Hey, i'm new to Resolume and this forum, but pretty familiar with Ableton LIVE; and for the past few weeks i've been working to set up a system whereas we could play live audio-visual sets and:
1) project the video live (or at least monitor it on a large LED monitor)
2) stream the Resolume output to the internet via a 2nd MacBook Pro and Wirecast software
and 3) simultaneously with LIVE 8, record the same MIDI commands that we send into Resolume at the live show, and later be able to edit Resolume's video actions within LIVE before the video was actually captured to disk.
Seems that with 2 heavy-duty MacBook Pros this could all be possible, to combine real-time performance and streaming, with recording methods that allow for maximum flexibility when it comes to post-production… But of course there's a LOT of set-up considerations to weed through, configure, and test, and yes, we've hit a few bricks walls, and have been searching the forums for info. PLEASE EXCUSE THE LENGTH OF THIS POST, and Any and all help greatly appreciated!
For budget and portability reasons, ideally we'd be doing this all off of 2 laptops: one being a 2011 15" MacBook Pro quadcore 2.3ghz i7 running Ableton and Resolume (linking the MIDI via IAC and the audio via Soundflower). The Resolume (Avenue) video goes out the Thunderbolt/mini-display port to HDMI to the Matrox MX02 converter box and into the 17" MacBook Pro's Express 34 card slot,..which is picked up by the Wirecast 4.1 video streaming software... which, by the way, is also capable of capturing the audiovisual output to disk.
Sounds good, however ideally we'd need the capability of a 3rd monitor source off this laptop, if possible; with 1) the laptop's own monitor displaying Resolume's composition grid, and 2) Resolume's 640x480 output going out the external monitor (thunderbolt/mini-display port to HDMI adapter) to HDMI splitter / amplifier, with side A going to the projector or flat panel monitor, and side B going to the Matrox to feed the Wirecast software on the 2nd MacBook Pro; and then 3) Well, we're mainly electronic musicians here, so we'd sure like to have a dedicated screen for Ableton LIVE's grid!
So we've tried a few different things, but with no luck so far: 1) USB to DVI converter: works great with a bunch of different programs (even with Wirecast)… but as soon as we fire up Resolume, it immediately crashes! and 2) an app called Air Display, which gives you external monitor capability via the screen of another laptop, or iPad,… via WIFI, or ethernet. Just like the USB monitor converter, Resolume also immediately crashes.. at least with the WIFI (haven't tried ethernet, and not sure if we could expect it to behave any different). So… Is there any reliable way of getting a 3rd display out of a 15" MacBook Pro quadcore 2.3ghz? or if we switched this laptop for another 17" MacBook Pro with the Express 34 card slot? If not, then it seems we can't really do this all off of 2 laptops, and might actually need yet another high-end MacBook Pro to make this whole configuration possible… Either that or we'd have to get used to taking turns with the monitoring, alternating between either Ableton's or Resolume's work-space, one at a time… a lot of hitting the command-tab mid-performance (or maybe script this action to a MIDI key?)… hmm… Sure, maybe we could pull this off with well-practiced material, but not a very rewarding situation when you're busy putting a project together out of all the raw media elements.
Hopefully somebody has a magic recommendation here, but i should mention that an Apple Thunderbolt display daisy-chain seems to have its own set of problems, and i think we'd rather just bite the bullet and get a 3rd laptop before dealing with that 27" glossy thing inside our mobile studio (yes, the studio is inside a motorhome, and its all powered off of 1000 watts of solar panels and backup batteries)
Our next brick wall involves the APC40 as MIDI controller for Ableton LIVE's audio, as well as controlling Resolume, in terms of sequencing our actions and recording them. (Someday, maybe somebody will write a true audio-visual editing and performance program, all-in-one… but for now… looking foward to Resolume 4 and hopefully better Ableton capabilities). Basic MIDI notes in the Ableton Session clips work fine for Resolume and are easily recordable, but any faders or knob actions experience crazy lag-times... totally unusable. I think we came up with a bit of a work-around, by actually enabling the APC40 as a controller for both Ableton AND Resolume direct, and then as long as you're careful to make sure your MIDI assignments don't step on each other, it pretty much works. However, the data that's recorded into LIVE in this fashion is sort of scattered and hard to edit. Very frustrating, 'cause we're so close to having a super-versatile system here!
I saw postings on the forum about using Max for LIVE and getting better flexibility with MIDI between LIVE and Resolume and the APC40, and am wondering if anybody has tried this kind of set-up, with any luck? If the culprit here is the APC40's way of handling MIDI, then is there another recommended controller out there? It seems like a basic Korg NanoKontrol doesn't have the same kind of lag time with faders/knobs/continuous controllers, and we're not necessarily married to the APC40, so any recommendations would be appreciated. I have a Novation Launchpad kicking around, but since it also employs "Control Surface" protocol, then i'm guessing we'd encounter the same kind of problems with continuos controllers sent with their pseudo mixer mode as we have with the APC40.
Anyway, 3 weeks into this process, it'd be great if anybody out there could prove us wrong with these apparent dead ends needing serious work-arounds. And if Max for LIVE turns out to be our best solution, well , if there's somebody local here in Los Angeles who's familiar with all of the above, we'd certainly consider cash or barter reimbursement in exchange for helping us configure the ideal system.
OK, thanks much!
Greg / Solar Sonic / Los Angeles
