Using Traktor to control and manipulate video clips
There are already well-established ways of performing A/V scratching. Serato Scratch has had the ability to control video as well as audio for some time now. You can also do this in PCDJ Dex and Virtual DJ. The technique isn’t new either. As far back as 10 years ago, Coldcut were already doing this with their own purpose-built software, VJamm.
It’s always been a feature that’s been lacking from Traktor though. It’s something that’s asked for time and time again on the Traktor forums, although NI probably have a very good reason for not including this as a standard feature, choosing instead to concentrate purely on audio.
Here we’re showing how to sync audio in Traktor with video playback in Resolume Avenue, allowing you to scratch, loop and hotcue-juggle video / audio clips simultaneously.
We’re using Traktor and Resolume Avenue here but any DJ software that can output a MIDI message based on track position, and any VJ software that can receive a message to control the playhead will work using the MIDI method described in the video. Note that the OSC method described in the video and the TR Bridge software provided for this will only work in Resolume Avenue.
Here’s how to do it:
Note that Windows users need some way of sending and receiving internal MIDI messages between programs, eg., LoopBe1 or MIDI Yoke.
Download
If you need to convert the MIDI to OSC, as described in the video, you can download the PC / Mac software to do so here: http://digitaldjtools.net/downloads/TR_Bridge.zip
Ms. Pinky
If you’ve already got a Traktor Scratch Pro setup and want something a little more reliable than the method shown above, it’s well worth getting your hands on the Ms. Pinky time-coded vinyl and accompanying software. It comes at a very reasonable price and includes two standalone apps (one for audio and one for audio and video). You also get a VST plugin and a Max for Live patch. The included instructions are clear and thorough and setup is really easy, especially if you already use Traktor Scratch Pro. Just swap your NI timecode vinyl with your (shockingly pink!) Ms Pinky vinyl, enable your soundcard in the Ms Pinky settings and you’re all set.
The only downside to Ms. Pinky is if you’re used to having BPM detection and a Sync button. The Ms. Pinky software is relatively basic and although it’ll handle hotcues and loops, there’s little in the way of effects and you’ll have to beat match the old-fashioned way. If you’re already using Traktor with a vinyl setup though, the chances are you’re from the old school of DJing and not having a sync button won’t present too much of a problem anyway.
Here are the results after about an hour of messing about with Ms Pinky:
And some more…
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Oliver Wood for providing the video clip for the tutorial video
TR Bridge was made in Max 6 and uses the external OpenSoundControl Version 1.9.16, by Matt Wright, Andy Schmeder – http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/patch/4029
This is absolutely brilliant! Is there way to use the same scratching technique using Ableton Live / Max for Live and Resolume?
Thank you!
I don’t think so as I don’t think you can send a MIDI message from Ableton Live which assigns a value to the position of the playhead.
This should be possible through Max for Live though, but I’m not sure that such a patch exists.
Yes you can. You can map the midi output in Ableton/Max Live and it will do the same.
http://mspinky.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Maxi-Patch_MainWindow.jpg
Ms. Pinky has OSC output (and midi 7/14 bits)with scalable math options since more than a year ago…
About resolume:
http://resolume.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4249&sid=3166df6ec1e4cce9cc5a69d9780f3161&start=10
3 years ago and math calculation added…
http://resolume.com/forum/download/file.php?id=542
And finally:
http://resolume.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9164&p=34672#p34672
I hope it helps.
Hi this is really good linking traktor and resolume.
But is it posible to change the videos when you change the song on the traktor?
Where can i see the conections between the orders midi of the traktors to the osc on the resolume?
Or the way is asigning the midi orders in resolume, but as far as i know you are sending input to resolume osc orders…
Thanks in advance
I don’t think it’s possible to load tracks and videos at the same time in both programs (ie., using just one button). You’d need to load these separately in each program.
If you download the ‘TR Bridge’ program I wrote (see the link in the Download section above), you can see the MIDI CC numbers being used and their OSC counterparts.
it’s possible to juggle with 2 vidéo sources, like you can do with serato vidéo???
As far as I know, you can only map the playhead of the currently playing video in Resolume Avenue. So no, I don’t think this is possible. Ms Pinky is ideal for this though.
Thx man, but the Ms Pinky website have no information for this…
Sorry, my comment was a little misleading! I meant that you can definitely do this with the Ms Pinky software itself (& time-control vinyl / CDs), rather than them having information on juggling 2 sources in Resolume Avenue.
Hey this looks great but I am having problems getting it working on my windows setup.
Everything works fine up until I change the Resolume Avenue input from midi to osc.
After this the video is no longer being triggered by Traktor.
TR Bridge is open and I can see it is reading the midi output from Traktor but the video in Resolume stays still.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I would love to try this out.
Did you make sure that the ‘Bundles’ box was ticked in the OSC setup in Avenue?
Yes Bundles box was ticked.
Thanks for your quick reply sorry it took so long to get back to you as I have been busy lately.
Hello!
Thanks for your tutorial.
Ive been trying to solve how to work with this on large clips (like a 6 minute music)
The work around I found was to separate the playahead information on several different CCs.
Example:
From range 0.0 to 0.1 on the track I send CC 101 from 0 to 127
From range 0.100001 to 0.200000 on the track I send CC 102 from 0 to 127
and so on…
Ive been trying to use v002 movie player on quartz composer to do my playing. (i wrote a little script to divide each cc by 10 and sum them up.)
