Instruction manual

48
Live Event Mixing: Club VJ
Our final example set up takes us to club land, or some place like it, for a live performance of video and
image mixing. More and more dance and entertainment venues have been using projections and video
monitors to add to the experience. It is not your mother’s light show any more. Advances in technology,
specifically the SE-800, have dramatically widened the performance possibilities, increased the ease of set
up and use, and decreased the cost.
This set up describes the following situation: 4 sources for video/image playback (2 DV Banks, a DVD player,
and a video camera providing a live feed of the dance floor); a composite video monitor for each input
channel; a feed from the club’s audio mixer (so the VJ can hear the music over headphones and more easily
synchronize the visuals to it); a video output to the distribution amplifier at the front end of the club’s video
system (which could be a combination of projectors and video monitors); and S-video and audio feeds to a
recording VCR and program monitor (so that the VJ can record the show and have a program monitor to
keep tabs on the Main output).
Notes: the A+V function should be turned off to prevent switching among any of the audio streams
associated with the video inputs; the Audio Bus should be set to Aux 1 only, routing the club’s audio mix to
the recording VCR; headphones should be set to monitor either Aux or Main.
There are countless possible variations to this basic set up. For example, S-video or component video could
be sent to the club’s video system for higher quality; the DV Out could feed the recording VCR; composite
video out could feed the program monitor.
The main feature of this set up is that there are 4 simultaneously available video sources. The main tasks for
the VJ would be cueing up prepared video and still sources, selecting what goes out to the program, and
selecting and performing effects and transitions. The VJ would make much use of the Preset Banks,
preparing effects and transitions in advance so they could be performed with a single button press.
To club video
system
DV Bank 1
Connect CD Player for background music
DV Bank 2
DVD Player
DV Camera on
dance floor4
Preview
Monitor 1
Preview
Monitor 2
Preview
Monitor 3
Preview
Monitor 4
From Club
Audio Mixer.
To VTR recorder and program
monitor
Moderator mic
Audience mic