VJing | Digital DJ Tips

December 20th, 2012 Reviews

MixVibes Video Plug-In Review

by Phil Morse

With MixVibes Video, CrossDJ and Cross gets video capability for the first time. It’s a system-completing addition to an already good package.

Nowadays a growing number of DJs are incorporating video into their sets. The MixVibes Video Plug-in is an add-on for MixVibes’s respected Cross and CrossDJ software programs, that brings video to these DJ platforms for the first time.

Like the Serato Video plugin for Serato Scratch Live and Serato DJ, and like Virtual DJ‘s built-in video capabilities, the MixVibes Video Plug-In is designed to let DJs play, mix and scratch video files using the same workflow they’re used to with audio. Read our MixVibes Video Plug-In review to see if it’s for you…

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October 16th, 2012 News & Opinion

Preview & Video: Vestax PBS-4 Web Broadcast Mixer

by Phil Morse

The Vestax PBS-4 allows anyone to broadcast a mixture of audio and video directly to the web. Great for DJs wanting to play live sets to a global audience, either from their clubs or their bedrooms!

Vestax PBS-4 preview: In today’s online world, there are more ways than ever to showcase your DJing and VJing talents. Podcasts, videocasts and DJ performances can all be broadcast to the world from your bedroom, giving you a chance to build a following and develop your skills “in public” that didn’t exist a decade ago.

And, of course, if you’re a clever up-and-coming DJ who’s already playing out, you can also broadcast live from your venue. It’s now perfectly possible to broadcast a DJ set on the web using cheap cameras (maybe one over your decks, and one on the crowd), a sound feed from your mixer, a second laptop, and a broadband connection. The Vestax PBS-4 is designed to help you do just that…

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May 24th, 2012 Reviews

Review: TouchViz VJ App For iPad

by DJ Hombre

VJing on an iPad...really?

We’ve already identified VJing as one of the ways digital DJs can differentiate themselves from the competition. One of the routes into VJing we explored in our recent Getting Started In Video DJing series was having visuals in addition to your “normal” DJ set-up; in other words, rather than DJing with music videos, having visual loops and other inputs as something extra that you somehow add to your music-based DJing.

So what if you could do all of this with a simple app for your iPad? What if you could take an iPad to your gig with you, plug it into the venue’s screens, and add an exciting visual element to your audio-only DJ sets? Well, as long as your iPad is modern enough (the iPad 1 struggles with this kind of thing), it turns out that with a clever app called TouchViz, you can.

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April 19th, 2012 Training

Video DJing, Part 8: 5 Further Steps For New VJs

by Phil Morse

VJ Anyone throws his stuff onto the big screen. If you've been inspired to have a go at video DJing, here are some resources to help you take it further.

If you’re a DJ who wants to add videos, visuals, logos or other VJ components to your DJing, and you’ve followed this eight-part series, you’ll be in a good position now to know roughly where you want to go next with this. (Not been following? Go to the start and read it in its entirety now!)

So today for the final part (before moving on to reviewing the gear in depth over the coming weeks and months), we want to give you five resources that we hope will help you to firm up your own personal vision of where you want to take this.

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March 28th, 2012 Training

Video DJing, Part 5: What Hardware To Use

by Phil Morse

Serato launched Serato Video with Fatboy Slim at the helm this week: Bit by bit, video DJing is hitting the mainstream.

Last week we looked at what software to use for video DJing. (Since then, Serato has officially launched Serato Video, and another Serato-compatible package we didn’t cover but perhaps should have, MixEmergency, has also had a major upgrade. Just so you know!)

This week we’ll turn our attention to hardware. As we’re looking at digital, as always our aim is to keep hardware to a minimum, and also you won’t be surprised to learn that the most important thing – and thus where we’re going to begin – is your laptop.

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March 6th, 2012 Training

Video DJing, Part 2: Why Video DJing?

by Phil Morse

Pop videos of the 80s: Could be a nice DJing niche if there's a market for it where you happen to work.

Last week we introduced the idea of video DJing, and looked at the various types. We also focused on what this eight-part series is primarily going to cover: DJing using music videos, and adding your own visuals to your DJ sets. The kind of stuff you can do on your own.

This week, though, we’re going to first consider why you should look at video DJing in the first place. What is to be gained from investing the time, effort and money into adding some form of video DJing to your skill set? Here are three reasons for adding video to your DJing efforts:

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June 12th, 2011 Software

Over To You: Help With Broadcasting DJ Mixes On Ustream

by Phil Morse

Ustream: A favourite for DJs to broadcast live mixes on.

Reader Miguel from Chicago, USA writes: “I host an online DJ mix show. I use a laptop to stream to Ustream. DJs bring their own laptops to mix music for the show.

“Several DJs would like to VJ on our show. How do I capture their video from their laptops and get it into my laptop to broadcast on Ustream? Is it possible? Our goal is to have a picture-in-picture window broadcasting on Ustream, with the main window displaying the music video and the small window show the DJ mixing.”

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April 24th, 2011 Equipment

Over To You: Do You VJ Using A DJ Midi Controller?

by Phil Morse

VJing with Virtual DJ.

Reader Ned writes: “A DJ friend of mine has decided to venture into VJing and has been stumped as to which way to go forward. Currently he has a MacBook Pro and an M-Audio Xponent Torq controller that uses Traktor, and it cannot mix videos.

“He was thinking of going the Serato Scratch way and getting a TTM57 and two decks but this would defeat the whole purpose of going small on set-up and having a controller. So my questions are as follows: Is there any controller that can mix videos? And is there any software that he can use with his Xponent to mix videos on his Mac, saving him the hassle of selling the Xponent and getting another controller?”

33 Comments »