Is kJams missing a feature you need? Post it here! Note: if iTunes has it but kJams doesn't, it's a good bet kJams will have it, but that I just haven't gotten around to it yet. But go ahead and request it anyway!
is possible this feature before september 5? i will have a karaoke party
i proved the "take photos" feature, and is great. I want the same effect but using an image JPG or BMP as background, but i dont want to edit the .cdg files. i want this in real time, i mean, a random image moving on the lyrics's back.
The app only have to read some specific folder, and take randomdly one of them in each song.
But, what would one need to implement this? I suppose getting a quick sample of the background to decide what color to replace may even be problematic. Chartbusters uses blue, SoundChoice uses black, (and on older ones, blue or gray), but some of the other ones change a bit. SunFly, for example, will display a yellow screen, then go to black background for most of the song, I think. Sweet Georgia Brown (and some others) will put clipart splash screens in during instrumental breaks, etc.
I think the concept would be OK if limited to certain user-selected tracks (that way, you could just NOT select SF, SGB, DVD/LD video tracks, etc) or have it as a control option during playback (if the KJ fails it because he put it on the wrong kind of track, his own dumb fault) but an across the board preference option would be way too tricky, I think.
Still, not sure if it is even possible under current implementation to take a color (black), mask it out, and replace with other graphic content. (motion, still, or otherwise)
Really, this is the kind of thing that one should be doing in production, using Producer or something similar, not done during playback (which is what kJams is for - playback, not production)
As CDG files aren't really implemented in layers (with a background layer, text layer, sweep layer) but in flat sequenced animation (think animated .gif file) it would have to be some kind of post-production mask and replace function, with the output in something else than CDG, unless you really want to flatten the color of whatever image you are working with to CDG format restrictive color palette.
Just brainstorming out this idea. We've all thought about something similar, even just tossing the lyrics up as an overlay on a music video.
The example you provided shows what once were two Sound Choice tracks and one SunFly, I think. Both have have the title screens stripped and replaced, in addition to video background. They were not simply changed on the fly. I wonder how Sound Choice feels about the copyright implications in what you provided.
Anyone that is halfway experienced with video editing software could do what they did, and create a little karaoke video. This is exactly what OLG4 did, ignoring copyright and fair use regulations all over the place. It appears they have about 3,000 english videos for sale. However, kJams isn't video editing software, and probably never will be.
Wow, is this really that difficult to do?? If you can play video through a webcam while in the background of a karaoke track, then why can't you put a different type of video behind karaoke track?
Brendan, I may be way off on this, as I have been trying for a long time to not use processor-intensive options (like webcam, the take picture option, or whatever) while using kJams, as I had an old Powerbook. I thought the "take picture" option in kJams did just that, take a picture, but didn't try to put it on screen along with graphics. I was wrong. I see Dave has anticipated my issues, and has already coded something that splits out the background. Actually, looking again at the CDG programming info, this may have been easier to do, as there is a transparency feature and a border color feature (which would be set to the background color, further making things easier.)
So, my apologies.
And, to Sergio...
After looking at what Dave's got going for the video option, you're right - this may well be a really nice feature to have - even if it's just a still image, not moving around. It would be easy to force a background color (think black) instead of having to go with whatever the publisher started with.
Now, imposing deadlines on Dave - that part may be tricky. If there's one thing I've learned about this software, it's that there are no set deadlines for features to be completed by. While two weeks may seem like plenty of time, I assure you it's not necessarily the case.
Again, big apologies. Sometimes I get a big head around kJams, because I use it so much. Please remember I am not the official mouthpiece of kJams, and I certainly don't speak for Dave.
yeah, and i'm on vacation now. and then, when i'm not, you understand i only have 10 hours a week to work on kjams? and you know i have a very VERY long, prioritized list to work from?
having said that i spent a couple hours trying to make the Video window allow for complete transparency behind the lyrics, so you could see what was behind the WINDOW, but i haven't figured it out yet. the reason you can't just play a video in the background is cuz i just haven't got the code to do that written yet. the webcam code was just very easy, a few lines and it was done. i'm sure the QuickTime will be just as easy i just haven't got to it yet. but i will. soon-ish.
