fyi - I have been djing in clubs for 6 yrs now with resident gigs, but only 1 yr has been video.

people come to one of the clubs that i work at mainly because it is visually stimulating. they ask for videos and since i also use an edirol v4, they love the live camera feeds. its all about your personal discression, i know some video djs that only do video early then shut it off at peak times mainly just to focus on the crowd. but like i said, its however you feel.

Interesting topic. I was talking with the manager at a club (not one that I spin at), and told him that I was doing video now. He was of the opinion that video detracts from the dancefloor and should never be in the main room. It was the first time I had heard ANYTHING negative about video mixing, most people at my shows think it is the shit...

some just arent ready for it. manager wise. but when it passes over, they will beg and buy the products.

Yeah I only get positive comments....I think there's a lot of "we don't have video so I am not gonna say anything good about it"...I think its great for opening, you get people involved right away....when its peak hours, I think people dancing pay less attention to it, but enjoy the music, people not dancing can still be entertained as well...

Never had any negative comments, sometimes they might stop and stare at the screen, but that's only for certain videos. never once thought someone would feel insecure cause they can't stanky leg or jerk.

The managers love it.

There is video mixing and there is video mixing...

I disagree, and find cheesy the idea of sticking large screens in front of dancefloors, it just never works partly due to the reasons you describe, it distracts from the bond of dancing removes focus from the music itself, people aren't that great at multi-tasking, just because we like music, like videos, like dancing, like scratching etc it doesn't mean we want all that shit in our faces at once!

Video mixing in a club requires careful and considerate screen positioning. Most clubs bought screens not for music video mixing, but for showing promotional/informative and alternative visuals. In this case they want to attract maximum attention regardless of where you are or what you're doing.

I believe the screens should be focused around the bar areas, lounging areas and yes visible from the dancefloor, but not to the extent where people are dancing in front of an over sized screen.

Beat synced visuals aren't the issue, it's the lip sync and "official" dance moves you don't want to face while dancing.

The idea that we'll one day dance within a 3D cube with 4 channels of different video surrounding us might be a turn on to some here, but it'll never happen because people go out to relax, chill, have fun..., not have their minds challenged.

I agree Bren. I dont want to agree cuz I have invested $1000's into getting up to par for Video DJ equipment, but I think it is a wow factor for only so many people. most people dont understand what the hell is going on anyways.

also, for all you pro VDJs with packed out clubs. Try to think of a time when your club wasn't wall to wall packed. reason being, if its packed out, it doesnt matter, people will just dance regardless and not pay attention to music vids. but if you have a half full dance floor, you do see the reactions, and sometimes they aren't great.

the people that do react are the ones being wall flowers and watching things, and pp waiting for drinks or sitting in a booth, not the people trying to dance.

the only people I encounter who have negative things to say a a very mis-guided
view of what a VSL DJ does.

I literally have to break it down and explain to them.
even then they cant understand.

the room Im at LOOOVES the videos.
I was hired for my DJ sets (started as a fill-in...one off, ect ect)
then I offered it to them, they actually declined
no no... we had someone do videos before...it didnt fly.
so much has changed in the last 2 years for us...even on content alone.

it does bring a "different" element to the room... theres is now somewhere to focus.
where as before, there really wasnt...in a top40 hiphop room this is a great ally.
these artists image is pushed HARDER then their music, so being able to deliver that
with the music is a 1-2 punch.
if your a progressive breaks dj, playing videos (even if u could get them) wouldnt
help your situation...

hahhaha..I agree but only to white people....lol. when I spin in club that is latin or black, the people in the club dance better than whoever is on the screen....lol not right to say but thaTS WHAT i SEE...FUNNY

i have cut off my video befor just to get more momentum!

all positive here, The more senses you can hit em on the better. I get nothing but WOWs and how you doing that? People love it in Long Beach.

I have been programming video content in clubs for 10 years now. First pushing it with an average of 4-5 videos and hour depending on what I could play with what I had using a consumer DVD player and NOT mixing it. Back then I could see the potential for a next level of entertainment for nightclubs and bars. Everywhere I spun I tried my best to somehow implement a video show of some sort. Everytime I did... always a positive reaction. When I got the ability to do a 100% video show over 4 years ago, I got even more positive feedback. Adding of course custom edits/remixes helps with that. I would take older songs that didn't have videos and use either movie scenes or something related to the song to make it happen. worked wonders!

Early night video I believe is ESSENTIAL!! it helps keep the smaller crowd entertained enough to stay and POOF... time passed before you know it. You know that when people watch a movie in a movie theater and eat a whole tub of popcorn without thinking about it... if you sat alone in a room with nothing around but your tub of popcorn... you couldn't do that. Same goes with drinking and video playback early night!

