Tiësto, the “Greatest DJ Of All Time” according to a recent poll in Mixmag, is on tour again with visuals driven by ArKaos MediaMaster. Koen de Puysseleir from Light in Motion - creative Director for Tiësto - talks about his experience with ArKaos MediaMaster and the newly implemented Syphon output, which he suggested to ArKaos developers.
Early september I got challenged with some difficult video setups for Tiësto Club Life performances. These challenges included some complex video setups with split screens and side screens on the same video feed and a few other difficult situations.
I found a partial solution in MadMapper, which could channel my video content to the right regions but was still confronted with the problem that I needed to output my media server to MadMapper.
As a long time user of ArKaos MediaMaster I did not really feel like switching to any of the complex or less reliable software solutions available. As I am running video lighting at the same time I need a system that is reliable and straightforward. MediaMaster's ability to overlay effects, run multiple high quality video files, switch instantly between content files, use alpha channel from my videos, ... and all the other cool stuff it is able to acheive in a straightforward uniform way makes MediaMaster a must have for me.
Once I discovered that MadMapper was a good solution to fix my mapping problem I continued my ressearch and quickly learned about a mac native openSource Project called Syphon, which basically lets the computer stream video content from different sources on the same pc to different destinations. The easy fix for me would be to have ArKaos MediaMaster talk to MadMapper through Syphon.
But I was in a hurry since I was only 10 days away from the project deadline..Then I remembered my meeting with ArKaos developers at PLASA 2010, they said they were always open to attempt implementation of new features I needed, if it was possible and if it could make the software better for the other users. So I gave it a try, contacted them and explained my problem.
A day later they came back to me and said they would need a few days to work on this, but would definitely try to add this to the next ArKaos release, as they also saw the numerous benefits this would give to their software.
Only a few more days and I received an exclusive custom version of MediaMaster, with the first implementation of Syphon! This literally changed the way I work with MediaMaster now. Before I needed two servers to run two screens now I can just use one, the content is always in sync and always looks great.
I also can handle more complex shows now, where I have a bunch of extra screens and split screens when we play festivals now I can map my content basically to any screen setup, the image will always be just the way I want it.
Also, using a 3rd party application reduces the work load on MediaMaster, which helps it to play all my files in their native resolution, the other applications in the workflow do all the sizing.
Syphon built into MediaMaster now greatly increases it's value and my creativity of what I can design and bring in the future. So far I have done around 80 shows with this setup without any problems, MediaMaster never fails on me.
Koen de Puysseleir is the Creative Director for Tiësto, Owner of Light in Motion A Belgium design and show control company.
