Those of you not on the mailing list for Resolume missed a double bombshell coming this weekend at Paris’ Vision’r VJ festival.

Big story #1: open visual plug-in standard gets hardware savvy. the official release of FreeFrameGL 1.5 will happen, hosted by Resolume’s Edwin and Bart and VJamm’s Russel. FreeFrame is already a big deal; it’s an open plug-in format for visual effects, a bit like VST for visuals, except open-source instead of chained to, ahem, Steinberg. (Music folks know why that’s annoying.) With OpenGL support in FF 1.5, FreeFrame plug-ins get hardware-accelerated visuals.

Big story #2: a new Resolume will be revealed soon. This weekend we finally get to see what’s in the future for Resolume, the cult favorite VJ app on Windows. It’s a preview, but it’s good news, and it’s a year and a half in the making according to Resolume’s makers.

I was trying to explain to someone why Resolume is still important. "But it looks toy-like, like the rest of them," they said. "But there’s all this stuff hidden, this quick access to basic techniques," I said. I do believe that. Of course, I may be even happier with what Resolume 3 brings.

Hey, happiness is mixing visuals with a Mac in one hand and a PC in the other…

We hope to have more details on Resolume 3 and FreeFrameGL 1.5 for you soon.

Anyone in Paris at Vision’r? Take photos, take video, write some quick thoughts — we’d love to hear from you!

It’s no secret: the once wildly-popular ArKaos VJ software has been looking a bit long in the tooth lately. And upgrades only get you so far: sometimes, as software matures in its life cycle, you have to redo the foundations. That’s what ArKaos has been working on, and the results, renamed GrandVJ, are due out soon (quarter 2). The new version emphasizes a re-worked, cleaner interface, multi-threaded graphics, and lots of effects and generators.

ArKaos GrandVJ Announcement

It’s up against some stiff competition. There’s the ground-up rewrite VDMX5, with some powerful semi-modular capabilities, the beefed-up Livid Union 2.5, Modul8, Resolume, and new generative app 3L. (See why 2008 will be a big year for VJ software.) That said, of these, only Union is cross-platform.

One differentiating feature in GrandVJ, as partly inherited from ArKaos VJ before it, is its “synthesis mode.” This maps sources onto a virtual music keyboard; combined with effects and generators that could retain ArKaos’ place as an easy, instrument-like visual tool.

The generative idea is nice, as well, but even with Flash support, I wonder how ArKaos will hold up to other generative competition. 3L has powerful tools for building 3D graphics in the software, Processing is gaining support among coders, Quartz Composer has native support in software like VDMX for custom patches, and Salvation has its own generative tricks, to say nothing of Jitter, Flash/Flex, and vvvv. On the other hand, ease of use can make a big difference in the market, and ArKaos’ interface is uncommonly clean. And then there are the ArKaos loyalists, who could find a compelling, friendly upgrade. (If you buy ArKaos now or bought it after March 1, the upgrade is free.)

We’ll have more details when this ships.

We’ve got some additional details on the Edirol V-8 mixer. Pricing will be set at US$1995 list. For comparison, the V-4 lists for US$1029, but has a street price pretty close to that — perhaps due to the unit’s popularity rather than any minimum advertised pricing restrictions.

The V-8 is shipping within a month. I’ll make sure CDMotion is high on the list as far as evaluation units. While I hear the criticisms — and some of you have moved beyond hardware mixing or now rely on high definition signal — there’s very little that can outclass the V-8 for what it is in the same price range. If it delivers, it could easily remove the justification for buying a V-4, even at half the price. Watch for our hands-on report.

Edirol V-8 Mixer [Worldwide product page]

Edirol V-8 Preview on CDMotion (with a little pro-HD trolling, to boot!)

The Edirol V-8 mixer is the big story as far as new VJ gear at Messe, but the P-10 “Visual Presenter” is an interesting piece, too. It’s a video sampler, basically, as was the now-discontinued Korg Kaptivator. The P-10 has a number of advantages over the Kaptivator that could make it a big hit for sampling. First, it’s more compact: you get 12 pads and a tidy control layout in a small space that you could easily pack with a laptop. Second, while Roland hasn’t announced official pricing, we expect it to cost less than the Korg. But most importantly, the P-10 uses a standard video format (MJPEG, or JPEG stills) stored on removable SD media. That means you could shoot video and stills on a portable camera that supports MJPEG and JPEG and drop the card straight into the P-10 — hot stuff.

Basic features:

• MJPEG video, JPEG stills
• Built-in display
• Capture audio and video live via onboard inputs
• 12 triggers, effects dials

Edirol P-10 Product Page [ Worldwide Site]

There’s also V-LINK support and a slide-show function. But for me, sampling + removable MJPEG is the real story. The image we’ve got is a prototype and is expected to change by production time. Price and ship date TBD; stay tuned.

