modul8 manual

8/20/2019 Modul8 manual

1/113


2/113

T A B L E

O F

C O N T E N T S

© Copyright 2005 GarageCUBE, Schmid, Edelstein, SNC – All rights reservedModul8 - Documentation V. 2.0

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................8

Requirements .........................................................................................................10

Installation ..............................................................................................................10 Authorizing Modul8 ..............................................................................................10

Authorizing Modul8 offline ....................................................................................10

Deauthorizing Modul8...........................................................................................10

The Modul8 Model .................................................................................................11

Panels .....................................................................................................................12

Getting Started .......................................................................................................13

Summary ................................................................................................................15

MEDIA ............................................................................................................................16

Overview .................................................................................................................16The Media Panel ....................................................................................................16

Special Media .........................................................................................................17

Supported Media ...................................................................................................17

Images ....................................................................................................................18

Movies ....................................................................................................................18

Transparency ..........................................................................................................18

Performance ..........................................................................................................18

Sound Playback .....................................................................................................19

Memory ...................................................................................................................20

The Dynamic Media ...............................................................................................20Summary ................................................................................................................20

PREVIEW .......................................................................................................................21

Overview .................................................................................................................21

Grid Mode ...............................................................................................................21

Layer Mode ............................................................................................................21

Group Inv. Mode .....................................................................................................21

Group A/B Mode ....................................................................................................21

Output Mode ..........................................................................................................21

Out Mix Mode .........................................................................................................22

Summary ................................................................................................................23

SINGLE OUTPUT ..........................................................................................................24

Overview .................................................................................................................24

Full screen Mode ...................................................................................................24

Single Monitor System ..........................................................................................24

Summary ................................................................................................................24

MULTI-PROJECTION ....................................................................................................25

Introduction ............................................................................................................25

Basic Principles .....................................................................................................25Hardware Configuration ........................................................................................25

Computer ............................................................................................................25


3/113

VERSION 2.5

T A B L E

O F

C O N T E N T S


MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


3

Graphic Cards and the video outputs .....................................................................25

System Configuration ............................................................................................25

Warning ..............................................................................................................26

Activating the advanced mode .............................................................................26The advanced output setup ..................................................................................27

Representation area ..............................................................................................27

Managing the clips ................................................................................................28

Creating and deleting clips ....................................................................................28

Clip selection.......................................................................................................28

Position and size of the clip in the representation space ...........................................28

Seeing the clips in the preview ..............................................................................28

Clip ratio .............................................................................................................28

Routing Table .........................................................................................................28

Managing your setup .............................................................................................29 Annex ......................................................................................................................29

Matrox dualHead2Go and TripleHead2go ...........................................................29

LAYER ............................................................................................................................32

Overview .................................................................................................................32

Managing Layers ...................................................................................................32

Working with A/B Layer groups............................................................................33

Play .........................................................................................................................34

Speed .................................................................................................................34

Loop Mode ..........................................................................................................34Scratch ...............................................................................................................35

Movie Options ........................................................................................................35

Setting movie entry/exit points ..............................................................................35

Sound Volume .....................................................................................................35

Transition ................................................................................................................36

Transform ...............................................................................................................36

Scale ..................................................................................................................36

Rotation ..............................................................................................................37

Post-colorize ..........................................................................................................37

Pixel FX ...................................................................................................................38

Saturation ...........................................................................................................38Lightness ............................................................................................................38

Contrast .............................................................................................................38

Luma key / Color key ............................................................................................38

Noise ..................................................................................................................39

Blur ....................................................................................................................39

Animation Effects ..................................................................................................40

Animation Curves .................................................................................................40

Auto Move ...........................................................................................................40

Auto Scale...........................................................................................................40

Auto Color ...........................................................................................................40 Auto Rotate .........................................................................................................41

The transformers ...................................................................................................42


4/113

VERSION 2.5

T A B L E

O F

C O N T E N T S


MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


4

Matrix .................................................................................................................42

Patch ..................................................................................................................43

Particle emitter ....................................................................................................44

Layer Local Logical Record ..................................................................................45Layer Sets ...............................................................................................................45

Summary ................................................................................................................46

MASTER ........................................................................................................................47

Overview .................................................................................................................47

Speed ......................................................................................................................47

Scale .......................................................................................................................47

Alpha-Channel .......................................................................................................47

Trace Mode .............................................................................................................47

Quick Effects ..........................................................................................................48Background Color .................................................................................................48

Invert Output Color ................................................................................................48

Output Add Color ...................................................................................................48

Sound Level ............................................................................................................48

Global Logical Record ...........................................................................................48

Summary ................................................................................................................48

CAPTURE ......................................................................................................................49

Overview .................................................................................................................49

Sound Capture .......................................................................................................49 Video Capture ........................................................................................................50

Summary ................................................................................................................50

SAVING YOUR PROJECT .............................................................................................51

Overview .................................................................................................................51

Media ......................................................................................................................51

Midi and keyboard .................................................................................................51

Summary ................................................................................................................51

MIDI AND KEYBOARD .................................................................................................52

Overview .................................................................................................................52Default Configuration ............................................................................................52

Configuring The Keyboard ....................................................................................53

Configuring Midi ....................................................................................................53

Contextual Midi / Keyboard mapping ..................................................................53

Summary ................................................................................................................54

RECORDING AND RENDERING ..................................................................................55

Overview .................................................................................................................55

The Logical Record ...............................................................................................55

Record To Disk .......................................................................................................56Summary ................................................................................................................56


5/113

VERSION 2.5

T A B L E

O F

C O N T E N T S


MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


5

MODULES .....................................................................................................................57

Overview ................................................................................................................57

Using modules .......................................................................................................57

Downloading and installing new modules ..........................................................57Managing your modules ......................................................................................58

STANDARD MODULES .................................................................................................59

Layer .......................................................................................................................59

All / Master ............................................................................................................59

Global ......................................................................................................................59

