nl:videojockey Video Jockey or VJ is a term coined in the early 1980s to describe the fresh faced youth who introduced the music videos on MTV. The word VJ is also used to represent video performance artists who create live visuals on all kind of music.

Contents

1 Live visual artists 1.1 AVIT 1.2 VJ Resources 1.3 VJs 1.4 VJ Hardware 1.5 VJ software 1.6 VJ labels 2 MTV-type VJs

Live visual artists

Although less known by mainstream folks, the word VJ is also used to represent video performance artists who create live visuals on all kind of music. It originates from a parallel with DJs, although most VJs nowadays have more to do with musicians than with DJs. Often using an analog video mixer, VJs blend and superimpose various inputs over clips. In recent years, musical instrument makers have begun to make specialty equipment for VJing. Popular hardware include the Edirol V4 (http://www.edirol.com/products/info/v4.html), Pansonic MX & AVE series mixers and Korg's Entrancer (http://www.korg.com/) effects unit. The evolution of computers have allowed for VJ specific programs to produced and allowed for easier accessibility to the art form.

AVIT

In recent years VJings popularity has allowed for more Visual Art specific events to be organised. The biggest of these is AVIT (http://www.avit.info), now held approximately once a year in the UK, Germany and North America. There have also been smaller events held in Latin America. AVIT has 4 main purposes: To increase public participation in VJing To facilitate the development and skills base of existing VJ's To raise the profile of live video performance as an art form To capitalise on the networked community of VJCentral.com (http://vjcentral.com)

VJCentral.com (http://vjcentral.com) is the internet's most popular VJ community and actively promotes the scene via its forums and community. With over 6700 members it allows for a similar open content system similar to wikipedia.

VJ Resources

• VJCentral.com VJ Community (http://vjcentral.com): articles,profiles,talk...
• PIXnMIX (http://www.channel4.com/pixnmix/) - Channel4's VJ education project.
• la-va.org (http://www.la-va.org) - Los Angeles VJ network
• VJ Forum (http://www.la-va.org) - German VJ Discussion Board

VJs

• 24h nonsleep productions (http://www.24h-nonsleep.com):German VJ Crew
• 2vm (http://2vm.de.vu) - VJ team from Berlin/Germany
• AlexEtJeremy (http://www.AlexEtJeremy.com): Underground-Kitsch Dutch/French VJ team
• Analog Recycling (http://www.analogrecycling.com) - Dutch VJ team
• decollage (http://www.decollage.tv): Austrian VJ team
• D7 or Dimension7 (http://www.dimension7.com) San Francisco collective
• Egoplastiek (http://www.egoplastiek.nl)
• eyetrap.net (http://www.eyetrap.net) - german VJ network
• VJ Fader (http://www.vjfader.com) - VJ Fader - Creator of Neuromixer line of VJ software
• FreakBrothers.TV (http://www.freakbrothers.tv) - Funky Dutch VJ team
• Holly (http://www.forwardmotiontheater.org/)
• Indonesia Visual Jockey Community (http://www.vj-indonesia.co.nr):Indonesian VJ
• IoSubSystems (http://www.iosubsystems.com): Slovenian VJ Team
• Kriel (http://www.kriel.tv)
• The Light Surgeons (http://www.thelightsurgeons.co.uk/)
• lumens (http://www.lumenstour.org) US VJ tour and events
• .M. (http://www.thequality.com/people/michela/vj)
• Micha Klein (http://www.michaklein.com): Micha Klein
• nog harder  (http://www.nogharder.tv)- Dutch VJ team
• The Men From Optickle (http://www.optickle.com)- Swiss VJ collective
• Reach Visuals (http://www.reach-visuals.com)- Dutch VJ team
• raumIII (http://www.raumdrei.com) - German VJ team
• Rho-D Visuals (http://www.rho-d.co.uk/visuals/)
• Robotfunk A/V/DJ/VJ (http://www.robotfunk.com/)
• Pioneer Girl (http://www.issa.com.tw/pg/index.htm) - China VJ team
• scheinwerfer.li (http://www.scheinwerfer.li): a corebounce (http://www.corebounce.org) project (switzerland)
• Sense (http://www.friendsofsense.com): Dutch VJ team
• SleepyTom (http://www.sleepytom.co.uk/)
• strukt visual network (http://www.strukt.at/): A magazine, a VJ collective, creative people
• Tense Vision (http://www.tensevision.com):Canary Islands VJs (Spain)
• Vision Impossible (http://www.vision-impossible.nl) - Dutch VJ team
• Visualnaut (http://www.labmeta.net): artist/vj
• WideWhiteVoid (http://www.widewhitevoid.com) -3DJs
• onoxo (http://www.reflectionsonblack.tk) vj-artist (Croatia)
• cyberplax (http://www.cyberplax.net/) vj (Croatia)
• motordrive VJ (http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~motordrive/) - Japanese VJ
• envol! VJ (http://envol.info/vj/) - Japanese VJ blog
• Global AudioVisual Japan (http://www.audiovisual.jp/) - Japanese VJ
• [1] (http://www.videology.nu/video.html)-VJ Olga Mink (VJ Oxygen)

