Serato Video General Discussion

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 Serato Video General Discussion
Creating videos with music visualization?
Talk about Serato Video and Video-SL.

Creating videos with music visualization?

serkan 9:52 PM - 22 February, 2012
Hi everyone.

I got really excited with Video-SL being for $99 and Serato Video around the corner and bought a license in December.
But as a DJ for electronic music it's quite hard to find any video clips whatever the source is. The tracks I play are usually 7-10 minutes long and never have a video clip.
So I thought it would be cool if I had an application which allows me create videos with visualization effects.

What I'm looking for:
- Mac or Windows application
- highly adjustable audio related visualizations
- lots of different effects/colors/movements
- time line editing that makes it possible to add text for the lyrics of a song
- ability to work with pictures, animations and/or videos
- possibility to export the final videos as VSL-compatible formats like m4v/mp4
- support for PAL/NTSC, or even high def (720p/1080p) if possible
- affordable (open source, low to mid budget, nothing like Final Cut Pro)

Hope there is something like this. I'm not a VJ at all nor it is something I would like to do in clubs but at least want to try some new stuff with Scratch Live & ITCH at the next private party and check the reaction of the crowd.

If there are already any threads or at least some that go into this direction please let me know. To be honest: I couldn't even search this forums or the internet for my query because I don't even know what to search/google for.
tomatoslice 10:02 PM - 22 February, 2012
this thread may help.


serato.com
phatbob 10:06 PM - 22 February, 2012
All of your requirements are easily achievable, except the last... Affordable!

Well, not so much anymore, actually...

Ultimately you need a mixture of different software for really decent stuff - a motion graphics program, a 3D animation program, and an editing program.

I use After Effects, does everything you could want in motion graphics but is very expensive.

I'd suggest you take a look at Apple Motion, which is a bargain now at $50.

There is also the One Idea app for Windows from the Mixed In Key people, that seems to have mixed reviews (see the link tomatoslice posted for Code:E's excellent summary). That might do the job for you, at least to start with.

One thing to bear in mind is that decent visuals don't have to be computer generated, there is a lot to be said for shooting your own abstract footage and then messing with it in something like Motion.
phatbob 10:13 PM - 22 February, 2012
Code:E's review of One Idea. Might suit you perfectly....

serato.com
serkan 10:38 PM - 22 February, 2012
Thank you so much.
Quote:

There is also the One Idea app for Windows from the Mixed In Key people

Well... One Idea is no more available because of some huge issues people have experienced with it. One Idea 2.0 is in the works but I don't expect something really good with this. It always seems to me like the MIK-people are just trying too hard to make some appealing easy-to-use software which seems like never to be good enough for high-profile professional use. They had a good idea with Mixed In Key but all the other stuff just seems like they're trying to make as much money as possible with less afford as possible...
Quote:

One thing to bear in mind is that decent visuals don't have to be computer generated, there is a lot to be said for shooting your own abstract footage and then messing with it in something like Motion.

Sure. I know two really good film makers and we're already brain storming in this direction. But at this moment we're just talking about small footage and we're really far away from some appealing entertainment.
I think you know the videos released by Serato where they show Joachim Garraud's show with the graphics manipulated with MIDI controls and Scratch Live. That show and the things done by Fatboy Slim, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren (visualization for the music) inspired me to _experiment_ in this area. Another thing which gained my interest were the Video Reports made by Joshua Carl and DJ Eloy. I know I need some years of practice but I want to start some time, right?

So keep your suggestions coming. I'll check on the provided links in the meantime.
phatbob 10:42 PM - 22 February, 2012
I didn't know that about One Idea, that's a shame. I hope they come out with a better version at some point then.

Joachim Garraud's show is breathtaking. Simply incredible.

But sadly that's the exact kind of show that can't be achieved without a lot of skilled 3D animators and the money to pay for them! ;o)
serkan 10:56 PM - 22 February, 2012
Well I don't even know what tools to use so if Joachim Garraud's Invaders show is the master I'm pretty much like kindergarden right now :)
But it definitely gained my interest in visualization and I want to make my first steps.

Damn I'm even thinking about screen capturing iTunes, Milkdrop, DiscoBrickDJ, etc. and put it into an app which allows me simple time line editing. I just think it would take too much time that would be invested much more reasonable in one better-featured single program.
XRM5 11:38 PM - 22 February, 2012
Motion has all these prebuilt FX and really easy audio integration and you can map controls to MIDI. So you could really easily work one graphic idea thru, get all yr fx controls mapped to MIDI, and save copies (each with a different song swapped in). Then just record yrself tweaking knobs in time to the song & render out all yr different "versions."

If you wanted a lot in a hurry that's the best solution I can think of. But if you're sitting on a bunch of 7 minute songs that's a lot of render time--might wanna think of picking up a dedicated computer for that. And flying thru all this won't really get you the results you want.

Unfortunately, breaking into video from DJing audio if you're not playing Top 40-type stuff will take you months or years pretty much regardless.
serkan 12:00 AM - 23 February, 2012
I took a look at Apple Motion and it looks quite appealing.
I have a library of about 4000 edm tracks but I don't want to do visuals for all of them.

@XRM5
You put in the time value. As stated I don't have a clue in this kind of stuff and I don't even know how far I will take it, ever. But I'm really interested in this so I will at least give a try and never want to worry "what if...", you know.
So can you give me at least a little hint how much time should be put into a 8-minute song. I know this is the worst question I could ever ask but I just liked to know what numbers I have to deal with. Sure, a beginner will need gazillion times longer for crap than a pro for some amazing visuals. But what are we talking about? 15 minutes? 3 hours? 2 days?

But:
The specs of my computers actually are pretty different so a Windows solution could make sense.
I have a MacBook Pro and a desktop PC...

13" MacBook Pro, mid-2010
2x 2.4GHz Intel Core2Duo
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
750GB, 7200rpm HDD
Mac OS X 10.7.3 Lion

4x 3.0GHz AMD Phenom II 720BE
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
1TB , 7200rpm HDD
1GB AMD Radeon HD5770
24" widescreen TFT
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
phatbob 12:19 AM - 23 February, 2012
The length of time it takes is SO dependent on what you want to do. A simple short loop can be done quite quickly, a full custom edit can take hours or even days if you are creating the content from scratch.

One tip for doing custom visuals is to make a generic loop, 30 seconds long, which does whatever it does at a certain bpm (say, 128).

That way you can link that video in VSL/SV to any number of 128bpm tracks and it will work.

You don't need a customised video for EVERY track.
serkan 6:27 PM - 23 February, 2012
That's a great idea, thx :)
I would do a couple different visuals anyway but this definitely can help to save some time
TristanHatch 9:24 AM - 30 January, 2016
With recent progress in technology, it becomes simpler than ever to make professional music videos. There are lots of apps available in the market today that can do a job for you. You can share a memorable moments of your life in an unforgettable way. Download “Shimmeo” itunes.apple.com and make a group of different music videos for your favorite song. This app provide a feature to create own visual expressions to any songs. I hope it will be helpful for you.