VDMX5 Two Channel Mixer

From VidvoxWiki

The two channel mixer plugin is used for adjusting the opacity level of two layers or groups at the same time, making it easy to seamlessly cross-fade from one source or mix to another.

It is important to note that the two channel mixer plugin does not do any actual video processing - it merely adjusts the opacity levels for the layers / groups that you specify as the crossfader slider moves from left to right.

The two channel mixer
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The two channel mixer

Contents

Layer selection

Before the two channel mixer can be used to crossfade between two layers, you must first select which layers will be controlled when the slider is moved. This can be set using the two layer menus along the bottom of the TCM's main window. Each menu contains a list of all currently available layers and groups.

Main Fade controls

Crossfader slider

The crossfader slider can be used to manually set the current position of the mixer. Like any slider in VDMX, the crossfader can be sync'd to a data-source such as the horizontal mouse position, audio analysis, or a MIDI controller.

Cut left/right button

Clicking the Cut button in the TCM interface will cause the crossfade position to immediately jump to the opposite extreme. If the current fade position is less than half, it will cut to the right (1) and if it is greater than half, it will cut to the left (0). Like any button in VDMX, the cut button can be sync'd to a data-source such as audio analysis or assigned a keyboard shortcut.

Fade left/right button

The fade left/right button will start a crossfade from the current mixer position to the opposite side of the mixer using the current fade time to determine the duration of the fade.

Auto-fade toggle

When the auto-fade toggle is set to on, the two channel mixer will listen for new movie triggers on the layers it is currently controlling. Whenever a new movie is triggered, the mixer will automatically crossfade to the appropriate layer.

Fade time

The duration of the auto-fade on trigger or when clicking the fade left/right button can be set by clicking in the fade time text box and typing the desired time (in seconds). To adjust the fade-time using a MIDI controller or other data-source, use the fade-time slider in the TCM's options panel.

Options panel

TCM options panel
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TCM options panel

To reveal the options panel, click the 'options' button in the main panel of the two channel mixer.

Adjust volume with opacity

When turned on, the volume levels of movie files that are playing back on layers will be adjusted along with the opacity level when the crossfader is changed.

Fade time slider

To adjust the fade-time using a MIDI controller or other data-source, use the fade-time slider in the TCM's options panel. The range is 0 seconds to 10 seconds.

Opacity Curves

Using the bezier curve editor in the options panel, you can adjust how the opacity of each layer changes as the crossfader position changes.

Command+click on a curve to add a new control point.

Option+drag from a control point to add a curve point.

Using the mixer as a data-source

In addition to directly adjusting the opacity levels of it's target layers, the crossfader position of the TCM is published as a data-source in VDMX and can be used to control any slider or button. This can be done even if one or both of the layer menus are set to <none>.