Basic Music Video Show Help

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HiDefDJ

New DJ
Aug 13, 2006
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I plan to post some basic start up information on what it takes to become a video jockey. I'll take it step by step so this may take a few days to finish.


A little about myself. I got into VJ'ing right after Virtual DJ released their video mixing update in May of 2005. I quickly went out and bought a 5'x7' projection screen, a 2000 lumen projector, a nice computer for playback as well as a bunch of videos.

Since then I've bought 1000's of videos, a 10.5'x14' screen (thanks Chaos!), and have updated my computer a few times over.

Now, let's get started.

Step 1:

Being a video jock is very different from being a regular DJ. You have to be much more careful in what you play since the guests are actually SEEING something instead of just listening to something.

Let's take an example of Ne Yo's new release Sexy Love. This song makes for a nice cocktail hour/dinner song for Sweet 16's, Quince's, High School Graduations and other teen events. You can play the song and people would accept it with no problems.

Now, take the same song but play the music video! For those that haven't seen it, watch it by clicking here. It's very dirty and is sure to turn a few heads for the wrong reasons.

Not only do you have to watch out for the visuals, you also have to watch out for musical breaks in videos. Take the most popular video of all time, Michael Jackson's Thriller. That video is over 14 minutes long because of musical breaks. There are scenes were you just see the zombies walking around. Musical breaks are a dance floor killer. VJ's need to be wary of them.

OK, now that you have that info you now need to buy your music videos! The types of gigs you do determine what videos you need, but be greatful because buying a music video collection is a LOT easier than building your regular DJ collection.

First and foremost, there are a few services offering music videos to us. Promo Only, Screenplay, ERG & TM Century all service music videos. (ERG DVD's are simply relabled Screenplay discs)

IMHO, Promo Only offers the BEST service for building your back issue collection. Each DVD holds about 40 videos. Here is a list of back issue DVD's with videos from the 70's up to 2001.


Old Skool volume 1
Old Skool volume 2
Best of 70s volume 1
Best of 70s volume 2
Best 80-83 volume 1
Best 80-83 volume 2
Best 84-86 volume 1
Best 84-86 volume 2
Best 87-89 volume 1
Best 87-89 volume 2
Best of '90 volume 1
Best of '91 volume 1
Best of '92 volume 1
Best of '93 volume 1
Best of '94 volume 1
Best of '94 volume 2
Best of '95 volume 1
Best of '95 volume 2
Best of '96 volume 1
Best of '96 volume 2
Best of '97 volume 1
Best of '97 volume 2
Best of '98 volume 1
Best of '98 volume 2
Best of '99 volume 1
Best of '99 volume 2
Best of '00 volume 1
Best of '00 volume 2
Best of '01 volume 1
Best of '01 volume 2

http://www.promoonly.com/format_page.php?id_fp=27

Each disc will run $40 and each disc has about 40 videos. This is a great start to your collection. Promo Only also offers a number of specialty DVD's such as

Best Of Country
Best Of Love Songs
Best Of Hair Bands
Best Of Reggaeton
Halloween Videos
Christmas Videos
All Time Party Classics


Any and all of these are great additions to your library. I should know, I have them all and then some. lol

So the above titles will have you set for videos from the 70's up to 2001. You will only be missing videos from 2002 till today. (There are some videos missing from the 70's till 2001 but every month PO releases a new DVD to fill in the holes. Next release is Best of 1993 Volume 2, then probably Best of 1992 Volume 2......After 1990 I don't know what's next)

For 2002 videos till today you have 2 options.

1) Be like me and pick and choose the DVD's from this time period you really need. I went and bought videos like User's Yeah and other videos that I know I would play from that time period. I'm still missing a lot but I have the majority of the hits.

