Resolume Forum

First, I'm not a VJ =) I'm just a member of a small theater that includes video clips in its performances. So we need a reliable software to playback those. The point is having video played on secondary display while having all the controls at the primary display. With ability to start/stop clips (nothing more usually). I bet you guys here on this forum know a lot about this kind of stuff and can point me in the right direction.

The requirements are simple:
1) reliable smooth video streaming (high-res too)
2) ABSOLUTELY NOTHING shown on the secondary display except my video itself

The options I've tried so far:
1) Windows media player (XP and Vista)
Nah... Sick of this opening/closing/maximizing windows and desktop showing. Also performance lags may interfere.
2) Media player classic
Allows for playlist in a separate window. But no other controls. And the same shit with windows happen...
3) PowerDVD
6th version allows separate controls but the stupid background banner ruins everything.
4) Adobe Premiere
Very powerful, but no simple way to switch between clips. Also DV only, and may have performance problems.
5) Resolume Avenue
Seems like the way to go at first. But actually cannot deliver acceptable picture quality.
Even videos encoded by recommended codecs are displayed blurry (crisp when watched in other players).
6) GeeXBox =)
No way to remove menu from the secondary display. Too complicated menus.

I understand that PROs use dedicated HW solutions but does anyone know what a simple human can rely on?

Raistlin wrote: 5) Resolume Avenue
Seems like the way to go at first. But actually cannot deliver acceptable picture quality.
Even videos encoded by recommended codecs are displayed blurry (crisp when watched in other players).

Raistlin, your are aware that this is the Resolume forum, and not the "an alternative to Resolume" forum, are you?

If you have problems with quality, then you should post a detailed description including your video and I'm sure the Resolume team will have a look at it.

Another option is to post your question on a general VJ forum like http://www.vjforums.com

some graphiccards and players have something called "theater mode"
quicktime is also not perfect cause you see the menu if you do something...
other vj software maybe?
arkaos (grand vj) is very powerfull, stable and has good quality as far as i know (but the functions for vj'ing are not that great as in resolume, which shoult not be the matter in your case, and sorry for making ad for another vj program )
also vvvv (also a vj software) may be a (maybe a bit complicated) way to solve it
maybe winamp also does the job?
the normal avs plugin is also used my sone vj's, and r4 is also a very powerful newer plugin for winamp

HerrNieDa, thanks for your advice, will look into it.

Rene, sorry that we all don't live in a better world
And I don't really think these quality problems I notice matter for anyone here. Just the image is slightly soft, nothing to worry about for VJs I reckon.

Zoomplayer (inmatrix.com) can do what you need. You can change or delete the background image easily. The playlist window can be on the primary display and fullscreen on the secondary (or vice versa), and the playlist window actually has full playback commands. It can be set to startup in fullscreen mode.

I am surprised about your comment on Resolume video quality, Avenue seems to have excellent video quality as far as I can see.

Make sure you have made the composition size the resolution of your clips. If you just drag HD clips into the default Resolume composition size (640 x 480?), it will play them back at that resolution. If you are playing back HD clips (1280 x 720, 1920 x 1080), make sure you change the composition resolution to match.

have you tried OpenTZT. it is a free video mixxing application similar to the older versions of Resolume. perfect for triggering clips and mixxing them without the need for an additional controller.

openTZT is also rock solid, if it opens it wont crash which is good to know for live performances..

If you want to get into the next-level stuff come back to Resolume.. Also another good place to ask questions like this is over at the more generalized http://vjforums.com/