BPM (GLOBAL) .......................................................................................................59

ROUTER (MASTER) and ROUTER (LAYER) .........................................................60

MASK (GLOBAL) ....................................................................................................61

CENTER (LAYER) ...................................................................................................63NETWORK (GLOBAL) ............................................................................................64

PRESET (LAYER) ....................................................................................................65

PRESET DEFAULT (LAYER) ...................................................................................66

SCRATCH (LAYER) .................................................................................................66

SLIDE SHOW (LAYER) ...........................................................................................67

FILTER (LAYER) ......................................................................................................69

TEXT (LAYER) .........................................................................................................70

TEXT SUBTITLE (LAYER) ......................................................................................71

TEXT CHANGE (LAYER) ........................................................................................72

TIME AND DATE (LAYER) ......................................................................................72COUNT DOWN (LAYER) ........................................................................................73

MOVIE TIME (LAYER) ............................................................................................73

CROSSFADER (MASTER) ......................................................................................74

SHAKE (ALL) ..........................................................................................................75

RANDOM CROP (LAYER) ......................................................................................75

MOVIE RANDOM FRAME (LAYER) .......................................................................76

PAINTER (LAYER) ..................................................................................................77

POST COLORIZE PICKER (LAYER) ......................................................................79

CHROMAKEY (LAYER) ..........................................................................................80

Creating modules ..................................................................................................81

Layer Contextual Module ......................................................................................81

Interacting with Modul8 ........................................................................................82

Using the keywords ...............................................................................................82

The keyword families ............................................................................................83

The user-interface builder.....................................................................................84

The global attributes .............................................................................................85

The controls ...........................................................................................................85

The slider ............................................................................................................85

The knobs ...........................................................................................................85

The buttons .........................................................................................................85

The media buttons ...............................................................................................86The color pickers .................................................................................................86

The 2D pad ..........................................................................................................87


6/113

VERSION 2.5

T A B L E

O F

C O N T E N T S


MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


6

The draw view .....................................................................................................87

The captions .......................................................................................................87

Text and numeric fields .........................................................................................87

The text list .........................................................................................................87Shapes ...............................................................................................................87

Tools ..................................................................................................................88

Connecting controls to Modul8 keywords ..........................................................88

A simple module examples ...................................................................................89

A colorize module ................................................................................................89

A pad effect module .............................................................................................93

Scripting .................................................................................................................96

A brief introduction to Python ..............................................................................97

Conditions ..........................................................................................................98

Integer ................................................................................................................98Floating-point ......................................................................................................99

List .....................................................................................................................99

Dictionary ...........................................................................................................99

Operators..........................................................................................................100

Comments ........................................................................................................100

Packages ..........................................................................................................100

The scripting environment ..................................................................................101

The Modul8 main functions ................................................................................102

The Module functions ..........................................................................................102

setValue/getValue ..............................................................................................102setDefaults / getDefaults ....................................................................................103

setAttribute / getAttribute ...................................................................................103

getSharedDictionary ...........................................................................................103

flushAllControls .................................................................................................103

sendMessageToAllInstances ...............................................................................103

showGroup / hideGroup ......................................................................................104

The Modul8 advanced functions ........................................................................104

Sending midi messages ......................................................................................104

hsbToRgb / rgbToHsb .........................................................................................104

setFilters / getFiltersDesc ...................................................................................104

The script types ...................................................................................................105Init() ..................................................................................................................105

MessageEvent(msg,param) .................................................................................105

DirectEvent(type,param) .....................................................................................106

KeywordEvent(keyword,param) ...........................................................................106

PeriodicalEvent(elapsed) .....................................................................................106

PauseEvent(paused) ...........................................................................................107

Finish() ..............................................................................................................107

Serialize(outDict)/Deserialize(inDict) .....................................................................107

Module serialization ............................................................................................107

The module draw view control ...........................................................................108Sharing your modules online ..............................................................................110


7/113

VERSION 2.5

T A B L E

O F

C O N T E N T S


MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


7

SUPPORT, COMMUNITY AND CONTACTS ..............................................................112

ABOUT .........................................................................................................................113


8/113

I N T R O D U C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


VERSION 2.5

8

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Modul8! Modul8 is a revolutionary MacOS X application designed for real time video mixing

and compositing. It has been designed for VJs and live performers.

Unlike most of the other video mixers, Modul8 really allows you to create the composition you want

instead of being stuck with a predened set of lters. And by composition, we mean both spatial and

time-related composition: In Modul8, you can move, rotate, scale your original media just like in a simple

image editor - but all in real time.

Modul8 supports almost all quicktime codecs, ash animation and almost all the image formats you

can think about. Simply drag and drop your les to the media panel. They are ready to be mixed. Modul8

works in full resolution, no scale down is done. The output resolution can be in pal, ntsc, svga, xga or

higher. The same is true for your movies: not a single pixel is lost. Modul8 renders your media as you have

compressed it, i.e. with the maximum available quality and highest possible resolution.

To reach this kind of performance, we push your hardware and the OS to the limit: The full rendering

is done through the GPU of your graphic card; each pixel modier has been altivec optimized and the

whole architecture of the software is fully multi-threaded. Everything has been done to lower the latency

as much as possible at every levels of the application. For example, the movie swapping and looping are

pre-buffered to avoid latency.

Modul8 is able to manage up to 10 different layers each one having its own settings and media.

Layers can be re-ordered at any time with a simple drag and drop. Layers can also be grouped in two

compositions A/B allowing you to work on an animation while you are projecting another one. Full per

pixel transparency is computed between the layers allowing you to obtain an incredible high quality mix

of images. Because we know how important the transparency is in compositing, Modul8 is able to read

full alpha channels from the media. We also offer ve different luma-key functions for media that do not

support an alpha channel.

Modul8 works in full 32 bits colors, three channels for red, green and blue, plus the alpha channel.

