In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to add your own Quartz-Composer Effects in MediaMaster.

Remark:

Check out the article “How to: Create audio-reactive effects for GrandVJ using Quartz-Composer” for more details about the creation of Quartz-Composer effects. You will also find lots of resources and how-to’s for Quartz Composer on the web or in the Reference Library from the Mac Dev Center.

Simple Mode (MediaMaster Express and Pro) and Fixture Mode (MediaMaster Pro)

It’s easy to add Quartz effects in MediaMaster 2.0 when in Simple Mode, but in Fixture Mode effect presets are defined within the layer fixture and these fixture files shouldn’t be modified in any circumstances. As a consequence, to make use of new effects we have to add a new custom layer fixture that will include new effect presets..

In order to do so, we will first copy some new files to the user’s local MediaMaster resources, where the MediaMaster Library is located:

1. Download the following file “MediaMasterQuartzComposerEffectsResources.zip“, then copy it to “/Users/MyAccount/Library/Application Support/ArKaos/MediaMaster/”.
2. Decompress the zip file by double clicking on it. Two new directories should have been added:
   • “MMFixtures/Layer/” contains a custom layer fixture file.
   • “Quartz-Composer/Effects/” contains two new Quartz-Composer effect files: “MyBassZoomBlur.qtz” and “MyKaleidoscope.qtz”

At this point, those new Quartz effects will be available from the menus in MediaMaster 2.0 when in Simple Mode, continue reading further to learn how to use them with MediaMaster in Fixture Mode.

Adding a new custom layer fixture

Open the file “MMFixtures/Layer/MyCustomLayerFixture.xml” using any text editing software, we will look at how it is made in order to understand how to add new effect presets in a custom fixture. This file is a slightly modified version of the original MediaMaster Pro “Layer Fixture 1.1″, it contains some extra effect presets.

This files defines the DMX channel assignments and the effect presets libraries that we’ll focus on.

The first line of the file defines the name of the fixture, as it will appear in MediaMaster Pro preferences dialog. This name must be different from the other fixtures.

At the very bottom of the XML document, fixture effect library 11 contains four new effect presets.

You may have noticed that the Quartz-Composer effect “MyKaleidoscope.qtz” appears in three presets with different parameters.

An effect preset is basically defined by an index, a name, an effect and a set of effect parameters. An effect can be used in several different presets and even different libraries with different parameters setup.

In a preset, each effect parameter can be either a fixed value or a variable that corresponds to one of the four effect controllers available in MediaMaster Pro.

Based on this small example, add your own Quartz-Composer effects and create your custom fixtures to extend the possibilities of MediaMaster.

Now let’s try this new fixture

Start MediaMaster Pro, and in “Preferences –> DMX –> Patch” choose “My Custom Layer Fixture” as the “Layers fixture”.

Back in the main window, on any layer, select a visual, push the dimmer to the max to start it, and finally select an Effect between 1 and 4 in Effect Library 11.

Now it’s your turn to create your very own Quartz-Composer effects and use them to leverage the visual quality of your show, be creative!

Recently we wrote an article on this blog to explain the direction we were taking about the development of MediaMaster 2.0 and how we will be releasing it under two different license levels: MediaMaster Express and MediaMaster Pro (read further below)

And today we release the first public beta version of MediaMaster 2.0, you can download if from here:

MAC: ArKaos_Mediamaster_2_0_beta1.dmg
PC: ArKaos_Mediamaster_2_0_beta1.msi

While we finish the documentation, here’s a draft of the Release Note to give you some explanations:
ArKaos_MediaMaster_2_0_Release_Note.pdf

Please report bugs and feedback on this beta in the dedicated forum topic, not by commenting this blog post.

Read more for a brief overview of the Simple Mode and the new features in MediaMaster 2.0

Differences between MediaMaster Simple Mode and Fixture Mode

Starting with MediaMaster 2.0 you will be able to use the software in 2 very different ways: via the Simple Mode (available in MediaMaster Express and Pro) or via the Fixture Mode (available only in MediaMaster Pro) . The Fixture Mode corresponds to what was available MediaMaster 1 and the Simple Mode is thus the new interface we introduce here in this version.

The Simple Mode is designed for small DMX consoles, MIDI controllers or even the computer keyboard.  The fixture mode is aimed at advanced lighting desks or DMX consoles that can generate and automate hundreds of channels.

