Manufacturer
Website	Resolume 1.0
Platform	Windows
Price	£
Rating	Average: Select ratingPoorOkayGoodGreatAwesome Your rating: None Average: 3 (2 votes)

Resolume is a software primarily designed for VJs who rely on video samples for their shows. You won't find any 2D generation, 3D or audio support here but, while Resolume isn't as full-featured as other solutions such as VisualJockey, it does really well what it can do.
I find the interface intuitive and easy to use. You have 4 main area. The first one is the browser where you can select your samples. These samples can then be dropped on a second area. You can modify them on this area and then drop them on one of the 3 layers on the top-right area. Finally the browser area can be switched to the 'generator' area (by pressing CTRL+TAB) where you can drop special effects on your videos.

You can use a PC or a MIDI keyboard for almost all functions. I haven't tested the MIDI support yet but with MIDI you can also use the velocity. It also gives you a lot of control on how the videos are played. In one or two clicks, you can change the speed, make the video go backward, random or bounce, and you can even scratch on it (although it's not easy but I don't know if scratching with a mouse will ever be intuitive!)

It includes 33 effects which can be applied either to the whole output or to a particular sample. So with 3 layers you can use up to 4 effects at the same time. Not to mention that all 3 layers can be blended together using 8 different modes, including Alpha Opacity, Lumakeying, Darken, Lighten and, my favourite, Difference. One of the feature on the generator area is the live video feed but unfortunately it doesn't work on all systems because it uses the old Video For Windows (VFW) drivers.

I have personnaly used Resolume for hundreds of hours and it has only crashed once. Performance wise, it requires a good system. If you want to use all features, you'll need a CPU with 800+ MHz and a good amount of RAM. If you don't have such a system, you can still use Resolume but maybe that you won't be able to use all 3 layers and 4 effects at the same time.

Resolume isn't perfect yet but for the first release I find it really promising and I'm looking forward to see what features will be added on the version 1.1 which should be released shortly. It's the kind of software where you always discover new ways to use it, so I recommend that you give a try to the full-featured 30-day demo!