GrandVJ 1.5 beta - Feedback and Bug reports

[polanri]

More information about the GrandVJ 1.5 beta can be found on our blog

Please use this thread to provide a detailed technical feedback or bug report about this beta release.

[maria]

.

[hypnotica]

Great job new version! Thanks adding the interface scaling to smaller window.

Any chance for have all module extractable like keyboard and matrix?

Interface doesn't save last know sizing.

New preview option great but only works on files tab. I would of love have that same option integrated in the visual tab to setup proper cue points. Since visual tab is a reference to the clip be nice to see it run the clip playback there.

New Transition: Function only on crossfade A/B: Any chance add option to switch affect on Transparency. Witch would give in mixer mode 8 layers with crop modes from transitions. Might need Transition offsets in that case.
Idea for Transtion add auto mode button next to fade time. Would give extra value to the transition package. ex: Circle open close on tempo. Particles transition would look better animating than just on still. Transition would be alive

New 3D Swap Transition pretty nice. Any chance to be able to swap background color for a black?

Tabs layout reordering: Any chance to be able to move matrix it around?

Still missing support of grandvj .vjbank extension drag and drop to bank. Also support drag and drop .pls or .m3u playlist files would be great to have the option just to load a sequence of files.

Visual tab loop modes I strongly advise to re-order the play-once forward & reverse at the end when using knob to scroll through in small clips cause in cases top unload clip. Safer to have it at the end. Also add random playback of segment. Still hoping segment could be mapped separately for freestyle scratching without affecting in/out marker.

Like the transition Panel show/hide, but it could be an option to have it as a tab like effects and mixing.

Visual tab still missing the option to lock it. The key purpose of locking a visual tab would permit the user to have the option to assign fx/position triggers from the matrix to be changed without affecting the visual on the layer.

Also in the visual adding a dropdown with option with presets like reset to default values speed/loop could be useful.

Position/Size Tab: Be great to see like on the rotation mode buttons for the position and size with would give instant zooming or panning.

Also in Pos tab: Sphere mapping be great have a second click to it that gives user option without mirror mode. When sphering a text or a logo would be useful in those case.

Mixing tab: Is there anyway to add in copy mode a clipping mode when users uses 16:9 clip on a 4:3 output so that it only removes the black bar so that the background layer can be seeing trough it.

Layer mode: A must have linking options. In certain cases layer 1 (background) wishes not to be affected by upper layers effects. Be nice be able to link certain layers with rules. Or even have copy mode options on each layers.

Idea for multiple cue add in visual mode different colors with a button set in/out up to 9 hotkey.

Future Idea. New trend called AR Augmented Reality. It's time for the first VJ Software to have and option based on Video Camera have plugins work with it. Simple option VJ vs LJ arkaos would sync from camera the color of hue base on camera. Other would be Simple circle follow Spot based on subject moving on stage.

[rama1]

hiya im very impressed with transitions & the whole layout the only problem ive had is when i toggle full screen i get half of my out put on 1 screen & the other half on other screen losing the controls ive tryed everything in the preferences to try sort this out but im obviously missing some thing? can someone please shed some light on this for me as in my regged grand vj it automatically has my controls on 1 screen & my out put on the other screen

its alright ive managed to sort out the full screen sitch i had to use god mode & change my out puts again dont know why or how it changed in first place though over all this is a perfect beta love all the new & older features everythings working perfectly ive not had any crashes what so ever & ive put it through its paces

[absentcinema]

The preview panel doesn't been to work for me (Win7 64bit). Right clicking doesn't start the preview whether the 'auto' button is selected or not and dragging a clip onto the preview panel as suggested in the info panel, does nothing either.

edit: ahh, I see, it works by selecting the clip in the file browser. Any chance of getting to work when right clicking a clip in the matrix/keyboard and so also being able to preview the effects etc added to it?

As suggested above also, it would be great if transition in mixer mode weren't limited to only A/B. This would be great for fading in layered clips rather than having to manually raise the transparency bar.

