Vjing!?

[MrPopinjay]

Not really. Just cue up whatever loop or whatever you want on your other deck and then transition into it in a manner that fits the rhythm of the track that's playing. Digital DJs have so much time on their hands that this could be done easily. Do it instead of that effect spamming "controllerist" crap most people seem to like doing.

[Xonetacular]

Not really. Just cue up whatever loop or whatever you want on your other deck and then transition into it in a manner that fits the rhythm of the track that's playing. Digital DJs have so much time on their hands that this could be done easily. Do it instead of that effect spamming "controllerist" crap most people seem to like doing.

you have a point, it just kind of sounded like you would have it running in the background in the last post

I definitely think there is potential to do both it would just take some practice and I think I would want to run two laptops for this as toggling between traktor and resolume or whatever would be a pain.

[Bassline Brine]

The one thing that I really saw that was neat, esp for Ableton performances, was the livid cell DNA integration.

Being able to simultaneously launch a clip in ableton, use an effect in ableton, and have a new clip / effect appear on the screen visually? That's something more Ableton DJ's should be doing.

I do think there is also a market for people whom are just "VJ's" as well. Not as well advertised for sure, and not as glorious as a tradional DJ. But it is something that sometimes is best left to someone other than the DJ.

[DJ ATX]

VJing seems to be the in thing right now and I've stumbled across this when I was look up my dj wifey<3<3<3

Does anyone do this? What programs do you use? Any advice to get started and where I can find/buy a rig?

I just started spinning videos about 3 months ago. I have been using Virtual DJ for nearly a year now and it wasn't till I started doing videos did I understand how robust this program is.

Also being that I spin House and Electro along with Top40, it is very difficult to videos to some of the remixes I already have and to some of the house and electro music out there. I just recently edited 1 music video. I basically used the video that was available, radio edit for the lack of a better word, and re-edited it to a house remixed version of the song. This took nearly 4 hours to do making sure everything syncs.


My rig consists of:
MacBook Pro 17"
Running Virtual DJ 7.05
MiniDJ Cable to HDMI
2 Denon DNS37000
1 DNX 1600 Mixer
(mixer and decks running MIDI mode to control software)

[Killa St.Louis]

I became interested in this after the DJTT blog post on Joachim Garraud. First I tried Virtual DJ, but was dissatisfied with just videos (boring). I wanted visuals that would react to the music I was playing. So, I got quartz composer (free) and Modul8 (299 euro). Viewed this video video and followed the instructions here. Very basic, but a good foundation. I have since gave up, only due to the fact I do not own a projector and ran out of money to invest in one. Not very useful if I can't project. I do intend on getting a projector and dive back into it, with video mapping:video mapping I agree with Bassline Brine:

I think a good VJ can set an equally important part of the tone/feel of a night. People may come there for the music, but they'll keep coming back for the "overall" performance of a night.

, it adds to the overall performance of the DJ and ambiance of the venue.

[MrPopinjay]

That box example is excellent. See what you can do with some random crap and good direction?

[Xonetacular]

This is some cool stuff. I am trying to mess with Resolume and it looks cool but I'm not sure what I'm doing yet.

I would love to get some vj loops to play with but all the nice looking stuff is pricey which I'm not about to invest in unless I knew I were using it live, are there any sites with high quality free vj loops for me to try out?

I really like this stuff: http://www.resolume.com/footage/

[Killa St.Louis]

On the VJ Forums there are threads on creating content and finding content. Some VJ's post free content. Just another note, the setup I was planning would require another midi control to control the VJ software. Keep in mind the cost: Vj software + projector + midi controller = BIG cost. There is also a learning curve. So, is the additional effort (learning and pre planning sets) and cost worth it? Guess it comes down to the type of gigs and level of performance you want. Well good luck.

[Xonetacular]

On the VJ Forums there are threads on creating content and finding content. Some VJ's post free content. Just another note, the setup I was planning would require another midi control to control the VJ software. Keep in mind the cost: Vj software + projector + midi controller = BIG cost. There is also a learning curve. So, is the additional effort (learning and pre planning sets) and cost worth it? Guess it comes down to the type of gigs and level of performance you want. Well good luck.

yeah I was wondering if there were other good resources... Also what about projectors, how many lumens do you want and what are things to look for? I feel like the brightness and quality of the projector can make or break a video set. I've got tons of controllers so the projector would be the biggest thing, and I would probably need to run it off a second laptop which isn't a huge deal.


There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of resources and tutorials related to VJ compared to what's out there for DJing so I'll have to do some research.

I'm also wondering if it's not even bothering with HD stuff, it seems like people on the vj forums are saying you pretty much need analog output to connect to most hardware but if I'm just running out of my laptop to a projector if there would be a benefit to using HD loops or if it's not noticeable. The HD resolume footage is particularly more expensive.

[DoItRight]

This is why I like this new DJ VJ Duo K@_BOOM, because they tag back and forth. One person doing visuals and the other djing. Then they swap. The DJ gets to focus on the mix and the VJ gets to focus on the visuals. Because they are both DJs they understand the build up and break downs of the tracks. That way there aren't crazy fast visuals during a break down and they add their own style of visuals from peewee herman to visuals of that chick go-go dancing in outfits with other effects on top. I aso see that they bring down a video camera to get the crowd involved and a part of the visuals to edit or leave it as is to hype up the crowd. I just noticed it at the end of that promo video.

Having a VJ at any show it great, because you can show off what DJ is playing and add you own flavor to it while they play. Not being a DJ but understanding music I feel I could do Visuals for shows. But I still need to get that program and play around with it. As I did more research last night I am learning there are a lot of options as to what I can do. I'll let you guys know how this works out.