11 May, 2009
New features
SL1 and SL3 support
These are now 'authorized devices'
This requires Scratch Live 1.9
MIDI assignable controls
When the 'video' panel is open and you enter 'MIDI assign mode' the Video-SL GUI is replaced by a selection of controls that can be assigned MIDI in the same way as other Scratch Live functions.
This requires Scratch Live 1.9
Offline player
Pressing the video button in Scratch Live 1.9 while offline will now start a 1 channel offline video player that can preview and save effects for set preparation without hardware.
This requires Scratch Live 1.9
Auto crossfade
This is MIDI-assignable. The crossfade speed can be controlled by either a MIDI assigned knob or on the 'control' tab of the Video-SL setup area. If the cursor key option on the 'plugins' tab on the ScratchLive setup screen is selected then the left and right cursor keys can also be used to auto crossfade.
This requires Scratch Live 1.9
Configurable TTM 57SL hardware controls
Group 5 (the video group) on the hardware panel is now configurable and many of the video functions can be added to other groups. At present only video functions are able to be used in group 5 however.
A side effect is that the 'legend' area on the Video-SL GUI is now redundant and has been removed.
This requires Scratch Live 1.9
Contoured Faders
The fader positions used in Video-SL can now be contoured in the same way as the audio faders on the TTM 57SL. This can be linked to the position of the faders on the mixer or set manually in the 'control' tab of the setup are in Video-SL.
NB: We perceive video intensity levels very different to audio levels so this doesn't always 'look' right.
Remembering effects
The new button beside the 'set video' button on the Scratch Live 1.9 GUI will save the currently selected effects and effect values for the track playing. These will then be loaded next time the track is loaded.
NB: If an audio track with associated video is playing the effects will be saved against the audio track, not the video track.
Remembering last transition used
Video-SL will now automatically load the last transition used when it is loaded.
External video mixing
In the 'output' panel of Video-SL setup area you can now choose the output arrangement to be either 'output only', 'left and right prefader', or both prefaders and the output together. This can be used with a video splitter into an external, analog video mixer for greater flexibility. This requires an external splitter such as the Matrox 'Dual Head2Go' or 'TripleHead2Go'.
Note: Serato is in no way affiliated with Matrox or Matrox products
Video Instant Doubles
Instant double on the music will now instant double the effect states to the other deck so that the visual state of both decks is also the same.
New effects
We now have audio reactive effects and a new architecture for accessing information within effects (making them easy to write and modify). There is also a rigid body solver.
Types of effects
- Audio (example is isolator bass): We have an 8 band analyzer at our disposal so can (i.e.)turn colours on only on the bass.
- Split (example is split): We can split the image into sections and offset/control at will.
- Record movement (example record fade): We can respond to the speed the record is moving and 'visualize' scratches.
- EQ knobs (example rgb eq): We can use the position of the 57's EQ knobs to change video parameters.
- BPM (example flash on bpm): Syncs an event in the effect to the pitched BPM of the deck
- Rigid Body (example block columns): A built in physics engine
- Analyser (example analyzer): These audio effects present an 8 band spectrum analysis of the audio. These will also act as if a video is loaded.
QTZ (Quartz Composer) support
This is Mac only and fairly rudimentary at the moment but you can now load & play quartz compositions. There are still a few outstanding optimizations for this feature.
QTZ composition patch input connections
QTZ compositions can now access the same information as the effects (i.e. it is now possible to write 'visualizer' type compositions). I'll try to make and release a few example patches to show how this will work.
New Mac uninstaller
The disk image now has an uninstaller that will uninstall any version of VSL. WARNING: This will delete your preferences as well. Windows has always had the Add/Remove programs method of uninstall...
Grid faders
I've created with a few new iterations of the grid fader based on the thread in the Video Discussion Area.
Output Window can be closed
You can now close the output window through the 'x' button on the output window. To get the window back you can either double click the preview of the output window OR hit the video button (offline player only). When the window comes back it will be positioned at 100,100 with size 400,400 (ie. reset to defaults). Hopefully this will allow workarounds to any weird situations people get into with disconnecting monitors etc.
End video with audio
This is now an option on the 'control' tab of the setup area. It is off by default.
Fader Reverse
There is now an option on the 'control' tab of the setup area. It is off by default.
Bugs fixed / tweaks
Video optimizations
Colour space conversion is now done on the GPU where possible which will lower CPU usage for some videos by up to 30% (specifically H.264 videos)
Asynchronous video loading
Should result in much shorter drop-outs on the playing deck when loading a new video
Luma key
Luma key effects now have a faded secondary source for a more accurate representation and more intuitive results.
Tweaked / optimized effects
Edge Detect
Luma Keys
Luma Key Fade
Posterize
Zoom/Tile
Frame Blending
Frame blending wouldn't work when a video's timescale was the same as the framrate.
Effects Parameters
The 'empty' effect and effects that don't have a parameter now have a disabled dial.
Fade Transitions
All of the 'fade' based transitions now work like 'default' (where they will only do something if there is valid input on both decks).
Mac VSYNC timings
The way VSYNC timings work has been changed to stop the GPU & CPU from being overdriven which could cause lower framerates and lag in the video output. VSL will now adapt its target framerate based on what seems possible.