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Forum: Old versions

Topic: Insight into new mac version?

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Out of sheer curiosity...
Can anyone speak to the possibility of a new mac version of VDJ anytime soon? The revisions since 6.0 have helped but video is seriously lacking ability here. A couple of pages into this forum and there was someone with a Mac Pro tower loaded to the gills not being able to mix two videos without having “glitches” and “performance issues”. I am not an expert but it seems to be an issue with the way VDJ Video works with existing macbook hardware. I recently purchased an HC4500 along with Scratch Live +(video plugin). I have no issues playing videos, back spinning out of one video after a 16 count beat mix while using scratch live. VDJ? Forget it, I can’t even play both videos at the same time without severe video quality issues (looks like video footage of a camcorder recording an old Tube TV picture, you get the screen rolls)…

I also heard…again…”heard” that VDJ mac was not built from the ground up but rather “ported” from the windows build to work on OS/X architecture. This is way above my understanding regarding programming and file system structures, and again, it is a rumor, but is there any truth to this? My two cents are that given the price point of the program, professional end users deserve a build from the ground up with no exception! If this is total B.S. rumor then no worries…but if you were at Mobile Beat Vegas two weeks ago you could see the Mac users flocking to Scratch Live and Itch demos…I have been using VDJ for 4 years with my parent company as windows based and never had problems. I am now on my own and Mac based, and after the train wreck of a show I had when I first upgraded to 6.0 I am just trying to understand the big picture here so I can determine how I move forward. I love VDJ, for it provides flexibility regarding music, karaoke, and video. There is a growing trend and expectation in my market that video whether music video or Bride and Groom wedding slideshows become a standard for mobile DJ’s. I cannot even answer the phone and say “yes I can do video” until I know I have a rock solid rig that I don’t have to say “phew…no crashes or problems this time…” at the end of the gig.

At the end these are my two cents, many will disagree, other will agree, but based on my recent trial, I know its not my macbook…scratch live works immaculately so what gives?
 
geposted Tue 23 Feb 10 @ 9:55 am
hey man, i totally feel your pain. my macbook pro (early 2008 before the unibody) has been working well but for video on VDJ... its been having trouble mixing 2 videos at the same time - video output is shotty and slow although i havent had a big crash with it.

TO BE FAIR, these video programs are almost NEVER going to be equivalent from windows to mac. Serato is the SAME way - go on their forum and ask about pc config to run video flawlessly? THEY TELL YOU TO GET A MAC.


The mac version of serato video is flawless, i know. im about to buy the plugin.... but i still wish i had a midi crossfader for it.

but if VDJ WAS built from the ground up for mac... that would simply be amazing. i know now its late, but its simply something that should and shouldve been done from the start.
 
im runing a new mac with snow leapord and virtualdj version6.05 my video is fine..only wish there was more transitions and video effects..most are pc version only
 
Substandard quality videos can mix, not HD ones.
 
There's no secret behind it why video mixing is so laggy on VDJ Mac. It's because Mac version doesn't have hardware accelerated video decoding. Why doesn't it have it? Because Apple doesn't like sharing info about API.

So why does Serato have working video mixing (on Mac)? Because it utilizes the Mac OS X's built-in Quicktime-engine. Upside: hardware accelerated video. Downside: limited only to MP4 (not such a big deal IMHO, going that route is better than nothing).

As for (re-)building VDJ from scratch for Mac...yeah right, sure. If you guys don't mind waiting for couple years :D
 
Thanks for the info!! Certainly sheds some light on the topic. I appreciate the honesty as well. As for the MP4's...I guess a win/win for me since mine are already encoded in MP4 from Top Hits.

I will continue to maintain both programs...they each have their pro's and cons. With the new i5 and i7 quad core chips coming soon in macbook pro line there could be endless possibilities on using VDJ and Mac...

Keep on Keeping on!
 
Bootcamp and XP - Works great with my Macbook Pro 1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram and ATI Radeonx1600 (128mb)
On the Mac side it has issues.

AND HERE IS WHY (shouts because no one from VDJ has responded this past month to tickets or forum posts thanks guys)


1. VDJ seems to use under 200mb of RAM and does not or can not be offered more.
2. VDJ will use virtual RAM ( much slower) to double it's available RAM, even with the option to use actual RAM in it's place.
3. VDJ does not seem to be using the video card or it's resources for decoding instead relying on the CPU for decoding. PC version has this as an option.

The end result is with version 6 is crippled with no hardware support, ported from windows not native code, it doesn't matter how much RAM you have or what video card is used, different processors will have a boost but this is negated by the limitation of RAM the program uses.

Emulation is completely processor dependent - works just as well in Virtual Machine from Parallels which uses an emulated video card.

Hope I found this out and you are all welcome to try and compare notes is:
1. Open "Activity Monitor" (Applications>Utilities>Activity Monitor)
2. Ran Virtual DJ and set up 2 m4v videos and did not use a video skin. Got them to play on my Macbook Pro 18.3 intel core duo at the same time! Mixing with effects is right out and the interface slows as does the video output.

Processor use goes through the roof and Activity monitor reports 100% CPU usage, 1.3gb memory available and that virtual DJ is using about 200mb of RAM with 180mb of Virtual RAM.

I tried the demo on a mac mini 2Ghz Core 2 Duo with an intel GMA950 64mb shared and got better performance but have not tried this test.

Another thing that boosted performance was Open "Activity Monitor" (Applications>Utilities>Activity Monitor) and killed a few non essential processes.\

My suggestions to the mac programmers at Atomix is to allow VDJ to make better use of available Memory and less use of virtual memory if possible. Also the internal video decoder needs to be optimized and should make use of apple's own core video resources.
Need an option that supports hardware acceleration.

