AV Slicer Tutorial

This should hopefully get you set up with an AV Slicer using Ableton Live and Isadora.

It requires Ableton Live 7 as versions before this do not have the Slice to Midi feature.

It is based around the method of sending values from a VST to your visualist app. as described in this tutorial

I’ve been using Plogue Bidule but for the purposes of this tutorial I’m going to use a Pluggo vst as its free.

You need to install Pluggo from Cycling 74.

The slicer requires this vst plug in into your live plug ins location. Download the vst here: windows version.

or here: osx version (may only work with leopard)

You can download the Ableton & Isadora files here or build them up yourself using the tutorial that follows.

Open Live
Drag a Warped Mov file into the first audio slot.
It makes it a lot easier if its warped.
If not then warp it and then export it to video and audio (quicktime photoJpeg maybe) .

If you do this you might want to just import the wav file into Live when you’re done. The important thing is that the video and audio are synched before you start.

Then draw a clip envelope starting at the bottom left of your clip and going to the top right so that it reaches the top at the end of your clip.

If you followed the previous tutorial you might want to use the vst that came with it but its not essential unless you want to use this track.

Otherwise You could draw a clip envelope for one of the return channels.

It just has to be the same shape as the one below and go from 0 at the beginning of your clip to 100% at the end.

Move the start and end points of the clip to the area you want to slice - then rt click - Slice to new midi track.

I'm going to chop up 4 bars into 1/8 note sections.

This results in 32 slices, the default for the videoslicer plug in.

Double click at the top of the new slicer track. Right click on your slicer device and select group. Then open the chain interface.

Drag the Slicerosc VST into the chain and make that the first in the list.

Go back to your initial clip envelope in the audio track. Click in the envelope window. Select all and then rt click and copy the envelope.

Now go back to your sliced midi clip. In the parameters you must select SlicerOSC . Zoom in on the very beginning of the clip and paste the envelope.

Open the interface for the Slicerosc VST and view the parameters. Drag the position slider all the way to the right and release it. It should start moving.

Drag the steps slider to 32 (or however many steps you have chosen) - double clicking allows you to move it in small increments.

Drag the reset slider to the right (1) for a moment and then drag it back.

Open Isadora.
Make sure the OSC port number is set to 2000 (or whatever the port the plug in is transmitting too)
If it isn’t reset it and restart Isadora.
OK first step drag an OSC Listener actor into Isadora. Set it to Channel 10
Start playing the midi clip in Ableton Live. This should change the values in Isadora. If it doesn’t go back over the previous steps.

Now import the mov file which corresponds to the clip playing in Live.
Chain a movie player actor to a projector and set the speed and volume to zero.
Link the value of the OSC Listener to the first value input of a calculator actor.
Set the operation to divide and the second value to 163.83.
Connect this to the position input of the movie player.

Get another OSC Listener and set the channel to 11. Connect this to the intensity of your projector.

Show the stage in Isadora (control G) and start playing the clip in Live. It should shift the playhead of the movie in Isadora.

You can move the midi notes about in your sliced clip and the video will follow the audio.

And there we have it a Video Slicer!

There's loads of room for improvement / embellishment etc. It could work with loads of other software.

If you want it build it!