If your serious about video DJing in your rig, i HIGHLY recommend you look into Mix Emergency. Very stable and user friendly. It's updated frequently as well.

Are you looking for LCD's or a screen with projector?

I do a lot of video sets at hone my secondary monitor is my flatscreen tv some DJ's use projectors or other ext display monitors. I use a flatscreen tv cause it's stationed in my DJ room. It's convenient for me but some bars/clubs I plug into their projector. Also keep in mind Serato Video works best with a good graphics card so if your laptop has a integrated graphics card it might not perform as best.

Home*

And I highly recommend Mix Emergency as well as it has more features than Serato Video and updated. SV hasn't had any updates in a long time so don't be surprised if it's buggy.

Yes, I have been seeing that come up quite frequently, Ill grab the trial of that and have a muck around with it.

I will get a projector, but I play at many venues so would need to have a versatile setup that can adapt to different setups.

Thanks for that, mobility is the key here, as I currently play across many venues everything needs to be easy to setup and pack up on the fly as there will also be dj changeovers and alike. I am going to check out mixemergency. I already have a Macbook Pro that I use for Scratch Live, if it can't handle video well I will upgrade to a new one.

Also looking into the Akai AMX and AFX as playing across many venues they all have different gear and in saying that not all will talk with the interface correctly so a small mixer that will is something I will get so I can keep consistency across venues and shows.

+1000000 on Mixemergency

In my video dj tool box I have the following

10metre HDMI cable

3m HDMI cable and a few shorter ones

Thunderbolt 3 to HDMI dongle

Thunderbolt 2 to VGA (never used this one as mostprojectors have HDMI in these days but I still carry it with me)

Elgato Thunderbolt 2 dock. It has an HDMI out because sometimes the native MacBook pro Hdmi won't display visuals over long cable runs

I also have a HDMI over Lan Balun with 3 CAT 7 cables of different lengths 10, 20 and 30

Couple of CAT 7 couplers incase I need to combine the CAT 7 cables

A numark orbit controller mapped to the media bank and FX sequencer of Mixemergency

I also carry a ground isolator I have noticed that some venues I get a ground loop buzz when connecting to their screens so that helps


The MacBook pro is a 15 inch mid 2014 machine with the 2gb video card.

It handles Serato DJ + Mixemergency

I have also started messing with Resolume first night out with SDJ and Resolume my machine came to a halt but I suppose that's because my Resolume clips where not properly encoded in DXV

I like video djing

Thanks man, this is the kind of response I have been looking for, with your rig is there anything you wish you had purchased / want to purchase which would improve workflow / experience / productivity etc?

i think I covered all bases with my VJ Kit bag.

The only other thing that I will consider when the technology becomes cheaper and latency free is some sort of wireless HD connectivity that doesn't rely on line of sight.

I also have been to venues and the screens won't work despite my best efforts.

I just got the Akai Apc 40 MK 2 for Resolume. But I will use that when I do just Visuals not Video djing.

Things I wish I never bought

1. 30m long HDMI cable. Waste of money.

2. Normal profile cables. Now I only buy flat ones, they are not bulky and easy to run under doors if required.

3. Cheap thunderbolt to hdmi Dongles. those 4/5 euro ones on eBay, they don't work for me.

If you are planning on playing music videos join a video pool eg smashvision, Xtendamix, Bpmsupreme etc

Stuff to consider buying

1. Short Throw Projector

2. The new macbook pro with 4gb video card.

Thanks man,

In regards to the venues you have played at, do you find some of their gear doesn't speak with Serato? As I know from my experience through out an average year I may play at 20 - 40 different venues and the gear is 95% Pioneer I do find the mixers vary with some still using DJM600's, so in saying that the crossfader speaking to Serato would be a major part knowing when to blend videos etc, so I will get a mixer that I bring with me that I know will work. Do you find this to be an issue for you? and do you do something like that?

I will be getting a new MacBook pro, as the one I currently have though works fine with how I currently use it, when I have been using video it runs the cpu right up and as I start to do more complex stuff with video and alike may start to run the risk of it falling over mid set.

Have you ever played at venues with LED screens? some of the venues I have worked at have huge LED setups behind the dj, wondering if you have plugged into them before and was there anything different to use those as opposed to going into a venues tv setup/projectors.

How I plan to use it so far, is use music videos where I can and all other normal audio have it randomly pick a video loop I have in another folder. that seems fairly straight forward from what I have been mucking around with. Will start to use quartz files too once I get on top of the fundamentals as well as incorporating live footage from a GoPro or similar.

Thanks for your advice so far.

I just use virtual DJ pro with my HP elite book i7 lacie rugged 4tb (external HD) with all my Music Videos. Linked from laptop to 3 way VGA.splitter that goes to ultra short throw projector sitting behind screen and 2 24" lcd screens. Great visual effect. I would like to know what manual DJ controller would work instead of just using the laptop to video DJ ing