Via comments, Eelke (whose system is shown above) alerts us that previous video output problems running Windows in Boot Camp appear to be solved in Leopard — at least using the MacBook Pro. (Phew — get all that?)

See the ongoing thread on VJforums. Eelke says:

My configuration:
- MacBookPro 2,16, 2GB ram, with ATI X1600
- Upgraded to Leopard (OS X 10.5)
- Used the same Leopard DVD to update all drivers in bootcamp / XP
- Rebooted with DVI>s video dongle plugged-in, s-video out attached to small reference monitor

After the initial booting XP logo which we had all the time, I suddely saw my desktop cloned on the small screen. All I had to do is go to desktop>preferences to extend windows to the secondary monitor, and it worked.
After that I used ATI Catalyst control center to set the screen (now recognized as a TV!) to run in overscan, no problem at all, even during live rendering (with visualjockey).

Houray! Houray!

A sad side-note however is that regular macbooks with Intel videochips and mini-dvi adapters still don’t seem to work properly under XP. Maybe under Vista, who knows?

Okay, anyone tested MacBooks (non-Pro) on Leopard? Is there a way to make this work?

Certainly, booting the Mac side for Quartz Composer, Final Cut, Motion, VDMX, then switching to Windows for Resolume, vvvv, games, etc. has some serious appeal as a visualist dream setup. (Overkill? Sure. But a lot better than juggling machines or being forced into the OS by the hardware.)

Apple slipped in some almost silent updates last night to its portable line: MacBooks have been updated to come pre-installed with Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5), and sport Intel’s Santa Rosa chipset. This provides frontside bus speeds up to 800Mhz (up from 667Mhz), and includes a new integrated graphics chipset, the Intel GMA X3100 which should offer a speed boost for end users and increased shader support for developers.

Apple also silently updated the MacBook Pro, which now has an optional 2.6Ghz CPU upgrade (up from 2.4Ghz), for a mere $250.

Leopard improves not only OpenGL performance with some advanced backend llvm compiling, optional Quartz GL rendering, but also enhanced OpenGL extension and shader model support on certain cards. According to the Mac OpenGL dev list (which just today posted some new information regarding 10.5 - ironically the OpenGL cababilities matrix does not yet list the GMA X3100), Apple supports Shader Model 4.0 on newer ATI hardware, and possibly on NVIDIA 8-series cards (yet to be confirmed).

Both of these are good news for visualists - better graphics capabilities in 10.5 and updated integrated graphics chipsets will support more advanced visual effects for those who want the slimmer MacBook, and who doesn’t want dual 2.6Ghz of power in the MacBook Pro?

Ed.: My only disappointment with Apple is that there’s not much in the mid-range price-wise, and the Intel chips still lag behind dedicated graphics chips like the NVIDIA GeForce Go (8600 in the case of the MacBook Pro). But the flipside for the bargain-hungry: each time Apple bumps its MBP, you have a shot at getting clearance or refurb versions of the previous model at the sweet spot.

Note that the MacBook doesn’t support the advanced 3D features with its integrated video chip. The X3100 video on the PM965 chipset supports only Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 1.5, which leaves out some important shader features, etc., of use to visualists. So, if you can shell out the cash for the MacBook Pro, it will give you far more advanced 3D features — and by extension, hardware-based video. (On the Windows side, it also means DirectX 10 over DirectX 9, but the important thing is the integrated shader architecture.)

“It’s … alive! ALIIIIVEEE!!! They said I couldn’t do it. They said I was mad. They said I couldn’t cram an entire “broadcast workstation” into a laptop, with jog wheel and faders! But my creation liiiiives!”

Yes, this one’s truly a monster. It’s a Windows laptop. It’s a video controller, with buttons and jog wheel. And it’s a mixer: four video channels video plus six channels audio. At the very least, it’d solve Jaymis’ gig rig troubles. This one box does it all. Of course, you’ll have to go to Korea to buy it, and part with 10,000,000(KRW). Wait a second. I have no idea how much that is. (Hang on, currency conversion … US$10,786.78, which actually isn’t all that bad if it works. Yeah, enough with that $100 laptop, one laptop per child, whatever. Let’s talk $10,000 laptop — one laptop per visualist.)

XENO Website (look for CCTOP in the bottom right corner, if it’s still there)

Via: AVING USA: All-in-one broadcasting equipment ‘UCCTOP Xeno’

Naturally, the internal mixing capabilities mean this little workstation can be an all-in-one video studio, on location. (Sony has done something similar, as mentioned in comments.) XENO is pushing the Internet broadcasting angle, as in this diagram.

I’m embarrassed not to know any more about this beautiful beast. If our South Korea-connected readers could clue us in, it’d be much appreciated.