[rama1]

arkaos team i love you

[rama1]

ive sorted it out now its working in both beta & regged i had to go back into display settings & select both graffix cards alls working properly again thanks to godmode im gonna have a move around with my studio & get rid of the dust

[vostek]

I tried and tried but was unable to use the Arkaos Connect VST plugin to send MIDI or audio between FLstudio and the new GVJ beta. Grand VJ, in the preferences panel, showed 'no connection' 'searching for hosts...' while the VST plugin said 'connections: 0'. I tried setting MIDI in and out ports, putting the plugin on different mixer tracks, I tried starting GVJ first and then FL Studio, and then I tried opening FL Studio first, but nothing seemed to get GVJ to recognize that I had the VST plugin open in FL Studio. I was using FL Studio version 9.2 and the new 9.9 beta, both with the same results. I followed the instructions in the Arkaos connect guide pdf.
Any troubleshooting ideas? I'm very excited about the possibilities with this- ultimately it should save me from having to slide faders back and forth every beat all night long!

[shado]

There is one peculiar bug happening: whenever I am previewing clips in the file browser, any clip that is selected starts showing up in the layer thumbnail preview on layer three. It is rather strange. I rebooted GrandVJ and the computer but it is still happening. Just thought you should know.

[SHARYN]

I am attempting to use the VST plug in with Numark cue/Virtual DJ. the Arkaos Box comes up in VIrtual DJ but will not connect (shows 0 connections available) I have tried bringing up either app first

[SHARYN]

I did finally get the connection to work, I missed that you needed to go into file preferences, audio connect and then select the vst. I now have the issue where the audio input meter on Grand VJ shows the signal, but I do not get any output

Sharyn

[pierre]

Thank you all for your feedback.

According to your reports and out own testing, we're now coming with the beta 2 of GrandVJ 1.5.

The blog post's been updated accordingly, especially with links to beta 2:

http://www.arkaos.net/blog/2011/03/engineering/grandvj-1-5-beta1/

To answer more precisely to your remarks:

hypnotica:

Interface doesn't save last know sizing.

You're right, we'll fix that for the next build

Function only on crossfade A/B: Any chance add option to switch affect on Transparency

Well, it's been in discussion, but since there's only one visual running at a time on a layer, it's not possible to fade between those on the same layer, making transitions difficult to fit in a good way.
Your other remarks make total sense, some of them being already in our wish-list, waiting to be developed.

rama1:
About your fullscreen problem, we've forgot to mention the new multi-monitor mode in Windows version of GrandVJ, enabling your to easily setup a multi-monitors setup on Windows Vista and 7, as span modes have been removed from those Windows versions. A section's been added in the blog post about this new feature.
However, as you shouldn't get that unexpected result, we'll fix the default behavior in the next build.

vostek:
The problem with FL Studio is now fixed in beta 2.

shado:

any clip that is selected starts showing up in the layer thumbnail preview on layer three

What platform are you working on? Could you send a screenshot that demonstrates the problem?

Sharyn:
We've fixed two problems regarding ArKaos Connect in beta 2. Please update and give it a try.
Regarding the audio that shows up in the input meter but that you can't listen, have you activated the ArKaos Connect test audio button as mentioned in the quickstart document?

We're waiting for some new feedback regarding beta 2!

[absentcinema]

One tiny little point. In the Windows version, the rollover text for the audio output slider (not the meter, just the slider) reads "input volume gain". Should it not be "output volume gain"?

[absentcinema]

Well, it's been in discussion, but since there's only one visual running at a time on a layer, it's not possible to fade between those on the same layer, making transitions difficult to fit in a good way.
Your other remarks make total sense, some of them being already in our wish-list, waiting to be developed.

Would it be possible to then to at least have a simple fade in on trigger and fade out on release effect for mixer mode added?

[pierre]

absentcinema:

The tooltip will be fixed in the final version of GrandVJ 1.5

As the feature set is now fixed for this version, we won't change the way the transitions work in GrandVJ 1.5.
However, if you give me some detailed examples about how this feature could be used in Mixer mode, we could think about improving it in a next version.

