OS X VJ Software Comparison

Introduction

Well since I own 3 VJ applications I thought it was about time to compare them side by side on my Apple OS X Tiger system. The VJ applications of which I own licenses are Robotfunk Flowmotion 2.8, Vidvox GridPro 1.02 and Garagecube Modul8 2.02. The system used was a PowerBook 17" with 2GB RAM, the playback of the clips is from a dual channel FW800 RAID (1 channel on a CardBus FW800 card from Lacie and the other channel on the internal FW800 port). I am not testing any of the VJ software developers' beta versions but will try to update this comparison when the upgrades become available.

Installing the VJ Software

I downloaded the demo from the Robotfunk site, mounted the image then dragged the contents of this image to a new folder for the application and replaced one of the files by a new one which Robotfunk had supplied me. That was it.

I went to the Garagecube site and downloaded the demo of Modul8. Wanted to authorise it with my authorisation key but I saw no obvious way to do that since the demo application only had a de-authorise button and the first time I installed the Modul8 I got sent a download link where to download the non-demo application from. So I dug up my backup copy on my backup, dragged that folder to my application folder and authorised it when I launched the app. Not the easiest as you do need a backup of the software but I understand the need to protect your software or people will just copy it otherwise.

With GridPro I also went to their site, downloaded the demo, opened the image, launched the installer which restarted my computer. That was it. The restart I did not like since this is an application installation and it should not really touch anything outside my user directory. One thing I will mention for all these applications is that you will need net access to authorize them or to get in touch with the developers.

But which was the easiest: GridPro and Flowmotion were about the same, just get demo and replace file or just enter the serial number. Modul8 you will need the original application you got from them or the CD, this is a hassle but not a serious obstacle either. None were real difficult so I will tie this between all 3 applications.

Ease of Use and Getting Started

I launched GridPro and was up and running really quickly — just drag the clips to the browser window or go to the file menu and use add folder or add movie, choose displays Main Output full screen 2 and done. Double click a clip and it will play on the main output.

Flowmotion — I decided to load some clips to use but then what, no easy double-click to launch to the main output. You have to click the clip in the clip browser and then click the preview screen of your desired module so you can view them on output. To get second screen output go to settings to turn full screen on. Now the clip plays on the output, but pixelated — why is that? Looks like it is time to read the manual. Well I did not find anything in the manual about this but I contacted Jilt and he said I would have to make 2 text files inside the package contents preferences file of Flowmotion called outputrect.txt and composerect.txt (where you add the following formula: rect(0,0,x,y) where x is the x of your output and y the y). I added the files and fired up the application again — that did the trick but this is not very user friendly.

In Modul8 just launch the application and then drag clips to the media section or import from the file menu. Double click or click to put them in a layer. I then wanted to set the output resolutions and found that in GridPro you go to the prefs and set your resolution size, in Modul8 you just click normalise and your graphics card will scale it which is very nifty and much much easier.

I will tie this between GridPro and Modul8 as they are inherently OS X applications and feel more in their environment on the PowerBook than Flowmotion.

Image Quality and Playback

Well I have made a set of clips that I will use to test played from a dual channel FireWire 800 RAID and the graphics card in the PowerBook is an ATI Mobility 9700 with 128MB VRAM.

So I tested the clips in QuickTime to see if they played properly and how many simultaneous clips QT could play. The clips are 1920x1080 PJPEG 75% of which the FW800 RAID will playback 1 clip without dropping frames in QuickTime. 768x576 PJPEG and 720x576 75% of which the RAID will playback 3 clips without dropping frames. 384x288 PJPEG 75% which resulted in 7 clips playing back and 320x240 PJPEG 75% which resulted in 9 clips playing back without a hitch in QT.

With GridPro, just to jump in at the deep end, I started off trying to play 1 clip at 1920x1080 which the application did not do without slowing the playback and dropping frames a lot. I had set the resolution in preferences to 1920x1080 which caused the app to crash a few times. Also changing the resolution meant quitting the application to get better results. Then 720 and the 768 clips and still I am seeing some occasional hitches in the playback. Loading up the smaller size clips was not a problem at all for GridPro.

Then Garagecube Modul8 — in at the deep end again with the 1920x1080 clip, well it had less problems with only a slight occasional dropping of frames. Both the 720 and 768 clips played back 3 clips but loading another clip into the layer area would cause dropping of frames. Filling up the layers with 10 clips at 320 and 384 was no problem at all for the application.

Flowmotion played the 1920x1080 file with a lot of frame dropping, the 720 and 768 files also showed hitches in play, the 320 and 384 clips did not have a problem playing back with all clip module sections filled.

This is a very definite win for Modul8 as it clearly leads in the image quality section of these VJ applications.

Control Options and Extensibility

All 3 applications come with a lot of options for controlling the application and changing how you would use the applications. All have good MIDI control albeit each one has quirks with my keyboard, an EMU X-Board.

Modul8 has its Python interface if you want to build or create new modules and also has a lot of free ones available in its module library. In Flowmotion you can link nearly every parameter to another, and GridPro you can also link a lot of parameters to another and it also has gesture recording.

Also what can be seen is that both these applications lean towards an audio interactive type of user or performance, as can be seen by a lot of audio terminology like sequencers and LFOs showing up in the applications and there being a lot of control for performance in that area.

This also shows the difference in the 3 applications where Modul8 is more about Visuals and has great extensibility in its Python framework, GridPro and Flowmotion are about both audio and video performance and I feel have many more performance options and features in that section.

Extensibility goes to Modul8, while control options is a tie between GridPro and Flowmotion.

FX

I am not going to list all the FX options of the VJ software as there are a lot of options. So in short: Flowmotion 2.8 comes with a load of FX, Freeframe and application ones. GridPro 1.02 also comes with quite a lot of FX and transition modes. Modul8 is clearly lacking in the FX department in version 2.02 but does have some interesting FX options not seen elsewhere. A tie between GridPro and Flowmotion.

Technical Support and User Base

All of the software developers are easy to contact via email and have very frequented forums on their respective sites. Also all 3 applications have great user bases and help is always pretty close at hand. So very good support by all of them as I have posted on all their forums and also have had personal contact with the various developers.

Tech support is how easy it is to get hold of people by whatever means and here Vidvox is great as it lists both fax and voicemail numbers as well as their online options. Flowmotion does show that it is a recent Mac application as there is more help available for the PC side as the application leans towards PC development due to its history, but they definitely make an effort to get the Mac side going which is very good to see. So by a late fade of the T-Bar, Vidvox wins this section.

Audio Options

This is where both Vidvox GridPro and Robotfunk Flowmotion shine as they are an audio visualist's dream, as mentioned before in control options extensibility. Modul8 is a quiet whisper in this category, if you pardon the pun. A loud response by GridPro and Flowmotion — so it is a tie.

Cost

Always a point with VJs — how much?

• Vidvox GridPro: US$250
• Garagecube Modul8: €299
• Robotfunk Flowmotion: €135

Flowmotion is available as a great deal and the winner of this section.

Final Summary

All 3 applications have their good points as you can see. So which to choose?

• If an audio visual set is what you do, have a good look at both GridPro and Flowmotion.
• If image quality is your thing and you are not at 320x240 any more, I would have to say Modul8 as it pulls this off the best of the 3 applications.
• If you want Mac simplicity, choose Modul8 or GridPro as Flowmotion has a serious learning curve to get things done. But if you want to experiment a lot, it is better value than GridPro which is a similar kind of application.

The applications do not really compete that much with each other as much as they all can be called VJ software. All 3 developers are very active in the development of their applications and new versions are being worked on.

Originally published: 16-05-2006