- First, we need to set up Resolume to enable OSC (short for Open Sound Control) communication and NDI streaming.
In the Resolume menu bar, go to:
Arena > Preferences > OSCMake sure that OSC Input and OSC output are both enabled. Also take note of the Incoming Port and Outgoing Port numbers, as we will need to enter this information into Tribe. Note: If you are connected to your PC, it is recommended that you use your Localhost IP Address (127.0.0.1) rather than the one listed in Resolume. - Now, lets create an NDI output in Resolume. In the Resolume menu panel, go to:
Output > Network Streaming (NDI)And make sure that this selection is enabled (should show a green circle). Now navigate to the Sources tab in the Resolume Browser window, and look for the NDI Servers dropdown list (It should be at the bottom. If you don’t see it make sure you close the Generators dropdown). Here, you should see an NDI Server titled YourComputerName (Arena – Composition). This source will show your final output composition, and it will now be a selectable NDI source in Tribe. Let’s create one more NDI output, this time for your preview monitor. In the Resolume menu panel, go to: Output > Advanced… A new window will open up, and this is where you can create additional NDI output servers. To create a new screen, click the plus button in the top left corner of the window and select screen. Select your new screen in the left panel, and navigate to the settings panel on the right. In the “Device” dropdown menu, select NDI. Now, go back to the left panel and click on “Slice 1”, under the new screen you just created. Finally, go back to the settings panel on the right, and in the “Input Source” dropdown menu, select Preview. Click “Save & Close” in the bottom right corner of the window. Now, if you look back at the NDI Servers list, you should see your newly created output as YourComputerName (Arena – Screen 1). Now we have two NDI output sources, one for our output monitor and one for our preview monitor. Note: You can create additional NDI servers, as well as customize various parameters, all within the Advanced output window. For more information about NDI and software with NDI support, go to https://www.ndi.tv/. - Now Resolume is setup to communicate over a network with Tribe! Time to launch Tribe and get set up there. Open Tribe and navigate to the Content menu. Go the Equipment tab on the right, and you’ll see the VJ controller as an option. If you’ve already purchased the controller, you can select it and Tribe will prompt you to restart your session. Follow the on screen prompt, and when Tribe relaunches, you’ll see the VJ controller to the right of the decks!
- Now we need to tell Tribe what Ports to listen for, and what NDI servers to receive video from. Go to the settings panel, and click on the VJ Controller tab. Here you’ll see options for incoming and outgoing IP Addresses and Port Numbers, along with two dropdown menus for the NDI streams. If you are connected to your PC, it’s recommended you use your Localhost IP Address, which is 127.0.0.1, for both the incoming and outgoing addresses (This will be set by default so there is no need to change them). For the Port Numbers, make sure the Incoming Port Number in Tribe matches the Outgoing Port Number in Resolume; and the Outgoing Port Number in Tribe matches the Incoming Port Number in Resolume. By default, the Tribe port numbers are set to match the default ports in Resolume (7000 and 7001), so unless you have modified the Port Numbers in Resolume, you won’t need to change these either.
- Finally, go to the NDI Video Stream dropdown menus. The Output/Backwall stream controls the video that will show up on the left screen of the VJ Controller and the backwall, while the Preview stream sets the video that will be displayed on the right screen of the VJ Controller. Select the two sources you created in Resolume for the output and preview monitors, respectively. And that’s it! Now you’re set up and ready to start mixing awesome videos. For a detailed on how to use the VJ controller and how it interacts with Resolume, check the user guide below.
Notes:
- If you're finding that your CPU is unexpectedly high while running Resolume, check to make sure your videos are in a DXV video codec. Other codecs are not optimized for Resolume and could cause performance issues. You can use Resolume Alley (free) or another video converter.
- If you still are having performance issues or video stutter, try downgrading your videos to 720p or 480p (Many clips downloaded from the internet are 1080p or higher). You can also do this is Resolume Alley.
The Tribe VJ Controller allows you to drive live visuals in Resolume, with the ability to launch clips, control effects, sync tempo, and much more, all from within Tribe. If you’re just getting started with Resolume, we recommended you familiarize yourself with the native Resolume interface and controls before trying to control it from Tribe. Resolume has excellent documentation and videos on their website, making it super easy to get started creating amazing visuals. On the other hand, if you’re a seasoned Resolume Pro, you’ll be able to get up and running in Tribe in no time.
The recommended workflow for using Tribe with Resolume is to set up your composition in Resolume first, before launching Tribe. This will allow Tribe to initialize the VJ Controller to the exact state of Resolume right when it's launched.
While you can control any Resolume composition from Tribe, you might find that due to the VJ Controller layout, there are certain things you'll want to keep in mind when creating your Resolume composition.
- There are a maximum of 5 clips per layer, per deck, that are triggerable via the VJ Controller. If you want to use more than 5 clips in a layer, you may want to utilize additional decks rather than have more than 5 clips in a layer in a single deck.
- The dashboard controls are your friend! Both the master dashboard knobs and all of the layer dashboard knobs controllable via the VJ controller. You'll definitely want to map those ahead of time in Resolume to the effects you want to control.
- For maximum visual awesomeness, you'll want to sync your visuals to the music in Tribe. You can do this in one of 2 ways. You can use the speed knob on the VJ Controller located right above the master fader. This will control the speed of the currently selected clip. Alternatively, you can enable your clips to BPM Sync Mode in Resolume. Then you can control the speed with the various tempo controls located in the top right of the VJ Controller, including a button that syncs the Resolume BPM with the current Tribe BPM.