Peak and late night helps with video as well. Not everyone is dancing the ENTIRE time... so they have something to watch with their buzz kicking... Also even if the dancefloor is watching... they only watch for bit and then they go back to trying to grind on some unsuspecting girl... who was probably distracted by the video.

Overall.... video has been nothing but positive for my experiences.

I know DJ's here in Vegas who have lost their job because they DON'T do video...

So I just got the videos going in a club that I have spun in for years. There's this girl that comes in every week. Every time since it came out, she requests Just Dance. At this point it's pretty much a joke between us. So the first week im doing videos she comes up, smiles, and gives me the please play my song puppy dog eyes. So it comes on and she proceeds sprinting to the dance floor and shakin it as hard as she can. Next thing I know, I look at her in the middle of the dance floor and shes standing there, not moving, in a trancelike stare at the video. She seriously stood there for like a minute straight just zonked out.

I cant see anyone ever saying anything negative about having the video playing w/ the music. It definitely is somewhat distracting to the actual party however.

I think maybe making the video a little harder to concentrate on with things like Bass Zoom and Flash on BPM helps that problem. I also turn my brightness wayy down.

I also wish there was a lot more options for visuals while playing a song with no video. I put the Analyzer/Analyzer Line on if I want to play a song that I dont have a video for. That gets old quick tho.

now that you mention it, that'd be a nice addition.

*Brightness
*Contrast

I know where Im at there is a wall of screens.
they illuminate the whole room to an unreal level.
takes all light effects out of the equation, also sucks the intimacy out too.

Im totally on par with Al, early night people less likely to be just standing around
aimlessly, they are engaged with the videos.
My mom just bought a condo in vegas (put it my name...yay)
Ill have to start making some trips out there!

I have gotten nothing but good review on the video I spin but i have found that with only one TV it does not work well. Some places have me play on one TV right on a big stage and i always have the floor pumping but people will stop sometimes and stare. One thing i find happening a lot too is the fact that when two are dancing in pairs who ever is facing the tv direction will get distracted sometimes.

BUT i solved this problem but i having 3-4 TV's in different areas on the dance floor going at the same time. Everyone has something to look at it and it gives a good but not overwhelming vibe.

Some good things I have heard about when i spin video, is a lot of people watch the video for a few seconds and try to imitate the dance. Especially on things songs like walk it out etc etc. I have had some girls thank me for videos because they are dancing with random partners and they avoid as much as possible to stare into the dude eyes, so they dance watching TV hahahha, but mostly they stare at the floor when they are into it. Also the bar tenders love watching the videos too, they actually requested to have some cabling installed so i can connect to the TV's around the bar.

Oh there is one negative effect where i play. Dudes get way too into it when trying to imitate the jerk etc etc and basically force every girl off the floor with their random foot stomping.... So i only play these songs at the end of the night when the girls have left naturally because they are too sweaty :)

PHAT-AL is on point though, to add to his comment, it gets me mad jobs at lounges where the dance floor isnt huge and it primarily more for hanging out and drinking but with the videos they stay glued to the bar drinking away not moving and buy more drinks...lounge owners love that cause it all comes down to selling that liquor period.

When I first started with video, I was worried about the "TV watching" effect of people standing around etc. Thinking about that actually kept me away from video for quite some time.

However, since moving to video, I have found it not to be an issue. In fact, I find it that since most of the videos show people dancing, the audience is MORE likely to do it also. I even tried a week with no video and the vibe just wasn't the same at all. Seeing a huge video display of people dancing is infectious to the crowd.

I haven't picked up any suggestion that people are self-conscious at all from the dancers in the videos. My Friday spot is about 60% white and they are whilin' out like no ones watching. One dude was buggin out so bad the other week I had to step out of the booth and tell him to chill because my needles were jumping.

Plus, video is just another way that a DJ can control the vibe and emotion of the night. But has video killed the radio star? No! It still comes down to mixing, song selection etc. Video just puts icing on the cake.

I think alot of people still dont realize that you can rock the hell out of the audio
side of the video mix...

people are just ignorant to the newer capabilites of video.

Lots of good feedback here. I never thought it was an issue last yr when i was at my residency and the club was a good fit for it.

I guess this yr it feels like im just puttin lipstick on a pig. the venue isnt that nice, and it is not too busy yet. The other part of it that sucks is I am bringing my own tvs and projector, so its alot to setup for short money.

So now that we know MOST experiences are positive. I would really like to hear a couple negative ones.

In doing countless gigs in the last yr, I would only think it had a negative effect 2 - 3 times, a small amount, but still noteworthy.

I did a grad party last june, and to my surprise, no one danced...when I asked the grad's mom why no one danced, she said because everyone was too busy watching the 2 projector screens and couldnt figure out how I was doing it...


My thoughts would be who cares how I am doing it, just dance right?

