PCDJ VJ - AUTOMIX VIDEO and AUDIO SOFTWARE

PRO MOBILE REVIEW

Incorporating video and graphics into mobile DJ setups is heralded as the way of the future by many within the industry. DVD players, video mixers and visuals software have all been reviewed in previous issues of Pro Mobile and have all been put to use by mobile DJs across the country. However, many DJs feel that software based video mixing is the way forward and have been eagerly anticipating the release of PCDJ VJ, which allows computer based DJs to incorporate music videos and visuals into their performances.

PCDJ VJ is a natural progression of the PCDJ digital DJing software, which allows users to mix together music videos from their PC/laptop. All common video files are supported, including AVI, MPEG, MOV and WMV although the software isn't limited to video as all of the audio features can also be used to play regular music files. PCDJ VJ is also ideal for karaoke as it supports MP3+G, WAV+G, WMA+G and OGG+G formats and also supports binding of the CDG files to MP3 counterpart as a single ZIP file.

The basic layout is similar to other versions of PCDJ software. The bottom area of the screen is dedicated to finding tracks, while two 'virtual decks' are located towards the top of the screen, one to the left and the other to the right. At the very top of the screen is a waveform display that shows a graphical representation of the audio from the two tracks currently loaded in the virtual decks to aid with mixing them together. The obvious additions to the layout are the preview monitor, which shows the mixed video output that will be displayed on your projector(s) or video screen(s). There is also a separate cross-fader for video mixing, which allows the video and audio elements to be mixed independently.

As with audio-only versions of PCDJ software, all you have to do to play a track is drag it from the browser area of the screen onto one of the virtual decks. It takes around 5 to 10 seconds to load the waveform of a track, however it is possible to start playback while it is still loading.

The browser section is split into three areas: a navigation menu that allows you to locate the folders containing music and video files on your computer; a list of all the tracks in the currently selected folder; and a 'waitlist'. The waitlist allows requests or tracks that you want to play later to be set aside for easy access. The software can even be configured to automatically load the next track from the waitlist when the last track finishes playing.

Virtual folders can also be created, these are the PCDJ version of play lists, allowing DJs to create lists of must play tracks for different genres, which can then be quickly located and loaded. A simple utility is also integrated into the software that allows easy editing of track information tags.

Not only can tracks be located by browsing the folders of your PC, there is also a very quick and easy to use search function that makes it easy to locate a particular track from a large collection. The clever search interface will match anything from a single character to any combination of 10 fields (title, artist, filepath, filename, comment, album, genre, year, bpm, key). Each time a character is typed the results are narrowed down, which means that most tracks can be located from a large colleciton by entering only 4 or 5 characters.

The 'history' feature automatically records a list of all the tracks that you play on a given day, which will generally mean at a particular gig. This is perfect for giving a little helping hand if you are stuck for inspiration and want to find out what you played at another similar gig.

In terms of audio mixing, everything is included that you could possibly need: level control, gain control, 3-band EQ, seamless looping function and pitch control with key lock. There are also four hot cue points for each deck and an audio effects section with a drop down list for selecting things like flanger, filter and turntable brake and spin-back effects. A particularly useful feature is the 'Sync' button that will automatically synchronise the tempo of a track to match the one currently playing on the other deck. This is a great tool for helping you to create a seamless mix very quickly - which is important now that you also have to worry about the visual element of your performance.

A pair of drop-down boxes below the main preview monitor provide access to video effects and transitions. The effects can be used to add excitement to your video mix and include a 'negative' filter, 'strobe' and an automatic 'boom' effect that quickly zooms in and out to the beat of the music.

Other effects can be used to add extra graphical elements such as the ‘Titler’, which creates an MTV style banner showing the artist and title of the currently playing video. There is also a ‘Text’ effect that allows custom words and phrases to be superimposed onto the video image. Also worth a mention is the ‘Slideshow’ effect, which allows the use of still images – ideal for when you don’t have the video for a particular track.

There are a good collection of transitions available ranging from a basic fade, through common effects such as zoom and wipe, to more complex effects that are difficult to describe but look very effective. As well as the video cross fader, there are also autofade buttons which facilitate smooth video blends.

Although it is fairly easy to get started with the software, when you delve a little deeper there are lot of advanced features and settings to discover.  For example, the ‘auto pitch matching’ option can be enabled so that when a track is loaded its pitch will automatically be set to match that of the track that is currently playing. Another useful feature is the ‘auto gain’ option, which automatically sets the gain of a loaded track to either normalise at 0db or match the current song.

If you haven’t got a 00DJ complete with touch screen, or if you like the hands on feel of hardware gear, PCDJ VJ can be configured for control by any of the plethora of MIDI compatible control devices on the market.  It is also natively compatible with many of the most popular controllers including PCDJ’s DAC-2 and DAC-3; Numark’s ICDX, DMC2 and Total Control; as well as the new HC4500 from Denon.  If you prefer pressing buttons to clicking a mouse, it is also possible to create customised keyboard shortcuts for all of the software’s features.

Overall PCDJ VJ is very easy to use and provides all of the controls and features necessary for a polished audio/visual DJ performance. The software should be intuitive for all DJs, but particularly existing PCDJ users.  Because of the processor hungry nature of real-time video mixing, a fairly powerful computer will be needed to make the most of the software – not to mention a huge hard drive for storing all of those big video files!

review by Eddie Short, Pro Mobile magazine April 2008