This halloween, I'm planning on playing some Halloween Themed music videos in my local Pub.
I purchased the MixMash Halloween Set, and a custom DVD containing a hand-picked selection - not specifically halloween themed.
MixMash offered Courier delivery for an extra £6 (it was ordered just before the postal strike) and I took them up on this.
I was looking at using Virtual DJ, but have been trialing a new bit of software which appears to be a bit better (built-in visualisations, logo overlay and one-click mixing). I'm not looking to do fancy Video DJing, so simple is good for now.. Its a shame I sold my USB controller(s)..
Ok, with the software and media in hand, I now looked at the hardware.
I've got 2 Laptops
- one is a Dual-Core, 4GB beast with decent ATI graphics - but only VGA out.
- the other is an aging Single-core cheapo with S-Video (and VGA) out... suitable for connection to the Pubs Video System, but I had doubts over its reliabilty and processing power.
Carmens Laptop does have S-Video, and is dual core, but I wanted to leave it running for a few days to get confidence, and I didn't fancy an angry, Facebook deprived redhead...
So, the option then was to look into Scan converters. Mindful of the postal strike, I found that Maplin had a "PC-TV" converter. Local enfield Maplins were unhelpful on the phone, so I had to drive to Tottenham Hale, who were more willing to check stock on the phone.
This is a true Scan converter, and has Composite, S-Video and VGA passthrough. Its powered by the USB port, but does not need/use drivers;
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Module...33&T=Module
I actually paid £40, but its now showing on sale at £30
This was a doddle to use, and works with Linux and probably anything with a VGA output. The input resolution is 800x600 or 1024x768. I'm running at 800x600 - this is still over PAL resolution, and suspect higher resolution would put extra load on the PC with no/little gain in image quality.
This will enable me to run my 2 x Dell 19" monitors (on the uprights of my stand), and also pipe Composite to the Pubs Video switchbox.
As a back-up I'll take my older PC with S-Video to Composite adapter (the Laptop will have a back-up of the videos).
This will be my 1st venture into using Video. Previously, I've used WinAmp visualisations (with LineIn to allow response to the music). This looked really cool, but I had very little control, and could not play videos.
I'll try to take photos and possibly video (youtube) of parts of the night...
I hope this is of use to those interested in this side to DJing. I know Dan, Nik and others are more experienced in this field, so I welcome any feedback/advice!
Cheers,
Jason