[absentcinema]

absentcinema:

The tooltip will be fixed in the final version of GrandVJ 1.5

As the feature set is now fixed for this version, we won't change the way the transitions work in GrandVJ 1.5.
However, if you give me some detailed examples about how this feature could be used in Mixer mode, we could think about improving it in a next version.

Essentially, the way transitions would fit best into my own personal workflow would be to be able to specify a transition for individual clips, then have those transitions executed when the layer play/stop toggle is used (maybe if the layer is set to A/B this transition is overrided). Like how they work in synth mode essentially. For me ideally I'd like synth and mixer mode to be combined, I'd like the flexibility of being able to use methods from both.

[absentcinema]

Another example of combing synth/mixer is having a latch toggle for each layer. So specified layers could be used for playing in unlatched synth style without resorting to killing the layer between triggering clips.

[hypnotica]

GrandVJ Beta 2 :

Interface:
-fix required on mixing tab the mixing presets pull down too much spacing.
- any chance to add simple code enable/disable caption bar option in menu? Most software try to give better look in skin mode like wmp or mc ...

Question on the test audio connect button causes interface not to re-size as much like the 1.2. Is this button be removed and put in the menu?

Like usual Master preview and layer preview image are not centered.

Transition Circle Open / Close looks more like oval or ellipse. I like but in certain case might need the real circle.

There a new Source called Network Stream 1 it doesn't do any thing. Nothing to config it. What is it for and how will it function?

[jcbklyny]

Still NO AUDIO from MPG files since DEV version.

Beta 1 and Beta 2 - the same. No audio from MPG


- John

[vostek]

Unfortunately I'm still having trouble with the ArkaosConnect VST, but it seems to be closer to success than with beta 1!
With beta2 I am now able to select the ArkaosVST host from the preferences in GVJ (though it is still saying 'searching for hosts...' to the right of the drop down box). However, back in FL Studio (the new version 10 that was released a day or two ago) the VST plugin is still saying 'number of connections: 0' and the 'connected' light is still not illuminated. I was able to route the MIDI though, and I have some automation on CCs that are mapped to parameters in GVJ, so the 'MIDI' indicator does light up in the plugin, but it's still not sending anything to GVJ. Am I missing something, or possibly another bug? Let me know if I can provide more information...

[ravenmoon]

tested with ableton arkaos vst connect. Found that Grand VJ interface lock up after a few minutes of audio bass effect.

[SHARYN]

SO the new beta works (now the plug in is called Connect) connection did work and I can hear audio so that is good. I do seem to find that keeping the connection (all running on same pc) can be an issue. Also even though I was able to reduce the volume from the plugin coming into VJ there is some amount of stuttering.. BUT definitely works much better than in the first version

Great work

Sharyn

[SHARYN]

Couple of things re VST CONNECT beta 2
the exe for grandvj in the download still shows beta1, but the vst is not arkaos connect

I have tested a few configurations

One is under win7/32 both GVJBeta2 and Virtual DJ on same machine, there is stuttering on the audio feed, all levels respond to changes, but looks like packets are getting dropped or corrupted?

Thinking it might be cpu issue I then tested with GVBeta 2 on Win7 /32 and VIrtual DJ on win7/64, the plug in arkaos connect finds other machine correctly (need to have the Virtual DJ with Arkaos Connect up first, but finds it and sends audio, but again stuttering (I moved audio buffer size up to 2048, from 1024, some improvement, buffer 512 worse, but changing buffer does on occasion crash GVbeta 2


Decided to move other way around (I have two licensed copies of GVJ and VIrtual Dj, with GVJ on the morepowerful machine, but still have the stuttering problem

I did notice that it seems that you need to go into preferences and test audio at least once to have the GVJ tool bar audio test to work. IF you are in preferences, then you cannot alter the audio levels on input or output, but after closing works


Definitely the connection between the plugin and GVJ is more stable (in beta1 the connection would keep disappearing from the preferences page going back to 0 connections, needing to be re selected, this seems to now work in beta2

It does look like in the plug in window on virtual dj, that the connections does not respond to loosing the connection, I shut down GVJ and it still showed connection (but it might just take more time)

So at this point outside of the stuttering which is quite noticeable, things are much better

Since I have never tried to control a display on GVj via audio, can you possible post a file that will when played with the plugin activated respond to the audio feed?

