According to their site ArKaos VJ "offers professional VJs, installation and event artists the ability to work with their own image and movie files along with loads of different effect types and sequences to make great live VJ performance."

This is certainly true, having used Arkaos for live events on several occasions, the results are definitely impressive.

Version 3.0.1 boasts a host of new features. One of the more interesting is full support for video streaming which takes inputs from USB, FireWire, webcam or acquisition board to be manipulated like any image or video clip. This will allow multiple data streams to be mixed on the fly from a live feed such as a camera set up to capture a live event etc.

This can then be mixed along side other sources such as still images or other previously captured footage. This can all be done live and then saved out as a film for viewing later. In effect, this means that Arkaos can be used both as mixing and effects software and also a live capture device which allows you to acquire the output and produce an edited video.

*It is worth mentioning that any external device you connect for a live stream must be setup correctly (according to manufacturer's specifications) and be compatible with Direct X in Windows and QuickTime in Mac OS.

Arkaos VJ supports QuickTime movies (.MOV), Windows Video (.AVI), MPEG and Flash animation (.SWF). All of these can be triggered (with their audio) and then manipulated with Arkaos' selection of effects for maximum creative freedom.

As far as images are concerned, there is no support for GIFs (this is most likely due to the fact that Compuserve impose a licence fee for use of GIF technology), but this is not a major problem if you have a good graphic tool such as Photoshop which will let you convert a GIF into JPEG, PICT or BMP format. JPEG is probably the best format to use due to it's excellent compression algorithms which make for smaller file sizes thus making image processing much quicker. 

Using VJ 3.0 is easy. Here’s how it works...

• Import your images, QuickTime movies, Flash animations or stream a live signal.
• Drag and drop the item onto the virtual computer or MIDI keyboard.
• Select the required visual effects from the window.
• Drag and drop the effects onto the keyboard.
• Record your live performance, or let the beat matching technology take over.

The stunning array of 60 effects (including 7 new ones: Contrast, Filters, improved Plane, Infinite Zoom, Color Rainbow, Delirium and Ryhtmix) are all customisable. This gives you total control over the look and feel of your visuals and may result in hours of tweaking and adjusting until you get the desired effect. These are effectively plug-in effects which can be added as they are developed. It is worth checking the User Manual for an extensive list of the factory preset effects, with their icons and parameters.

External MIDI devices can be used to trigger patches of images, movies or effects. This can be from a MIDI keyboard, giving you more hands-on flexibility (and up to 128 patches), or from any MIDI sequencing device or sequencing software. ReWire is recommended, although any MIDI sequencing program which supports virtual MIDI ports (simultaneous use of the same MIDI device) will do it. Alternatively, connecting to another computer's MIDI sequencer will achieve the same results.

Recorded events can be rendered as QuickTime movies or Windows Media files (Windows Media 9 is required). This can include a pre-recorded audio file (MP3 or .wav) to create a complete audio-visual experience. Each format has a choice of encoders and settings (such as data and frame rate) which can all be adjusted depending on the intended audience for your final film (CD-ROM, streamed/downloaded via the Internet etc.). While the Windows Media encoders allow for detailed customisable features, the QuickTime encoders have no ability to adjust various audio settings. This can however, be solved by upgrading to QuickTime 6.x Pro or greater.

While VJ 3.0.1 boasts unlimited numbers of simultaneous video layers, we found that when an event was recorded and then rendered out as either QuickTime or Windows Media, some of the more complex effects/layers were lost and replaced by washes of colour.

There is a useful beat-matching feature available. This requires you to set up the computer's audio mixer to record the incoming audio signal (whether its from CD, line-in, mic etc.) or alternatively an external MIDI device. We tested this with an audio CD and, providing the music you are playing has a well-defined beat, the beat match is very accurate. The beat-matcher will flick through images randomly but does not seems to apply any effects until you press one of the keys on the keyboard. This takes the fun out of the VJing process, but is great if you have no sense of rhythm.

N.B. Be sure to activate the Sub-Space Manager via Edit > Preferences > Arkaos Engine. This, according to the User Manual “channels your brain waves and links them to the computer via meta-space for heightened visual experience”.

Recommended System Requirements under Windows: 

• Pentium 4/1.2 Ghz or better
• An AGP 4X graphics card or better
• Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP (Akraos VJ requires efficient memory management, so Windows 2000 or XP preferably)
• 256 MB RAM or higher
• Direct X 9.0 or better
• Apple QuickTime 6.x or better (included)
• Windows Media Player 9 or better

Recommended System Requirements under Mac OS:

• G4/800 Mhz or better
• OS 9.2.2 or 10.2 and up
• Apple QuickTime 6.x or better (included)
• 256 MB of RAM or more

We can highly recommend Arkaos. This version seems to have sorted out some of the deficits of the previous version, for example, it is now possible to assign images directly to the keys by dragging them from another window as opposed to importing them all as separate images. It would still be useful if it was possible to import multiple images though.

The main thing we like about Arkaos is its ease of use. It is a really powerful but straightforward piece of software. With little manual reading we were able to VJ to our hearts content as well as make short films of these sessions.