2 posts were split to a new topic: VS - Visual Synthesizer
Working with music to video is sometimes part of my day job, so this would be a most welcome feature to Bitwig. With all of Bitwig’s sound design potential, decent midi handling and automation it feels like a natural platform for working to video and scoring. Beyond scoring to video, it would be cool if it were possible to work with some kind of creative visual engine / video clip sampler, maybe with its own Grid system to produce visual content for music. Or perhaps a way for Bitwig to hook into an open platform like Blender or a game engine. I appreciate this would be a lot of dev work and not something everyone would perhaps want or need, but it could give Bitwig another unique edge over the competition and open it up as a go-to tool for composers and sound designers for games.
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I really care mostly about AAF support, so I can exchange sessions with ProTools and Logic users.
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Did you see that?
FL and upgraded Video support is wuhuuu*
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@_ttc has mentioned already that a setup like this one may not fulfill his needs, but I thought I place a detailled description here on how I use VidPlayMTC Standalone (not the plugin) together with Bitwig if someone wants to know how this can be done.
Free Video support for Bitwig 4.4.3 with VidPlayMTC
This would enable full control of your Video Preview with Bitwigs timeline. It seems also that there is no fix needed for the transport notification with this standalone version (at least I had no problems with it)
Software needed
- VidPlayMTC Standalone (this is free, but you can support the software by buying the VST plugin)
- The famous loopMIDI by Tobias Erichsen
Steps
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Add a new virtual MIDI port (I named it VidPlayMTC) with loopMIDI.
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Inside VidPlayMTC select this new virtual MIDI port for the MIDI input (Menu: Configure > Midi In).
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Inside Bitwig I just enabled all switches for the new virtual MIDI port at Settings > Synchronization (even if SPP seems not to be supported by VidPlayMTC).
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And now any video you load with VidPlayMTC is in sync with the Bitwig timeline including the flexible selection of the position inside Bitwig - one way only (from Bitwig to VidPlayMTC). If you change the position of the video directly inside VidPlayMTC this would become the new “0” timeline position in Bitwig if you need to start from a specific position inside the video instead from the beginning.
As a new user I can only post a single image file so I put the screenshots of the steps above together here:
Notes
- VidPlayMTC would remember the last opened video for the next start.
- I was not able to use “Sync Offset +/- msecs” inside the VidPlayMTC
- As written above the SPP switch inside VidPlayMTC did not also work for me
- And when a setting does not work inside VidPlayMTC you see this first obviously because the sync bteween BitWig and VidPlayMTC is broken and when you restart VidPlayMTC it is always selecting “no midi” for the “Midi In” automatically. You would need to select working settings again and restart VidPlayMTC afterwards.
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Some of us don’t want to host video inside the DAW. I like to host video outside the DAW (Video Sync 5), makes jumping around sessions quicker with less overhead.
It would be great to have real SMPTE and the ability to offset to sync with other system resources and apps.
Really, I’ll settle for a timecode offset rn, which shouldn’t be that difficult.
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At least a simple SMPTE would be good.
Then, when you have this video support, another feature that is missing : a way to manipulate the tempo with a warp function, in order to sync music with specific movie moments. I made a request for that, maybe you could vote for it.
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Definitely a huge missing link in bitwig compared to other DAWS
I just came back on this forum after what feels like ages to leave a quick comment under the feature I’ve been asking the most about in the past few years…
This is getting so frustrating…bitwig 5 is basically here and, once again, nothing. At this point, I’m so hungry for this thing, I’d be super happy if it was nothing but the possibility of loading at least one video file in a project and adding frames/subframes/etc. in the timeline…
Another cool idea would be to create tracks a la Reaper, where you can just put any kind of file, including video. So basically hybrid tracks that allows to load videos.
But this is never going tom happen is it? 
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I checked in with them on this, just like I did when version 4 came out. They keep saying it’s high on their priority list but it won’t happen within version 5 lifecycle and they can’t guarantee if it’s going to happen when it’s going to happen.
