What is it?

This is VFX, a software system for manipulating, triggering and mixing digital video clips and loops.

There are two main parts to it: the Performer for playing, mixing and manipulating video in real time (not unlike VJamm or Arkaos) and the Compositor for rendering video effects for later use.

What can it do?

Here's a basic feature list:

• Full PAL resolution: VFX will happily decode and mix 3 simultaneous channels of 720x576, 25fps video. That's on my 3 year old laptop. Newer hardware can probably do more.
• Hardware accelerated rendering: VFX Performer makes use of your graphics hardware for smooth, high-performance video effects.
• Dual-head support: Send the output signal to the second monitor connector or to the TV output. Perfect for attaching to a projector or other video system.
• FreeFrameGL (FFGL) 1.5: An open standard for creating real-time OpenGL-based video effects plugins. VFX comes with a few plugins of its own, and more can be found on the net.
• MIDI controller support: Many controls can be operated from a MIDI controller such as the Behringer BCF2000.
• Video capture support: feed live video into VFX via a V4L-compatible video capture device.
• Stable and useful: I've used VFX at several gigs, parties and festivals over the last few years. It works well for me in a real performance situation.

What do I need?

The basic setup you need to get VFX running is:

• A recent PC. Anything less than about five years old should be enough.
• A Linux OS. I run Debian, but it shouldn't matter which particular variety of Linux you use.
• An NVIDIA graphics card if you want to use the Performer. (Volunteers to add ATI support are more than welcome.)

See the Getting Started page for more detailed system requirements.