Magic Music Visuals

A recent party. Pretty much all IFS shaders in this recording showing a more abstract sequence but had a lot more figurative material at other parts of the evening which required more hand-holding. Had a little trouble finding the right audio levels so reactivity could be better in parts. Somehow I'd neglected to bring my controller too and my Kinect sensor packed-up but it all worked out during the almost 7 hour set. Sometimes less is more.

Hey Sadler,

Wow! Were you Vjing for 7 hours straight? That sounds like quite a task. I'm loving the way the visuals look. What was the most difficult part of this event?

Hey Swoop! Thanks.

You'd think such a set would be quite a challenge but it's the 'having enough material' and keeping it fresh rather than any fatigue that's the tricky part. Not that there isn't gobs of flexibility and variety in Magic its just not always to hand at that precise moment. Putting up the screen and taking it down the next morning is a bit tedious especially when there's two screens (some of that footage to come). We've been enjoying a bit of a heat-wave in the UK this summer so it wasn't and issue for that event but weather can be a challenge for these outdoor events. I rear project onto PVC screens so they're not damaged by the rain but they're even more tedious to take down, clean and dry. It's a double-edged sword but having shadow dancers can be good but also a bit annoying and much as I try to stop it, there are many times when someone knocks the projector or somehow pulls the HDMI.

Hey Sadler,

Thank you for the explanation! 


I’ve done a lot of work in the AV world and setting up all of that equipment by yourself (including the screens) is a serious amount of work. Much props for moving all of that equipment! Stumbling drunk people will always be an enjoyable obstacle .




How do you know when you’ve spent too much time on one scene? When I’m creating, I feel like I spend way too much time working on one scene. In fact, I really only think in ‘one scene’ mentality. I just layer and layer until I think the scene is ‘finished’. How do you go about the creation of your scenes?

How do you know when you’ve spent too much time on one scene? When I’m creating, I feel like I spend way too much time working on one scene. In fact, I really only think in ‘one scene’ mentality. I just layer and layer until I think the scene is ‘finished’. How do you go about the creation of your scenes?

I guess the way I work now is to start with a comp theme, say 'bridges', then build a set of scenes, say Golden Gate, River Kwai etc. then try to brainstorm a range of ideas for each. Sometimes it starts with and idea, sometimes it starts with experimentation building the comp up one scene at a time. Within each scene I like to create a few cohesive variants. I know I've been spending too much time after a couple of hours but that doesn't stop me spending a week on a scene. Always reactive, try to be focused, avoid video-soup. Themz the rules!

Looks really great, Sadler, you must have went through a library of shaders on that one

Impressive, to say the least. Must have taken a lot of effort to prepare.