Resolume Arena is VJ software. As such, it's primary function is one of a video mixer and effector. At a basic level, it act's much like a DAW does. It has channels, and multiple videos can be stored across them, it then has a range of functions to blend, fade, invert etc.
Above you can see what I'm talking about. It is laid out as a grid, with each Channel containing videos across the horizontal axis. As you can see, there are three Channels employed here, giving the option to have up to three layers of video making up the output.
So that's the top of the screen you see, but what about the bottom of the damn screen I hear you cry. Well, from left to right.... First you see the two mini screens. The top one and bigger of the two simply shows the output of the video mix. If you have a second screen or projector, this can be sent to them... But we shall get to that. the screen underneath is the preview window, this can be thought of as cue for all yu DJ's out there. Next you have the Master control section. Here you can adjust the overall tilt of the screen in all planes, spin it, flip it and you also have opacity controls. As the title suggests, these controls apply to the output video, not individual clips. For these controls you have to move left.
If you are familiar with ableton, then this section shouldn't feel too different. First off you have all the same controls you have in the master section, however this time on a clip by clip basis (select clip by clicking on it). You can do so much more here though, and to bring it to life we have to look to the last section on the right. Here is our browser, where we can search all media and tools related to Resolume. Obviously this includes your main system drives, however it also includes a range of video specific effects. These can be chained at will, again on a clip by clip basis, resulting in some truly spectacular video augmentation.
Next to the effects tab however, we find one called sources. This contains a range Generative graphics, based on the FFGL/OpenGL platform. These each have a range of control parameters, allowing for augmentation of the generative graphics. for example the "Lines" generator does exactly what it says on the tin. However the parameters allow control over the number of lines on the screen, the thickness of them, how sharp the edges are, their rotation, their opacity and so forth. On top of this, as with before, we can then chain as many effects as we desire or require after this. Effectively, resolume has a built in comprehensive, open source video synthesiser built into it.
In itself that is very cool, however ass I have touched on before, Resolume offers accurate FFT analysis of audio signals which can then be mapped to just about any parameter within Resolume, certainly all the parameters we are concerned with here. So the next few posts shall go into details of exactly how I have used these parameters to develop the space in my room. Unfortunately I don't have two computers, so for now I am just able to test my own tracks on the system (and any other track obviously) after they have been written. Tbh it is fun to take it out of the analytical environment of the DAW and then import it into Resolume and test it with the chains I have made so far. I have found it far better than just "looking away from the screen" to get an idea for how things sound. Anyways, I can show you in more detail exactly what is going on within the program, however I need to be up early to get the wood for the acoustic diffuser I am building to use as a screen for the projections! Exciting times.
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