A MediaMaster video layer can be described as a lighting equipment with many parameters : position on the screen, looping  mode, speed, blending mode, mapping mode, color control, effects and main intensity value. When in Fixture Mode, all those parameters are sent to MediaMaster by the lighting desk, this is why several hundreds of channels are necessary. While it gives you a huge creative freedom, it requires an advanced lighting desk that can handle those channels.

In Simple Mode, all the layer parameters are configured from within the MediaMaster interface, leaving only the intensity and 3 optional parameter values to the console.

In Simple Mode you will map your visuals in patches. By doing so, you will define in MediaMaster the position, the mapping mode, the looping mode and speed, and optional effects. Once the mapping in completed you will just use the controller (DMX or MIDI, or computer keyboard) to drive the luminance of each cell and the optional 3 other layer parameters that can be assigned to the controller.

Finally you can also assign a fade to a visual, in order to allow smooth transitions even when using the computer keyboard to trigger visuals.

MediaMaster Simple Mode, the basics

If the Simple Mode is inspired from ArKaos VJ DMX, it has been completely rewritten in order to allow a very quick programmation and edition of your show.

Basically, visuals are programmed into cells, cells are grouped into patches, a patch can have up to 64 cells and there can be up to 64 patches.

A cell is the composed of one visual, one optional effect and all the associated parameters. Two types of controllers are used to drive a cell:

• Controllers that drive the master intensity
• Controllers that drive optional parameters

Simple Mode interface layout:

Simple Mode Layout

Simple Mode Interface screenshot:

Simple Mode ScreenShot

From the main interface you can assign the mixing, effect  and position presets.

To create those presets you simply open the editing dialog:

Simple mode parameter editing

MediaMaster license levels

Two license levels are available for MediaMaster 2.0:

• MediaMaster Express is limited to the new Simple Mode interface.
• MediaMaster Pro allows to use both the Simple Mode and the Fixture Mode interface.

Other differences between the Express and the Pro license:

• Media Server Extensions (MSEX) is tightly connected to fixture control and so it is only available with the Pro license.
• The Express license gives access to 8 layers while the Pro license allows 12 layers (in both Simple and Fixture Modes).

The upgrade to MediaMaster 2.0 is free for all MediaMaster 1.x users

The MediaMaster 2.0 beta will run in demo mode unless if you install it on a machine that has been registered for MediaMaster 1.x, in that case it will detect the previously installed license and launch as MediaMaster Pro.

Note that, in this case your MediaMaster version 1.x previously installed will remain untouched and fully functional so you can safely test MediaMaster 2.0 beta. Just be sure to work with copies of your files..

And now.. Enjoy the ride!

ArKaos MediaMaster may be the latest baby in the ArKaos video software family but it carries in its DNA all the best features of its ancestors’ different evolutions. These evolutions have always been triggered by users requests, by the different experimentations we made and by the goals we wanted to reach in terms of performance..

A few years ago when we decided to rewrite our core Engine, our goal was to get the best out of current and future computer architecture. So we designed the Engine to allow very creative layer blending with HD video loops by balancing the load between multi-core CPU’s and GPU’s. This was MediaMaster 1.0, then version 1.2 added very cool frame blending and audio support.

So we’ve been mainly focusing our resources on the Engine fluidity to achieve an optimal pixel flow and did not spent too much time working on the interface functionalities. This does not mean we did not care about that aspect but we’ve been really too busy with our hands dirty with pixel processing in order to build a perfectly stable and fast Engine that would become a solid base for further features and developments.

But we’ve also been listening to users feedback from everywhere, whether it be online  - on the support portal, in the forums and on our social networks – whether it be in real life - at trade shows worldwide or through a round of meetings and design sessions with lighting designers and resellers that we organized in January.

In other words, we were virtually behind you – yes, you! :) – looking above your shoulder at how you’re working with MediaMaster and how you’ve been using ArKaos VJ DMX in the past so we can understand how to make future versions working exactly the way you like, the way you need.

That’s how we came to realize that a typical lighting designer needs something like a Swiss Army Knife for video. No gig is twice the same; some days you just need to do a little bit of MIDI triggering, other days you may want to use a few DMX sliders to automate a small theater play, and once in a while you have that big tour with some heavy automation through a huge lighting console. Sometimes you may even have to work on a small corporate event where you will just trigger video loops from your computer keyboard..