Plus it was game 5 or 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and 1/2 way thru my set, the grad asked if I could hook up TV to my projectors so they could watch the game...eziest money Ive ever made video djin lol

LOL not a bad gig at all..

heres a fun negative.

one of the Major owners of my club totally loves the video.
BUT.
he also produces a local nightlife show.
so, sure enough at 1130, on saturday nights he put his show on 1/2 the TVS
and people are forced to watch soundless interviews with random club-goers
and local celeb-wanna-b's.
I bitched of course.

and his response was... you know were going to do a 10 minute piece on you, right?

insert-foot-mouth.

on the other hand, friday night he came in and put college football tonight on
one of the main TVs, ordered some food and kicked back.
like it was his fucking living room.
the manager just shook his head.
its a constant tug-of-war in this place. being right outside the Garden 1/2 the people
want it to be the "sports hub" the other 1/2 wants it to be a party/club venue.

pain in my ass.
I guess another down side would be owners promoters not knowing the potentials &
Limitations of the SSL product... the same owner is constantly bugging be to insert
sports footage in "real time" from live broadcasts to manipulate with the music ect ect ect..

personally from the dj side.. if i find myself in a club that does video mixxing, well then you might as well find me a seat cuz i'm gonna watch that screen like the superbowl is on! I can't enough of the video mix... i'll drive hour/hours to see it...

no offense to anyone but that is the gayest shit I think Ive ever heard come out of the mouth of a bar/club owner.

yeah... try keeping a straight face when u hear that shit too!

the other owner is younger, he "gets it"
I said, we need a new monitor, a week later... mounted monitor.
totally in my corner.

he's also told me to "yes" the other owners ideas to death

at least they are willing to spend the money...my saturday spots been open for 7 years and the owner is so cheap (good guy) but sooo cheap we cant even get bulbs for the lights unless i go buy them and put em in and demand the money for em at the end of the night.

the bar i'm at loves it, the club I was at, the promoter is to fucking cheap. and the club has 47" LCD's everywhere and when I did the video people went nuts. now every time i'm their I get the same question, you djing tonight meaning video. I say nope. then they say why, I point to the promoter and say go ask him. I mean I hate going to clubs with Tv's in them with no VDJ Playing. hell the dj their don't even use serato or other program. he still uses cds. I say man why you don't get serato. his reply is they don't pay enough. but putting the tv's in front of the stage hangin.or at the bar.

Here's a picture from the place I work at - every so often I get the "use all the screens for promotion" thing - of course none of the club's DJs are video DJs (I won't use my PC for VSL). Usually I use the center two screens for some form of ambient visuals but the outer two always get superseded for event promo.

i174.photobucket.com

In the one weekend I used my PC to run VSL, the framerate was far too low (<10fps) to really be useable, but even at low framerate, early in the night, it was like people were in a trance watching the videos (even to the point of sitting on the concrete floor steps to watch it!).

This is very interesting reading. IM wondering when my spot is going to just die and make people sit and watch tv now lol.

Maybe switching it up and having no video every four songs could help you guys? For example i made a slide show flyer for the bar, that i play every hour or so for song. BOring as heck to watch. Maybe that could break the trance?

One other thing i notices, when i dj other things other than clubs (BBQ's) the videos are offensive, too much ass and titties for kids at a picnic. almost too much for an auto show, depending on how many kids are around.

+1 to that, especially since we VDJ, it makes it more interesting to see /hear how another VDJ will throw down, transition, etc.

I think it just depends on the venue and the crowd at this point. I use flyers for the venue often, dj logo promotions, and party pics from previous weekly gigs (if its at that venue)

worst case scenario, if you feel like people are staring
(and u have something in your audio arsenal you want to drop)

engage the rotate + flash/kaliedascope effects...
you can pretty much play any video and it will be UNrecognizable.
and not impossible to watch... but difficult.
and if its the original video, you wont lose the elements of the videos too much
(IE if their are strobes and whatnot)

Ive found, after 15 years of audio... trying so hard to influence people with just music.
now that I have video in on my side I can lead them in any direction I want.
you just have to know all the tricks, and when to pull them out.

+100000

New Benny Bennassi video, Who's your Daddy... I'd be worried about playing the dirty version of that one even at a 21+ club...

I played the uncensored "Satisfaction" at a club and people complained I was showing porno! I think the club could actually get in trouble for showing even titties? need a strip club license or something - depends on the state/province I guess

I havent seen the dirty one, but damn that video could make people blush lol. Or like 50 Cent - P.I.M.P. with titties out and everything, i only play that video on mardi gras

Haha, try the 2Pac "How Do You Want It" video... not only titties but full on bush 90s style...

hahah no way, i gotta get that one

One that comes to mind from old times is the 504 Boyz - Wobble Wobble uncut video...

