Magnum wrote:Please help me prepare for an upcoming gig. I have my trusty Powerbook G4 and a 3000 Lumen projector inside a club. Ive never done this projection thing before, so what will I need? Do I need any VGA cables?
It's of course depending on what input the projector takes and the distance between your powerbook and the projector.
You will get an even better signal if you can go digital with a DVI cable. Anyhow, both DVI and VGA cables will get at bit expensive at that lengths above 5 meters, and I'm not sure how well they carry the signal when they get above 3 meters. Your safest bet is to get a long Composit cable (fat video cable with male RCA connectors in each end). That will work with most projectors and picture quality will be totally ok. Some people use S-video cables, but i've had problems where I've lost the color info.
If you have the 15" inch model you probably have S-Video output. I think you got a S-Video to RCA female converter with the computer, use that with your video cable. If you don't have one, buy one!
Magnum wrote:Once I plug the Powerbook into the projector, will the OUTPUT be automatically projector full-screen while my Modul8 interface will stay on my Powerbook screen when I go into full-screen mode?
Yes, if your computer recognizes the new screen (the projector) it will.
To be sure, plug in the video cable to the projector and turn the projector on before plugging the video cable in to the computer.
Magnum wrote:Umm..also, how do I plug live audio into Modul8? What plug/cable should ask the DJ?
It's depending on the output of the DJ-mixer (or other soundmixer involved). Usually you can get two RCAs (left and right) out from the VJ mixer and in the other end of the cord you want a mini phono connector that plugs in to the sound in on your PowerBook. Some mixers have XLR output (and the RCAs could be used for something else) and then you have to figure out how to go from two XLR connectors to a mini phono. I carry a bunch of converter cables/connectors with me to be prepared for almost anything.
Also think of the distance between you and the DJ. You might need a pretty long cord.
And you also have to have the correct settings for your sound input (in OSX System Preferences) and have the in volume turned up in Module8.
One thing to have in mind is that the in level is usually very low if the DJ isn't blasting the volume. So you might not get a correct reading when setting up your equipent at the beginning of the night if the music isn't very loud at that moment.
Checklist summary:
S-video (male) to RCA (female) converter
Long Compostite Video cable RCA males in each end
Long audio cable: 2 x RCA (male) to 1 mini phono stereo plug (male)
(you could of course join several cables to to achive the results above)
Good luck!