Well you can do this all with MediaMaster 2.0. and even better, for those of you who never do the “big tour with some heavy automation through a huge lighting console” stuff, it will come in two versions; the Express that will be something like a 8 tools Swiss Army Knife with just the essential and the Pro that will be more like the full-featured 12 tools Swiss Army Knife.

In MediaMaster 2.0 we’ve implemented a very efficient Simple Mode as default for the Express version (which, by the way, will also be available in the Pro version). This mode is based on presets, for example if you are doing LED Mapping over your video output you will be able to create a preset defining your LED wall and easily recall it for many cells. Later on, if you edit this preset you will see the modification applied instantly to all cells using it without the need to re-edit all your show.

The main advantages of this new Simple Mode over what you had in VJ DMX are:

• the preset system makes it very quick and easy to use
• it allows triggering visuals with DMX, MIDI and any computer keyboard
• it makes use of MediaMaster‘s advanced media management system
• it benefits from the performance of the new video Engine (frame blending, audio support, etc…
• 64 patches of 64 cells are available to store visuals and effects
• everything is saved into the Media folder (content, patch information, show setup, ..) making it easy to move your files between computers

We are now close to the final release and we expect to start some public beta testing in the days to come, so stay tuned!

Meanwhile, the Marketing is working on the official communication, writing the press release and all the stuff they have to do, which will include announcing prices and offers for VJ DMX users, but we can already announce that we will offer free upgrade to MediaMaster Pro 2.0 to all current MediaMaster 1.x users.

If you don’t want to miss the announcements, sign up for our newsletter!

At ArKaos, it’s now many years we’re developing software that drives LEDs in a way or another: our media server software MediaMaster and our VJ software GrandVJ are used every day to drive LED fixtures or LED walls, and of course we have the LED Mapper extension which, combined with MediaMaster, creates a very easy solution to map visuals on complex setups of DMX driven LED walls.

However there is still something that makes it too complicated and / or too expensive for anyone to display visuals on LED devices: setup…

Simple LED fixtures rely on the DMX or ArtNet protocol to work, which means many magic numbers to type, multiplying chances that something goes wrong and prevents your little pixels to blink.. On the other hand, big LED wall components come with hardware interfaces facilitating the setup but they are most of the time so expensive that they’re not an option for most performers and clubs.

We’re in 2010 and it should not be science fiction to have a LED device with an Ethernet port that automatically ”says hello” when connected to a media server and then sends its description so the server can immediately use it without any setup. The device would contact MediaMaster and configure itself automagically by explaining its capacities like “I am a LED device with 48 x 12 pixels in 5 bits format of red green blue”.. In other words: Plug’n Play.

And of course, this should be operated by an affordable processor because you don’t want to add a PC behind each device..

Well that’s exactly what our Kling-Net protocol does. The prototype you can see on the video above is built with an inexpensive open-source electronics prototyping platform called Arduino, and as you can see, it just works.. We’ll now fine-tune it some more and decide what we’ll do with this baby.

If you want more technical info about Kling-Net, we have started to document it on a dedicated Wiki.

Please test it and report any problems you might encounter.
The download links are at the end of this post.

Update: The beta went fine, thanks for your feedback: we have made available the RC1 on the forums

New Features

• Support for movie’s audio through FFMpeg and Quicktime (supports most formats). MediaMaster 1.2 comes with the new ArKaos Audio Output engine. The application will now play the audio track embedded in a movie file. We’ve added a new Audio preferences panel in which you can select your audio input and output devices, the audio output engine buffer size and its main volume volume. You can deactivate audio playback by choosing “No Audio” as output device.

Audio format and sampling rate have been added in the Visual Info box that appears when you hover the mouse on a movie thumbnail in Media Library or in the main window:

• New Time Reference: In MediaMaster 1.1, we introduced a new ultra smooth playback engine, synchronizing movie playback with the graphical card display (read more about this here and here). In version 1.2, you now have the choice from the Display preferences to synchronize either to the display or to the system clock. Synchronizing to System clock will make MediaMaster play content like version 1.0 did, but since we’ve now added audio playback, this setting is mandatory to get a good audio/video synchronization.

• Support for Flash Actionscript3: the flash player has been updated to cope with AS3 (you can find more info about how to write your AS3 to work with MediaMaster here)

Please report any problem you may find with this beta in the dedicated forum topic (and not in this article’s comments please).

