Syncing audio with video

J · Post by J » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:32 am

Hi, I work at a high school that puts on theater productions that have Audio/Video tightly integrated with live actors. For example, in their most recent production, the actors interacted with characters who were pre-recorded and projected on screen.

Up until now, we have used tape decks to output the video and audio which is a pain because a) there are so many moving parts and ways for things to break and b) we are limited to stereo playback from the tape deck, while the theater has 5.1 surround capabilities.

For audio that does not need to be in sync with the video, we use Sound Cue System. It would be great if we could use software to playback video in sync with audio (while utilizing the 5.1 surround).

For the video projection, the best options seem to be VJ (Video D-J) application like Arkaos or VJamm3. The VJ software often does not have the best playback capabilities (if any), and I don't think any of them can playback 5.1 surround sound. Luckily, VJ software generally accepts midi send signals for triggering start and stops for the video.

That means that, hopefully we could use a midi send from SCS to trigger the video in the VJ software. SCS and the VJ software would probably be on separate computers. Is there a way to send this midi signal between computers without purchasing any additional hardware? Ethernet perhaps?

Please let me know if I can clarify anything. Thanks!

Mike Daniell · Post by **Mike Daniell** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:55 pm

You'll need a MIDI interface of some kind. Some sound cards have MIDI connections, but otherwise you'll need something like a USB MIDI Interface, such as T-Box. I'm not endorsing that product - I just found it with Google and thought it was a good example.

frfortes · Post by **frfortes** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:25 am

Dear J,
Take a look at Charlie's Richmond (http://www.richmondsounddesign.com) as he has some midi over ethernet software (know as e-show I think). So you can send midi messages thru ethernet and receive it in another computer. But I have no experience with that. Also, if you want some midi to ethernet hardware instead of software, take a look at http://www.kiss-box.com.
If you need a hardware that plays video files, try pioneer 7400 DVDs or even Alcorn McBride video server (http://www.alcorn.com).
Good luck!

Fernando Fortes

J · Post by J » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:40 am

Fernando, the Richmond Sound Design looks like real quality stuff, but I think we would like to find a less expensive solution if possible. After snooping around the internet, I found a piece of software called MIDIoverLAN CP, made by MusicLAB (http://www.musiclab.com/products/rpl_info.htm). I'm not sure if it's worth considering. A new post, seeking input about MusicLAB CP is here (http://www.soundcuesystem.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=613).