Critter & Guitari - EYESY Video Synthesizer

ccr · February 28, 2023, 3:17pm

In my case, I have used a free software provided by AVerMedia, but I think any other video capturing software (e.g., OBS) would work as well.

silent_k · February 28, 2023, 5:47pm

I use this for capturing video from my EYESY: Cam Link 4K | elgato.com – HDMI out of the EYESY into the Cam Link, then a USB-3 cable from there to my laptop. I record in OBS to a separate internal drive I installed for this purpose. For the most part, it works great – OBS is, in my experience, kind of unpredictable, and I’ve occasionally had to reinstall it when everything inexplicably stops working. But it’s pretty easy to set up – they way I’ve done it is to record the video on my laptop and the audio on my desktop where my interface is, then bring the video over and edit things together in Final Cut. It’s a bit clunky but does the job.

OldmanChompski · February 28, 2023, 5:49pm

Yeah, most if not all graphics cards only do output for HDMI. You need a capture card to capture external video signals into your computer.

Tchu · February 28, 2023, 6:04pm

Thanks for the replies everyone, it’s clearer now.

thetechnobear · February 28, 2023, 6:42pm

before going down the capture route, I think you should ask yourself what the end result is your are after? why use eyesy for something you are doing in the ‘studio’ ?

Eyesy is great for visuals for live audio in a small/simple dedicated box… thats its main focus.

BUT if you are already using a Mac/PC, then there are plenty of other tools that run natively to generate video for your tracks… so much choice available, and you dont need it portable in the studio

note : even, if you are after the particular ‘presets’ used by Eyesy, and you have some development skills you could even run these on your Mac/PC - its not trivial, but can be done.

this avoid needing a video capture card

Im not advising against Eyesy at all, rather stating (imho) the main purpose of eyesy is if you want that hands on control in a small package… and its ready to go … its great for that.

Sure, Ive got a video capture card for it, but really the only need I see for this is if you want to capture some kind of live performance.
e.g. say at an event, and you want to mix with say camera/audio… it’d be pretty cool for this… though you’d have to likely do some post processing (to sync etc)

Tchu · February 28, 2023, 6:51pm

Thanks @thetechnobear! I came to the same conclusion after reading the answers and after talking to some vj friends. But one thing remains : I think it could be a cool and simple device for my kids and to get along with daddy in the studio.

ccr · February 28, 2023, 6:59pm

Kids really love it. I had a whole bunch of kids (4-8 yo) doing the vj with the Eyesy the last time I played live (at a bithday party). I just explained the main functions to the oldest kid and she managed the others. Kids especially love that they can record the modes/presets they create (and they are really good with it). I agree with @thetechnobear that the main interest is for playing live with a very simple box to generate visuals. I used it with a good videoprojector, and the results were really nice. When I play for myself, I just have a very small monitor in my setup - even this creates some nice, immersive vibes…

sacguy71 · February 28, 2023, 6:59pm

it is on my wish list for next year but seems to always be out of stock everyplace I look for one. Hopefully next year I can pick one up on sale.

thetechnobear · February 28, 2023, 7:30pm

Yeah , as I said, it’s a fun device … I do even use in the studio to just have some visuals running in the background.
( annoyingly the projector I bought was a bit too noisy, so I tend to use a spare tv )

But these days I’m trying to be a bit careful about when I use dedicated hardware - it’s easy for me to get carried away trying to do stuff in a dawless /standalone when it’s not really necessary.

So, now I try to strike a balance … deciding what I want standalone./ hardware , and what can be done on the Mac.
Both have their advantages, so try to get beat from both.

BassesAndPads · February 28, 2023, 8:35pm

Can you recommend some tools for Mac? Id love to have something running in a plug-in window while I’m working on a track in ableton. Not sure if that’s possible but could be fun.

OldmanChompski · February 28, 2023, 9:09pm

Would be very easy to sequence it with the Hapax though

Might write up the instrument definition for the Eyesy when I get home.

the_duckchild · March 31, 2023, 11:22am

as long as they aren’t lying about having it in stock, I think I now have one of these on the way to me…

anyone know what the current state of play with the openGL / ofLua beta is? Is it no longer beta?
Or got any good resources for learning lua specifically for this?

I literally just bought a “making art with Python” book which was maybe the wrong move as the OpenG/ofLua stuff @esq has shared here looks awesome!

the_duckchild · March 31, 2023, 11:33am

it feels like the chip shortage means they aren’t making any more (for now?) maybe?
Wondering if it’s going to get a bit abandoned… but happy to get mucky making it do fun things.

Native_Layer · March 31, 2023, 2:11pm

If you have Mac, you can screen capture on Quicktime and use a cheap card from Amazon for about £8.
I managed this with the above (and Imovie) - not brilliant and not much customisation, but I found it fun:

Used Octatrack LFO’s and audio triggering

Karl_Joseph · March 31, 2023, 10:12pm

Nice set!

the_duckchild · April 6, 2023, 11:36am

just saw this:

“Unfortunately these instruments will not be for sale for the foreseeable future due to some required components being entirely unavailable.”

here;

so maybe the chip shirtage hunch was right… although that’s not a picture of an eyesy obvs