What. A. Joke.
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Video Clips Wanted! Let me explain. First of all, huge Bitwig fan/user for years. I’ve used all the other DAWs and wanted something that inspires me on a daily basis that is more than a DAW but an instrument and creative tool and palette. Cubase, Logic Pro, Protools, Ableton Live, Reaper, and others. all have video support. I’ve requested this in person on phone chats and email support multiple times.
So, instead of just having one video that you can sync to the start of the project (this would be limiting and then require an upgrade in the future). Imagine video/videos you can drop into clips in the arranger or clip launcher area. For music scoring I may have a few variations I’m working on with different exports (lengths, transitions, etc. Sometimes / often times your musical edit informs the editor of how the music works with the video. The editor cuts to the music - but it’s a give and take.
Furthermore I’m in a live music group and we perform using Bitwig as our live Sync DAW controlling all aspects of our performance. It’s very reliable when compared with other DAWs and systems used in the past and for performance control of your controllers, loading patches, scenes, program changes across multiple aspects with different musicians. You can get as complex as your needs require. Incorporating video - currently for this I have synced to Ableton, and then use its video player, but this is not ideal at all. So then you get into video pro-level video / VJ software like Resolume which is great, but sometimes you just need the simplicity of one video or video clips to sync for live visuals and be in perfect time. Bitwig will be great at this. They too have said this is high on the wish list and they can’t announce anything until it’s actually coming out, so here’s to wanting and waiting and really needing and streamlining.
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You may like to have a look at VidDancer VST, released recently…
Thanks
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Again bumping this up. We really need video support in Version 5. PLEASE!!! I work in music to video daily. This really needs to be here now in 2023. Many users waiting to make the jump, this one feature would seal the deal for tens of thousands of people I’m sure. If that’s an incentive.
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I’m also a sound artist mostly active in the commercial media industry, that will be soon switching to Bitwig in Linux, as a personal challenge.
I’ve been working in Ableton Live since 2015, a DAW in which I’m able to add videos my clients send me and work on music frame by frame. I previously used to work on Pro Tools 9 and Logic Pro 9, both of which were able to handle video playback since a decade ago.
The music industry is rapidly expanding beyond knob tinkering, but creative media production in Bitwig is still considered an afterthought. I hope there’s video integration soon, even in its simplest form.
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Someone mentioned VideoSync 5. I use version 4, but I recall that it does work and is very robust. It may be a good solution until the devs come up with something.
It’s not cheap though…
https://non-lethal-applications.com/products/video-sync-5/video-sync-5
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Honestly, I think adding video to Bitwig is a terrible idea. It’s like using a convertible to move a house. The ability to view video inside of the DAW is only part of what would be needed to deal with video properly. Eventually you need timecode and the ability to use cue points on the timeline with multiple first measure positions. The Bitwig team would have to sink a lot of development and support time into this feature set. Meanwhile, we’re still missing several basic features for music production that have been available in competing products for decades. If you want to work with video, Steinberg has a mature product line for that purpose, even if it’s just the basic Cubase package.
Just a collateral comment. This is where Bitwig seems to be putting their R&D when it comes to file formats: a new DAWproject file format.
More about the new DAWproject file format. Food for your speculative thoughts, the format comes with a <video> tag. Which doesn’t mean anything really, but since posting here is free… 
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Well, I just want to say that I’ve created account on this site to post exactly this request! At least some basic support for adding video clip.
At the moment I’m using VidPlay VST which well, is not very good but I don’t see any better option.
So, there it is, one voice for this feature!
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I used to use VidPlay and yes, it is not the best. But now, after they released Touchdesigner integration I don’t need to use that vst. Yes, you need to run two programs simultaneously and use some way to keep the td performer window on top, but the td patch is very lightweight and keeping a window on top is achieved with windows’ powertools (can’t say for Mac).
Here’s Polarity’s tutorial on using td as a video player: https://youtu.be/1f01ELTWVRo?si=WiSUixfSkGRfvQo8
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