Multi track Audio and Video Problem

[frostysnowman]

Hi ,

I need some ideas for this problem .Hope someone can help

I need to sync multi-track audio ( 8 tracks ) with video for a live show (if it could handle two video streams that would be cool )

At the moment I just cue DVD quality .AVI files via an xbox with upgraded hard drive. It's Rock Solid ! and works great !

I create a play list from my avi files and everything runs .Giving me two tracks of audio plus my video for projection.

 

The problem is now :

I need to find a different system to handle multi track audio ( 8 tracks ) plus video ( 2 streams ) but still give me some

flexibility in creating a play list .

 

Ive read a bit on arkaos would this software be able to trigger my Video files which have already

been mixed and edited so no need for live Vj-ing .Can this software trigger long AVI files of say 7 minutes in length and

stay in sync with some sorta audio multi-track software .

 

Would it be better to have audio and video on different machines ? Synced together some how !

Would this then enable me to have a third machine synced playing a different video stream.

What would be the best combination of software and hardware to tackle this problem

 

Thanks for any help and advice

[benweblight]

You've got a couple of options here

 

-MIDI (midi clock, midi time code, midi machine control)

-Timecode (SMPTE etc.)

-Theres probably another I've forgotten.

 

Also, I think Cubase SX would let you do this with a separate video output.

 

I'm sure others can expand.

[dbuckley]

If you've got the budget then the easiest way would probably be a pair of Rosendahl Bonsai video drives synced together via timecode. In addition to quality video, theres a lightpipe input and output so you can store eight digital audio tracks in perfect sync, in addition to stereo audio, so ten audio tracks in all per box. The second machine will store your second video stream, or, as the Bonsai is timecode capable, you could have any timecode capable second (and third and fourth etc) device slaved to it.

 

Since the Bonsai is playing back MIDI time code you can use that to drive live sequencers, MTC capable light desks, and that kind of thing.

 

Caveat: I've not actually synced two of these together, though the manual says it works...

[Hambone]

Arkaos VJ and Ableton Live.

 

They work perfectly together, even on one computer. I VJ from multiple video sources, control remote pan/tilt/zoom cameras, DJ multi-track surround audio, play live percussion, and sequence and control 29 DMX lighting fixtures, all from Ableton Live.

 

It makes it easy to choreograph, sequence, and perform multi-track audio, video, and lighting, all single-handedly from one package. Video is tightly synched frame-perfect between Live and Arkaos VJ, even with live tempo changes.

[frostysnowman]

Thanks for all the suggestions currently looking into these options

I'll post back my findings

Thanks guys

[BlueShift]

We do this all the time using Dataton's Watchout package. Watchout allows you to have multiple video and audio streams (setup with a timeline UI much like video editing software) and span them over multiple screens, resize them, PIP them, etc.. and output multi-channel audio. (We do 8 channels via an M-audio Delta 1010 unit)

 

However, a somewhat simpler way to add multitrack audio to an existing video playback system like yours would be to simple record timecode (LTC) as one of your 2 embedded audio tracks and then play that back to your multi-track audio device of choice (say an Alesis HD24). That way you use L channel from your Xbox as timecode, R channel as a backup mono audio stream and then your HD24 (or whatever) recieves timecode and plays back perfectly in sync!

[dbuckley]

Oh yeah, forgot, ShowMagic (or at least some versions thereofof) can do frame accurate multiple video and audio playback, if its a PC solution you need.

[maccaj22]

look into QLab, a fantastic program for triggering audio and video and whatever else you want via midi.

 

get a machine with 2 video cards (or a single dual card) and you have your two video outputs and use an outboard audio device to gain all your audio outputs.

 

we use a new Mac Pro computer with 4 video cards to gain up to 8 separate outputs for projection all triggered from QLab. works great! (but it quite processor, ram and HDD intensive).

[henny]

I second the dataton watchout option, see http://www.dataton.com/watchout

[frostysnowman]

Arkaos VJ and Ableton Live.

 

They work perfectly together, even on one computer. I VJ from multiple video sources, control remote pan/tilt/zoom cameras, DJ multi-track surround audio, play live percussion, and sequence and control 29 DMX lighting fixtures, all from Ableton Live.