Perhaps more description as to actually how to set up the video file for audio control??

Sharyn

[SHARYN]

Forgot to mention connection speed set to highest in all cases

Sharyn

[hypnotica]

Notice when there a usb dropout and reconnect the software won't trigger even when reloading midi mapping. Any chance to have a auto reinitialize midi device without having restart the app?

Question an effect on upper layer without visual when assigning A or B shouldn't it affects only the channel i tried every copy modes (might need an extra one for this case!). Can there an option for AB linking or should it be a default function then what is current? This way you can assign more effects to a single clip just by putting fx on other layers and setting linking to A or B.

Also there's a missing function A B Cross fader. Since fade got time delay. Now it would be needing a Auto button or extra button next to the 8 transition for the function when press Full A or B it auto cross fade and stay till cross fader is used again. Abit like Panasonic video mixer with auto button

Will Transition effect have more values like Slide has only texture. It should have the X Y Z so that could slide Right to Left or opposite. Up down zoom in out...

Matrix Bank Right Arrow and Left Arrow click at the end of the banks should loop back first and end when using mouse . Right now just ends.

Transition Spreading Blinds very nice. When Density value 0 and Orientation is at 45 degree cross there a glitch a certain point of the cross fader.

Transition Circles: An idea to add value scale, multiply, Random Position on sliders. It would give it a movement. For future version is would work on tempo/audio function.

PS any chance to add Transition loader to external folder for png's ? Or just and open transition where you can just drag imge into the icon of that custom one?

[FrankySpanky]

Could you please built in the Clip Thumbnail Refresh function into the final version?

[Quentin]

Thank you for all your feedbacks. All ideas are noted and will be discussed.

A general remark : if the sound in GrandVJ through ArKaos Connect is jerky, try first to change the “connection speed” in preferences menu/ArKaos Connect. The “highest” value will often create glitches, the normal value should work for a vast majority of configurations.

Vostek:
ArKaos Connect should work with FL studio 10. What is your configuration? (OS) . What buffer size do you use in FL ?

Sharyn :
you can use any video clip and add “Sound controlled” effect (for the moment there are just 2 bass zoom) or you can use Live Generators that will react to the sounds.

hypnotica :
When you set an effect on a upper layer, it actually does affect channel A or B only, if a destination deck is selected.
New transitions will be present in the final version, with more parameters.

[hypnotica]

hypnotica :
When you set an effect on a upper layer, it actually does affect channel A or B only, if a destination deck is selected.
New transitions will be present in the final version, with more parameters.

Here's an example: layer 1 background layer 2 Half size visual selected B Layer 3 Effect comic selected B. Problem is layer 1 background gets affected by the effect on layer 3. It would be really nice to have the third option in this case selected only affect selected without loosing layer 1 background that cannot be on A.

[tvdz]

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

It is indeed difficult to do this in the current version (a layer with only an effect will take always the full previous layer as its source). Currently the only solution is to put the effect really on the visual layer itself (but currently you cannot put 2 effects on a layer...).

But we have this issue already a long time on our minds and you can expect a nice solution soon.

hypnotica :
When you set an effect on a upper layer, it actually does affect channel A or B only, if a destination deck is selected.
New transitions will be present in the final version, with more parameters.

Here's an example: layer 1 background layer 2 Half size visual selected B Layer 3 Effect comic selected B. Problem is layer 1 background gets affected by the effect on layer 3. It would be really nice to have the third option in this case selected only affect selected without loosing layer 1 background that cannot be on A.

[hypnotica]

Thank's for the quick reply.

Feature question on New Preview Tab PC version. Could the preview have a stand alone version or command line option to grandvj for shell integration to preview. If possible then extract like matrix and keyboard would be great for that.

[vj_stello]

1.5 beta2 sur MacOS :
le glissement d'un clip dans une cellule de la bank fait crasher l'application. Le même clip avec la version 1.2.2 marche très bien...
Dommage, y a plein de nouvelles choses que j'aurais bien voulu tester !
En tout cas, la preview c'est terrible. Ca faisait longtemps que j'attendais cela...