At any time, you can modulate the channels (both color and transparency) of your media without slowing

down your composition. Altivec optimized lters allow you to change the contrast, the saturation, the

brightness in both positive and negative forms. And of course standard ltering like ultra fast blur and

noise lters are also directly integrated in the main user interface.

Since the V2.0, Modul8 includes an advanced transformer mechanism that allows the creation of

advanced three-dimensional objects from your 2D media: a new matrix mechanism for tiling your video

source that supports 3D extrusion; an advanced real time patch system that lets you create complex

dynamic 3D shapes by combining primitive, displacement mapping, sound waves; and a 3D particle

engine designed for real time manipulation.

Modul8 supports a preview panel that can be used at the same time than the nal output. This

panel lets you see the output and much more: you can display hidden layers or group to prepare the nal

composition before it is sent to the displayed output (just like with DJ tables). This preview panel can also

be used to move your layers in space with a simple mouse drag.

Modul8 supports direct keyboard and full midi connectivity. The whole user-interface can be

congured to react to midi and/or to keyboard. Modul8 automatically detects and links your external midi

controller to the user-interface. All you have to do is move your external fader, or your button, and Modul8

will interpret the midi message and link it to the button you have selected. You don’t have to know about

midi messages. Modul8 is also able to react directly to sound input: simply plug a microphone to your

machine and link the sound input to the desired effect.

Modul8 is also fully extensible with the module system introduced in the V2.0. An advanced user-

interface builder let you create your own windows and controls such as buttons, text elds and much


9/113

I N T R O D U C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


9

more with a simple drag and drop. You can map your controls to Modul8 functionalities with a simple

conguration panel. And for those who want to go further, it is fully scriptable. An integrated environment

allows you write Python scripts straight from the inside of the application without even having to stop your

animation. An online module library allows Modul8 users to share their modules. This exible architectureopens Modul8 to full customization, perfect for advanced installation and performances.

This documentation is a complete reference of Modul8. You will nd a description of all the components

of the application.


10/113

O V E R V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


VERSION 2.5

10

Requirements

On the software side, Modul8 2.5 requires the MacOS version 10.4 (Tiger) or higher (10.3.9 users can

still use Modul8 2.0.3) and quicktime version 7.1.3 or higher to run.

On the hardware side, a G4 processor or higher is required. Because Modul8 uses the GPU of your

video card for the rendering, having a good video card is also critical. An ATI Radeon or an NVidia Geforce

card with at least 32Mbytes of Vram is a minimal conguration to obtain acceptable performances; a

64Mbytes video card is highly recommended.

Multiprojection requires a Mac tower with PCI-Express and several graphic cards (depending of the

number of output required). The maximum number of outputs today is eight (four dual-output graphic

cards). Typically seven outputs, plus one reserved for the user-interface.

It is also possible to use a device such as the Matrox DualHead or TripleHead to create multi-

projection with Modul8 and the PowerBook. However only linear side-by-side projections are supported

with this conguration.

Installation

To install Modul8 you simply have to drag the Modul8 folder to your application folder. Before using

Modul8 an online registration is required. The standard Modul8 license allows you to install Modul8 on two

machines simultaneously (different users on the same machines are not counted as different machines).

Authorizing Modul8

To authorize Modul8 on a machine, simply launch the application. If you have an Internet connection,

the procedure is pretty straightforward. Simply ll the form and enter your serial number. Modul8 will

connect to a server to validate your machine. Once it is done, you don’t need Internet anymore to useModul8. You can always have at least two machines authorized at the same time (and more if you have

a site license). If you need to install a third machine, you have to deauthorize Modul8 on one of the other

machines (see the “Deauthorizing Modul8” chapter).

Authorizing Modul8 offline

Modul8 supports also an ofine authorization process for those who need to install Modul8 on a

machine that is not able to connect to the Internet. Please use it only when you really need it, because it is

a much more complicated process. To authorize ofine, start Modul8 and select “Ofine authorize”. Then

ll the form. Modul8 will give you a challenge code. You need to keep a copy of this code (there is an option

to save it as a text le). Then go to the specied URL on another machine and enter the challenge code.

A validation code will be returned. Restart Modul8 and enter the validation code to nish theauthorization process. It is also possible to deauthorize a machine ofine. See the next chapter.

Deauthorizing Modul8

You need to deauthorize a computer when you need to install Modul8 on a new machine and you

already have used the maximum number of registration authorized by your license. It is also important to

deauthorize Modul8 if you sell or replace your machine.

To deauthorize a computer, simply select “Deauthorize” in the Modul8 menu. If your computer is

connected to the Internet you only have to click on “Deauthorize”. Modul8 will connect to a server to

remove the registration of your machine.

It is also possible to deauthorize Modul8 ofine. In this mode, Modul8 gives you a code that is saved to a

text le. Then you need to use a machine that has Internet support to access the deauthorization URL and

enter the code previously returned. It is important that you do this last step, because the deauthorization


11/113

O V E R V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


VERSION 2.5

11

process is not nished as long as the server has not unregistered your machine.

The Modul8 Model

Modul8 is based on a layer paradigm. Basically you create your composition by adding and removing

layers. Each layer displays a media (a movie, an image, etc.) and applies spatial and time modiers to the

original media. All the layers are mixed together in order to generate the nal image composition.

A layer is an innite 3D space where the original media can be moved, scaled and rotated. In other

words, the media can be moved along the axis of a layer and will not necessary ll the screen.

The selected layer is the one that you are currently editing. When a layer is selected, all its attributes

are displayed in the user-interface. When you switch to another layer the user-interface is updated to

reect the new layer attributes.

Layers can be used just as a at list or they can be divided in two groups A/B. In the group mode, you

have two compositions that can be edited individually. A cross-fader allows you to move smoothly from

one group to another. This is pretty useful when you want to display a composition while you are editing

another one.

A composition of layers can be stored into layer sets. Only the selected layer set is rendered. These

sets can be used to jump quickly from one composition to another. Unlike the layer stack, each layer set

is completely independent from the others (you cannot visually mix two layer sets). A layer set is really a

way to preset or to store a full composition.

