Projectable Audio Spectrum in Beyond - It's There

[Jem]

Hi all

Following on from the other thread about audio spectrums...

Up to now the best solution for projecting an audio spectrum was to fire up an old version of WinAmp and hook it up to the LivePRO plugin. This allowed you to project a reasonable audio spectrum, but it had limitations. The other problem was that it was a little fickle as to which version of WinAmp you were using etc.

Anyway, the other thread got me thinking that this would be a useful addition to the huge set of features that Beyond already has, especially as there is now a very comprehensive audio tab.

Well, in the quest to see if this could be done I fired off an email to the programmers (names left out for privacy). As is usual, the resopnse time is phenomenal, and I had a reply within 30 minutes. Apparently this function is already possible from about build 509 which is a Beta version and not on general release.

Anyway, I've just fired up Beyond and this is how you do it...

Right click on a blank cue

Select Create / New Shape

In the shape editor window select the primary shape second from the right ) looks like an 'X' (See screenshot below)

You should now see a line appear in the editor window.

If you have an audio source/microphone attached this line should be responding to the audio input.

You can of course choose whether this line is shown as a line or a series of dots. It's also possible to adjust the amount of points shown.

You can also add Oscillators, Modulators and effects as with any other shape.

You can also add colours etc etc etc...

Now, click on show it now

Apparently there's loads of other ways to control the audio input and it can be linked to Channels as well. Not had time to experiment with that as yet. I just wanted to get this post up so everyone can start playing

Cheers

Jem



Oh, BTW, the version of Beyond i'm currently using is a beta version, and this feature isn't (to the best of my knowledge) available in the current stable release version of Beyond version 1:00. It just shows what you can look forward to in Beyond version 2.

[ekeefe]

Hello,

Thank you!

Your steps worked great. Did you read this somewhere or just figure it out?

ED

[White-Light]

Nice find Jem. Just wish you could get a bar graph output as well as a waveform.

BTW adjusting the Release and Gain settings on the audio tab has a direct effect on the cue.

Release slows down the response so you can visualise the notes more (or speeds it up if you decrease the value). Gain increases the amplitude.

[Jem]

Can I just say that I didn't figure it out, I just asked the right questions

@Al, I'm not sure that's possible... but you could ask the question I guess

[White-Light]

Already on it.

I don't think its possible at present but who knows what might be available in the future.

However, the audio tab does give some very neat possibilities for control and I've just tossed a few more ideas into the pot.

[Jem]

For a smoother effect try increasing the 'release' slider on the Audio tab.

Also, play about with the colour effects, try adding a colour effect 'by Gradient', also try different point values

[White-Light]

Hi Jem, yeah release slows down the speed at which the peak returns to baseline and in effect slows the response which makes the effect easier to see and smoother. I look forward to trying gradient. I have tried a 10 colour discrete effect though:



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I'm currently favouring around 150-170 on point count for my personal preference.

[Jem]

Just made a quick video of the effect. The 'release' was set to about 95%, in retrospect that's probably a little high. Also I just mirrored the spectrum for better effect.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=mDt_9...e_gdata_player

It's a pretty neat effect though and as always it looks much better in real life

Cheers

Jem

[White-Light]

Nice Jem but for gods sake, bring back the dubstep!

[Things]

Hah, that's awesome! Although I had to select Virtual LJ, set it to Audio input, them right click on the BPM window, select stereo mix and then it showed up in the audio tab and thus in the shape editor. Works a treat

You can get a pretty cool effect by adding a Linear clone from Key effects, and offsetting the Delta Y a bit, gives kind of a 3D effect. Can also add a Roto clone, and set it's delta Z to 180, and delta Y to -180 so it's like an inverted version, and use Base Y to drag it just below the other one to give a differential look.

I also see a small webcam symbol at the bottom left of build 533, some interesting things to come I think