[jannypan]

Interface doesn't save last know sizing.

[hypnotica]

Transition Panel: Doesn't save favorite transitions.

Transition in mixer mode should also have the transition tab like in synth mode. The biggest difficulty in mixer mode manual cross fading sometimes be best to have the option to auto take A to B based on fade time. Need that extra button lock cross fader to time delay as an option.

Transition Slide texture doesn't do anything. Note Slide would be nice that it work like Rectangle Inflation. Transition base on the element not the whole frame. Like this you can slide a small box without forcing the sliding of the background layer.

PNG's with transparency maximum copy mode still does lots of white.

Request option disable move over popup. Info in Info tab should carry all data. also popup cause blocking from user to enable drag and drop when info is very long.

[pierre]

Transition Panel: Doesn't save favorite transitions.

You need to have the "Save Mixer State" preference turned on.
This preferences is now turned on by default for new users.

Interface doesn't save last know sizing.

That will be fixed.

le glissement d'un clip dans une cellule de la bank fait crasher l'application. Le même clip avec la version 1.2.2 marche très bien...

Vous voulez parler de tous les clips ou seulement certains?
Quel est le format de ces clips?

Thank you all for your feedback.

[hypnotica]

Thank you pierre your right my setting was turned off. It works fine.

Feature request be great if the visual tab in/out point could interact with the visual thumbnail. Like this you can have a easy set In/out point per clip without using any layers on a AB channel.

[pierre]

Feature request be great if the visual tab in/out point could interact with the visual thumbnail. Like this you can have a easy set In/out point per clip without using any layers on a AB channel.

That's part of the plan. This will come in the next major version.

[askapple]

I've been having an issue, where out of nowhere, I lose the ability to make adjustments to colors in the mixing section as well as adjust effects or times or speed. I do alot of programming on the fly and this really leaves me with my hands tied behind my back in the middle of shows when it happens

[askapple]

Also, whenever I change clips the menu at the top center always goes back to transitions, even though it says it may be on effect, mixing or position, and I have to switch back to whatever tab I was at

[pierre]

I've been having an issue, where out of nowhere, I lose the ability to make adjustments to colors in the mixing section as well as adjust effects or times or speed. I do alot of programming on the fly and this really leaves me with my hands tied behind my back in the middle of shows when it happens

Also, whenever I change clips the menu at the top center always goes back to transitions, even though it says it may be on effect, mixing or position, and I have to switch back to whatever tab I was at

Could you be more specific?
For each of those problems, please describe the mode you're working on, and the exact actions that leads to the issue, so we can reproduce it precisely and thus fix it.

Thank you.

[askapple]

I've been trying both the new beta as well as the 101214, and have had the issues with both. I just tried using my old macbook, and it seems to run better on it than my new mac pro(which is what i have at work tied into an led screen). I can't really pinpoint when the attributes stop working, but as far as the switching back to transitions it happens pretty much every time I change loops. As far as i can tell it seems like it's something to do with snow leopard. Any chance that's the case?

[pierre]

but as far as the switching back to transitions it happens pretty much every time I change loops. As far as i can tell it seems like it's something to do with snow leopard.

Mixer mode, Synth mode?
What do mean by "change loops"?
What's going wrong when the problem occurs?
We need detailed elements in order to be able to reproduce thus fix the problem.

[askapple]

synth mode, it's happening everytime i drop a new effect or file into a bank or change to select a new clip within a bank. The section in the top middle where you make adjustments to position, mixing, transtion or effect it always goes back to transitions , the actual tab does itself does not go to transitions, but the work area below is what is effected, so what I'm having to do is click onto any of the other tabs, then go back to the one I was actually trying to work on.

[pierre]

synth mode, it's happening everytime i drop a new effect or file into a bank or change to select a new clip within a bank. The section in the top middle where you make adjustments to position, mixing, transtion or effect it always goes back to transitions , the actual tab does itself does not go to transitions, but the work area below is what is effected, so what I'm having to do is click onto any of the other tabs, then go back to the one I was actually trying to work on.