A set of master controllers allows you to modify global attributes that are applied to the composition

after the layers have been mixed.

Finally, the last key entity is the media. A media represents a visual source that can be linked toa layer and nally rendered. Modul8 supports several kind of visual sources, like Flash 5 animation,

QuickTime movie, simple image or video live stream. The medias are stored in an internal media bank that

is manipulated through the media panel. A media can be imported to the media bank simply by dragging

its le to the media panel.

Here is a simplied representation of the Modul8 rendering pipeline:

MEDIAS

Media linked to layers Apply effects and

mix layers

Master effects

Movie

Image

Movie

Movie

...

LAYERS FINAL OUTPUT

MASTER

Layer 01

Layer 02

Layer 03

Layer 04

...


12/113

O V E R V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


VERSION 2.5

12

Panels

The Modul8 user interface is divided into four panels:

01.The main panel: This is where you manage the layers and the master controllers.

02.The output panel: This is where the nal rendering is displayed. By default it is a resizable and moveable

panel. It can also be redirected to a full screen view on the main screen or on a secondary screen.

03.The preview panel: This panel is a preview of your composition. It can be used to move the active layer

along the x/y axis and to preview your composition in several different ways.

04.The media panel: This where you add and manage your media (movies, pictures, etc.).

01Main panel

02Output

03Preview

04Media


13/113

VERSION 2.5

O V E R V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


13

Getting Started

There are many different ways to work with Modul8. Typically, the rst step is to prepare your media.

It is a critical step because the size and the type of compression of the media have a great impact onthe quality and the performance of Modul8. See the “Media” section for more information about media

preparation.

Once your media are ready you can import them in Modul8. It is pretty straightforward to get your

media in the application. Basically, you drag and drop them to the media panel. You can have up to 80

media stored in the media bank. The media panel is divided in ve sections of four by four media slots.

There is also a special section for predened or internal media (like the video capture).

When you add a new media, Modul8 automatically chooses a memory strategy for you in order to

obtain the best possible performance. If your media is small enough, it will be entirely stored decompressed

in memory. If this is not possible, the media is stored compressed in memory. If the media is still too big,

it will be simply streamed from the le.

Once the media have been imported you are ready to mix them. Modul8 is layer oriented. A media is

always represented through a layer.

1 The initial frst layer At the beginning, only one layer is

present. You can see it in the layer

list at the left of the main panel.

1


14/113

VERSION 2.5

O V E R V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


14In order to get a layer to display a media you have to link them together. Simply selecting a layer andclicking on a media in the media panel does this. You can also use midi or keyboard shortcuts to managethis operation. By default, the keys 1 to 9 (please note that is it not the keypad keys) are assigned to the

rst nine media. See the “Midi and Keyboard” section for more information regarding input conguration.

As soon as a media has been linked to a layer, it is displayed in the nal output panel (unless the layer

is hidden). The media is also automatically played in loop mode.

Changing the attributes of the layer is reected in the nal composition. For example, if you modify

the Z knob in the rotation section, you can see your media rotating in real time. This is true of all the others

Modul8 controllers. Every change updates immediately the nal composition in real-time.

Some layer attributes should be activated before they are applied to the composition. For example,

the “saturation” is not applied to the media before you enable it using its title button. However, the controlsof the lters are not disabled even if the zone is deactivated. It allows you to prepare the lter before it

affects the composition. This is also true of all the sections that have a title that can be activated (contrast,

luma-key, auto move, etc.).

You won’t nd a X/Y control in the layer attribute section. This is because you can directly move your

layer using the preview window. Simply click on the grid and move the mouse to drag your layer along the

X/Y axis.

All the attributes of the selected layer are

represented at the right of the layer list.

For instance, if you examine the rotation

section of the transform area, you will see

three knobs: X, Y and Z. These controllers

represent the current rotation angle of theselected layer. When you select another

layer, these knobs are updated to reect

the angle of the newly selected layer. This

is true for all the layer attributes displayed

beside the layer list.


15/113

O V E R V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


15

The preview panel can also be used to see the full nal output (it is pretty useful when your do a

projection that you cannot see) or simply the current layer. The “output” mode allows you to see the full

mix. The interesting feature of the “mix” mode is that it displays the layer in the preview panel even if it is

hidden, allowing you to prepare a layer before it is sent to the nal output. When you are working in A/B

group mode, you can also see a specic group or simply the group that is not displayed in the output

display using the “group inv” tab. This is the mode that you use when you want to work on a composition

while you are displaying another one (See “Working with A/B layer groups” chapter).

Finally you can use the master controllers to apply global modiers to your composition. These

controllers are not layer related. They are applied to all the layers and/or after all the layers have been

mixed.

For example, you can use the “speed” slider to change the movie time rate of all your playing movies

instead of modifying the layers one by one.

Summary

In this chapter, we saw:

• The minimum requirements to run Modul8

• The different panels and their rules

• A quick introduction to the different components of Modul8

The next chapters will examine in details all the functionalities of Modul8.

Simply click and drag your mouse in this zone to move

your layer.


16/113

M E D I A

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


16

MEDIA

Overview

In Modul8, any visual source that can be represented by a layer is considered as a media. Thisincludes movies, Flash animations, simple images, text and video capture. Some media are les while

some others may be dynamic media (for instance the live video capture or the text).

For the user, all the media are managed the same way. For example, you can use all the lters or the

geometric transformation on a movie, a video capture or a Flash animation. Only the initialization is a bit

different if the media is a le or an internal dynamic media. A media le has to be dragged to one of the

ve media banks while internal media are displayed in a special bank.

The Media Panel

The media panel is made of a ve different banks plus a special bank for internal dynamic media.

You can click on the 1-5 numbers to change the current bank. Each bank has a 4x4 grid designed to

receive media.

