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Flight
06-11-2012, 12:33 PM
hello djF

i would like to introduce to you a project i've been working on for some time, in which i've recently put the final touches on.

presenting...
liiveX :: (Live Integrated Intelligent Visuals Engine X)

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3645/liivex.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/100/liivex.jpg/)

liiveX is a collection of max4live devices which allow real-time manipulation, creation, mixing, and effecting of digital light systems. the devices exist within ableton live, an audio & midi sequencer. liiveX listens to midi, from looping clips in sequence, or from direct midi feed from instruments (synths, drum racks, percussion samplers, etc.).

pre-program your midi loops in ableton's arrangement view. play your loops ad infinitum in ableton's session view, using midi effects such as note length, appregiation, chord, etc. sequence your loops easily to music with ableton's grid. did i mention the serato/ableton bridge? lock tempo to your turntables. syncromesh the lights to your dj set. produce your lightshow while you dj, or simply have midi-loops bounce around in controllable randomness, driving the core of your lights & visuals as you mix your dj set, knowing your lights are perfectly in time with what you're doing, or systematically doing what you expect of them.

perform it live?
of course! with an iPad. launch your clips using the lemur mu interface. control your light rig's input, color, parameters, x/y/z paramaters, and just about every light control element in localized groups, or global control, with the liiveX interfaces for lemur using your finger-tip(s). don't need to get fancy? control it with the liiveX lemur iPod/iPhone mini controller. want it really fancy? utilize up to 10 iOS devices on your wifi network for simultaneous touch control of liiveX from multiple vantage points within the liiveX lemur control heirarchy, which is adaptable in complexity and depth depending on the complexity of the rig. liiveX has a highly flexible digital genetic DNA, which very easily adapts and integrates to the protocols of any light fixture which receives DMX512, meaning that liiveX can be integrated efficiently into any standard professional entertainment light rig.

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8996/aliive2padpod.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/aliive2padpod.jpg/)

what else?
program automation to your midi clips. everything can be enveloped. everything can be modulated. everything can be midi-mapped. further manipulation can be found in the built-in liiveXFX, including 4 independent LFOs and attack/decay envelopes for dimmer inputs, controlled either globally or locally by either automation or the liiveX lemur template.

the result?
a systematic dataflow output to your light rig, brought into commonality with liiveX's uniform modelling of various light programming data.

what does the crowd get? stunning light displays, perfectly on your beat. sound that becomes entangled with visual stimulus that moves, reacts, and alters perfectly with the music. lasers scanning to the synth movements. color pulsing systematically to the drums. sequential motion patterns that follow the chords of the lead.

what does the user get?
programming, control, and manipulation of lightshows at level never-before heard of. simplicity and efficiency were key in every element of programming & interfacing while liiveX was created. it is, after all, a system designed by a dj for djs... or anyone else who finds themselves on a stage full of lights with an urge to play...

system technical details:
hardware:
Apple MacBookPro, 2.4ghz c2d, 8gb ram
Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)
Enttec DMXUSBPRO usb-dmx interface

software:
liiveX by SubFizix
Lemur for iOS by Liine
liiveX Lemur Control by SubFizix
Live8 by Ableton
Max4Live by Cycling74
ScratchLive / The Bridge by Serato/Ableton (optional - for deck control)
mu by Jazzmutant (optional - for Ableton session control)

liiveX uses open-source code derived from DMaX, by David Butler :: The Impersonal Stereo.

~>{


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxtbxDIdKXM

Mystic
06-11-2012, 03:16 PM
So does this work on a timeline like system rather than scenes and queues or something? Is that what you're getting at?

Flight
06-11-2012, 03:54 PM
So does this work on a timeline like system rather than scenes and queues or something? Is that what you're getting at?

yes, it allows you to create 'scenes' using midi clips. these midi clips are sequenced in ableton's arrangement (timeline) or session environments. my current ableton session utilizes 4 tracks of dimmer, 4 tracks of color, 4 tracks of pan, 4 tracks of tilt, 4 tracks of zoom, 2 tracks of rotate, and 2 tracks of function. what this grants the user is the ability to direct any clip from, say, a dimmer track, to any fixture 'group' in liiveX, or any combination of fixture groups, and alter this routing on the fly. this allows you to have either your entire rig running off the same dimmer pattern, or portions of your rig running from different dimmer patterns. (this routing scheme is the same for all color, pan, tilt, zoom, or rotation inputs). by using the ableton session to control your lightshow, you are offered the freedom to arrange light clips into scenes for ableton scene launch control, or ableton group launch control, or just to launch clip-by-clip if you feel like improvising. you may also utilize ableton's session clips set with follow-actions to define how the clips alter.

since all of liiveX's lighting control information is standardized to a global 'midi language', this allows you to create and record your own midi clips on-the-fly with ableton's session, and offers a unique charactaristic of liiveX, which is the 'light player', that effectively utilizes the iPad as a 'drum machine' that plays only a defined range of midi notes as per liiveX's midi definitions, which gives the user the feel of using a true dedicated 'instrument' to play their lights.

instead of using dmx to send information to the lights, this system standardizes protocol into one common midi-definition system, meaning that the information being used to control a moving spot's xyz coordinates can be simultaneously used to control a moving laser's xyz coordinates, whilst having the laser and the moving spot follow independent dimmer patterns. (or the same pattern...the purpose of this system is improvisation!)

DJ M&M
06-11-2012, 05:36 PM
sounds cool, but ill stick to my light jockey manger and touch pannel running on an ipad

Flight
06-11-2012, 09:09 PM
sounds cool, but ill stick to my light jockey manger and touch pannel running on an ipad

thanks. it wasn't really designed to replace a system like light jockey if that is one's preferred control method (which i've used extensively in the past).
my primary goal in creating it was to create a new way of working lighting all-together.

also so i'm not coming off the wrong way on this, i'm not a business or a corporation, and am not selling this 'product'.
i'm just a music traveller who creates random goodness, and liiveX is rather just an experimental project of mine (one that actually got 'finished').
just thought i'd share it here to see the feedback on the conceptual-end of the system....

...and if someone's really interested, they might be able to twist my arm for a full copy of the max patches & lemur templates, because after all, virtually the whole system is open-source.

SmoothOperator
06-12-2012, 10:51 AM
I like it!

Mystic
06-12-2012, 12:35 PM
Going to post links to the program?

Flight
06-13-2012, 09:20 AM
I like it!

thanks smoothO!

Flight
06-13-2012, 09:22 AM
Going to post links to the program?

yes! soon.
i'm working on finishing a proper website to launch my initiative of open-sourcing this program.
i'd also like to reign in a few more weeks of beta testing to ensure i get all the kinks ironed-out before launching it publically.

pomL
06-20-2012, 01:16 AM
When are you going to release it? I'm looking for a way to Sync Light with Ableton using audio clip (never done that before). Do you think I could simply send audio clip to dummy clip & then midi to DMX? Is it doable?

I've been searching for a thread like this since a long time, happy to see it doesn't date from 2005

Thanks for help