Best multi-purpose software audio,video & karaoke?

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DJ Puma

New DJ
Sep 26, 2006
314
0
50
Just outside Gainesville Florida
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Hey guys,

I have been suffering from this economy and its mostly because I am being undercut by dj's that will work for peanuts. They will set up a 4 speaker system and play for 4 hours for $100-$250. I have gone to some of these events to see what they offer. Its generic at best and most of the time I have seen big problems. At one event half the system failed about an hour into the gig and was not fixed or even attempted to be fixed.

Soooooo, what I am wanting to do is offer something these guys are not offering. I am looking to offer video as part of my standard package. Probably gonna be a plasma tv or something like that fastened to my truss system. I think this will seperate me from these guys. I have tried to explain to potential customers about backup systems....about being licensed and insured...about being contracted to actually showup and what I offer as a dj and mc. The clients around here mostly want to talk price first.

Its gonna be a gamble on my part but I gotta do something.

Ok , so i want a software that will play videos, music and karaoke all at once. I dont want to have seperate programs for each. I wanna be able to change on the fly. I know pcdj offers something like this, bu do any others? I havent really looked into software lately. I love my traktor for events. The main reason for that is the way the files are loaded and how you can make playlists saved for different things.

What ideas do y'all have about any of this?

thanks,
-Puma-

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DJ Puma said:
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Hey guys,

I have been suffering from this economy and its mostly because I am being undercut by dj's that will work for peanuts.
Click to expand...



This is a tired excuse used over and over again.

Nobody talks about lower priced successes, only the failures. It's NOT the DJ's rates that caused their system to fail. It was their lack of knowledge. I've seen the same mistakes from $1000 DJs. If all of your potential clients are satisfied with a generic DJ, then they were never yours. Either be generic or look in the right places. Different DJs for different classes.

If it's the poor economy that is truly the culprit where you live, then you have no choice but to adjust to it. All the bells and whistles in the world won't make anyone's pockets deeper.
 
Sell value. You may laugh at this but buy a few Sales Books and learn how to negotiate, take control of the conversation and make your presentation effective. Do not talk about the other DJs, rather, emphasize what you do better and why your former clients have all had satisfaction from your performance.
 
shanefrom302 said:
Virtual DJ Pro, The video plug ins for the windows version are the nice too!
Click to expand...

Video DJ does not need a plugin to do video. This feature is built into the program since ver 4. What plugins get you is effects.
 
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Will VDJ also do karaoke? I played around with it years ago for video and I loved the gadgets it had for video.

The only thing I didnt like was the way it loaded files...it would only load one folder from a hard drive. I would have to redo my whole music library or make just a hard drive for VDJ use. Just wondering if they have modified that by now.

-Puma-

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drzinc said:
Video DJ does not need a plugin to do video. This feature is built into the program since ver 4. What plugins get you is effects.
Click to expand...

you know what I meant geesh

*the video EFFECTS for the windows version are nice too


Whats this Video DJ you speak of LOL, so quick to correct my mistake but no time to look at your own post
 
DJ Puma said:
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Will VDJ also do karaoke? I played around with it years ago for video and I loved the gadgets it had for video.

The only thing I didnt like was the way it loaded files...it would only load one folder from a hard drive. I would have to redo my whole music library or make just a hard drive for VDJ use. Just wondering if they have modified that by now.

-Puma-

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Click to expand...

All of your questions could have been answered by just going to virtualdj.com and downloading the demo.

yes you can do Karaoke, thats why it was suggested and your folder problem shouldn't be an issue.
 
+1 for Virtual DJ

The folder system in VDJ is miles ahead from what it used to be. Not only can you have all your folders shown in the left pane (just like explorer) but you can choose which folders to make favorites, and you can make virtual folders (think "crates" like Serato uses) as well as smart folders, which will look for whatever filters you put on them and automatically add files to the folder based on them. For instance I have a "go to" Acapella folder. I have the filter look for any mp3 file (not videos) that have the word acapella on them, and that I have played more than once. So those are ones that consistently work for me, and VDJ does a great job of finding them. Any song you add will automatically be in that folder (if it meets the parameters).
 
+1 on VDJ PRO
 
DJ Jynxx said:
+1 for Virtual DJ

The folder system in VDJ is miles ahead from what it used to be. Not only can you have all your folders shown in the left pane (just like explorer) but you can choose which folders to make favorites, and you can make virtual folders (think "crates" like Serato uses) as well as smart folders, which will look for whatever filters you put on them and automatically add files to the folder based on them. For instance I have a "go to" Acapella folder. I have the filter look for any mp3 file (not videos) that have the word acapella on them, and that I have played more than once. So those are ones that consistently work for me, and VDJ does a great job of finding them. Any song you add will automatically be in that folder (if it meets the parameters).
Click to expand...

Thank you...thats the kind of info I was looking for.

-Puma-

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Adding video is a rather expensive add on....When i added it to my show, I easily dropped $5,000 on video's and hard drives, Building a video rig, more cables, and the time to get everything right........Wow was that a time consuming deal...And guess what..Bars loved it! But WOULD NOT pay an extra $50 a show for it.

Something to consider
 
Hence why I don't do video (or Karaoke for that matter). Financially, no point in doing all of that extra work / investment for no more money.
 
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Well I already have all the videos and karaoke music....I have offered it as an option since I started....but I want to add a new package where I can bring it all to a basic event with the minimal amount of extra work involved....so I am looking at a lcd tv for videos and karaoke...instead of the 6'x8' video screen and projector I use...and one piece of software.

I am reformatting all my hard drives so I have music, videos and karaoke on the same drive...instead of 3 different drives...like it is now. That way I can add video and karaoke to my normal package for no price increase to drive in business. I will be the only one doing that in this area .... which is overfilled for such a msall area of dj's doing events for cheap.

-Puma-

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I added karaoke and video to my system as well. It was costly but made no difference in the bookings. It still all comes down to the price you're charging.
 
DJ Puma said:
.I am reformatting all my hard drives so I have music, videos and karaoke on the same drive...instead of 3 different drives...like it is now. That way I can add video and karaoke to my normal package for no price increase to drive in business. I will be the only one doing that in this area .... which is overfilled for such a msall area of dj's doing events for cheap.
Click to expand...

Ya lost me here

What does reformatting the drives (so stuff is located in one place) have to do with pricing of how much equipment you need for a show? The more equipment you bring, the longer the setup time, etc = the more it should cost. Why invest in it if there is no money in it?
 
Back to the question: I changed to VDJ because of its AIO factor. I have successfully ran VDJ and Karaoke. I prefer Traktor but ya cant go wrong really with VDJ to run everything. Just make sure your laptop has a fairly decent Graphics card and CPU and that you have it streamlined for Audio and Video. I have never had a blue screen or glitch in 2 years (touch wood).
 
Just one more thing. With the influx of cheap speakers every kid is a DJ. I really emphasize my PRO setup, redundancy (especially for weddings) and I always have video clips on hand and on youtube to show setups and how successful they are.
 
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