As digital musicians have realized for some time, working with computers is all about physical control. It’s the difference between feeling like you’re operating software and playing an instrument. So it’s no accident that Jay Smith is quick to call the Ohm, a new hardware controller for visuals and music, an “instrument.” I got to hang out at the Hoboken, New Jersey office of Livid and play with the Ohm a bit. Hands-on experience is everything: as you can see, you’ve got a nicely-crafted wooden crossfader piece, for starters. Here are some first impressions.

Livid’s Union VJ software has been steadily adding features. The latest upgrade may be a “point-five” release, but it’s got some pretty significant additions, mostly along the lines of “stuff Union lovers were asking for.”

Among what’s new:

• Audio-responsive tools: audio filters, audio-aware effects, and an audio waveform generator
• Video captioning
• FreeFrame plug-in support for the popular, open standard for video plug-ins (see also: support in Resolume, vvvv, etc.)
• Video layers for easier compositing
• Performance enhancements
• “Advanced MIDI integration” which works with Livid’s lovely, optionally-wooden Ohm controller, which created quite a stir (lovers and haters alike) over on Create Digital Music

Windows + Mac, US$75 upgrade or US$299 new.

And yeah, you can add this to the 2008 visualist software fever. It’s like all the visual developers are kicking into high gear. I’ll have what they’re having. (Actually, I may need to have what they’re having for breakfast just to be able to read the user interfaces some of them are designing.)

I’ll be hanging out soon with Jay Smith from Livid to take a look at the new Ohm controller, pictured below, and he’ll be joining us for a special party at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin next month — more on that soon, as well.

Visualists have a challenge: visual hardware needs often aren’t quite the same as music’s. To make matters worse, there’s still no single, killer DJ-style control surface. There are lots of interesting entries, from Numark’s Total Control and NuVJ to the M-Audio Xponent and Vestax VCI-100, but, as our own Jaymis can attest, finding one that’s “just right” for you personally can be a challenge.

The new Livid Ohm, open for preorders now and shipping by the end of the month (US$790 intro / $899 list), has an interesting combination of features in a lovely case. In the center is a set of 36 trigger buttons with backlit LEDs, with mixer-style controls on either side, and trigger/mute buttons on each fader. For mix-heavy visual performance, this could be really ideal. I’ve never been a big fan of endless layers of video composited, so I’d love to see what’s possible assigning layers to generative visuals instead (possibly mixed with a layer or two of video), using a tool like Processing or Flash.

What this controller isn’t is a scratch controller, which may disappoint Jaymis. But as a mixer controller, everything’s where it should be, and all the additional trigger buttons, logically placed as mute/trigger buttons or on/off switches for effects and A/B switching, could make this really ideal in performance.

Lastly, it’s a pretty good deal. $800 or so may sound steep for a hardware controller if you’re strapped for cash, but Ohm comes with the full version of Livid Union, Livid’s Mac/Windows visual software, normally US$299. Finally, VJ hardware bundled with full-blown software and not some “special edition.” All in all, while I seriously doubt this will satisfy the ongoing search for a “perfect” controller for everyone, it’s a balanced-looking design I’m eager to try. I expect to have a test unit. Naturally, I’ll try it with software aside from just Livid Union, as well — choice is good!

What’s your current hardware controller of choice? (Me, I’m working on setting up this Wacom 6×8 and a Monome, so my setup may look very different!) Let us know in comments…

Full specs and details of the music implications over on Create Digital Music:
Ohm Controller: Buttons, Crossfader, Faders for Visualists, Musicians, and DJs

And check out the Livid product page for ordering info. Worldwide shipping, rest of the world! (Have that currency converter ready…)
Ohm Performance Instrument [lividinstruments.com]

Not everyone wants loads of advanced video processing, compositing, custom programming visual tools in their software. For dedicated visualists, a tool you can grow into has major advantages. But some people just want some straightforward video triggering. I regularly get questions about what a simple, cheap solution is. In the past, I tended to direct people to Vidvox’s Grid, but that tool has been effectively replaced by their new application, VDMX. I love VDMX, and think it could be a great choice to “grow into.” But for people who want a basic but flexible solution, I’ll definitely be taking a closer look at Livid’s Cell, which clearly fits a Grid-like niche:

Livid Instruments Cell

US$99 gets you a nice set of bread-and-butter tools:

• Basic grid playback of various video formats
• Integrated, OpenGL-accelerated video effects
• Full MIDI control
• Automated triggering and sequencing
• Included clips

It sounds like just the right combination of ingredients for someone adding live visuals to an existing music or DJ set, or who needs just the basics, without lots of more advanced features and customization to get in the way. The interface also seems to be nicely laid out. We’ll take a closer look soon.

Incidentally, back to Grid, note that one of the really nice things about VDMX5 is that you can use a window layout to get all the simple video-triggering properties of Grid, but with the added flexibility of customizing the interface to exactly what you want — or switching to a more “advanced” mode for sets that require it. We’ll be looking more at this soon, as well.

When Livid introduced software templates for using the Edirol V-4 to control their video software and visa versa, a lot of us wondered why. Now, Livid’s given us a fantastic reason: imagine controlling as many as 8 Edirol V-4 mixers simultaneously, for 32 simultaneous video inputs and 8 outputs (meaning 8 independent screens). Now you’re talking:

Livid octav-4

Thanks to the fact that Edirol implemented rich MIDI control schemes on their mixer, you can make all the magic happen from your laptop. The octav-4 software provides a visual representation of 1-8 mixers on your computer, and allows you to “cascade” effects and transitions across all the mixers. You can automatically save presets, sync BPM transitions and fades, and automatically cycle inputs.

This means, of course, two things. First, Livid is proving capable of doing cool things with the V-4 even Roland/Edirol missed. Second, you need to call all your VJ friends right now and wrangle your V-4s together.

US$129, already shipping, and already in action with my NY mates Josh Goldberg and Giles Hendrix with Paul van Dyk @ The Roxy (who have the projectors, evidently).