Thanks to Joshua Ellis for the tip!

Audio, relying primarily on the CPU, can do fine on the non-pro MacBook: a fast CPU and FireWire 400 can be all you need. But for visualists, the GPU has become more and more vital. The integrated Intel GPU on the MacBooks is surprisingly capable, and certainly gets through basic video mixing. But throw enough shaders at it (even just processing video, without any 3D modeling or gaming), and it can’t keep up. That’s the reason Apple requires the MacBook Pro for Final Cut Studio; with Motion, at least, they’re absolutely right.

You’d be wise to postpone a MacBook Pro purchase over recent months, though, with Intel’s new Santa Rosa architecture coming and NVIDIA working on taking their 8000-series GPUs mobile. Apple today announced they’ve got the new machines with both — and better displays, too.

MacBook Pro [Apple]

For more on the music and CPU side of this, see our sister site, Create Digital Music:
MacBook Pro Revision: Big Santa Rosa Performance Boost, 4GB RAM Option, More

The short version: better displays, finally a 1920px option, the latest-and-greatest NVIDIA GPU for faster performance in Motion and OpenGL goodness for geeks, faster CPUs, more RAM — just generally fewer ways your wallet can avoid buying one of these silver surfers. I got some additional performance details from Apple, and hope to follow up with my own benchmarks.

Lightborne writes us:

Hi, first of all I wanted to say I love the site and have been checking it daily for about a year now, as well as createdigitalmusic. I just came across a clip on youtube that really puts what I’ve seen of people abusing Wii remotes so far to shame. This seems to me to be the first case where it’s passed from the experimental to the creative-use phase. It’s freaking awesome and I’d love to know what software he’s using, perhaps a Max patch?

I’m fairly certain that it’s in fact a Jitter patch — the Mac has the terrific aka.wiiremote object. (See also: CDMusic’s Free Mac Looper for Wii Controller, Wii MIDI Hacking Round-up.)

And the creator is none other than Daito Manabe, the awesome Japanese DJ who created the Turntable-Controlled Vibrating Chaise Longue using Ms. Pinky vinyl. (And, as I recall, he uses Pinky as a vinyl control scheme for VJing as well as music.)

Daito’s website

It takes a turntablist to figure out clever ways of using the Wii remote that don’t reinvent the wheel. What I especially like about this is that the whole system becomes self-contained. It definitely pushes me to build a performance system around the Wii controller rather than the other way around. And he gets some nice, expressive controls in there, as well. Thanks to Lightbourne for this!

If you’re using the Wii remote for your live visuals, let us know how it’s going.

In October, we covered evolving support issues for Apple, Boot Camp Beta, and video output from Windows on Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops. Boot Camp is still in beta, but it is widely used, and people understandably want to know if they’ll be able to output from Windows to a projector. It opens up possibilities like, for instance, booting your Mac laptop into Windows to run Resolume.

We’ve gotten lots of feedback since then (another reason to subscribe to the CDMotion comments RSS feed), but still no conclusive evidence. Al, for instance, has had trouble with his MacBook Pro:

I just bought a 2.16 MBP 15″ and plugged a walmart 15″ “balance” LCD (1024×768) via the DVI to VGA adapter and here’s what I get:

1) using the ATI driver under bootcamp XP with the monitor plugged in, the computer starts up and mirrors the windows startup screens. Once started up, the Balance LCD goes black and the MBP’s screen goes into extended desktop mode. (no pull-down menus) Can’t configure anything at this point. I can move the cursor toward the external monitor, but it’s black, so I can’t configure anything.

2) At this point, I pull the VGA adapter out of the MBP and its screen resets. I check the display properties and it’s set at 1400 wide or something. (just as under OSX) I try everything, but can’t get the external monitor to light up. The only thing that works is uninstalling the ATI driver where I can run mirrored at 1024×768 on both MBP and external LCD. Video performance is SLOW and MBP looks like crap.

3) I run Parallels too. A bit sluggish performance wise, but I’m able to run mirrored or exteneded desktop to the external LCD. To get it working correctly for me, I must set my internal monitor to 1024×768 stretched.

Not sure where to go from here, but a $399 ACER PC is looking like a better option than trying to run bootcamp beta. Considering windows is $100-200, $399 is a pretty good deal for the OS and a completely different laptop.

Hope they fix this problem soon. I was really hoping the MBP was the be all end all. I was previously using a MacBook and it worked fine with the mini dvi adapter to the same 15″ external LCD monitor.

Bart from the Resolume team, in contrast, says the mini-DVI adapter is working fine on the MacBook Pro. He also notes that DirectX and OpenGL support may soon be coming to Parallels, so this could also be an option.