To add media, you simply drag it to one of the empty box. You cannot drag a media to an alreadyoccupied box. You have to remove it rst by entering the edit mode and then using the “del” button. Once

it has been removed you can drag a new media to the empty area.

You can also use the “Import Media...” function in the “File” menu to import your media using a

standard dialog box. In this case the media are simply added to empty zones in the media panel.

When you click on a media it is automatically linked to the selected layer. This can be avoided by

clicking on the “I” button. In “info” mode you can select and work in the media panel without affecting

the current layer. It is pretty useful if you need to rework your media without modifying the playing

composition.

In this mode you can access information about your media such as the codec, fps, duration, etc.Theinfo button can be used to get info about a media and edit some of its attributes.

The info mode enables also several new functions to arrange your media. First of all, in this mode

1 A loaded media

2 The currentmedia bank

3 Enter the editmode to get info

about your medias

and edit them

1

23


17/113

M E D I A

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


17

you can drag and drop your media to re-arrange your set. It allows you to change the order of the media

and to move a media from one set to another. You will nd functions to delete a media, reveal its le in the

nder or force it to be preloaded in memory.

Several media options can be set:

Bilinear Filter: By default Modul8 lter your media to smooth the pixel when the resolution of the

screen is higher than your media. If you want to see un-smoothed, squared pixel when you scale your

media, you should turn off this option.

Lossless Quality: This allows you to choose if you want your media to be rendered in lossless quality.

In this mode, the media is not transformed and rendered exactly as it was compressed (you will see a big

difference with interlaced media such as DV).

Memory storage: There are three different strategies for Modul8 to access your media: Not compressed

in memory, compressed in memory or streamed from the disk. The rst option allows the faster playback

but it uses a lot of memory, while the last one uses nearly no memory at all, but requires heavy disk access.

Modul8 automatically try to nd the best possible storage when you import a media, however you can

change it manually from here.

Special Media

If you look at the media panel, after bank number eight you will see a special tab. This is where you

can access the bank of internal media. This place contains three special media slots, one for entering the

text mode (see the “Text” chapter), one for activating the video capture (see the “Capture” chapter), one

to display color bars that can be useful to set up a projector or a video monitor and the last one which

represents dynamic canvases (like for live painter) These special media can be used just like any other

standard media that have been imported to Modul8. They can be linked to a layer, mixed, etc.

Supported Media

Besides the internal media (like video capture), Modul8 supports several different media le formats.

Currently, they can be divided in two categories: image (no time line) and movie (a time line).


18/113

M E D I A

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


18

Images

Modul8 supports most of the image formats (png, bmp, pdf, psd, gif,etc.) However Modul8 does not

support CMYK color format (you have to convert CMYK images to RGB before importing them). When animage format is composed of several pages (like in a pdf) only the rst one is displayed. Complex multi-

layered images (like PSD images) may require a pre-render and a merge of the layers before Modul8 is

able to display them correctly.

The alpha-channel when available is used directly in Modul8 (see the “Transparency” chapter).

Images are always stored in memory, so the le format does not affect the rendering performance.

Movies

Modul8 uses Quicktime to import movies, so Modul8 can read most of the Quicktime codecs. Flash

5 animation can also be read but you have to be very careful of the boundary size of your animation if you

want to obtain good performances.

Even if Modul8 can read most of the Quicktime supported formats, you will obtain completely

different performances depending of the codec that has been used for compressing your media. See the

“Performance” chapter for more information.

Transparency

Modul8 supports a full per pixel 8 bits channel for transparency. It allows you to create very high

quality transparency effects.

For images you have several image formats that supports per pixel transparency. We highly recommend

that you use the “PNG” or the “PSD” format to store your image with transparency.

Regarding movies, there is one codec included with Quicktime that supports per-pixel transparency:

the “Animation” codec. Unfortunately, this codec is very time consuming and is therefore not very efcient

for real-time playback. A solution is to create small loops that can be stored entirely decompressed in

memory, this way the decompression is not necessary and you will have very efcient per-pixel and per-

frame transparency.

Of course, Modul8 is able also to generate on-the-y transparency using luma-key or the layer mixer

too (see the “Layer” chapter) for media that do not support transparency.

Performance

If you have some experience with real time video, you know that using the correct codec for videocompression is critical in order to obtain good performance. This is especially true with Modul8. Even if

most of the codecs are supported, you will see huge differences in performance if you re-compress your

media with the appropriate codec.

The best codec for Modul8 today is the Photo-JPEG codec.

If your movie is in black and white you should use the “Graphic” codec.

For per-pixel transparency you can use the “Animation” codec. It is a time consuming codec, but if

your media can be stored decompressed in memory (in other words, if it is a short loop) you will be able to

use it at no speed cost and enjoy a per-pixel alpha for each frame of your movie.

For long movies, you may also use the DV codec especially since the V2.5 where the performanceshave been a lot improved.


19/113

M E D I A

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


19

Sound Playback

Modul8 fully supports video sound. By default sound output is disabled in the master panel. To turn

it on, you simply have to change the sound level using the “out” knob.

You can also change the sound volume for every layer individually using the play option (in the “opt”

tab at the top-left of the layer settings).

Sound is correctly managed also by the cross-fader. It means that when you cross-fade from a group

to another, the sound will also be cross-faded.

Changing the transparency of a layer lowers the sound volume of the layer.

If you don’t need sound at all, you can turn it off in the preferences. In this mode, sounds is completely

ignored and it will improve the performance of Modul8.


20/113

M E D I A

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


20

Memory

By default, Modul8 tries to entirely store a media in memory if it takes less than 30 Mbytes (this limit

can be changed in the preferences). If the media ts uncompressed in memory it is entirely loaded andstored decompressed (please note that this mode is not used if a movie has a sound channel). It is the

best case, because it takes no CPU time and no disk access to play the movie. However it works only

with pretty short (or small) loops (unless you have a huge amount of memory). If the media does not t

decompressed in memory, Modul8 tries to store the media compressed in memory. This way the media

can be played without disk access. If the compressed media is still bigger than the 30 Mbytes limitation,

the media is streamed from the disk.