I have to be careful where I play it, but it gets a reaction for sure. Lesbionics and the whole deal lol.

ahahaha...

one of my good friends is a vj at a titty bar...
Im always sending him the dirty shit.

worst ones:
knock your self out - Jadakiss (the REAL unedited one)
baby baby - sunblock ft Sandy.

Ive always argued.
you can get a BJ in the vip section
you can do a line in the bathroom
you can get in a fist fight
you can have a thong/wet-T shirt contests/ girls gone wold
you can shitfaced drunk
you can drop E, or what ever your drug of choice is
drop any curse word you want....

but lord oh lordy dont let their be a boobie on the TV!!!

hahahahahaha! lord oh lordy!

10 years ago i worked in a club playing vhs videos, when you wanted to play a video you had to push a button to make it go live to the screens, well we used to have to play comedy videos occasionally and i was playing a clip of When Harry Met Sally, the fake orgasm part, it was my second night there and i played the video but i forgot to switch the vhs live button so all that came out of the sound system was this woman having a screaming orgasm with nothing on the screen, very embarrasing

lol @ video shows w/ VHS... when I first started DJing, I was doing high schools for a company that was doing video dances. We had 3 SVHS decks (2 for playback, one for cueing), and a Panasonic video mixer. All the tapes had markers on the labels with the start time for each song. OMG what a bitch... and beatmatching was not even an option whatsoever...

Technology has come a long way in 15 years!

sounds like djing with tape decks b4 you actually got turntables...in a VJ sense...lol

pretty much... shit, I was making stop/pause cassette mixtapes way back in the 6th grade or some shit on a ghetto dual cassette boombox! memories...

word, I was the DJ Lance Rock of my neighborhood with my Dual-cassette mixes.

I rocked realistic only, radio shack for life.

I think mine was a Sanyo lol. I had the oldskool LaSonic boombox too, but one tape deck was slide-in, car audio style... not great for pausing with the quickness...

back on topic though...

I have been paying more attention to people's reactions to video since this thread started... and people are loving the shit! Some people aren't really impressed just hearing ABOUT it, but once they get down to the club and see it, I'm getting nothing but "OMG that is so rad" and "I didn't know Serato did that" and " I LOVE what you do with the videos!"

ditto.

OK so now that we have established people love the videos and its awesome. How the heck do we talk the owner/manager into paying us more??? For me i know video djing takes up double the time and space and gear costs as regular djing at least......But I do it because it keeps me entertained as well lol

like anything...
you have to make yourself, and your product irreplaceable.

get people totally hooked on it, so much they just expect you to do it.

then just make a modest proposition explaining in plain terms why you need
more money.

is it gonna work?

fuck no...but that's one way to do it.

I just had this discussion with the GM at one of the clubs I play at... he's like "well, we're not booking you TO do video, we are booking you to spin. The video is killer, but you kick ass without it too..."

I pointed out all of the people entranced by the screens and told him to ask around regarding what the patrons though about it. He is talking to the owners about getting me more funds now lol.

hey douggy, i'm in Ocala and play at small spot on Mondays & Saturdays. you should come by sometime and join me on some video. or if you wanna team up on a video set over in daytona, holla at me. my parentals live in port orange, so i gotta crash spot if needed

hey guys. i've also used one of the input lines from the "Live feed" QTZ file that pops your webcam on the screen to create overlays. so i can put the promo, flyer, club logo, my logo, or whatever promo on top of the videos without having to create a quick movie or slide show. just create the file and BLAMMO! it's on top. granted though, on some file types it looks like it slows a tiny tiny bit here and there because QTZ files use a whole bunch of the graphics memory only. on 8th wonder vids it looks great!

You have a link to a little more explanation on how to do this? Never messed around with the live feed feature but this sounds interesting. :)

"ocala highligh" i grew up in gainsville and rember the adds on t.v haha small world!

HAHA! yeah hi lai (or whatever) is like 25min north of me. let me know if you ever come back to visit. you can jump on my $#iT!!

I'll try to record some shiz for ya, so you can see. i really just took the Live Feed QTZ file took the webcam stuff off and added my logo (transparent gif), some spinny stuff and now i can mix while i have a logo, promo, live feed watermark, etc. on screen.

use the EFX (zoom/tile/etc) if the crowd at the dancefloor keep staring at the videos.

i was worried before i bought video sl that crowds might stop and stare too much
luckily the one screen in my club is behind me so it's not too prominent,you see people dancing for hours and then suddenly realising there's corresponding video .

my take it on it is ,im a dj with pictures attached,having video sl hasn't afftected my sound.

for one hour sets at festivals i like people to stare though,great to have mc's instrumentals with video too
Watchwww.youtube.com

i like puttting bass booms and things that make it look different ,people see regular videos all the time and i think it keeps down any potential 'stop & stare factor' .