave where your content is the show and you’re more in control of the ambience.

How was your deck structured?

I ended up using a single deck mostly because it simplified my workflow with live inputs. Rather than having a lot of device source clips, I stuck with two and used layer routers to get signal wherever I needed it in the
composition. For one of the keying effects this routing allowed me to send an upper layer back down in the render order, which is a feature that’s hard to appreciate until you need it.

The deck was mostly effect clips and a small selection of content. Out of seven layers total, two were essentially fixed tools and the other five gave me plenty of room to stack up each look in a single column. One feature of Resolume I had rarely used for VJing but came to rely on for this project was Composition MIDI mapping. It saved a lot of time by not having to remap as I shuffled things around and tried different orders of effects.

What effects did you use to create the different looks for the songs?

Each look was a combination of multiple effects with the most significant parameters linked to dashboard controls. Here are a few of my favorites.

One of the first looks we created was for “Eat the Rich,” which started with an upbeat, tribal-esque breakdown of percussion and vocals. Steven walked downstage, faced the camera, and did some crazy dance moves with an effect we called "Shiva.” It was based on Delay RGB with some color strobing, and I had a couple knobs controlling distortion effects based on his moves that particular night.



The trick with this Edge Detection effect was keeping detail on Steven so it didn’t look gaudy, then I added the glare to give it a more elegant feel. This one really popped during “Dream On” when Steven stood on top of the piano with his hair and clothes blowing in the wind from the stage fans. The song opened with a clip of rolling clouds and those fit nicely with this look too.



The most challenging cue each show was called “Face Melt,” where a combination of keying effects made Steven's skin translucent to reveal twisting (Cosmic Strings!) graphics. Most of the time we used this at the beginning of "Sweet Emotion” under moody ultraviolet light, which is incredibly tough to key against. I had presets that got it close and dialed in the rest by hand to make sure content only played over him and didn't spill out over the rest of the image. This look was part of my original Resolume demo for Steven.



What were the technical setup and signal flow like?

As VJs we’re often confined to prosumer gear that fits in a carry-on case. Not here. My equipment and the main video system were provided by Screenworks NEP out of LA, giving me access to considerable resources at the beginning of the project. During the system build I was able to pull broadcast-grade hardware and converters off the shelf, test them out, and get exactly what I needed. Having a lab of sorts to experiment with integration was a real luxury. Once the spec was complete, our tech-saavy video engineer went through each piece of gear from camera to screen and shaved off every millisecond of latency possible.

My rig was located backstage with the rest of video world since I needed access to several HD sources and quick communication with the video crew. Resolume ran on a 2013 Mac Pro and captured two discrete video signals using a Blackmagic DeckLink Duo. The card took any combination of cameras and switcher feeds based on my selection with remote panels connected to the main system router. Resolume’s output passed through an Image Pro for genlock and HD-SDI conversion, then went back to the central router so we could place it upstream or downstream of anything else in the signal flow to the LED screen.

For control I used Livid Instruments’ CNTRL:R. It has both regular and “endless" knobs, small drum pads, plenty of RGB buttons, long-throw faders, and a layout that works well with how I operate. Everyone of course has their own cup of tea when it comes to MIDI controllers, but when Resolume is open I almost always have the CNTRL:R plugged in too.

The heart of the video system was a Ross Vision, a high end broadcast switcher with all kinds of mixing, keying, and automation abilities. We had one look driven by the Vision that was a grid of nine different 1080 HD sources with no drop in frame-rate or performance. For another song we had switcher buttons triggering sequences of comic book styled playback based on which band member and camera angle were being shown, then a layer of effected live video from Resolume was keyed into a panel to match the look. Top-notch hardware opens the door to some pretty imaginative workflows.



Where do you see Resolume fitting in to a crowded scene of media servers and VJ software?

What originally got me into Resolume is its simplicity and intuitiveness, which let me focus on being creative. This is particularly important when you’re working with a high profile artist whose time is very valuable. In a creative session you have to quickly translate ideas into a repeatable cues, so you need a fast and flexible workflow. There is always time to go back and get technical with optimizing effect stacks, layering, and MIDI mapping. What doesn’t work is a rock star tapping his foot waiting on you to configure something.

One of Resolume’s best advantages that seems to either be overlooked or taken for granted is that it’s cross-platform. It’s important to me that no matter what tools and hardware I want to use, I don’t have to worry about changing the main piece of software I use to operate a show. Especially with Syphon and now Spout, a lot just comes down to user preference and project needs.

Looking forward, I’m excited to see how Resolume tackles new trends like it did with projection mapping. Things like timeline-based control data and DMX output are readily available using third party apps, but the process could be simpler.

Resolume is still a new tool to the industry as a whole and has a lot of room to grow beyond the EDM scene. As more artists embrace interactive technologies, generative show elements, and live content operators, having a powerful creative hub that can adapt to different workflows is key. Before this project I wouldn’t have expected Aerosmith to be part of this conversation, and was pleasantly surprised that even rock legends are riding the new wave of visual art.

See more of Danny's work at http://programfeed.com/

[s]Yes! It's time for that one special weekend of the year. Black Friday or Cyber Monday, however you want to call it, the 50% discount is ON.[/s]

Update: Black Friday Sale is now over, please do not email us, we'll do it again next year.