I’d still be wary of purchasing a Mac laptop with the intention of primarily running Windows, for a whole host of reasons. But for those of us wanting to occasionally boot the Macs into Windows, hopefully we’ll have some more luck soon — and I’m holding out for an updated Boot Camp beta that addresses this issue. If I track down the right people at Apple at Macworld in just over a week, I’ll be sure to let you know what I find!

Anyone know anything about (non-pro) MacBook video out support in Boot Camp? Apple says it doesn’t work, but … maybe they’re wrong?

The Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros are here, and even if you’re a Windows user, these machines deserve a look. See Create Digital Music for the full once-over, but here’s my short list for why the MacBook Pro has appeal for the VJ/visualist/live visuals person, particularly for the intensive requirements of running live visuals in performance:

1. Backlit keys: This one is a huge lifesaver when you’re in the dark, and it isn’t available on most PCs, or on Apple’s cheaper MacBook. Sure, you could plug in one of those USB lights, but do you really want that thing in your face and taking up a free USB slot?
2. It runs Windows: I love the Mac, but Windows has a performance edge when running Java (read: Processing) and for live video input (thanks to DirectX), for Flash (for reasons unknown, it runs faster on PC even with the Intel Macs, and you have better developer tools), as well as running fantastic Windows-only live visual software like vvvv and Resolume. Spend your daily life in Mac OS, then boot up a cleaned-out, stripped-down performance-only rig in Windows.
3. It runs Mac: The Mac has some nice features of its own, especially if you’re using tools like Max/MSP/Jitter. Max runs really well on Windows, but on Mac it has a very nice bonus: you can build custom image filters using Core Image and Quartz Composer. Driver support for audio and MIDI is far better on the Mac, too. You know the rest of the reasons why you like Mac OS. Isn’t it nice to be able to run both everywhere you go? Thanks, Apple. (See also: Linux on Intel.)
4. FireWire 800: This is great for audio, but it’s even more awesome for video. One MacBook Pro, one external RAID array with all your video clips. Need I say more? (Hint: do not try this trick even
   with FW400.)
5. RAM and storage: When you’re comparison shopping Macs with PCs, note that Apple has finally put sensible 1GB / 2GB standard RAM and 120GB / 160GB standard storage specs on these models. ‘Bout time. Most PC makers aren’t. Most PCs also aren’t expandable to a full 3GB RAM, and the MacBook Pro is.
6. ATI X1600: For visualists, this is the other key spec difference between MacBook and MacBook Pro. The ATI X1600 isn’t the most powerful video card on the market (see Alienware’s incredible dual-SLI NVidia 7900 systems, which are surprisingly price-competitive with the Apples), but for most custom live visuals, this is the difference between a truly usable GPU and one that’s bare-bones (like the integrated video on the MacBook and most cheaper PCs). Odds are your custom visuals aren’t putting out the massive polygon counts needed for games, so the X1600 should be just right. If you really want to do crazy simulated fluid models, I’d suggest getting a small form factor PC, anyway, rather than a laptop, so you can upgrade visuals. The truth is, most of the software we use still relies heavily on the CPU, so the Core 2 Duo ultimately becomes more important than having the absolute top-of-the-line video card — and don’t forget, the X1600 can blaze through Unreal Tournament 2004 at around 60 fps, so it’s no slouch. (Try that with your PowerBook G4, or even MacBook. Actually — don’t.)

If you only need to run Windows, I don’t think the MacBook Pro makes much sense. But for those wanting the perfect mobile Mac, or a machine that can run Mac and Windows (for whatever reason), the MBP looks better. And if you were waiting for a speed bump, this is it. I’m guessing Apple will keep the current high-end / low-end configurations of their laptops for the near future.

GRL and Eyebeam have posted a new instructable on portable projection, with advice on projector output, projection surfaces, car and battery selection, and how not best to overload your inverter, causing it to shoot flame inside your rental van.

Outdoor digital projection in urban environments is a great method for getting your content up big before the eyes and in the minds of your fellow city inhabitants. This tutorial comes out of trial and error and it works. But please be careful. Helpful comments on safety and alternative methods are encouraged. The majority of this tutorial is aimed toward using a 2500 lumen projector (or smaller)

Jackie Passmore is a talented VJ touring with Ladytron (and, in spring 2006, Stereolab). There are some talented genes in this family: her brother was the lead programmer of Acid. (Sorry, not the other Acid I was thinking of.) Thanks to sponsorship from Korg, she accompanies her Apple laptop with a Korg video mixer and microKONTROL keyboard. The heart of the setup is the superb Vidvox GRID2 software; Vidvox has a great interview with Jackie. (Watch for our own profile here soon.)

Vidvox Featured Artists: Jackie Passmore

Below: Jackie in China with Ladytron, showing off her rig. (Thanks, Jackie!)