2) Wait for PO to release Best of 2002, Best of 2003, Best of 2004, etc..... That will be a LONG way off though so I wouldn't do it. lol Of course, you probably already own the regular song so you could just play that instead of a video but be sure to put something on the screen like an ambient or live video or something. (details to follow)

Even if you do buy all the above titles you will still be missing some popular titles. That's where your good friend Wal-Mart comes in. Everytime I go there I always browse the music section and look to see if they have any music video dvd's. Usually you can find a Greatest Hits DVD or a live concert DVD. These are great for filling in the gaps in your collection. I just got a Jimmy Buffett live concert DVD and now have the Cheeseburger In Paradise and Margaritaville videos. On the plus side, the live concert version of these songs are pretty true to the original versions! I love it!

How about some current videos? Promo Only offers 2 services.

1) A monthly service (Hot Video) where you get one DVD a month with Top 40, dance, urban and rock videos. You may even get a country video or something special every so often. Each DVD has about 40 videos and this runs about $300 a year. They also offer other DVD's such as Urban where you get dirty versions of songs, Latin, Country and more. Hot Video is the most complete disc though.

2) Express video is where you get a new video every week. This service gets the videos to you a few weeks before you would get them on Hot Video. The downside is the price. Around $1000 a year.


You really should plan on spending a LOT of money on your music videos. You don't want to be cheap and go out to a show with 500 videos. That will only lead to failure and disappointment.




Step 2:
Screens, Projectors, TV's and more........stay tuned.
 
Step 2:

OK, now you have some basic information on obtaining your music videos. The next step is obtaining your other gear such as screens, TV's, Projectors and more.

Screens


Projection screens come in many shapes and sizes. The size and shape you need depends on what types of gigs you plan on doing, what size rooms you're in and more.

Using projection screens takes a lot of work. If you have never played in a certain hall then you really should visit the hall beforehand and make sure there is adequate room for your screen.

It appears that the most popular size screen is a 6'x8'. This means the viewable area of the screen is 6' tall and the width is 8'. I personally use a 5x7 screen because I find it much easier to use for a number of reasons. The screen is not as large which means you need less room around the screen. It allows you to use the screen in rooms with low ceilings. Larger screens also require more distance from your projector to make the larger image.

I also have a 10.5'x14' screen that should arrive next week. This large screen will only be used for school events.

There are also 3 basic types of material used for projection screens. You may have heard of the terms front projection, rear projection and dual view. These terms are pretty self explanatory but I'll explain anyway.

Front projection is basically what you see in the movie theaters. A projector is placed in front of the screen. The downside to front projection is first and foremost, the projector is now in a dangerous position. Guests might knock over the projector while dancing or kids may run into it while rough housing. It also doesn't look good to have the projector visible to guests. To top it off, you know guests are going to make shadow puppets on the screen and walk between the projector and screen. A projector also gets VERY hot so you don't want little fingers touching it. Front projection screens only allow you to use the front of the screen.

Rear projection is the most ideal method. You place the projector BEHIND the screen out of view of the guests. You don't have to worry about guests touching the projector, walking in front of it, etc... It also looks better that the projector is hidden from view. Rear projection screens only allow you to project from behind the screen.

Dual View screens. These screens are versatile but they do have drawbacks. These types of screens allow you to project from in front OR behind the screen. They are great for when you run into a jam and can't place the projector where you want it. The drawback is that this screen is pourous, it allows some of the light from the projector to pass through the screen. This makes the image not as bright as a screen that is solely front or rear projection.

There are also different types of screen setups. Some screens use a tripod support system, some screens use a frame that attaches to vertical legs and some come in cases where you simply place the case on the floor and pick up the screen from the case. These last types of screens have scissor locking support beams to hold the screen upright.


Projectors

Generally, the larger the screen you have the brighter the projector you need. Projector brightness is measured by a term called "lumens." You can get by with a lower lumen projector for smaller screens but larger screens are served better with a higher lumen projector. A good start is to look at projectors with a rating of 2000 lumens.

Common display resolutions for a projector include SVGA (800x600 pixels), XGA (1024x768 pixels), and 720p (1280x720 pixels).



Taken from TV Specialists Dot Com.

What resolution do I need?

Projector resolution is measured in pixels which are tiny squares that make up the image of a picture. The more pixels there are, the sharper the image will appear. Knowing how you will use your projector will help determine the resolution you will need.