I get the jerkiness of traktor. since im using many CCs I cant use your TR app.
Could you be kind to share it with me or tell me the basics of it so i can build my own?
Best,
Leo
Ah, that sounds interesting. I’d love to be able to use longer clips but never thought of doing that.
I wrote TR Bridge in Max 6 and it’ll be pretty easy to expand upon for your purposes. You can download a 30 day trial for Max here: http://cycling74.com/products/max/
I’ll email you the unlocked file shortly. If I get time, I’ll add the extra bits you’d need to use your own CCs.
Its been a real hassle, traktor sends too much jitter on the midi (probably because this is not its main functionality)
Gonna have to rethink it.
That’s a shame… Yeah, the MIDI out from Traktor isn’t the best. It would be so much easier if Traktor could output OSC messages…
Hi
I really red some help and a solution like everyone else I think, I use alot of screen displays and need to video mix in sync with my music, I Wana use the original music videos to the tracks I play rather that clips, I am using traktor who don’t have the video option compared to serato but love my traktor.
Will this consept work with mixemergancy in playing longer videos, plus if I sync a clip, will it remember it for the next time I load it, can you tell I am new at this.
But can’t find any help anywhere.
Thanks
It depends on whether Mixemergency will accept MIDI or OSC messages (but ideally OSC if you want this to run smoothly) and allow them to control the playhead. I’ve never used Mixemergency so I’m not sure if this is possible. From what I can see on their website though, it looks like it’s made specifically for Scratch Live so I kind of doubt it.
^^ and even if this method does work, it’s probably not going to be too good with 3 – 4 minute and longer videos. The method described only really works with short clips. Pretty good for A/V scratching but not for playing full length songs.
can you please re-upload the TR_Bridge.zip?
Sorry about the broken link. It’s working again now.
how i can fix the delay? i tried with the tr_bridge but im still having a lag on my video. im using mac osx 10.8.1, resolume arena 4.1.1 and traktor pro 2.5.0
Check the video above at 6:00
Hi all.
Thanks for sharing this smart link between Traktor and Resolume.
But like a lot of people, I really want to play longer music video as well.
I’ve just share your tips on the MixEmergency forum:
http://www.inklen.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1074&page=1#Item_3
And I’ve got a new idea even if I’m not a “code man”.
I’m a VJ since 20 years and DJ since 10 years, and I’m thinking a lot about a perfect AV set up.
For now, I’m playing with MixEmergency and Serato Video plug into Scratch live.
But I will prefer to play music with Traktor as you describe on this page.
So my idea is to connect some CDJ Pioneer to Traktor with HID connection and route this HID information to VJ software (Resolume-Modul8 or MixEmergency…) to play with a better synchronisation than Midi or OSC.
“HID (Hardware Interface Device) mode allows the player to communicate bi-directionally with the computer in order to send control signals (eg. play, fast-forward, scratch, loop), and receive information (track and time data for the display, loop status for the LEDs). You no longer need to use timecode / control discs as the information is built-in.”
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/DJ/CD-DVD-Media-Players/What+is+HID+mode
What do you think about this sync connection?
I think that’s a nice idea and should work if the CDJ can also output OSC messages along with its normal connection with Traktor.
If anyone has a couple of CDJs they don’t mind giving me, I’d be happy to test this out!
I’d be happy to share a couple of CDJ, but I don’t have personally at home. I’m mixing with classic vinyl and a midi controller at home … and besides, I’m not sponsored by pioneer :p
I’m using CDJ at the club like a lot of DJ now!
A HID to OSC patch could be a good way, isn’t it?
like your TR bridge software
Yeah, I think that’s the only way you could do things with longer clips. And yes, it should be possible to make a patch in Max 6. If I ever get my hands on some CDJs, I’ll give it a go! Thanks for the suggestion
Try to contact Martin Dockree. He’s Uk Sales Manager at Pioneer DJ
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/martin-dockree/b/659/a4
They probably be ok to develop some visual connection with their new gear.
Before, the DVJ 1000 was selling by Pioneer since 10 years, but it’s so “old school” technic now, and they never updated this AV stuff.
OK, cheers!
Let me know what’s happen, I will be happy to help you about this job!
hey, great tutorial. Looks like your TR Bridge is not working for me though. I am on PC/win7/64 and TR Bridge has no activity. Any idea why?
My bad, I was sending wrong channel15. I am wondering, can the bridge be tweaked so we can use different channels to send midi data positions from for example two decks controlling two different parameters via OSC?
Yeah, you’re kind of stuck with predefined MIDI Channel and CCs as it stands. I have a version I’ve built in Max6 where you can modify the Channel and CC numbers but I haven’t built this into a standalone app yet.
It may be a while before I do this as it’s way down on the list, but you can download the Max6 file here: http://digitaldjtools.net/downloads/TR_Bridge_Edit.zip.
If you don’t have Max6, you’d need to download the trial from cycling74.com, change the values to the ones you need and export it as a standalone. You’d also need to download and install the Open Sound Control object for Max6 from here for it all to work: http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/downloads
If the whole Max6 thing looks like a massive headache, then just keep reminding me (and feel free to do so by email if you’d prefer: digitaldjtools@gmail.com) and I’ll get round to it at some point!