Sort of pretty much agree with the direction of most of the comments so far and I have been using M8 since V1 or before that even.
I bought a VDMX license three or four months ago; I already had a GRID license and there was some discount because of this which was nice. VDMX is still reckoned to be in Beta - current version is b0.7.0.0
so bear that in mind but I thought my experiences and thoughts might be useful to people looking at either app.
VDMX has also had the chance to 'start afresh' with development much more recently compared to M8 and so can make use of the changes in software and in particular Quartz Composer much more efficiently and in a more integrated manner.
I imagine the M8 guys are well aware of this and working on something to address this as we speak.
Vibber, your wishlist is spot on, and the workspace moving around thing is soo eff***g irritating, good thread btw
(edited - blimey, I didn't mean this to become a 'comparison' but it seems to have done, I hope it helps clarify some of the issues raised and sorry if I seem to have taken the thread over but these are all choices I have made lately, thanks.)
Here goes-
Masking and proper layer choices in VDMX are great and pretty much as you expect from say Photoshop, exclusion, multiply and all the rest which is such a relief.
3D distort I've not tried but this is possibly one of those things that will always take time to set-up properly?
I haven't used it more than twice in M8 and whilst it is layer based it works well.
The sequencer in VDMX, well there is one, just about, it saves ok but it is a very, very new addition to what is after all beta software and so is a work in progress with all that implies. Lots of potential though.
BPM control, multiple oscillator and waveform control, audio control, mouse and touchpad control, midi control, Wiimote control, OSC control, keyboard control, ease of integration with Live and more,
are a HUGE plus point for VDMX and are worth giving it a go on their own almost.
This was one of the two main reasons I tried VDMX.
I just did two performance art piece with two musician colleagues and controlled 99% (I could have done 100% I have now figured out) of my complete VDMX show using just a Wiimote -
4 layers, 3 effects, 80 stills, 30 odd video clips, 2 projectors etc including
live video loop sampling via firewire which is the other thing that leads me more and more towards VDMX, quite awesome.
I only had to look down at the laptop a couple of times during the 40 mins, once for the crash...
yes, VDMX crashed once during two twenty minute shows, which I can be pretty sure M8 wouldn't have.
And Wiimotes don't flippin auto sync I discovered.
I would hazard there are fewer built-in filters available in VDMX but it's close, they are all in one 'module' area and probably no easier to access or set-up on the fly than M8. I like the 'basic' feel to many of them, I find I can get overwhelmed by too much filter choice.
This doesn't mean they are any less effective.
You can of course build your own in Quartz or use those as made by others but this won't be for everybody.
The basic things like say making a layer rotate which are a click away in M8 will however make you scratch your head for a while in VDMX!
There are multiple ways to save layers and effects in VDMX which can be very confusing but they work well once you have the hang of it and offer another way of making the app your own.
Icon of media in layer, yep, sort of, one way or the other.
There are no layers by default in VDMX
but you can have as many as you want, machine allowing. I am on a 2.33 PowerBook with 3gb ram
and I wouldn't even consider using ten layers in VDMX, maybe four or possibly five, absolute absolute maximum - but I know I can do ten in M8.
Not sure about the layer library question.
But multiple preview windows, yes, for layers as many as you want, I have one set-up for each layer I use and a separate one for incoming video.
I group all my layers and then have a preview of them for a main out preview, works well.
The workspace and GUI question is as complex as it is simple.
There are two colours for the VDMX interface, Dark Soft or Medium Soft which are both pretty Dark.
They are very much an acquired taste and the VDMX guys have said they won't be changing this colour scheme any time soon.
It bugs some users. I am learning to live with it.
It makes a difference what your computer desktop image is I find. It is very easy to get lost and you need to really work at understanding and laying out VDMX to suit you in order to keep your cool under pressure.
If you haven't tried VDMX out here is an image of what the screen looks like for a brand new project, very sparse with everything to work for.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/289 ... 0c.jpg?v=0
There are no workspaces at all in VDMX and I really miss them despite their arbitrary moving around behaviour in M8.
This means that your screen, whatever size it is, is it, and damn but it can get busy.
Luckily as you are building your set-up from scratch you get used to what is where, but the M8 way of working is fantastic by comparison foe ease and speed of use.
VDMX seems much more like Isadora than M8 to me, there is total flexibility as to how you lay elements of the gui out.
There is total flexibility about how you route pretty much everything to everything but there isn't the built in operability and ease of use that M8 has in spades.
Just looking at M8 gives you an idea of what it can do and how it does it; this just ain't so with VDMX.
There is also a much bigger learning curve than M8 but the wonderful things it
can do, M8 probably can't.
I have ended up using both apps and there are instances were I wouldn't dream of using VDMX - workshops for instance or quick and dirty sets where you aren't sure what will happen when or when I'm doing visuals for bands I've never met before.
But for planned sets where you have 'made' a VDMX interface to suit you and your material, for performance art where you want to get out from behind the laptop and for innovation with Quartz, OSC and various unusual controllers, VDMX has abilities in spades.
Hope that helps. I love both apps for entirely different reasons and yes it would be good to know more about the direction Modul8 is heading but it is still an awesome application, created and run by totally professional people in my long experience much as VDMX is in my short experience.
ps - I also will be looking at the new Resolume Avenue3, looks awesome, but I wouldn't always turn to any one of these apps for a total solution to everything.
btw I'm not connected to either developer, just a user incase it came over all otherwise