SVGA Projector Resolution = 800 X 600 pixels
SVGA is adequate for watching movies, DVDs or TV, however it may show "jaggies" when trying to show computer graphics or PowerPoint slides.

XGA Projector Resolution = 1,024 x 767 pixels
XGA has nearly become the standard for business applications. It can display data, graphics or video without any problem. Not only that, but most notebook computers have a native resolution of XGA, which means the projector will not have to down convert the data.

SXGA Projector Resolution = 1,280 x 1,024 pixels
SXGA is even better resolution. Those who need larger images and/or extra-sharp detail should consider an SXGA resolution projector."

Another thing to look for are lenses. There are lenses that you can use that reduce the distance needed to project an image. Be sure to check with you projector to see if it supports changeable lenses.

Just remember, the further the distance from the screen and projector the dimmer the images will be on the screen. That's why a brighter projector (2000+ lumens) is good for larger screens. A good brand to search for is BenQ.

If you run a digital music video show than you want a projector that accepts a VGA input. That shouldn't be a problem. If you're running DVD players that you want to go with at lest an svideo connection. Try to stay away from composite/rca as it is not the best quality.

Just about any modern projector you find today will allow you to change the way the image is displayed. This means that you will be able to project from the front of the screen, and if you need to project from the back of the screen you simply change the settings on the projector and the image flips horizontal so that it displays correctly to the crowd. There may also be a ceiling setting which allows you to hang the projector on a ceiling. The ceiling setting will flip the image vertically since the projector is mounted on the ceiling. This is basically for fixed installations though.

TV Screens:

Some guys use plasma screens to display music videos. These screens are great for high end events and such, but IMHO not for everyday use. They do provide a nice "Wow" factor but at a gig they are viewable by people immediately in front of them. Guests in their seats or across the room won't be able to see the screens as well, if at all. They are usuable in a much smaller areas than projection screens.

Myself, I'd rather use a 5'x7' or 6'x8' screen instead of 40" plasma screens. Plasmas may be nice but there's also something to be said about a 100" diagonal image (6'x8').
 
Now, my experience with actual hardware is limited at best. Here's a brief guide though.

Basically, you will need at least two DVD players. These can be basic portable DVD players or can be high end VJ specific players like the Pioneer DVJ 1000's.

Next up you need some kind of video switcher. These can be a basic A/B switcher shown here.
se-hda-2.jpg
With this you would connect each decks audio and video cables to the inputs of the swticehr and the connect the output of the switcher to your TV or projector for display. These will work but anytme you hit the source button to switch the video source then you will get a rough "cut" transition. Your best bet is to purchase a real vidoe mixer like the Edirol V4 or if you have to one of Numarks video mixers. I haven't heard much about Numark's latest release but I know a lot of guys complained about the audio output from the first Numark mixer. Buying a real VJ mixer will allow you to do smooth transitions between songs, apply effects to the videos and more.

A cool effect you can do with a real video mixer is to incorporate live video. You can also buy static and animated images and use an effect caled luma keying or chroma keying. With these features you have have one of these images playing on one deck and then you have a live camera feed going into the mixer. You can now mix these two sources and get an effect shown below.

View attachment chromakeydiagram.gif

This is just an example, but you can also get things that say "Party Animal" or other similar things to display with the live video feed.

No matter what you plan to purchase you need some kind of video preview. This is a nice little display that shows you the output of 2 video decks and then a main deck.

P0051390B.jpg


A good idea is to have at least 3 DVD players available. This way you have 2 free decks for your videos and on your third deck you can constantly loop an ambient. Ambients are computer generated clips shown below.

amb40505_back.jpg


These are good for times where you need to play a song that you don't have a video for or for a time when a video is simply too offensive. You never want to have a screen that is empty or black, that's why these ambients come in handy.


I don't use ANY DVD players, video mixers or displays. I run my entire show using Virtual DJ. This computer program lets you play DVD quality videos and apply all the effects like you would with a video mixer. Just about anything you can do with traditional vidoe hardware you can do on your computer with Virtual DJ. I can have a video preview for each deck as well as a main window which displays what is actually being shown to the guets.
 
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