Enjoy!

If the consoles have changed the club continues to trust the 3 ArKaos media servers installed by Sebastien to display visuals on the LEDs of the DJ / LJ booth and on the various Plasma screens around the place. And apparently, Nicolas Bailly put these to a good use: here’s a video from a light show he set up at the club on Pryda’s track “Miami to Atlanta”.

Nicolas also has a very interesting blog (in French) about lighting design, check it out if you want to know more about him.

The afternoon session will be lead by Niel Beelen, training manager at ArKaos and Esteban Caracciolo, Product Specialist from PRG. They will teach how to configure and use media servers and ArKaos MediaMaster with the ChamSys MagicQ 100 console.

For more information and booking, please look here.
Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment!

Vickie Claiborne

The September 2009 issue of PLSN features a long article about MediaMaster and the ArKaos Media Servers written by Vickie Claiborne, lighting designer, programmer and training specialist for consoles and media servers.

For those who never heard about Vickie, here are some highlights about her background and experience; Vickie has been developing training programs recognized worldwide for lighting control consoles and digital media systems. She has created and maintained a consistent training curriculum for many products from leading manufacturers, including Maxxyz, grandMa, ChamSys, Wholehog2 and Wholehog3.

Over the years she has been actively working as consultant for many leading industry names such as High End Systems, Martin or PRG. Claiborne’s programming experience includes the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony as well as numerous live concerts, broadcast events, and corporate industrials.

And last but not least, Vickie is the Lighting Programmer from the Emmy Award winning lighting team for CNN 2008 Presidential Debates.

In her article, after briefly presenting ArKaos she writes about the MediaMaster software itself and the ArKaos Media Servers, explaining the main features and detailing what’s new in version 1.1., finally concluding with the following:

Easy to Use
What has impressed me about MediaMaster from the first time I opened the application up to today is how user friendly and intuitive the application is.  Any programmer with a basic idea of how to select a fixture and manipulate a channel can very quickly build a great look.  Give that same programmer an hour or two with the software, and they can build many complicated looking images that would take hours in a video rendering software application.  I specifically like that the software runs on just about any current Mac or PC, and that ArKaos now has a hardware solution for pro touring applications.

ArKaos MediaMaster is a powerful, easy-to-use and downloadable media server at an amazingly affordable price.  The software has been completely redesigned so that lighting designers and productions of all sizes can utilize the power and flexibility of this media server when looking to incorporate video into a show.

Vickie clearly highlights in her conclusion the most important aspects we like to put forward about our products: ease of use, performance and affordability.

We at ArKaos have always had the feeling that our show and lighting products are not known enough in the USA, and with such an article from someone like Vickie this is clearly starting to change!

For further information about Vickie you may visit her website at vickieclaiborne.com.

All the new features will be announced with the release but here’s already a video tutorial demonstrating the new support in MediaMaster 1.1 for grandMA’s MA-eDMX protocol.  This allows a much better networking between grandMA lighting consoles and a media server running MediaMaster.

They have setup a very creative system to trigger visuals involving a NuVJ, a video camera, a MediaMaster controlled from a GrandMA console and.. a custom controller made of a simple plexiglass panel with duct tape, the so-called “PixelFucker controller”..

Philipp from LoopLight explains his creation:

Installation schema

I have setup ArKaos MediaMaster, ArKaos NuVJ and grandMA ultralight in one network session. The headlights were Jarag-5 in a matrix with par30 and 52 Movinglights with CMY. I made a led mapping patch in MediaMaster to control both the Jarags and the CMY of the movinglights.

MediaMaster was fed with two input streams:

The first input came from a camera filming a plexiglass panel divided in two areas, the left side was for Jarag and the right side for the CMY.

The second input was fed with the output of a NuVJ that I used to trigger SD Clips.

In MediaMaster I scaled my live input from the camera to match only the left part of the plexiglass and configured different effects like Edge detect, Greyscale and Contrast so that, by moving my hand vertically and horizontally in front of the camera (behind the left part of the plexiglass that I was using as guide), I could dynamically create visuals in combination with the SD Clips played by the NuVJ.

For the CMY, I prepared four large Colourwheels in different bright colours so just by moving them in the right half of the plexiglass I could change all CMY in the moving lights.

As you can see it’s a great example of creative processing involving video, lighting and a good dose of creativity.. And that’s exactly what the guys from LoopLight are known for!