VDMX6 Adds Video Vision
In the ever-evolving world of live visual performance, VDMX6 has just shaken the pixel-drenched stage with a powerful new feature that drags video playback straight into the realm of computer vision. Yes, the unsung hero of macOS VJ tools just gave you eyesmachine eyes. So buckle in: things are about to get wildly more intelligent behind the decks.
Vision: Because Your Clips Deserve to See
Lumen, Magic, and CoGe may flirt with shader power or minimalism, but VDMX remains the maximalist’s playground for live visuals on macOS. Now with the addition of Apple’s Vision framework, real-time video analysis lands smack in the middle of your cue list, meaning your VJ setup can now understand what it’s showing.
Face and body detection? Check.
Text and barcode detection? Naturally.
Image classification, contour mapping, object tracking? It’s all part of the new visual voodoo.
The implementation is slick and very much in VDMX’s wheelhouse: modular, customizable, and utterly malleable. A new category of plugins under the aptly named Vision tag lets users pull in CV-based data as control sources, modulate other visuals based on that data, or straight-up overlay the analysis on their output.
Real-Time Analysis, Zero Coding Required
One of the joys of VDMX has always been its Swiss Army Knife-style allegiance to modularity. This update takes that ethos to new heights by allowing you to tap into the Apple Vision API without writing a single line of code. Want a parameter to react when a face appears? Just link it. Need elements to morph based on motion or limb detection? Now you can lock that to a tracked skeleton like it’s 2099.
Using native macOS Vision tools under the hood means performance stays snappy. And because it’s baked directly into the already-sprawling plugin system, these vision tools can act as modulators, MIDI triggers, automation sources, or even standalone performance cues.
What This Means for Performers and Developers
This isn’t just a gimmick tossed into a new build for the sake of trend-chasing. It’s a serious shift in what live visualists can do without scripting or external apps. All of a sudden, your visuals can respond to performers’ gestures, audience interaction, or even printed cue cards with QR codes. That’s not just reactiveit’s proactive visuals.
Face tracking can control lighting or transition effects. Barcode reading could trigger media cues. Body detection could modulate glitch effects or manipulate shader outputs. You get the idea: the dancefloor visuals are watching… and now, they’re responding.
“Think of this less as machine learning hype and more like giving tactile awareness to your visuals,” says developer David Lublin.
How to Get Started
As always, the key to VDMX is experimentation. The latest beta ships with four demo compositions showing Vision features interacting with different media and interface parameters. Install the latest build, drop a Vision Analysis plugin into your workspace, and prepare to geek out as knobs twitch and layers bend autonomously based on what’s streaming into your lens.
Pro Tips:
- Use vision.facedetection to track people in a webcam feed and modulate parameters based on face count or position.
- Combine vision.motiontracking with
Waveclockto sync motion to rhythm for AV installations. - Trigger audio-reactive effects only when objects enter specific zones within the video frame.
And of course, this is just the beginning. Lublin’s known for quietly updating and refining features based on user feedback, so expect this to sprout even more options over the coming months.
Why This Matters Now
The stage is rapidly becoming a hybrid playground of audio, visual, and responsive interactivity. While expensive sensors and dedicated vision hardware exist, integrating these capabilities inside a VJ software without third-party dependencies makes a massive differenceespecially for solo artists, theater productions, or indie creators operating on tightly-packed budgets and MacBooks.
At a time when touch, gesture, and movement are becoming the language of performance, VDMX just transformed from an effects powerhouse to a perceptive tool, one that sees the world it’s projecting onto.
This is machine vision not as surveillance, but as creative instrument. The software is no longer a passive toolit understands the room, the performer, and maybe even you. Time to start waving at your visuals.
In Summary
- VDMX6 now supports Apple’s Vision framework, offering live analysis of video input with zero code needed.
- Includes face detection, image classification, body tracking, QR scanning, and more.
- New visual analysis data can be mapped to control sliders, layers, parameters, and triggers.
- Comes with example setups to demo capabilities right out of the box.
- A truly unique addition in the world of modular live visual tools.
Put simply: VDMX6 just grew a brain. A visionary one. And now, the future of visuals isn’t just generativeit’s observant.
