We really enjoyed this tutorial from the DocOptic crew who were gracious enough to let us share it here with some extra notes.
DocOptic is an independent team of artists with a background in the creation and performance of live visuals, 3D motion graphics, and music production. We also enjoy sharing knowledge with new and existing audio-visual performers through the creation of tutorials that explain how various live visual software works and how they can be used in live performances.
This tutorial goes over some of our favorite tips we use to improve our workflow while using VDMX including keyboard shortcuts, BPM automation, presets, and more. Also covered are a few techniques using our most used features of VDMX such as the Alpha Mask effect and using application windows as media sources.
Tips and Notes:
Save and recall the states of your parameters using Presets.
Remove footage backgrounds using the Alpha and Layer Mask effects.
Create a Control Surface to easily access your favorite effects and parameters.
Use marks to trigger different playback positions of your media.
Use other applications applications as media sources with Window Inputs.
Automate parameters to BPM to keep your visuals in sync with audio.