This is the automatic mechanism. However you can change the memory mode by hand by using

the “info” button of the media panel. In the media info zone, there are three checkboxes that allow you to

change the memory mode directly. The panel will also show you an estimation of how much memory is

required for each different mode. This is very useful to prevent an out of physical memory situation that

would cause a dramatic slow down of Modul8.

Of course the best case is when a media can t entirely decompressed in memory. You will reach

incredibly good performance, but you will suffer a huge memory cost.

Most of the time, you will have your media compressed in memory; this is a middle-path where your media

still takes CPU time for compression but on the other hand does not require disk access and stays pretty

small in memory.

Please note also that not all the media linked to the media panel will stay all the time in memory. If

you don’t use a media for a long time and your physical memory starts to be low, it will be removed from

memory. Next time you use it, an asynchronous mechanism will reload it, causing a short delay the rst

time you use it.

It is possible to know the memory state of a media by checking the media panel. When a media is notin memory, a red icon is displayed on its preview. When the media is loading, an orange icon is displayed.

When no icon is displayed, it means that the media is loaded and ready to be played.

The Dynamic Media

Modul8 also supports several other media types such as real time video capture, text or live painting.

These medias (with the exception of the video capture) are typically accessed through modules. Please

see the corresponding chapters for more information.

Summary

In this chapter you learned about media management in Modul8. The following points have been

covered:

• How the media panel works and how to import media les.

• There are internal media (like video capture) and external media (movies, images...)

• Modul8 supports most of the image and movie formats.

• Full per-pixel transparency is supported for movies and images as long as the media format (or

codec) supports it.

• The best codec to obtain good performance is the “PHOTO-JPEG” and the “Graphic” for black

and white movies.

• Modul8 supports three memory modes: decompressed in memory, compressed in memory,

streamed from the media le.


21/113

P R E V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


PREVIEW

Overview

The preview panel is an area where you can see, prepare and move along the X/Y axis a selectedlayer. The preview panel can also be very useful to see your composition when you are doing a projection

that you cannot see. This panel can work in four different modes that will be covered in the next chapters.

Whatever the current mode is, you can always move your layer by clicking in the panel and dragging the

mouse. It is a very intuitive way to move the selected layer in 2D space.

Grid Mode

The grid mode is the default mode. It simply displays a grid and a target that can be used to see

where is the center of your layer proportionally to the size of the output composition. This is a minimal

mode that consumes nearly no CPU time. The Grid Mode has also a very useful “center” button that can

be used to re-center the selected layer. Please note that in every mode, you can also double click in the

composition to re-center the layer.

Layer Mode

The layer mode displays only the selected layer. It is a pretty useful mode when you have a complex

multi-layered composition and it becomes difcult to identify the modiers you are applying to the current

layer.

Group Inv. Mode

This mode is useful when you work with A/B layer group. In this case your layers are divided in two

groups A/B, with only one being displayed at the same time. This allows you to prepare a composition

while you are displaying another one. The “Group Inv.” mode basically displays the composition that isnot displayed in the nal output. For example, if you are displaying the group A in the nal output, it is the

group B that is displayed in the preview. When you cross-fade from one group to another the “Group Inv.”

mode also inverses the two displayed compositions. This is the mode you should use when working with

the A/B layer groups.

Group A/B Mode

These two modes simply display either the layer group A or the group B.

Output Mode

The output displays a full copy of the nal output view. It allows you to see quickly exactly how yourcomposition looks and is very useful when the nal output is a projection that cannot be seen from where

the video mixing is done.

21


22/113

P R E V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


22

Out Mix Mode

The mix mode is similar to the output mode with one difference: the selected layer is displayed in

the preview panel even if it is hidden in the nal composition. The mix mode has been designed to allowthe preparation of a layer before it is sent to the nal composition. You simply hide a layer by using its

checkbox in the layer list. Then you can work on it in the preview panel and when it is ready simply re-

enable it.

The layer is hidden in the fnal

output preview

In mix mode, the layer

is displayed even if itis hidden


23/113

P R E V I E W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


23

Summary

This chapter allowed you to learn how to use the preview panel. The following points have been covered:

• The preview panel can be used to view part of or the full output composition.

• It can be used to move the selected layer along the X/Y axis.

• A mix-mode allows you to prepare a layer before it is sent to the nal composition.

• How to preview the A/B layer groups


24/113

VERSION 2.5

O U T P U T V I E

W

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


24

SINGLE OUTPUT

Overview

The output view is where the nal composition is displayed. By default it is rendered to a resizableand moveable panel. However, you can enter a full screen mode where it entirely covers the screen. This is

typically the mode that you will use if you have a second screen or when you connect a projector to your

computer.

Full screen Mode

To enter the full screen mode, go to the “Output” menu and select full screen. If your computer

supports more than one video output, the full screen view is placed on the second screen, if not, it is

placed on the main screen over the user-interface (see the “Single Monitor System” chapter).

You can exit the full screen mode by going to the “Output” menu and selecting “Windowed” or by

pressing the keyboard shortcut COMMAND-T.

Single Monitor System

Modul8 supports computers with only one video output. However in full screen mode the user-

interface is entirely covered.

In this case, the only way to exit the full screen mode is to press COMMAND-T.

Mixing without the user-interface requires that you use a midi table or keyboard shortcuts. Actually it

is pretty easy to congure Modul8 (see the “Midi and Keyboard” chapter) to get it working without visual

feedback.

Summary

This chapter allowed you to learn how to manage a full screen context:

• You can at any time switch from full screen to windowed output.

• When more than one video output is available, the second one is used for full screen.

• If only one video output is available, the full screen mode will cover the interface. In this case

you should use the midi or the keyboard to pilot Modul8.

