Projecting Video from Ableton for gig's

[JuanSOLO]

Currently I use Ableton for most of the things I do in my band. I have been projecting video as well. I read some older posts about using video in Ableton, and found a few things on the web.

Seems that "most" agree that PHOTO-JPEG is the favorited Codec for rendering videos (with other software), to play in Ableton.

I have been using an older Optima projector and rendering my resolutions at 640x480 and getting satisfactory results. I was using the MPEG4 codec on medium until reading the stuff I found tonight.

I run alot of stuff in Ableton just for the audio, so keeping CPU low is a must.

what are your specifics? your methods?

In my band I will make videos in After Effects that sync up with each song. Each song has it's own video.
Most of my videos are under 200MB, some as low as 16MB. Some songs and videos are 12-15 minutes.
Projecting at 640x480 seems to work well enough for most venues in my area, and the quality is better than expected.
I use a 2007 MacBOOK pro (PRE UNIBODY)
4Gig RAM 2.4 Ghz
Latest version of Live 8.0.8

So what are others doing out there? I would love to know your methods, results, sizes of files, length of video, etc.???

Here's a few pics

[dysanfel]

Here are some photos of how I use live to project video. My videos are at 720X480 and are generally 350-450MB per song. I originally did the videos in Sony Vegas, but now that I have a genuine copy of Adobe Premier CS4 from my job I use that. I generally have between 50-300 individual 1-5 second clips per song that are layered on top of one another and in sync with the music while working in CS4. Its then bounced to MOV and imported into Live. Most of my found footage starts as DIVX and then is converted to MOV before heading into CS4.

I have noticed that the resolution that I project at really depends on the distance the projector is from the screen. The further back the projector the higher the resolution I can use.

It really does add that extra element to make the band stand out. There are so many clips that my audience never gets tired of them.

[JuanSOLO]

AWESOME Pics!

How much do you have running in Live for Audio?

[dysanfel]

For me it is just 2 tracks of 24 bit audio, then the played instruments routed through Live (elect gtr, elect bass, vox, 12 string, and synths) and are processed in real-time (comps, eq, delay, chorus, reverb, and the like). However, I do record the what we are playing. All of this on the internal HD.

My keyboardist also runs Live on his HP lappy for his soft synths and sample triggering.

Do you guys record your gigs?

[UKRuss]

Thats some nice work there boys, great stuff.

[JuanSOLO]

Do you guys record your gigs?

Not yet. Currently I don't think my computer could handle it. I have tons of FX routings, a Drum rack, some audio, vocals, a Reaktor Plug synth, and video playing all in Ableton. Plus I run Guitar Rig and do a little bit of routing into Ableton for guitar syntesis.

I try to keep my latency as low as possible. I am trying to get to a point where I can open a couple track up for recording.

[bodhi71]

I have often wondered how one would go about this myself.
Where is a good place to get info? Any tips for the novice?
Is the video used within Ableton? And how do you get the video to a projector.
Sorry for the lame questions, this is something I've wanted to do but didn't know where to start.

[Sage]

I have often wondered how one would go about this myself.
Where is a good place to get info? Any tips for the novice?
Is the video used within Ableton? And how do you get the video to a projector.
Sorry for the lame questions, this is something I've wanted to do but didn't know where to start.

+1 on this.

What options is there within Live for video, how do you go about making them, setting up a projector at gigs, what is a decent projector etc.

[continuous]

Ya, these must be some fun shows. Looks great.

I like the idea of building a video for each song. After Effects baffles me though...

So when you load up a project that contains video does it take awhile to load?

@ JuanSolo: What model of optima projector do you use?

Thanx!

[dysanfel]

I use the DVI -> VGA adapter that runs to a 50ft VGA cable to the projector. The projector is basically a second monitor. I move the video window to the second desktop, double click for full screen, and go.

Oh yeah...I bought Live originally at version 6 because it was the only DAW I could find that allowed fullscreen video to be played (no dumb bar along the top). I was a PTLE user at the time. The more I played with Live the more I realized how wonderful it is. Now Live is all I use on stage and in the studio.

[dysanfel]

So when you load up a project that contains video does it take awhile to load?

Not really, its about the same as without video.

[bodhi71]

If video is dropped in the arrangement view, can you still launch clips, and if so, how do you sync the video with clip launches?
Is this possible? Seems like there must be a workable solution, I'm just not seeing how to go about it.

[logic_user99]

Thats some nice work there boys, great stuff.

+1 looks shit hot

+2. Excellent lookin' stuff there.

[mrsakitumi]

Here's some pics of my wife (Grrrl) and I (Mr Sakitumi)gigging.
She VJ's using VDMX,a controller and the Korg Kaoss Entrancer (for video)
All the stuff is composited in After Effects.
For this gig she used 3 screens, 1 main one behind us and 2 smaller ones on each side.
The white cloth over the front of the table, also helps create the illusion of one big screen from the audience perspective.
It also adds to the stage lighting and mood of the show.
At the moment, I perform all my tracks live using a sampler, turntable, KP3 and bass guitars.
When I do eventually start using Live, we'll sync up both programs, so that certain audio clips fire a respective video clips.

can't seem to post images properly (new to this part of forum replying)
It's on my myspace page in photo section: http://www.myspace.com/mrsakitumi

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... ID=4597793
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... ID=4597739
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... ID=4597759
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... ID=4597807
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... ID=4597833
EDIT:
GOT the upload RIGHT: PICS on PG 2 of this topic reply

Here is the link for the youtube footage of this gig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5GMg7CxP_o
"
We also play part of a bigger band "Closet Snare" which also performed that night along with "Card on Spokes".
I love performing with visuals. I think it should be more encouraged by bands and venues.

[mrsakitumi]

haha, got with the program
followed your link to photo bucket, so now you can see the images