couple of Vfx questions

[webia]

Hi all,

Almost every company producing DJ software seems to think that we would like to be limited to a dual deck setup.
To be fair, some do support more than two audio decks, but once you start with video, only one piece of kit seems to do the trick: Vfx.

I've read the manual and watched a couple of vidz about this product. Still a couple of questions remain:

- Do we have to use the supplied controller? Judging by the manual we can use any soundcard and MIDI device (as long as it is supported) right? Are there any plans of releasing it as a software only product?

- Playing 4 tracks simultaneous should be possible, but haven't seen a demonstration yet. Personally I would like to see all four decks loaded with mpeg2 videoclips and being controlled by external hardware. As far as I've understood (from Unclevibes) there can only be 2 video channels active at one time, but they can be a mix'n'match of the available (5) channels. Just as long as four decks can be audible at once, we will have to do with that visual limitation.
Perhaps a future edition will allow for all channels being visible?

- I did not dive into the skinning options yet, but is it possible to create our own skins in Vfx?

- Haven't read anything about scripting in the manual. Does Vfx support scripting commands?

- My biggest concern is stability. I'm a bit sceptical about the video part, since mv Producer didn't do video well (it crashed a couple of times on certain files and has sync issues). Since Vfx has video in mind, it should do better. Is there anyone who has done gigs with Vfx?


Cheers,

Robert

[wazza]

1]..for now you have to set-up the Vfx controller & software to work
after you have set it up you can use any sound card & MIDI controller you like ...Vfx can run two MIDI at the same time
1.1]..no plan as yet for software only

2]..would be hard to do 4 decks video at the same time because it work from the MIDI crossfader...( if you had videos in deck 1 & 2 and the crossfader set to decks 1 & 2 and then loaded a video in deck 3 ...deck 3 video & audio would bleed through and the still image off deck 3 would be as blurry as hell on the output screen with two other videos going at the same time

mixer.png

3]..I don't know about Skins & script in Vfx ...MAYBE...I would have to tested this to see

4]..with DVS Producer Video on my old XP laptop , p4 2.8 with 1 gig off ram & running a ATI x700 128 video card
never worked right....had alot off porblems
testing Vfx on my old laptop run way more stable...load all the video files Producer had problems with and loaded them faster
Vfx is way more Stable
testing Producer Video on my new laptop a HP i5 2.4 with 4 gig off ram & a BIG NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 gig video card + with Cuda
did not have half the problems I had on my old laptop running videos in Producer
so if you have got a good P.c Vfx is way more stable than DVS Producer

[UncleVibes]

My biggest concern is stability. I'm a bit sceptical about the video part, since mv Producer didn't do video well (it crashed a couple of times on certain files and has sync issues). Since Vfx has video in mind, it should do better. Is there anyone who has done gigs with Vfx?

You can't compare video from Producer & video from Vfx.
Vfx is made for video & it's 2 years work only on this subject.

You need a strong processor as a quad core & a strong graphic card direct 9c with at least 256 mo, you won't feel any glitches. (but do not share graphic memory with your RAM)

The audio core of Vfx is very stable & it use the original DVS/Producer Mixvibes 7 core which is very reliable.

Most problems found with DVS/Producer are the results of too weak computers without enough CPU instant power available.

The skins of Vfx can be changed like in DVS / Producer
MIDI learn also gives a chance to tune any controller.
Vfx version alone isn't scheduled yet.

[webia]

Thank you wazza for the elaborate response!

no plan as yet for software only

That's not too bad, as long as we can use Vfx without having to keep the controller attached.

would be hard to do 4 decks video at the same time because it work from the MIDI crossfader

True, since a transition can only be from A to B, no more than 2 decks can use a transition at once.
When using 4 decks, one has to use at least 3 transitions to make them all visible, like for instance in this graph:


But controlling three faders for a single output can be somewhat cumbersome, so instead of using fader, you would have to use a 2d controller like a touchpad (or a joystick without the return to center).



Thanks UncleVibes for your response!

The audio core of Vfx is very stable & it use the original DVS/Producer Mixvibes 7 core which is very reliable.

Nice.

Most problems found with DVS/Producer are the results of too weak computers without enough CPU instant power available.

True, cpu power won't be a problem here.

Another question I forgot to ask is, how much of the gui can be controlled by MIDI? For instance, can browsing be mapped to MIDI in order to have a complete mouseless control?

[webia]

One more
I will be using an external mixer, so the mixvibes crossfader will be used for video only.
When you switch a channel on the (video)crossfader, is the switching seamless?

Cheers,

Robert

[UncleVibes]

Another question I forgot to ask is, how much of the gui can be controlled by MIDI? For instance, can browsing be mapped to MIDI in order to have a complete mouseless control?

That's the map of Vfx Control

One more
I will be using an external mixer, so the mixvibes crossfader will be used for video only.
When you switch a channel on the (video)crossfader, is the switching seamless?

Yes

[webia]

for now you have to set-up the Vfx controller & software to work after you have set it up you can use any sound card & MIDI controller you like

Does that mean we have to keep the Vfx controller attached at all times? Is it required at software startup or can we leave the controller at home once we've installed the software?


Cheers,

Robert

[UncleVibes]

You CAN leave it

[webia]

Great, so I can use my own setup of hardware and leave the mixvibes controller at home.

I'm convinced and just ordered myself a Vfx