• When the user-interface is covered by a full screen context, use COMMAND-ESCAPE to go

back to “Windowed” mode.


25/113

VERSION 2.5

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


25

MULTI-PROJECTION

Introduction

The advanced projection mode is a technic that let you output several video streams from one singlecomputer. It is possible to have up to eight outputs simultaneously with a computer as long as the computer

has several video cards installed.

The outputs can be used by video projectors, monitors or any other devices which support the output

video format of your graphic cards. These multiple outputs can represent together one single image like a

video wall or a completely independent set of multiple compositions.

Basic Principles

The main composition of Modul8 can be segmented into rectangular cuts named “clip”. Each clip

can be directed to one or more video outputs simultaneously. The number of clip, their size or position can

be modied in real time by the user.

Any thinkable placement in space is possible, even crossings or multiple scales of the clip.

Hardware Configuration

Computer

Only the computers which supports PCI-Express video cards let you fully use the multi-output features

of Modul8. At the time this documentation was written, It means the last PowerMac G5 generation or the

Intel Mac Pro.

Nevertheless there is an alternative to use multiple VGA output on other kind of machines like portables.

This solution is described in the annex.

Graphic Cards and the video outputsIt is critical that you use graphic card with 3D acceleration. These cards usually have two DVI video outputs,

which means up to eight outputs on one single machine, typically seven for the projectors and one for the

Modul8 user-interface. If you don’t need the user-interface, you can even use the eight outputs.

For the formats that are different than DVI, Apple proposes DVI adaptors to video (composite and s-video)

and DVI to VGA adaptors.

Notes:

In order to obtain the best performances, it is advised to install the same video cards. Also note that some

video cards support only video composite and s-video on one of their two DVI outputs.

System Configuration

In order to use the advanced projection mode you have to configure your computer in the system

preferences. Be sure to quit Modul8 and to check that all your devices are connected to the video cards.

Open the System Preferences panel in the Application folder of Mac OS X.

Click on the “Arrangement” tab at the top of the window and deselect “Mirror Displays” if it is activated.

Then go to the “Display Tab” and select “Gather Window”. In each window you should set the resolution,

the colors and the refresh rate. Try to use exactly the same settings for all displays in order to have the

best possible performances.

Notes:

If the number of windows does not correspond to the number of connected screens or projectors, youshould click on “Detect Displays” in the Display tab.

The ‘Show Monitor’ option in the menu bar let you change and visualize your screens and resolution in the


26/113

VERSION 2.5

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


26

menu bar of the Mac OS X.

Warning

To avoid stability problem in advanced mode, you must quit Modul8 each time you change the numberof outputs or the system preferences. It means that each time you connect or deconnect a device, you

change the output resolution or refresh rate, etc. you must quit Modul8 and restart it when it is finished.

Apple advises to turn on your computer and all the connected devices before changing the connections.

If you do that, be sure to turn on the screens and the projectors before the computer.

For the best performances it is critical that each projectors and screens use the same resolution and

refresh rate.

Activating the advanced mode

o activate the advanced mode:

1) Open the advanced output setup window from the ‘output’ menu

2) Select the Advanced Output Enabled checkbox


27/113

VERSION 2.5

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


27

The advanced output setup

1

3 4 13

12106 7 8

11

9

2

5

( 1,2 ) Representation area for editing the clipsEach clip can be represented and modified in this area.

( 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 ) Attributes and configurationTo edit and to configure the different elements and parameters available in the advanced mode.

( 12 ) Routing TableCan be used to route the clips to the video outputs.

( 13 ) gestion des configurationsCan be used to load and save pre-defined configuration.

Representation area

This zone ( 1 ) is a representation of your composition space (like you see it in the output or in the preview)where you can see the clips. A dark blue rectangle represents your preview window boundaries. The

proportion of the preview can be changed in the preferences of Modul8 in the preview tab.

Each clip is represented by a rectangle, where the orange clip represents the selected one.The representation is a virtual space : you can move the view (just like a camera) by clicking on the

background and moving the mouse while maintaining the button pressed. You can re-center or change


28/113

VERSION 2.5

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel


28

the representation scale by using the ‘Center’ button or the pop-up menu ( 5 )

Managing the clips

Creating and deleting clips

To create or delete a clip, simply select the plus and minus button ( 9 )Note. The delete button will erase only the last added clip whatever is the current selection.

Clip selection

After you did create several clips, use the pop up menu ( 8 ) to select a clip.

You can also simply click on a clip in the representation area ( 1 )

Note : the orange clip is the selected one, the parameters ( 3,6,7 ) are always relative to this one.

Position and size of the clip in the representation space

After you have selected a clip you can change its position and size in the space. This can be done by

selecting and dragging with the mouse. For more precision you can also use the numerical fields ( 3 ) and

activate the magnetize function ( 4 )

Notes : The spatial coordinates are based on the view center which is at (0,0)

These coordinates are defined on an arbitrary scale which is the same one used in the Modul8 composition.

This virtual scale is relative to the working space and the pixel size is defined by the resolution of the

video outputs. For a 4/3 ratio the virtual scale is fixed to -320 to 320 for the width and -240 to 240 for the

height.

Seeing the clips in the preview

It is possible to see the clips over your composition in the preview window. To do this, select the ‘show’option ( 10 ). You can also use the ‘show all’ or ‘hide all’ ( 10 ) function to show or hide all the clips.

In order to improve the visibility you can change the clip color ( 7 ).

Notes : In the Modul8 preview window, the clips are displayed in every mode but the ‘OUT’ mode, which

displays the final composition as it appears in the video outputs.

Clip ratio

The ratio represents the proportion of the clip.

Usually you will use a ratio that corresponds to the ratio of your video outputs.

The 4/3 is the most common ration today.

You can change the clip ration in the pop up menu ( 8 ).

