Live Visuals

Recorded live visuals and audio-visual experiments

This live visuals session consists of 3 layers. The abstract background is affected by distortion, displacement, and colorization effects. The middle layer, which is a triangular 3D shape, is cloned in a circular kaleidoscopic formation. Lastly, the front layer, which is a center-weighted 3D element. To play along with the beat, the lighting effect was triggered manually by tapping a key mapped to a MIDI controller, and the triangular layer’s line effect was manually tweaked with a rotary/knob on the same MIDI controller. Colors were adjusted to create a complementary look across all layers.

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC016 Shapeshifters
• DOC017 Chromacurrents

In this session, our live visuals are made up of a centered element with alpha channel/full transparency with two background elements. The blurry purple digital lines are mirrored and sit at the bottom of the composition while a tiled hexagonal object works as a secondary background. The hexagonal tiled background is audio reactive and its opacity is triggered on the kick drum of the audio track. A glow effect was applied over the entire composition.

→ Watch Resolume Tutorial on Remixing Content with Alpha Channels

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC014 Tracearrays
• DOC016 Shapeshifters

The live visuals in this session consist of generative clips from our Resgen series for Resolume. Clips were triggered on the fly and included some audio reactive versions. Behind the scenes, some adjustments were made using the built-in Dashboard controls to alter the clip prior to displaying in the Output Monitor. Most clips had minimal blending and alpha channels were used to separate the layers. The glitchy polygon visual was tweaked live, adjustments to the size and rotation were made with the music.

→ Watch Resgen Generative Visuals Overview

Visuals used in this session:
• DOCG01 Resgen
• DOCG02 Resgen 2

These live visuals were composed using a mix of hand-triggered effects and BPM synchronization. The top layer of thin cubes had the blur effects and random video playback set to BPM. The pixelized lines on the second layer had its color effects set to BPM and both the geometric explosion and directional flipping was done manually by bypassing the effect through improvisation with the music. Lastly, another geometric layer was placed in the background using some noise effects for extra texture.

→ Watch Resolume Tutorial on BPM Sync & Techniques

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC014 Kahelix (Tracearrays)
• DOC014 Obtusion (Tracearrays)
• DOC000 Blink Blocks (Free VJ Content)

The live visuals in this session were layered using a Mask Overlay. The background layer is a moving gradient with graphical glowing lines pulsating audio reactively to the music track. On top of the entire composition is a black & white mask overlay altered with a kaleidoscope effect containing mirrored objects rotating endlessly.

→ Watch Resolume Tutorial on Mask Overlay technique

Visuals used in this session:
• DOCG01 Clone Spinner (Resgen)
• DOCG01 Vapor (Resgen)
• DOC004 Line Dance (Kinetic Shifts)

These recorded live visuals were part of a test using a “track matte” technique that was shared by Resolume user subpixel. The composition itself consisted of 6 layers, however only 4 layers of footage were actually used for output. The background tiled pyramid layer is horizontally mirrored with a slide effect used to create the illusion of it scrolling endlessly. The stringy, worm-like shapes acts as a track matte or “cut-out” for the wavy lined yellow tunnel that is contained within it. The glowing, dancing lines are the focal point and layered on top of the entire composite. This layer is mirrored and contains a brightness adjustment that reacts to audio. All layers have color adjustments to create a more pleasing composition.

→ Watch Resolume Tutorial on Mask Overlay technique by subpixel

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC000 Light Splatter (Freebies)
• DOC006 Worm Hole (Monomatic One)
• DOC009 Trants (Tunnel Vision)
• DOC010 Violetras (Dream Fields)

A website called funnyordie.com released free green screen footage of Jean-Claude Van Damme and the DocOptic team had some fun with it. We composited the footage live using VDMX with a mix of audio reactive and live triggering. For the background, effects parameters were linked to audio analysis filters to trigger on the hit sounds. We triggered the geometric visuals on each hit using mapped buttons and created a stack of effects to give them a bright laser-like quality. We used some TV and RGB shifting effects on the JCVD footage which was contained in a Media Bin set to automatically trigger using the “Next on Movie End” feature of VDMX.

Recorded with Syphon Recorder, one of our recommended VJ apps.

→ Watch VDMX Tutorial on Audio Reactive Techniques
→ Watch Resolume Tutorial on Expressive Live Triggering

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC008 Geoburst (Geoburst)
• DOC010 Unstable Wavetables (Dream Fields)

In this pre-recorded live visuals session, 4 layers were used. Acting as a background layer, a video mask with effects applied over a seamless loop of geometric cubes sits behind a BPM synchronized foreground visual both with color hue changes to match each other. An organic loop is also blended with its opacity lowered and color shifted along with some transformation effects (a 50% mirror with Lighten blend mode) to change its look. Originally posted on Instagram.

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC006 Worm Hole (Monomatic One)
• DOC007 Pinwilt (Cosmic Garden)
• DOC010 Iced Cubes (Dream Fields)
• DOC011 Trilines (Audioptics)

These live visuals were composed of 3 separate layers. The 3D pyramid layer serves as an animated backdrop that provides constant movement in the composition. Its color has been shifted using Hue effects. The stringy light particles were added (using the Add blend mode) on top with its brightness/levels parameter linked to the low frequencies of the audio. The image is mirrored vertically using a Lighten blend mode to make it appear as if it was duplicated rather then blended. The abstract flower visual has a shifted Hue to blend with the other visuals in the compositions and vertically mirrored with the Lighten blend mode as well.

To better flow with the music, preset audio reactive effects were triggered on cue to change the mood of the composition on the fly. You can see how this technique was used in Resolume by viewing this tutorial.

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC007 Hyper Shrub (Cosmic Garden)
• DOC000 Light Splatter (Freebies)
• DOC010 Violetras (Dream Fields)

The live visuals in this session consist of three layers. The top layer has circular objects mirrored, with an audioreactive opacity slider set to trigger on mid audio frequencies. A multiply blend mode was used. Second layer is a glowing connection loop kaleidoscoped and set to react to audio by shifting the cloned geometry towards the center on low frequency hits. Final layer is a looped background that is influenced by the first layer’s blend mode when the audioreaction occurs. Originally posted on Instagram.

Visuals used in this session:
• DOC004 Perpetual Pulses (Kinetic Shifts)
• DOC005 Point Process (Hard Edges)
• DOC010 Julius Mids (Dream Fields)