digital animators and video specliaists or whoever i need your help...

[krossfyter]

Okay i just had a wild idea and im not really sure if it can work or if its even feasible or financially possible for me.

so i need yalls (yes im from texas) help with this.


im a graphic artist (2d print media) and painter so bare with me on this multi media project i am thinking about.

i am currently helping a local dj in my area with setting up his equipment to perform at local clubs and helping him select and obtain music for the shows etc. etc. basically i am what one would call a roadie but a roadie with some power. this is what i do on my off time when i am not painting or free lance or working at an independent music store.

i was thinking the other day that it would be neat to have some sort of video/animation etc. projection in the background of our set up to add a different dimension to the show. it would be seen by the club audience obviously. it would be kind of like the set up they have on big concerts with the band playing on stage and in the backdrop having some moving animation or digital artwork on it creating the environment for the music being played. im not too sure what this is called but thats basically the description. i know that the equipment costs a lot of money but im wondering if i could attempt a poor boy version of it with just my tibook a projector screen, (doing the artwork in imovie or final cut pro or whatever program needed to do it in) a projector .... or whatever it takes but isnt all that expensive if possible at all. i basically
want to pick yalls (damn texans) brain on this because i am not versed in this stuff. i want to know if its too far fetched or if it is possible but what it takes if so. any help would be appreciated.

 

[e-coli]

Rent a good BRIGHT projector, make your graphics, and burn them to DVD. Then run the projector off the DVD player.

It's common practice.

I also have some friends that plug a Powerbook into the projector and just run their iTunes effects at full screen connected to the projector. (obviously on mute)

 

[hsilver]

Sync video imagery to music

There are several software programs that can be set up to interact with music or movement or whatever. I know of one called Isadora -used primarily for dance to alter muisc according to movement from body sensors but it could be used to make imagery from audio. You can find out about it at http://www.troikaranch.org/software.html

 

[krossfyter]

Originally posted by e-coli
Rent a good BRIGHT projector, make your graphics, and burn them to DVD. Then run the projector off the DVD player.

It's common practice.

I also have some friends that plug a Powerbook into the projector and just run their iTunes effects at full screen connected to the projector. (obviously on mute)

would i have to have a projector screen or can i image it on the wall? it should work good with a really good bright projector right? who rents out these projectors? is this all i need? what program do i use to make the graphics? thanks man for you input.

 

[krossfyter]

Re: Sync video imagery to music

Originally posted by hsilver
There are several software programs that can be set up to interact with music or movement or whatever. I know of one called Isadora -used primarily for dance to alter muisc according to movement from body sensors but it could be used to make imagery from audio. You can find out about it at http://www.troikaranch.org/software.html

how does it work with audio? it says i need a midi. im not sure how this works and what it reguires to make it work. would i just need the program isodora my tibook a projector and my tibook hooked up some how to the djs equipments to sense the vibrations or whatever?

 

[krossfyter]

okay im checking out isodora and i cant find any help on how to learn how to use it.

 

[mymemory]

What you are doing is called VJing...

Go to www.audiovisualizers.com or www.vjcentral.com

Now, as I'm actually one of the best VJs in the world (I guess I'm not kidding) and if you have a powerbook you can 2 two things.

Get Motion Dive 3: that is a very good software and very hard to find.

or

Get Arkaos VJ: you can go to www.arkaos.net (or .com) and download a test version. This version only works for 20 days but if you are under OSX you can create a new user and use the program again and again.

TheArkaos interface is not that nice but you can do lots of stuff with it. Depending on what kind of material you are going to project or you computer video ram you can go up to 640 x 480 clips.

Use Motion JPEGB compression or Cinepack without any data rate. I'm using my pismos and I only have 8MB of video ram and I have to compress a lot.

I have been doing this for more than a year now and it is very cool stuff.

About the projector... do not bother in getting one, rent it better, just because you are gonna spent a huge ammount of money in something that you are gonna use every once in a while and people are not gonna pay you well for that. You can rehersal in a tv at your house with no problem (I used a black and white tv!!!).

An iBook doesn't have dual monitor capability and you will no be able to use the control panel of the software, with powerbooks you can do that.

About synking with audio... do not bother, we are not there yet. With Arkaos you can assing a function to the movie that will make the clip going slower or faster with you controlling the speed from the keypad. You can do it via midi too, that is why in the pic I have a midi keyboard that I use to punch each image of the soft in real time!!! cool isn't it.

Just get your materia in 640 x 480 (or 320 x 240), work with that in After Effect or use plain pictures and go for it. Now you do not need a midi keyboard, you can asing the clips to the computer keyboard too and make them loops.

Just go and download the damn software!

 

[krossfyter]

thanks mymemory. that akaos sounds very promising. i have attempted to download it but since i am on dial up at the moment it took to long since the file size is around 35kb so im going to have to wait to use my freinds dsl connection. but ive been checking out the info on the program and the online demo and it seems very friendly and more along the lines of what i am trying to do.

questions:

1) so do i project the projector on a wall?
2) where do i rent a projector from?
3) what program is best to do the images in?
4) what do vjs use a dv camcorder for in thier set up?.... i notice that you are using one mymemory and i notice that these programs have this option for some reason. i have a dv camcorder so im just checking.

 

[krossfyter]

tried downloading arkaos. it came up as a compact.exe file. doesnt work. this was done after i went to the link you gave me and tried doing it through there but safari had trouble with and and so did IE. is there a link for the mac that works?
thanx