Routing Table

The routing table ( 12 ) can be used to link your clips to specific video outputs. Basically each outputcorresponds to one of the graphic card output. The selected clip will be displayed in full screen to the

corresponding output. The output number correspond to the screen number as it appears in the system

preferences. The main output is usually the screen which contains the menu bar where the Modul8 user

interface is displayed. You can send the same clip to several outputs or one clip to each outputs depending

of your requirements.

As long as you are not in full screen mode, you can see all the outputs as floating windows on the main

screen. It is useful to prepare your configuration. Use the “Show Info” ( 11 ) option to see in each outputwindows its corresponding screen number.


29/113

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


29

Managing your setup

You can import or export your setup ( 13 ) to a file in order to use them in different contexts. A setup can bechanged in real time during a performance. Simply save a set of setups and when you need to change one,use the “Import Setup button” to load it. The new setup will be automatically displayed in your outputs.

Annex

Matrox dualHead2Go and TripleHead2go

t is possible to do multiple projection with Modul8 using one of these Matrox devices. Basically these

devices double or triple the size your desktop and then split it in several outputs. This is pretty useful when

you want to do multiple projection without a MacPro or a G5 PCi-Express tower. However the advanced

setup mechanism of Modul8 cannot be used with this mode, because Modul8 will see only one output.

The key to have a projection at the correct size, is to change the preview ratio in the preferences(Preview tab) in order to adapt it to the very wide display resolution. For a dualHead2Go you should select

the 8/3 ratio and for the TripleHead2go the 4/1 ratio.

Schema 01: 5 projectors VGA connected + 1 preview

P1

preview

P2 P3 P4 P5

G5


30/113

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


30


Schema 03: 5 projectors (3 VGA + 4 video) + 1 preview

P 1

preview

P3

G5

P 2

P 5

P 4

preview

P1 P2 P3

G5

TV2TV1 TV3 TV4


31/113

M U L T I P R O J

E C T I O N

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


31


preview

P 7

G5 P 6

P 5 P 4

P 3

P 2

P1


32/113

L A Y E R

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


32

LAYER

Overview

They layer is a key paradigm in Modul8. Basically, when you create a composition you always workwith layers. A media is always represented through a layer and all the modiers you will apply to the media

are achieved through a layer.

Modul8 supports ten layers that can be mixed together. Layers at the top of the list are at the top of

the composition (in other words, they are stacked starting from the last one to the rst one).

Each layer represents one single media. When you select a media it is automatically linked to the selected

layer. You change the selection of the layer simply by clicking on it.

All the controls at the right of the layer list reect the current state of the selected layer; they are updated

each time you select another layer.

Managing Layers

Managing layers is pretty easy. You can add, remove or duplicate layers using the buttons at the top

of the layer list or by using the corresponding items in the “Edit” menu. When you add or duplicate a layer,

it is inserted at the current selected layer position.

The layer stack


33/113

L A Y E R

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


33

You can change the order of the layers by clicking in an empty zone of the layer box and dragging it

in the layer list. The composition is immediately updated when the layer is dropped.

Each layer can be turned on/off by using the checkbox directly linked to it in the layer list. A slider

also allows you also to change the global transparency of a layer. At the bottom, a caption displays the

media currently linked to the layer.

Working with A/B Layer groups

While it is possible to work with the ten layers as one composition, Modul8 is able to divide the

ten layers in two groups of ve layers. In this mode, you have two simultaneous compositions called

respectively the group A and the group B. The main utility of this mode is its ability to display one group in

the nal output view while you are working on another composition in the preview window.

By default, the layer stack is just one continuous composition made of ten layers. To divide the

layer stack in two groups A/B you simply enable the cross-fader by turning on one or more A/B transition

option.

Change the layer order

with a simple mouse drag

1 2

43

1 Turn layer on / off

2 Transparency

3 Linked media

4 Selected media as anorange border


34/113

L A Y E R

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


34

In the current version of Modul8 there are two transition effects to cross-fade between the groups A/B:

Fading: The layers disappear using transparency

Scaling: Each layer is reduced until it disappear entirely

These two modes can also be combined.

Typically you turn on a cross-fading mode for the two groups A/B. The most common usage is to

use the fading mode on both A/B and then use the “Group Inv.” mode in the preview window to see the

inverse of the nal output.

It is also possible to turn on a cross-fading mode for only one group. In this case, using the cross-

fader will have an effect only on the selected group.

Play

The “play” section is for all the animated media that have a predened time line (typically movies). For

images, texts or video capture, this section does nothing. It includes function to alter the playback speed,

the loop mode, etc.

Speed

The speed slider allows you to change the playback speed of the media linked to the layer. You

can use the reset button to set it back to its default speed. Depending of the codec, using a time speed

different than the default one may require more CPU time.

Loop Mode

By default, movies are automatically played in loop mode. However you can change the loop mode using

the three icons:

Simple loop mode: Movie is restarted when the end is reached

3 45

2

1

1 Time speed

2 Loop mode

3 Scratch and set entry point

4 Second scratch knob and marker5 Play direction


35/113

L A Y E R

MAIN PANEL

01Main panel

VERSION 2.5


35

Ping-pong: Play direction is reversed each time the end or the start of the movie is reached

Play once: Movie is stopped when the end is reached. You can restart it by clicking on it in the media

panel.

You can also change the play direction by using the arrows bellow the loop mode icons (see the nextchapters).

Scratch

Beside the loop mode icons you can see three different controllers. The arrow can be used to quickly

change the direction of a playing movie.

The two knobs can be used to scratch your movie. In other words, these knobs are directly linked to

the time line of your movie, so when you turn it you directly jump to a specic position in the movie. The

rst and the second knobs are identical with one small difference. The rst one also marks the default

entry point of the movie. Each time the media is restarted by clicking in the media zone, it is restarted at

the position of the rst scratch knob.

These knobs can also be used as two markers. When you click on them the movie directly jump

where the knob is currently positioned.

By linking midi controllers to these two knobs combined with the reverse direction function, you ca

modul8 manual

Documents