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image and video module: load random img/video

Suggestions for new features for Magic.
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blackdot
Posts: 528
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 10:18 pm

image and video module: load random img/video

Post by blackdot »

have the image and video module load a random new image/video from a prespecified (and maybe preloaded) list upon input.

Example upon "goto start", the image module loads a new image.
Terry Payman
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by Terry Payman »

I like the idea of a playlist for the video module.
Perhaps add audio / MIDI control of vid choice from the list:
- Forward
- Back
- Random
- Specific
I can forsee challenges in buffering this if there are separate video files, so maybe much easier to have a playlist that's actually a list of start times of the clips in a pre-assembled compilation file.

Apologies if this has been covered already. It seems familiar.
I remember reading some relevant posts recently, but I'm on my mobile at the moment and I find it difficult to do forum searches during a reply.
Magic
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by Magic »

I like the idea of a playlist for the video module.
Perhaps add audio / MIDI control of vid choice from the list:
- Forward
- Back
- Random
- Specific
Well, the Playlist itself can do most of that, for example if you just have one video or image per scene. Then you can navigate forward, backward, or to a specific scene. There is also a Randomize option for Auto-advance in the Playlist.

Also, you could always have multiple Video or Image modules in a scene, and control their visibility using opacity or scaling by 0 or something. But admittedly that's better suited for MIDI than for audio.
Example upon "goto start", the image module loads a new image.
I do have plans for a module that will be able to load and manipulate a folder of images in various ways (see http://magicmusicvisuals.com/forums/vie ... lders#p958). Perhaps that's what sounded familiar?
blackdot
Posts: 528
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 10:18 pm

Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by blackdot »

Eric wrote:Well, the Playlist itself can do most of that, for example if you just have one video or image per scene. Then you can navigate forward, backward, or to a specific scene. There is also a Randomize option for Auto-advance in the Playlist.
Yes, but as you said, that only works when you have only the video in the scene and not if the video is just a part of the whole image. Also it cant be triggered by the music (as far as i know) and you cant exclude scenes (eg you have some scenes that are just one video, you dont want to randomly get to a currently unwanted scene).
Eric wrote:Also, you could always have multiple Video or Image modules in a scene, and control their visibility using opacity or scaling by 0 or something. But admittedly that's better suited for MIDI than for audio.
That's indeed possible, but for a lot of videos tedious to set up and it's not random.

Another approach could be to add a second layer of "scenes" to the playlist. if the parent scene is activated it randomly cycles between it's children for example.

Sorry, i either forgot or overread that part in the thread you linked. In that case I'm looking forward for this image module. Maybe there will also be a video-version of it sometimes? :P

The playlist as is seems of course very useful with its features for a less user-input dependable use.
Magic
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by Magic »

Yep, you're right. Hopefully a new "ImageFolder" module will address all those things (for images at least). And if you displayed the images quickly enough, it would be like playing a video, and you could quickly shuffle backwards and forwards since each image is independent. Cool eh?

Also, another thing on my to-do list is a "Switcher" module, suggested by a few people. It would have multiple inputs, but only draw one of them. And you would select which one via a parameter. It could be controlled via audio or MIDI, or you could use a Random modifier to select one randomly. It might be a solution for a Video playlist of sorts, and it could be used with just part of the scene as you noted.
blackdot
Posts: 528
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 10:18 pm

Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by blackdot »

ah yes that sounds very good. then you could hook the opacity of other video modules to it or somehow like that. maybe it's the start of a full fledged circuitry with boolean and other operators :).
Kvasnik
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Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:09 am

Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by Kvasnik »

> Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:34 pm
> Also, another thing on my to-do list is a "Switcher" module, suggested by a few people

That would be a very useful feature!
sam
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by sam »

+1 to the suggestion for a video playlist. I'm working with a client who loves the visualizations but gave me a folder of 30 videos he wants to play randomly. If I could open up a video playlist module, load all the videos into a playlist in one click and select "random", it would save me so much time. As it is now I have to create 30 scenes and put the length of the video in the playlist editor and then turn on randomize. It still works but it takes so long, and then it also makes it harder to have all the videos separated from other visualizations.
Magic
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by Magic »

Ok, thanks. I think it's a reasonable request. :)

In the meantime, there might be one other thing you can try, which is to use an InputSelector module. You would still need to have a separate Video module for each video, but at least they could all be in the same scene.
kidlogic
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by kidlogic »

Little bump to request that video playlist module again, I would love to toss 20 or so gifs / vids in one module and have them either play randomly or scroll thru them with a midi control.

Also, I saw mention of using the image playlist as a way of 'video scratching'; would it be possible to do this with actual gifs / video in a new module (or the video one) or is it just too intensive / difficult to program?
Magic
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Re: image and video module: load random img/video

Post by Magic »

Also, I saw mention of using the image playlist as a way of 'video scratching'; would it be possible to do this with actual gifs / video in a new module (or the video one) or is it just too intensive / difficult to program?
I'm working on allowing videos to play backwards, but it will still be highly dependent on each video's codec. Most codecs are designed to play forwards only (such as h264/mp4, for example). For backwards playback to work, the video has to be encoded with every frame as a keyframe. So you might need to re-encode some of your videos.

If you're going to re-encode them though, you might as well re-encode them as Jpeg sequences so you can use the JpegFolder module, which is really the best solution anyway :).
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