No doubt you are aware of Apples updated iPod line, with the new flagship iPod Touch bringing the iPhone’s touch screen interface to more affordable waters. However, what I find interesting is that every iPod now supports 640×480 video playback and output, and component video output via the new Universal Dock and AV Cables*.
While compressed video with component cables seem like conflicting ideas**, the iPods support fairly high bitrate h.264 and MP4 video. With the new iPod Classics sporting up to 160GB of storage, thats a serious VJ Clip library in your pocket. Add on something like Karl Klomps Dirty Video Mixer and you have an incredibly porable rig. And with two iPod Nanos you might very well have the worlds smallest VJ Mixing rig?
While not the most versatile setup, it seems a rather tempting solution just for novelties sake. What seems more fun, two iPod Nanos and a tiny homebrew glitch video mixer in your pocket or a V4, two laptops and a camera, and maybe a triggering midi device. Hm.. The Component video also gives you access to the RGB (or possibly YUV) color information, allowing for some interesting mixing should you feel the urge to get creative. Speculation aside, Portable Media Players are looking quite intriguing for VJs lately. That iPod Touch is looking awfully tempting, especially with homebrew applications and OpenGL acceleration.
Are any Create Digital Motion readers currently using some sort of Personal Media Player or Video iPod for clip triggering in sets, or other similar creative solutions?
*sans shuffle, but, its never really counted now has it?
** Component video cables output a cleaner signal, while highly compressed video is not pristine. If you have highly compressed video, you probably aren’t worried about quality.