Structure in VJ Performance

I love improvisation. I was a MAJOR theatre geek in high school - even made Captain of my school’s Varsity Improv Team (no, seriously). So much of Visual Performance is improv - anticipating where things are going and reacting in interesting ways. I was thinking about this recently, and about how I’m always winging it when it comes to preparing for a show (unless it’s one where I’ve gotten to really practice with the Audio artist). I remembered how much easier it was to practice improv comedy through the use of games - with real structure. With a head full of nostalgia (and a healthy dose of MVC and Framework research I’ve been doing recently for work), I set out to create a structure for my performances.

For my first foray, I’m working on a Four Layer system.

1. Background - Scene-setting clips.
2. Playground - Video Instruments (Quartz Composer)
3. Foreground - Elements on black, textures.
4. Overlay - Logos, text.

Take Control

I’m a gear-hound. It used to take me HOURS to get ready for a gig as I packed every device, cable, work surface, and display device into my poor old ‘85 Corolla. One of the advantages to sussing out a system like this is that I get a chance to refine my physical interface.

Software: VDMX

I chose VDMX for this setup because of its tight integration with Quartz Composer, which is integral to this particular structure. It can read my native QTZ files,  generates GUI elements for published inputs, and can use QC compositions as pass-through FX. Don’t worry if that’s all gobbledy-gook to you for now. Just trust me when I say it’s the bee’s knees for QC integration.

Faders/Knobs: Evolution UC-33

The (now-discontinued) UC-33 packs a metric tonne (or so) of faders and knobs into a reasonably compact, bus-powered interface. Yes, the knobs are a bit close together and the faders certainly aren’t going to win you the DMC - but it will get this jobbie done.

Buttons: Monome 128

The patron saints of Compactness, Versatility, Minimalism and Sustainability had at each other one wine-filled night, and the Monome is the only earthly record. Or it’s just a box of buttons that can light up. Thanks to some beyond-the-call-of-duty programming by Dave Lublin, I was able to use the Monome to fully control my clips. 4×4 groups of buttons control 4×4 grids of clips, with additional controls for switching Media Bins on the fly and scrolling up and down through larger bins. The Monome also acts as a 12-key MIDI keyboard for the Quartz Composer patches that will be looking for one.

Fun Factor: Logitech Gamepad

I love working with a gamepad. It takes two hands, which can be tricky when you’re trading to fade layers in and out. I’m still working on that part. But it’s a barrel of monkeys  to work with (translation: fun), and introduces another interesting structure to work with. Also, it’s hella cheap. No worries about handing one of these to the 5-year-old kid at Maker Faire (just keep yer paws off my Monome).

The Verdict: Oh yeah.

I built this system just in time for the ‘08 Decibel Festival. Even though a lot of the programming didn’t come together until the last minute, I had a solid, fun show. It certainly helps that I was playing with an awesome band, but having that structure there really gave me something to focus on. And I’ve got a host of ideas for real 4-layer scenes I want to build. For the sake of the tutorial (and the performance), I just wedged my existing content into this new framework. I think once I’ve had some time to build fresh content for this system, I’m going to have a really solid, extensible show on my hands.

Has anyone else thought through their performances like this?