The discount applied to everything, footage, software, it's even on top of educational discount. So now is be best time to upgrade to Arena for half price. Stock up on footage for your New Years Eve gig. Stop searching the trenches of the internet for a dodgy cracked version. Legalize!

Happy Thanks Giving ;-)

BTW 1: Who has a good pumpkin pie recipe? We do not really celebrate thanksgiving diner here in Europe but I love pumpin pie. I'll try and make this paleo pumpkin pie this weekend.

BTW 2: How do you like our new site?

This months' new releases go bang in a big way.

Newcomer on the label Ablaze Visuals is not just a foot soldier in the war on our pixels. He's general mayhem and he takes no prisoners.


Get NeoGlitch by Ablaze Visuals


Ican Agoesdjam is on a footage killing spree, and his new release FuchsiaJet is a noscope across the map headshot.


Get FuchsiaJet by Ican Agoesdjam


And Laak blows everyone away. This time he shows that more quantity does not mean less quality. 99 (!) amazing clips make up his new pack.


Get Vj Survival Kit 2 by Laak

So, the workshops at Res HQ are over for 2014, but you can still learn lots about VJ'ing.



The wonderful guys from Doc Optic have been publishing awesome video tutorials lately. In a calm and soothing tone, VJ'ing with Resolume is explained. The great thing is that the tutorials don't follow the 'this-button-does-that' format, but rather explain how you can improve your show using certain techniques and tricks.

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What we love even more, is that they're not tied to one software. Aside from Resolume, also knowledge about VDMX, MixEmergency and the wonderful Coge is shared. Now that's what we call sexy!

Here's Adriel from Doc Optic introducing himself, followed by a selection of our favourite tuts thus far. Be sure to check out the Doc Optic website for loads more. Also they have some free and premium content available, so what are you wasting time here for?

My name is Adriel and I'm originally from the Silicon Valley (San Jose, California), now based in Hawaii. I started VJing in 2012 because it tied some of my biggest passions together: music, animation and graphics.

I first learned of Resolume a few years ago, but it wasn’t until I experienced some live visuals at a show and thought, “Hey, I could do that.” So I began by using the Resolume demo and creating some visual content I could practice with. Eventually, I was given the opportunity to perform live visuals alongside international and local musicians at events in Hawaii.

I spend a lot of time researching and tinkering with software and creating different types of visuals. I've always had sharing this knowledge in the back of my mind, so I created DocOptic which I run with my partner.

I want to help others understand their tools and provide them with visuals so they can start blasting images on a screen.

The moment that first visual is triggered, the atmosphere is enhanced instantly. That’s the feeling that motivates me. I want others to experience it for themselves. My hope is to see visuals at every concert, show, party, and club.

We hope so too, Adriel!

Sometimes it's good to remember life is not all about optimized GPU codecs, gigantic LED walls and how many outputs you can run of a single computer. Sometimes life is about using visual art to transform spaces. And if we're really lucky, we can also use it to transform people.

Recently we received an email from Roxanna VJ Thai that reminded us of exactly that. And we'd like to share that letter with you all as well.

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Hello Resolume friends!

I wanted to share my recent experience, taking video and multimedia education to another level.


I was invited to give a multimedia workshop at REYNOSA, one of the cities here in México, where violence has taken over as a result from the drug war. I took the chance, and tried to put fear aside.


It was an intensive 1 week workshop called "LET US PLAY!", all about new media and exploring realtime video possibilities, revisiting artists, techniques, tools, etc. They were introduced to Resolume Avenue software as the main tool to develop their individual projects.


With the support of Media Selectah, we opted to close the workshop with a video projection intervention in situ, where we designed a creative proposal and it was done on the same day. The place, was a big white closed room, used for conventions, we had 4 "little projectors" (2K lumens), but as always we did some magic using them to the maximum, and creating a smaller 3D video space within. Every participant developed their idea in a 3 minute performance, and then they all took part of a jam improvisation where random music was played and they would have to play vj.


They could use the crowd source material where everybody contributed with videos and images in a collective way.

This workflow was inspired by the Exquisite Corpse from the Surrealists. We have done this workshop also
in Monterrey city, Culiacán, Sinaloa; and San Luis Potosí, and it is always a new and different experience.

We love video and multimedia, it is our passion in Media Selectah! So we use it to transform spaces and people, and to open up new possibilities for these hybrid media explorations.


As a VJ artist (Vj Thai), it has been very difficult to do what I like for so many years without giving up, due to the lack of spaces and recognition for the visual as part of everything that has to do with music culture and beyond. So we have worked hard on opening up new spaces for video in art and entertainment in México, by curating and producing multimedia happenings around the north of the country, mainly in Monterrey city.

This is our website:

http://www.mediaselectah.com

http://www.vjthai.mediaselectah.com

And facebook fan page:

https://www.facebook.com/mediaselectah

You can see more pics here.

Pictures by Carlos Limas, Laura Flores, Tochirock Gallegos, Arabella Medrano and VjThai for Media Selectah .

thank you

_*_

Thai.

We don't care that it's gloomy and dark outside for us, because spring has arrived in the southern hemisphere. So this month we have some fresh and sunny releases for you.


New artist on the label BluElk throws you a beach party:

Get SummerTime VJ footage by BluElk


Do you feel the rhythm of the mighty content machine that is Ghosteam?

Get BeatMachines VJ footage by Ghosteam


And we know you'll be lining up to get Laak's new release LightLines:

Get LightLines VJ footage by Laak