Computer VJing is about to hit prime time, thanks to gains in computer performance. Mixing 2-channel 640×480 Photo JPEG-compressed video is finally possible — no more 320x240x15 jaggies. One of the tools I’m most excited about is the new Edirol hardware/software package, and I got to try it out at AES.
The software: Motion Dive has been a huge part of the software VJ scene since its 1998 debut. American VJs even imported it, because the DJ-style interface was so intuitive it didn’t really matter if the menus were in Japanese. It excels at adding text and effects, timed cross-fades, and even custom MIDI-triggered Flash animations. There’s plenty of fun stock content to fool around with, and adding your own is a breeze. Thanks to the addition of V.Link, Motion Dive is automatically mapped to Roland and Edirol music keyboards. At AES, I tried it out with the PCR-M1, which is perfectly suited to VJ apps.
The hardware: Here’s the part that really got me psyched. Edirol has been tweaking the controller, and it looks and feels fantastic. It in fact sends MIDI, so while you won’t be able to buy the controller separately, if you do buy the Motion Dive bundle you can use it in other software like Ableton Live. It’s compact enough that I’d consider putting it atop my music keybaord and doubling as a VJ. It’s just great fun to play with.
Availability/pricing: Shipping expected to start later this month; Mac/Windows, street around US$500.
motion dive .tokyo performance package