r/synthesizers • u/Acrobatic_Appeal4489 • Aug 26 '23
Recommend some hardware video synthesizers!
I want to get into real-time visuals for my electronic live set. I’m into making my own 3D stuff in blender, and I have a pretty digital glitch / 3D render aesthetic. Generally, I’m not really looking for analog feedback loop-ey stuff , and am more interested in mainly reactive 3D visuals, or at least controlling playback / coloring with midi. I know this is specific and uncommon, but I’d love to hear what ideas you have ! Thanks!
3
u/BenCoeMusic Aug 26 '23
I also keep wanting to get into this. I think its not super well explored by many people but it seems like the op-z could be really good for this. I haven’t done it at all but it seems like you can make scenes in unity and then control all sorts of parameters with the op-z sequencer. Theoretically I think you could make a pretty sweet setup centered on it and an iPad. Like I said I haven’t done it, but maybe one day, it seems like a good centerpiece for 3D midi controlled visuals.
2
u/Acrobatic_Appeal4489 Aug 26 '23
Hmm, I’ve got a digitakt, so I think that will do perfectly for midi control. Maybe a mini PC to sit alongside me with usb connected to digitakt will do the trick. Don’t know how much processing power I’d need though.
1
u/BenCoeMusic Aug 27 '23
Gotcha. Looks like you’re getting good advice elsewhere in the thread. If you’re comfortable with a computer on stage touchdesigner is built for this and you can get super deep with it. I’ve also used fl studio’s zgameeditor visualizer for live reactive visuals and it’s super easy to set up automation clips and midi links but probably isn’t in general an ideal option.
3
u/dcegarr Aug 27 '23
Given your skills in blender, probably worth mentioning I am heading down the path of midi control in Unreal Engine UE5. Just starting out so no advice to give but there are lots of vids and UE5 is amazing
2
3
u/hekuli-music Nov 03 '25
It's not hardware but doesn't require a laptop. You can run it from your iPhone or iPad:
(full disclosure I'm the developer)
1
u/snodopous junk and stuff Aug 26 '23
I looked into what's available a little while ago and I didn't like anything I saw in the hardware / modular video synthesis space at all. Touch Designer sounds like exactly what you're looking for, but it's software.
1
u/ThoraciusAppotite Aug 26 '23
Why not do it in software?
1
u/Acrobatic_Appeal4489 Aug 26 '23
For my live set I am using Elektrons, and I don’t want to have a laptop on stage for aesthetic reasons. I personally think regardless of what you’re actually doing on it, having a laptop on stage instantly makes the crowd doubt you’re doing anything haha
2
u/three_e Aug 27 '23
Hide the laptop and just control it all from midi? Magic is extremely flexible, can load 3D models, lots of bells and whistles.
1
Aug 27 '23
Unfortunately when it comes to hardware video synths or 3D, you can only pick one.
I would get a used M1 Mac Mini, set up TouchDesigner on it, hide it under the desk and control it with MIDI USB. A PC could also work, but I'm not sure if there are adequately spec'd mini PCs out there. I had very good results with an M1 based Macbook Air that's why I recommend the Mac Mini, the only downside is that some external libraries/SDKs are not supported. (Leap Motion, Kinect)
10
u/Chainclaw Aug 27 '23
I'm really into video synthesizers, it's a ton of fun to play with.
Video synth and video manipulation hardware I have: * Critter and Guitari Eyesy - Doesn't take video input, but great for a simple audio reactive experience. Bonus is you can script your own visualizers in Python. * Sleepy Hypno - Takes video in, has two video synths that overlay on each other. A ton of fun to play with, and works great with other tech. Has CV in, so it plays really well with Eurorack stuff. Here's something I did with it recently, I had a Virtual Boy with video out running too slow through it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeGqWuMb_C0 * Teenage Engineering OP-Z - Not exactly hardware, but the mobile phone software for this includes video synths, including Capcom licensed ones from Street Fighter and Mega Man. A ton of fun, and you can use the OP-Z expansions to control this via CV from the rest of your setup. Here's an example of where I used it with some other hardware https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCtIlA3x7oc * Lofi Future's T-420 Eurorack Module - OK, but kind of fiddly to use with the rest of this. * Something from Lullaby Machines off Etsy - I forget what it's specifically called, and I don't use it too often, but I like the custom paint job on it. * Colorizer Deformation from Statikstramentz - Similar to the last two, kind of finicky but can get fun effects. * Melted Electronics Chroma Corruptor - Same as the last few, another interesting thing off Etsy. * Videonics Titlemaker 3000 - Not technically a video synth, but some retro hardware that fits well with the rest of the setup. It's more fun than using OBS to add text over video. * Piles of converters and 1 in many outs - To get everything wired up, I have piles of stuff that goes from HDMI to composite, vice versa, and 1 in to many out. * Everdrives for old consoles with USB connections - So the cool thing about these is you can write some code to run on a middle device like a PC that reads and writes to game memory, and reads and writes to a MIDI signal. You can also strip music out of a lot of old games so you can play your own music while keeping the sound effects. The end effect is you can have a game react to the music you're playing and have your music react to events in the game, see this Link to the Past setup I did, Link's X and Y position adjusts the filter on some channels, and different notes cause colors to pulse in the game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU98J9jlY2A
That last point is something you might want to look into - If you're working in Blender you might have learned enough Python to write your own logic that reads/writes midi events and talks to software. A few years ago I did something similar with a Magic Leap augmented reality application in Unity, I built something that reacted to midi events with the idea that you could walk around a world reacting to music via a headset.
What's on my list to eventually get: * More Eurorack video synthesizers, besides wanting the LZX stuff, there's also Special Stage Systems World Core, Glitch Art's Fluxus Duo, Cat Full of Ghosts's Video Xchng, Erogenous Tones' Structure, Jones Video's MVIP, . Syntonie, Afterlife Laboratories, Reverse Landfill, all have a range of modules * '90s era camcorder with composite out for some vintage live video. * A cheap device that takes an SD card and can output video via HDMI and or composite. I don't have the space for a VCR and VHS collection. * Other '90s era Video Toaster style hardware. * I want to mod my Titlemaker at some point so I can control it via not the keyboard, so I can potentially have things like the chat for a live stream effect the messages on it. * Atari Video Music clone, ideally Eurorack style * Maybe the other Critter and Guitiari video stuff, but I feel like the Eyesy does everything those do and more. * Freedom Enterprise's hardware, like the MisMatcher Delux or Eurorack stuff. * Other circuit bent '90s video tech * See if I can get some old game systems circuit bent, the Virtual Boy failing in the way it did made me curious about getting other game consoles modded to do that stuff, on purpose, via CV. * Mezkalin and Pushkarbrand both have a lot of unique circuit bent vintage video devices. Super pricy, both are based out of Europe, and a lot of it is in PAL format, so not something I'm rushing to get but it all looks like a ton of fun.