While we wait, I may have to whip up a little applet that automatically loads and catalogs stuff I shoot on my Canon digicam, along the same lines… I can see getting through some paid gigs this way.

The Edirol V-4 has been the standard mixer for years, leaving people desperately wanting a sequel. Korg tried with the KrossFour, but what they came up with was mainly a V-4 wannabe — a welcome DJ-style crossfader couldn’t make up for the lack of differentiating features, and the V-4’s elegant layout. And Edirol’s own HD-resolution V-440HD wasn’t priced for mortals.

The Edirol V-8 promises to change all of that.

First, Edirol has wisely copied the satisfying control layout of the V-4. Hate on the V-4 if you like, but I think we take for granted how cleanly-designed and intuitive that layout is. The V-4 isn’t a perfect mixer by any means, but by encouraging mixing flow, and creating an affordable mixer that worked well for a broad audience, they did create a major hit.

What’s great is that the V-8 adds what the V-4 lacked:

• Computer inputs: two “RGB” inputs with standard D-Sub 15-pin inputs (what most people call VGA jacks, even if that’s not strictly correct); a switcher for selection
• More inputs all around: 7 composite ins, 4 S-Video jacks, for a total of 8 simultaneous input channels (i.e., you can use up to 4x composite and 4x S-Video simultaneously)  … oh, yeah, and BNC jacks
• More outputs: 3 output channels, and monitors for inputs 1-7, channel B (monitoring either S-Video or RGB computer in), and the main preview output jack
• Independent, DJ-style vertical faders instead of those inconvenient V-4 knobs, plus better preset buttons — and an output fader, not a knob (finally!)
• Internal scan converter and time base correction

2008 is looking like an extraordinary year for visualists: there’s an explosion of new software tools for live visuals. One of the most eagerly-anticipated is 3L (pronounced “Thrill”), a multi-purpose live visual application for Mac, from the massively-talented artificialeyes trio of Pascal Lesport, Michael Parenti and Todd Thille. (Todd, FYI, you may have to change that last name to 3iL.) We’ll be showing and explaining where 3L fits in, but let me jump into my unedited geeky take on it first.

3L is unique in that it takes a lot of the cool generative effects people are doing in individual patches for Max or Processing, loads them into one massively modular interface, and mixes in the prerequisite amount of pixel processing, audio, and MIDI. It’s like the monster Jitter patch you’ll never have time to finish, all on one screen — one very big screen; the software actually requires 1440×900 resolution to operate. If they had just done that, Thrill might fade into the blur of other modular environments created in recent years, but the software has also been packed with features tested by the Artificial Eyes crew in their gigs — meaning a whole lot of what you’d want to be able to do in a club is there already, including countless features you may not have even thought of yet. Pascal also apparently coded his way around limitations in Jitter.

We got an inside peek at the software in Perth. In fact, we peeked at a little too much — so much, we’re still, erm, editing all the footage we shot. And we might have gotten into that editing in Perth were we not out until the wee hours of the morning VJing with Thrill. Jack and Coke, Western Australian nightclub filled with ridiculously young-looking clubgoers, plus a completely unfamiliar interface that looks like the love child of Max/MSP, a 747, and a spaceship? Hell, yeah. With everything wired for MIDI and sound reactivity, Jaymis and I immediately found ourselves zoning into pulsing abstract patterns, even when we weren’t entirely sure what we were doing.

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the perfect video scratching solution. The Ms. Pinky hardware is fantastic, but the software is long in the tooth, so for anyone not wanting to create their own Max/MSP/Jitter software, it may not be the best choice. Serato, while they’ve lagged seriously in basic features (only recently adding MIDI control, for crying out loud), nonetheless excel at rock-solid vinyl control. Vinyl-controlled digital DJing? Yawn. Vinyl-controlled digital VJing? Now that’s more interesting.

After a long wait, VIDEO-SL, Serato’s video plug-in for its Scratch LIVE software, is here. (Serato Scratch LIVE 1.8 is required; it’s an add-on. Updated: I erroneously said this was part of Scratch LIVE 1.9; not sure where I thought that up, but it’s 1.8!) It’s in beta for download now, with a full release shipping January 2008. (Yes, Serato, we’re clearing our NAMM schedule to talk to you about it.)

Here are the specs from Serato:

• Add video clips to your Scratch LIVE performance
• View loaded clips and output from your computer
• Manipulate playback with control records or CD’s
• Mix Audio and Video with the Rane TTM 57SL mixer
• Use built in transitions and effects

The "built-in transitions and effects", "bonus music videos and loops", and "mixer overlay" are a bit worrying — well, at least we can ignore the last two, but please, Serato, we’re hoping you’ve done some decent effects that don’t shout Cheez-Whiz. (Not that I don’t like spraying artificial cheese product onto food. I am American. Just not in my VJ sets.)

