Hey everyone!
Today we're releasing one of the biggest updates to VDMX in a long time and we are very, very excited to share it with you all. And you can download it right now from here: http://vidvox.net/download/vdmx_demo
There are a ton of new features and other improvements – so let's get started!
For starters, several new plugins to check out:
New Timecode, Data Looper and Cue List plugins added to existing project.
- New "Timecode" plugin! This plugin receives, generates, and sends SMPTE timecode over a variety of formats- it can receive timecode via MTC (MIDI timecode) or LTC (timecode sent over audio). It can also generate timecode locally, or use a data source in VDMX to generate timecode (which means timecode can also be received via DMX and OSC). The timecode it receives (or generates) is published in VDMX as a data source, so you can use it to control things in VDMX. The plugin's timecode can also be published over any combination of MTC, LTC, or OSC destinations.
- New "Cue List" plugin! Use this plugin to set up pre-planned clip triggers and changes to locally-created data sources that occur at specific times during a performance. It has an assortment of timing control options (index/beats/measures/seconds/SMPTE), and can play back on its own or synchronized with other systems using internal (clock and timecode plugins) or external (MIDI, OSC, DMX, MTC, and LTC) data sources. Cues can also be exported and imported to a simple CSV document for collaboration or use in other projects.
- New "Data Looper" plugin! This plugin lets you record values from data sources into tracks, which are published in VDMX as data sources, and played back/looped. A single plugin can have as many tracks as you want, and the tracks can be re-recorded and edited on the fly.
We've also made several improvements to the Hap codecs:
- There's a new flavor of Hap: HapQ+A adds an alpha channel to HapQ.
- Performance improvements to Hap encoding
- Performance improvements to Hap playback
- Included the AVF batch exporter in the "Extras" section of the dmg. This is a very simple batch exporter that uses AVFoundation to transcode media, and is part of the "HapInAVFoundation" open-source project.
ISF (Interactive Shader Format) is our video generators and FX are based on and we've updated the specification for that:
- ISF has been refined with a number of small changes, ISF v2 is now public. All local VDMX assets have been updated- for more information about ISF, you can go here: https://www.interactiveshaderformat.com/
- Included the ISF editor in the "Extras" folder of the dmg. This is an in-house editor we wrote for browsing, previewing, and editing ISF files. There's a GUI so you don't have to deal with JSON, a converter for Shadertoy/GLSL sandbox shaders, UI items for tweaking and working with parameters, a built-in browser/search function for the official ISF site, an optional Quicklook plugin for previewing ISF files in the finder, and lots more good stuff!
New and Improved Functionality:
- iOS devices (iOS 8+) appear as video inputs when connected to your computer. What you see and hear on your device is what you get in VDMX- no software is required on the iOS side.
- Added LUT based FX support- there are a LUT, a LUT Mixer, and a LUT Mask Mixer fx, all of which load their contents from any .cube files in the LUTs folder in the user-defined assets folder (accessible by Help menu, defaults to app support folder, just like everything else).
- Send and Receive 16 and 24-bit DMX over ArtNet
- New included GLSL composition modes and ISF FX
And along with that we've made dozens of other small improvements and bug fixes that you'll be sure to want to take advantage of. Check out the full list of changes for more details!
Over the next few weeks we'll be posting lots of new tutorials showing off how to use these new features, but here are some quick videos to get you started:
As always we love to hear feedback so please send us emails to let us know how things go. If you run into any problems please send us the issues by choosing the "Report Bug" option from the Help menu.
Special thanks to all of our private beta testers who have helped with getting this ready for release and double high fives to Tom Butterworth for his continued work on the Hap codec family!
So, what's new with all of you?