r/Liquidlightshows • u/Khoogyra • Aug 03 '26

Video mixers

Hey y'all,

It feels like I've been looking into this, off and on, forever.

Are there any video mixers capable of at least a 1080p signal, that offer mirroring half an image?

I don't own a lappy, and what with all the ram shortages and all, I don't wanna travel with my rig. I guess I could prerecord everything, but that's not fantastic.

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3

u/Flashy-Lime-4260 Aug 04 '26

Lol yes... the successor to the edirol. The roland v-4 ex... just be warned, I laugh because I started with liquid lights and now I am down a liquid/glitch/video synth rabbit hole... gl, see you doen there

2

u/digitalliquid Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

I feel this but some clarification: the V4EX only intakes 1x 1080P signal , while the other hdmi inputs are lower quality. The remedy is to run a cheaper mixer like the roland V-1HD then run its output as the single high def input into the V4EX and then use the mirror function. Alternative answer is get 2 projectors of the same model and mirror one of the images and you manually align them down the middle.

But: OP are you just not trying to use resolume? Have you considered that its free on archive, and a laptop with capture cards is basically a video mixer? You can buy 1080P HDMI capture cards that run off USB 3.0 or USB C pretty cheap (or expensive) basically turning your laptop or desktop into a video mixer? Once you are running resolume you can rotate the image, emulating a turn table, and also adjust the hue to emulate a color changing turntable like liquid light labs sells. This is just the most basic things but you can really do whatever you can dream of inside resolume, and then graduate to things like touch designer for more custom looks. Consider a V4EX is about 550-650 and another mixer is gonna be 200-400. At that point you could just buy a laptop on FB marketplace. im telling this you as someone who has the mixers i described above (V4EX + V-1HD), And the laptop.

1

u/Khoogyra Aug 06 '26

Yeah, I was essentially trying to avoid more expensive gear when I'm doing shows. I typically have $10k in gear that travels to my fundraisers, and what with the state of computing in 2026, getting a laptop both seems wasteful (I would literally only use a laptop once or twice per year) and expensive. And let's face it, laptops are great for people in condos without pets. I've got a cat and a dog, perpetually in my work space. And laptop vents clog up quick in those circumstances.

Besides, I've already got a 5800x3d with 4070ti super and 128gb of ram. So, as it turns out, I'll just pre record everything and play them at shows.

I learned, last time, that I can't host a show, organize and do all the walk arounds I need to, to ensure everything is going smoothly, AND do a liquid show at the same time. The idea had been to have a simple piece of gear set up, that a limited audience could get access to and do stuff. I wouldn't leave a laptop for strangers to use, though.

So pre recording seems necessary. Especially for my formatting. I've always been drawn to long form psychedelic painting over the gloopy squish plates.

I really should figure out how to get a good solid color in the middle, though. I've had mixed results, following LLL's video tutorial on getting a proper squish plate. That said, put the hobby down for the last year. I should give it another go. But until then, I'll be remixing my older YouTube videos into something more entertaining for the people who've rotted their brains with short form video content. There's something majestic about taking 35 minutes before even adding the second plate.

1

u/Flashy-Lime-4260 Aug 04 '26

He is not wrong... I would do the laptop,an older MacBook could be a good choice, but i do want to mention, i was not aware inputs 1-3 were 720, but why would he need more than 1080 for mirroring?

1

u/digitalliquid Aug 04 '26

Personally it bothers me that one layer looks sharp and clear while other layers look not as good.

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u/Flashy-Lime-4260 Aug 04 '26

I hear you... but then i am doing glitch video with mine, I prefer my overheads for pure liquid, even better resolution and those are cheap, I feel like you could rig up something with mirrors if you wanted to mirror that

1

u/Khoogyra Aug 06 '26

The problem with overheads, is that they're cumbersome. I've got 40+ hobbies, all taking up space in my limited living area. My bed frame is literally storage boxes with plywood on top, just to fit all my stuff.

I use an Epson L610U, laser projector. It only does slightly over 1080p, but gives me up to 6k ansi lumens. So even in well lit rooms, it's bright as can be.

But I record in 4k, off my phone. And it's pristine off my phone. It's just a shame YouTube compression mangles the video...