VDMX FAQ
From VidvoxWiki
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I load media files into VDMX?
There are two ways to load files into the media bin: you could either drag any files and folders you want loaded into a media bin, or you could choose "Import" from the File menu.
How can I make movies trigger faster?
Each movie file that is loaded into VDMX can have two optional settings turned on, both of which speed up file triggering. These options are pre-roll and ram-load and can be set on a per-file basis.
To change the default setting (applies to new files being loaded into VDMX), open the Preferences (from the File menu) and select the File Loading option from the left sidebar. In the Movies tab you will find the Preroll Clip and Ramload options.
These settings can be changed for files that have already been loaded into VDMX by using the Media Inspector. Simply hold down on the shift key and click on one or more files in a Media Bin to edit their settings in the inspector window.
Important note: the pre-roll and ram-load options can use up a lot of the system resources. When your computer runs out of available memory, these features can start to negatively affect performance and stability. Unless you are only loading in a small handful of files, it is not a good idea to use the ramload all option.
What's the big deal with Quartz Composer?
Quartz Composer is a groundbreaking graphics development environment that allows you to explore the incredible power of the graphics stack of Mac OS X Tiger. With Quartz Composer, you can easily combine the capabilities of Cocoa, Quartz 2D, Core Image, OpenGL, and QuickTime, all using an approachable visual programming paradigm. Quartz Composer can be used to prototype Core Image filters, make data-driven visual effects, and create live performance animations. These documents can then be loaded into VDMX5 where they can be used as either sources or as FX that can be applied to movies or other Quartz Composer documents.
How do I use a live input from a camera?
VDMX supports multiple live video inputs including cameras (such as web-cams, built-in iSights, and DV cameras). For more information read the section on using the live input.
It is worth mentioning is that Quicktime can only use one DV camera at a time and certain devices will not work together because of driver conflicts.
How do I make VDMX go fullscreen?
When you choose "Fullscreen Toggle" from the Window menu or press the "Go FullScreen" button in the Layer Manager palette window, VDMX attempts to make the Main Output Window "take over" and go fullscreen on EVERY DISPLAY IT'S TOUCHING. If you want VDMX to go fullscreen on an external display, simply drag the Main Output window onto the external display, and hit the fullscreen toggle. If the Main Output window is touching two (or more) displays, VDMX will attempt to resize it to fully occupy *both* displays.
Where's my Main Output window?
There are two ways you could find out: choose Gather Output Windows from the Window menu or use expose (it's built into the OS, look at your system prefs).
Last time I launched VDMX, there was an interface and files and stuff- but now it's just empty! What's going on?
When you launch VDMX, it tries to open the last project file that you opened or saved. If it cannot find this file, it simply makes a new project- which means you get an empty setup. This happens if, for example, you moved the folder VDMX was in since it's last launch- or if you renamed the project file, or one of the folders that contains it. All you have to do is choose "Open Project" from the file menu, and navigate to the project file you want to open- if you're not sure what to open, find the "projects" folder, and open the project named "Tutorial Project".