I can't reproduce it.
What system do you use?
Is there a possibility for you to record your screen?

[pointless dav]

triplehead issue @ 3072x768px
frame rate drops when compared to non beta version ( by about a 3rd). the calculations of fps seem totally different.
same with manual fading- very jittery even with still images. tried with h264 anf pjpeg codecs.
also, it's nice that the preview now follows the th2g aspect ratio but the image remains very small.

love the transition tab though.

any chance of some kind of "next cue" function that would would like a spacebar? could just activate the next cell in the bank with a single key.

thanks

osx 10.6 macbook pro 2ghz

[pierre]

triplehead issue @ 3072x768px
frame rate drops when compared to non beta version ( by about a 3rd). the calculations of fps seem totally different.

Could you try to disable visual preview then do the test again?

same with manual fading- very jittery even with still images. tried with h264 anf pjpeg codecs.

Isn't it related to the performances drop you've just mentioned?

also, it's nice that the preview now follows the th2g aspect ratio but the image remains very small.

You can always resize the Preview panel to make it bigger.

Thanks for the feedback.

[tiburce]

Hi
Just a question for all GrandVJ versions, so 1.5 too.

To avoid a processor overload which crashes sometimes the application, it would be great to set up the number of cells we could trigger simultaneously !!!
Sometimes when you play 8 cells (layering all the cells in synthe mode) via a MIDI controller Hardware and you send some effects via MIDI Notes Software (via Live for instance), Arkaos Crashes !!! The only thing I've observed is probably a processor overloading. That happens with a very strong desktop computer :

Amd 6 cores
8 Go RAM
1 Go GeForce Memory Card

So this is sometimes a very big problem during a set !!! Sure, I can start again Arkaos without problem (all midi controller and midi functionnalities of Live work fine), but there is no video during one or two minutes.
I can't imagine the problem with a notebook (even an Alienware one)
Thanks a lot
Tiburce

[shado]

Just today, I updated to the latest TouchOSC version 1.7 for my iPad and the TouchOSC Editor version 1.5 for my desktop machines. Now, my custom OSC assignments no longer work in GrandVJ and I don't know what to do. I have a show in two days and I rely on my iPad quite a bit to control visuals. Sure, GrandVJ recognizes that an OSC signal is being sent and the automatic OSC mappings will be recognized by the software but I have multiple pages where the crossfader is always /crossfader instead of the name automatically generated based on page and object. It was working like a champ yesterday so I am kicking myself for updating. Can you please look into it for me? Thanks

[Quentin]

A new beta has been developped fixing a lot of bugs, including :

- improved ArKaos Connect

-better latency compensation
-connections problems fixed
-indicator showing connection status in GVJ
-FL Studio compatibility issues fixed (see the FL Studio note in the quickstart guide)
-on local machine : does not require activated network interface anymore
- fixed file format to be backward compatible with previous GrandVJ versions
- fixed Mpeg file audio playback
- fixed crash when changing audio buffer size
- fixed wrong tooltips
- fixed main window size not being restored correctly
- fixed application not starting on 10.5.x [Mac]
- fixed audio output volume meter randomness

Here are the links :
Mac OS X: ftp://ftp.arkaos.net/pub/seeding/GrandVJ/ArKaos_GrandVJ_1_5_beta3_Mac.zip
Windows: ftp://ftp.arkaos.net/pub/seeding/GrandVJ/ArKaos_GrandVJ_1_5_beta3_Windows.zip

We're waiting for some new feedback regarding beta 3!

[SHARYN]

So I decided to try somethings and it looks like for some reason when I had IE9 running I could not get GVJ in any versions to run would crash on the original non beta version it said insufficient video capability.. So GVJ is good to go, just to make sure ie9 the resource hog is not running

Sharyn

[SHARYN]

I have noticed one bug, if I am connected over net to another pc running the audio source with ArKaos connect and Grand VJ is shut down on the remote Pc Connect still shows connected. both in number of connections and the orange connected

If this is the result of making the connection more stable, not really an issue for me

Sharyn