The Quartz Composer Interaction object and VDMX Preview Windows

March 12, 2013

One of the newer features added to Quartz Composer is a new 'Interaction' object which allows for mouse clicks in the QC Viewer, as well as Preview Window plugins within VDMX, to be detected when billboard and sprites are clicked, making it possible to control patches in a variety of ways not possible with standard input splitters.

For this tutorial we'll first create a basic Quartz Composer composition that makes use of the 'Interaction' object and then import it into VDMX where it can be manipulated directly from a Preview Window plugin.

Making and Installing GLSL Composition Modes for VDMX

March 6, 2013

To get the best performance out of using the Hap codec within VDMX we also recently added another new feature making it possible to use GLSL shaders to perform composition between layers. While the standard 'OpenGL- Add' and 'OpenGL- Over' modes are the absolute fastest when it comes to rendering, when more complex composition modes such as 'Difference' or 'Multiply' are needed shaders are the best alternative when playing back movie files, particularly when you're not using CoreImage or Quartz Composer based FX on the layer.

In this two part tutorial we'll look first at the basics of adding new 3rd party shaders to the assets folder, and then move on to the intermediate level step of creating new custom blend modes.

The 9 Layer 3x3 HD Video Wall

February 13, 2013

In this intermediate level tutorial we'll be taking 9 standard definition movies (640x360) and combining them in a 3x3 grid layout to make a single 1920x1080 HD output image in the style of a video wall on your Mac.