VJ Hardware

• Pioneer DVJ-X1 (http://www.pioneer.co.jp/cdj/dvj/)
• Edirol V4 (http://www.edirol.com/products/info/v4.html)
• Korg KPE1 Entrancer (http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?A_PROD_NO=KPE1)
• Chromascope Video Synthesiser (http://www.eyetrap.net/hardware/chromascope.html)
• Fairlight CVI (http://www.vjcentral.com/hardware/show/52)
• Rho-D Hardware (http://www.rho-d.co.uk/hardware)Custom Video Equipment and Modification

VJ software

• Cross-platform:
  • 3DJ 1.1 (http://www.widewhitevoid.com/) - Mac/Win32 Video Layering/Effects
  • Arkaos VJ (http://www.arkaos.net/) - Mac/Win32 Clip Triggering/Effects
  • Bomb (http://draves.org/bomb) - Mac/Win/Linux Visual Musical Instrument
  • Flowmotion (http://www.robotfunk.com/flowmotion/) - Mac/Win32 Video Mixing/Effects
  • FreeFrame (http://www.freeframe.org) Open Source - Mac/PC/Linux crossplatform video effects API
  • GePhex (http://www.gephex.org/) - Linux/Win32 Open Source
  • Motion Dive (http://www.digitalstage.net/en/) -Mac/Win32
  • Neuromixer Pro (http://www.neuromixer.com/) - Mac/Win32 Video Mixing
  • Rythmic Circle Fuse (http://www.rcfuse.com/) -Mac/Win32
  • VLIGHT.MXR (http://VLIGHT.TO/MXR/) - Mac(beta)/Win32
  • MAX/MSP + Jitter (http://www.cycling74.com/products/index.html) - Mac/Win32 Development Environment

• Win32
  • Aestesis (http://aestesis.org/)
  • OpenTZT (http://opentzt.sourceforge.net/) - Open Source
  • Neuromixer Vdrum (http://www.neuromixer.com/) - Audio/Video Step Sequencer
  • Pilgrim (http://www.loosegoose.nl/)
  • Resolume (http://www.resolume.com/)
  • Smode Studio (http://www.galago.fr/)
  • VisualJockey (http://www.visualjockey.com/)
  • VJamm (http://www.vjamm.com)
  • vvvv (http://vvvv.meso.net) a multipurpose toolkit

• Macintosh
  • Isadora (http://www.troikatronix.com/isadora.html) Node-Based Visuals Creation
  • GRID (http://www.vidvox.net/products/grid2/index.html) Clip Triggering
  • Klangfarben (http://www.sonoluca.com/)
  • Modul8 (http://www.garagecube.com/modul8/) Video Mixing/Effects
  • Pixelshox (http://www.pixelshox.com) (now Quartz Composer in Tiger) Nose-Based Visuals Creation
  • VDMXX (http://www.vidvox.net/products/vdmx/index.html) Video MIxing/Effects

• Linux
  • FreeJ (http://freej.dyne.org/) - Open Source
  • Veejay (http://veejay.sourceforge.net/) - Open Source

VJ labels

• www.notv.com NoTV Visual Music
• [2] (http://www.lightrhythmvisuals.com) Lightrhythm Visuals
• Spotworks (http://spotworks.com)

MTV-type VJs

Originally hired to represent a wide array of musical tastes and personal ethnicities, eventually became famous in their own right. Essentially they were nothing more than on-air personalities, but as the popularity of MTV grew, they began to branch out past just introducing music clips. Soon they were considered by many to be full fledged music journalists, interviewing major music celebrities and hosting their own television shows on the network.

As time progressed and MTV's format changed, VJs began to host game shows, talent contests and the like. Soon they were given their own shows based on the type of genre that their "demographic" was interested in.

See also List of MTV VJs