This is a major issue with the software and effects all processors on even the newest macs.
 
Update: New version is available 6.0.7 if your a pro user download it I'm told it should address a lot of issues with video support. Try it out for me will you and post your finding?


I'm waiting on the updated Trial version which I'm told will be available shortly - sorry need this to work before I spend another $150 to buy the upgrade.

I'm a huge fan of telling it like it is: If I have a problem with you I'll tell it to your face, If you do a good job I appreciate it and I'll tell it to your superior's.

Big ups to DJ Cyder for letting us know about it! Seriously, Thanks for being active in the forums and supporting your company! I'd like to know who your boss is so I can tell him your doing a great job.

Boo hiss to cstoll for not saying anything useful, actually addressing legitimate questions posted or addressing known issues in a discussion.
I bought a Hercules Steel controller and registered my copy of Virtual DJ that came with it and downloaded the Trail version, so yeah I paid money to play with this software - real money for it as part of a bundle and beta tested and posted my results and opinions to your company and forums.
So I paid just enough to say it - Thanks for being a tool, specifically a bucket with a hole in it ; )- You can't even hold water. Let me know if you want to know a thing or too about good customer service and I'll send you some links that will help you.

Atomix in general: Thanks for working on this port for mac - and updating it. Friendly word of advise: Take the rose tinted glasses off and please keep your customers, paying customers in the loop about issues. I waited a month to hear anything and was only told about an update being available and soon available as a trial. You guys have done so good work on the PC side and from what I've seen it's been 2 step forwards and 3 steps back, turn and repeat on the Mac side. It's really frustrating and this is very visible in the forums. I just dug a little deeper and provided more details.

I actually want to give Atomix my money and actually use your product professionally. Video is the key - otherwise your limited edition works fine for audio only and is a back up to my primary software of choice.

 
Nice post, I will try video tonight. Sorry, I have taken a break from the forum, will check tonight and post hopefully tomorrow.
 
For sure. On my mbp 6.07 is working well but i don't use an ns7 just a vci300 currently. I'll check on the trial status and let you know.
 
 
Thanks for the update - will give it a try and post my findings shortly. I am going to test it on the MBP Core D and the mini c2d and post both results - Got a video gig next friday so I'm not holding my breath on this but I am happy for the fast update
 
6.0.7 certainly worked a lot better than previous. I personally still got the screen rolls when trying to mix two at the same time. I am waiting for my buddy to come over with a camcorder, i want to record all that happens and then share with everyone. BTW I am using MP4 files right from Top Hits USA, and when I set the Video decoder to quick time rather than the default decoder I can't even load the video :-/

I am not sure if maybe I am facing a system issue? I can play six videos at the same time (six quicktimes open) with no issue.

My buddy is also bringing his beefed up pro over to see if there is any difference.
 
I'm experiencing the same problem. I tested some MP4/H.264 encoded videos ripped with Handbrake. If I use internal video decorer it works, but if I choose Quicktime video encoder, nothing happens.
 
Using H264 video from handbrake and MP4 from Top hits and video seems to work on the old Macbook Pro Core Duo 1.83ghz with Composite video output. Transitions are fine. Using the VMix5.4 skin and it seems ok - heavy processor use but stable. Not using preview monitor in that skins seems to help. Tried out Automix and pegged the CPU - Video lags. Mix is fast but the video plays only 1-4 frames per second. After a few videos shut off automix and VDJ would not recover frame rate of the currently playing song can add a new song seems to play with a little lag. Closed and reopened and it regular mixing with transitions works again.

I could not reproduce any video rolls with the composite video output adapter but the output was either there or like freeze frame when using automix. What output are you using on your mac? Didn't have a cable so didn't test DVI output yet.

stlaurents, I tried an older version with Quicktime video decoder selected and it seemed to work better than the internal video decoder. Looking back I think the issue was even though it was selected it never actually changed over. The program crashed and I used App Zapper to uninstall and then download and reinstall the trial and it was stable but Quicktime video decoder would fail to load video. Does not seem to be a working option.
 
For my setup:

2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo
4 Gigs RAM
9400M vid card (apple current spec).

When I tried my tests I ran mini dvi to VGA adapter, and VGA to tv. I had the same problem, when I selected Quicktime as the vid decoder nothing would play. Actually, if I select quicktime as the audio I can't play audio files either so I am forced to use the default settings across the board. One video was awesome, upon playing the second one at the same time I get the frame rolling, audio is still ok but am not able to tempo up or down, or backspin out of the first video (it stutters audio, screen freezes too)
 
My MBP is the old core duo 1.83 with 2 gb ram and the ATI X1600 Radeon/128mb.

Tried out the mini dvi to VGA adapter to a display looks good no major issues with effects or transition.

Did notice that the first video played had decoding issues - looked like interlacing artifacts (gaggies ever other line motion blur) but was solid on the manual video cross fade with effects. Seemed to calm down after a few sounds. Closed and restarted, played a different video same issue...
After a few videos it seems to work.
Manually selecting videos and mixing is ok
Automix is a fail. Video is choppy, second video plays and it staggers. Turn off automix and you have to reload the same video for it to play smoothly again. Second deck video seems to work.

VDJ is running the computer so hard (up to 170%) the fan kicks on and is running every time 2 video are running... Not used to that, pretty loud sitting on the desk using it's speakers.

New trail works flawless on XP in bootcamp same machine as does the VDJ5 LE version with video in a little window.
The only other Mac's i can use have the C2Duo and intel GMA which almost worked with the previous version and I suspect will have the same results.
 
I tried a little experiment this weekend:

going VGA into the tv i have the issues I mentioned
going yellow RCA, no issues, all set.

Wonder if the VGA is using some sort of scaling or upconversion?

Steve
 


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