If you’ve ever used a MIDI controller to drive a program like Resolume or Ableton Live, the Tribe VJ Controller will look familiar. On the left side of the controller there are 8 channel strips. Each of these channels corresponds to a Layer in Resolume, giving you 8 layers in total. You’ll also see that the main grid of buttons contains 5 buttons per layer. Each of these buttons corresponds with a Column in Resolume. You’ve probably caught on by now that each of the buttons in the grid corresponds to a Clip in Resolume, and 8 Layers x 5 Columns per layer gives you 40 total clips. When combined with 8 selectable Decks, each with their own unique grid of clips, this gives you 320 clips in total, all triggerable from Tribe!
If you hover over other knobs, faders, and buttons on the VJ Controller, you’ll see the names of the corresponding parameters in Resolume, such as Layer Master faders, dashboard knobs, select and clear layer buttons, along with a range of tempo controls. For a full description and image of the VJ Controller to Resolume mappings, check out the visual at the bottom of this document.
Lastly, using the Oculus Virtual Desktop, you can get a real time view into Resolume, which makes it easy to see which buttons correspond with which clips, and easily lets you adjust parameters directly in Resolume. From the Oculus home menu, simply click "Add Desktop Panel", find your Resolume window, and move it using the grip button to a suitable location behind the VJ Controller. Then in the bottom right corner of the window, click "Pin To Experience" and the window will be pinned in Tribe, even after leaving the Oculus menu! (Note: If you don't see the "Pin to Experience" icon in the bottom right corner of the window, go to Oculus Home Settings→Experimental, and make sure 'Hide Dashboard Controls' is disabled).
For the most part, you control the VJ controller exactly the same way you control the DJ Console and Decks; by grabbing knobs and sliders and pressing buttons. However there is one crucial difference, which gives you the ability to choose to either Output or Preview a clip in the main 8x5 Clip Grid. To output a clip, use the Trigger Button (clip will light up yellow). To Preview a clip, use the Grip Button (clip will light up pink). For all other controls, you can use either the grip or output buttons, similar to the rest of the Console and Mixer controls.
You may also be surprised to know that not only can you control Resolume from Tribe, but you can also control Tribe from Resolume. Any changes you make to clips, layers, decks, faders, or knobs directly in Resolume will be reflected back onto the VJ Controller in Tribe. Pretty sweet!
In Tribe, you can tell which layer and deck is currently active because the corresponding button will be lit up orange. Changing the active Layer and Deck does exactly what you’d expect it to do in Resolume; however there are a couple things unique to Tribe to keep in mind. The set of knobs at the top of the controller correspond to the dashboard knobs for your currently selected layer. For example, if Layer 1 is currently selected, the knobs correspond to the dashboard knobs 1 through 8, for layer 1. If you switch your active layer to Layer 2, the knobs will automatically move to recall the state of dashboard knobs 1 through 8, in layer 2. The same is true of the Crossfader Group controls in the bottom right of the controller; they will display the crossfader group for the currently selected layer. This allows you to control the dashboard knobs and crossfader groups for each layer of your composition individually, all from within Tribe.
Similarly, the Deck Select button panel tells you which deck is currently active. When you change Decks, you’ll notice that any clips you had outputted in the previous deck will turn green. This lets you know that those clips are still active, but in another deck than the one you currently have selected. If you go back to the original deck, the clips will turn back to yellow.
One important note for using the VJ Controller in Multiplayer rooms is that in order to see the video output, each player will need to set up their own local NDI stream on their PC (Instructions on how to do that here). This means the Resolume project will need to be shared with players that want to see the video output so they can open it on their own computer. Once both players have their own NDI streams up and running for their own local Resolume projects, the video output will be synced for both players, as will the VJ controller itself.
If someone is in a multiplayer room where the host is running Resolume and they don't have their own local copy, that player can still use the VJ Controller and the changes will apply to the host's Resolume instance, but the player won't be able to see the video output.
1 – Layer Opacity /composition/layers/{#}/video/opacity
2 – Solo Layer /composition/layers/{#}/solo
3 – Bypass Layer /composition/layers/{#}/bypassed
4 – Previous Clip in Layer /composition/layers/{#}/connectprevclip
5 – Next Clip in Layer /composition/layers/{#}/connectnextclip
6 – Select Layer /composition/layers/{#}/select
7 – Clear Layer /composition/layers/{#}/clear
8 – Launch Clip (Output with Trigger or Preview with Grip) /composition/layers/{layer#}/clips/{clip#}/connect or /composition/layers/{layer#}/clips/{clip#}/select
9 – Layer Dashboard Knobs /composition/selectedlayer/dashboard/link{#}
10 – Master Opacity /composition/master
11 – Clip Speed /composition/selectedclip/transport/position/behaviour/speed
12 – Preview Composition /composition/select
13 – Clear All Clips /composition/disconnectall
14 – Launch Column (Trigger all clips in column) /composition/columns/{#}/connect
15 – Crossfader /composition/crossfader/phase
16 – Crossfade Group Assign /composition/selectedlayer/crossfadergroup
17 – Select Current Deck /composition/decks/{#}/select
18 – Composition Dashboard Knobs /composition/dashboard/link{#}
19 – BPM 2x /composition/tempocontroller/tempo/multiply
BPM /2 /composition/tempocontroller/tempo/divide
20 – BPM Nudge Up /composition/tempocontroller/tempopull
BPM Nudge Down /composition/tempocontroller/tempopush
21 – Toggle Metronome /composition/tempocontroller/metronome
22 – Tap Tempo /composition/tempocontroller/tempotap
23 – BPM Fine Tune Knob /composition/tempocontroller/tempo
24 – Sync Resolume Tempo with Tribe Tempo /composition/tempocontroller/tempo
25 – Play/Pause Clip /composition/selectedclip/transport/position/behaviour/playdirection
26 – Record Composition to Disk /composition/recorder/record
27 – BPM Display
For a complete explanation on the effects these controls have in Resolume, refer to the Resolume documentation linked above.