 

It makes it easy to choreograph, sequence, and perform multi-track audio, video, and lighting, all single-handedly from one package. Video is tightly synched frame-perfect between Live and Arkaos VJ, even with live tempo changes.

 

Hi Hambone ,

A few questions ?

Using this method of Arkaos and Ableton Live

Is it possible to create a playlist of say 10 songs which would then play in order or would you have to load each song file individually

? I haven't used Ableton Live so not sure how this program works .

Also is Arkoas able to trigger long video clips of say 7 minutes in length synced with the audio ?

Do you have to use compression for the video in Arkaos or can it play back DV quality files .

 

Thanks for your help

And thanks to everyone for the suggestions

[Hambone]

Arkaos VJ and Ableton Live.

 

They work perfectly together, even on one computer. I VJ from multiple video sources, control remote pan/tilt/zoom cameras, DJ multi-track surround audio, play live percussion, and sequence and control 29 DMX lighting fixtures, all from Ableton Live.

 

It makes it easy to choreograph, sequence, and perform multi-track audio, video, and lighting, all single-handedly from one package. Video is tightly synched frame-perfect between Live and Arkaos VJ, even with live tempo changes.

 

Hi Hambone ,

A few questions ?

Using this method of Arkaos and Ableton Live

Is it possible to create a playlist of say 10 songs which would then play in order or would you have to load each song file individually

? I haven't used Ableton Live so not sure how this program works .

Also is Arkoas able to trigger long video clips of say 7 minutes in length synced with the audio ?

Do you have to use compression for the video in Arkaos or can it play back DV quality files .

 

Thanks for your help

And thanks to everyone for the suggestions

Load as many tracks as you like in a single set in Live. My main Live set has over 100 scenes and 140 tracks (20 surround audio, 16 Arkaos video, 100+ DMX lighting). It works without a problem.

 

Using the Arkaos position controller, you have frame-accurate control for any video clip up to 16,384 frames (over 11 minutes at 24fps).

 

I use H.264 compression. For me, it's the perfect compromise between file size and quality.

[frostysnowman]

We do this all the time using Dataton's Watchout package. Watchout allows you to have multiple video and audio streams (setup with a timeline UI much like video editing software) and span them over multiple screens, resize them, PIP them, etc.. and output multi-channel audio. (We do 8 channels via an M-audio Delta 1010 unit)

 

However, a somewhat simpler way to add multitrack audio to an existing video playback system like yours would be to simple record timecode (LTC) as one of your 2 embedded audio tracks and then play that back to your multi-track audio device of choice (say an Alesis HD24). That way you use L channel from your Xbox as timecode, R channel as a backup mono audio stream and then your HD24 (or whatever) recieves timecode and plays back perfectly in sync!

 

hi Blueshift,

this is an interesting option ! I like the sound of .

Sounds rather complex using time code but then I could keep the xbox streaming the video

which is really stable .

How would I go about striping the files with timecode would I need some sort of timecode generator .

Would it also mean that the whole show would need to be timecoded as one whole file rather than seperate song files

if you catch my drift .

thanks for your help

[BlueShift]

Let me just say for the record that while watchout is cool and very good at what it does - it has absolutely appauling audio driver support. It doesnt do ASIO of any kind whatsoever, you need a card that supports multi-channel audio using directsound, of which I believe only M-audio and Edirol still make cards that support multichannel directsound. It also has no audio patching or routing options, audio will just go wherever the default driver patch says.

 

You need a timecode generator to generate timecode which can then be recorded to a protools track or whatever and exported as a track in a multichannel audio stream

[viktorkr]

If you've got the budget then the easiest way would probably be a pair of Rosendahl Bonsai video drives synced together via timecode. In addition to quality video, theres a lightpipe input and output so you can store eight digital audio tracks in perfect sync, in addition to stereo audio, so ten audio tracks in all per box. The second machine will store your second video stream, or, as the Bonsai is timecode capable, you could have any timecode capable second (and third and fourth etc) device slaved to it.

 

Since the Bonsai is playing back MIDI time code you can use that to drive live sequencers, MTC capable light desks, and that kind of thing.

 

Caveat: I've not actually synced two of these together, though the manual says it works...

 

I have synced five Bonsaidrives together via timecode and it works perfectly and very simple.