As for system requirements, the good news is this runs on Mac, Windows XP, and Vista, provided you’ve got a recent 2GHz+ processor. (I assume they mean that for simultaneous audio and video.)

The bad news: you need a Rane TTM 57SL mixer. So I’d say this fits into the "niche" category as far as audience. I’m sticking to computers; I can’t even lift turntables. But let’s say I know at least one VJ who could do some beautiful damage with this (and we’ve got one lined up for a CDMo review).

About VIDEO-SL [Serato]

We hope to have that full-blown review soon; stay tuned.

Previously:

New Serato Scratch Live 1.8 Will Scratch Video

Actually, let’s just roll the video again. Mmmm… embedded video. Nope. Still want hands-on time.

Though most of what’s new in Max 5 is concentrated in Max and MSP, there will be a few treats for Jitter users. First and foremost is the new Matrix Probe: hover your mouse over a green matrix patchcord and you’ll be presented with a floating preview of the matrix passing through it along with information such as dimensions, planecount and other info. This will be a great timesaver — no longer will you have to drop in four jit.pwindows, four jit.fps’s and jit.unpack to find out whether the video you’re sending is the video you think you’re sending. Gregory Taylor tried to demo the Matrix Probe for me at AES last weekend but it wasn’t working in the build he had on his laptop. Nonetheless, I offer this JPEG as proof:

Other features:

• The ability to drag and drop movies directly into patches will make a big difference for folks developing VJ patches (auto-creating “read foo.mov” messages and such), not to mention the slickness of the new file browser, even though its not yet as integrated as some would like. Ed.: The limitation of the new file browser, as I pointed out on CDMusic, is that you can only use it within a patcher, not in, say, Presentation Mode as a way of browsing files during a performance.
• There will be some performance improvements in Jitter’s matrix operations on the CPU thanks to a recent bug report on jit.rota on the Jitter list.

And, unfortunately, that’s about it — too bad Cycling doesn’t have ten more developers working on Jitter full time. Still, the new (dare I say it?) paradigm in Max 5 will bring much to explore even without, um, totally jitter-free playback of HD and SD footage.

Ed.: It’s possible we’ll see some other enhancements between now and Max 5 ship time, but as has happened in the past, Jitter appears to get a different “rotation” in development than Max — so Jitter got a huge 1.5 update while Max/MSP was largely standing still. We’ll certainly keep tabs on development and let you know more details as they arise. There are quite a lot of general improvements that I’m sure Jitter users will love while we wait on these other needed improvements to Jitter itself; see details in discussion in our general Max coverage from Create Digital Music. -PK

Cycling ‘74 Releases Max 5 Details: Bringing Max Out of the 80s, Into the Future
First Max 5 Preview: Music Patching, the Next Generation?

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]

It’s no secret that a major update to Max/MSP/Jitter is coming from Cycling ‘74, with a major overhaul of the underlying code and an entirely new, friendlier interface. What has been secret is just what that upgrade will look like. We still don’t know what it’ll look like visually, but Cycling ‘74 today released some new details about what it is and isn’t.

In short, it promises to be:

• Easier to use: Multiple undo, debugging tools for patches, and a visual catalog for perusing objects.
• Easier to learn: Integrated, rewritten documentation, even including Web links.
• Easier on the eyes: A new, zoomable patching interface with lots of new goodies — that’s not only skin deep, but makes patches easier to navigate.
• Mo cross-platform: A new code foundation should make Max more modern, reliable, easier to support on C74’s part, and better supported across OSes. It even opens the possibility of someday seeing Max/MSP/Jitter on Linux and not just Mac/Windows.
• Not full of gobs of new objects: Normally this is not a feature, but here, it’s a good thing: by introducing only a few objects, the new Max focuses instead on improving existing objects and building a better environment / platform for the future.

I’m meeting with Cycling ‘74 this week at AES, so hope to have more details then, including more on what’s changed for Jitter users. Audio users should note a big caveat — Pluggo support won’t be present in Max 5 at launch, which is critical to using patches as audio effects and instruments in other hosts, though it sounds as though that may be added at an undetermined point in the future. But on the visual side, it looks like it could be a pretty smooth upgrade: most patches and externals should be compatible, with some potential updates needed for tools that have special UI features. (I imagine some patches will look a little odd, too, once they hit the new UI — worth keeping that older Max copy around, just in case.) Overall, looks like good news. Naturally, we want to know more. Lots more. Soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Java and JavaScript support will continue to work. And that means Processing is supported, as well (via mxj), so this could be a great Processing prototyping environment, or a way of coupling Processing with other features. (See jklabs MaxLink. And yeah, it really does work … very cool. Viva Java.)

Cycling ‘74 Releases Max 5 Details: Bringing Max Out of the 80s, into to the Future [Create Digital Music]