VELLO VIRKHAUS creates video masterpieces that enchant and inspire.

Posted date: April 2006

Renowned video mixer Vello Virkhaus is responsible for the world’s most stunning and cutting-edge video-art presentations. His breathtaking montages consist of images taken from an extensive library of original animations, photography, video and stock footage, as well as live footage recorded in real-time.

He, along with his dedicated team at VSquared Labs (based in North Hollywood, CA) have taken image rendering and manipulation to astounding heights, utilizing Hi-Definition media in their shows. Not surprisingly, the steady integration of increased Hi-Definition material is a natural step for the world’s leading motion graphics design firm. But storing the eye-candy comes with a pretty hefty price tag.

 

“Hi-Definition has more than doubled our space requirements in the past year,” owner and creative director Vello, aka VJ V2, states in a recent interview with Onbeat. “The total size of all of our digital content in all of its various forms is well over 5 terabytes,” he sums. “We keep a total of 1.4 terabytes of media online, accessible at all times on a dedicated Macintosh server.”

Virkhaus, who has worked the visual end of shows for 50 Cent, Gwen Stefani and Beyoncé, treats images in a musical manner, which means consistently improvising with one of the fastest MIDI controlled video samplers: the Edirol PR-80.

“The VJ and the DJ are kindred souls,” Vello declares. “VJing has historically involved a bit more technology than DJing, but is a very similar concept. We take the audience on a journey through a sonic visual landscape, into an unconscious realm of magical human motion and emotion.”

 

One of the tenets to success in Vello’s unrivaled shows is his unique ability to affect the image environment. “[I] throw the video around in a reactive way to a live sound input,” Vello describes. Due to the intense processing demands of performing, the group relies on custom hardware, rather than a laptop or desktop machine. This traditionally uses a lot of RAM.

 

In treating his shows, Virkhaus considers each clip and effect a visual rhythm—what he calls a “synthesis,” which he cuts and blends using several types of video switchers, including edirol’s V-4. Candid images also come to life in real-time, as he incorporates multiple camera angles on himself and performing DJs, incorporating them into the big picture. Keeping all this in time with the progression of the music, Vello runs the live images through dozens of effects, including: outlines, trails, color correction (that blinks to the music) and scaling.

Despite his A-list celebrity clientele, Vello maintains that nothing holds a flame—in terms of room for improvisation—to his performances at Ultra Music Festival. Statistically, Virkhaus goes through 5,000 different loops during the one-day dance music concert.

“Ultra is a place you go into without having heard some of the music before,” he says. “This demands improvisation and necessitates creative freedom. The clips are chosen on the fly, based on styles of video that work well together with the music.”

 

For UMF 8, V2 is introducing several new pieces of gear that he didn’t have last year. As part of a sponsorship, he’s utilizing gear courtesy of Edirol, Pioneer and Brash Live. “I will be using a pioneer DVJ-X1 to do some video scratching,” he explains. “I will also be using an Edirol CG-8 for some audio reactive visual synthesis. I will be test-driving a Brash Live System, capable of real-time, multi-layered, audio-reactive 3D visuals.” In other words, get ready to be blown away—visually and aurally—at this year’s festival.“

 

To me, the most important thing about the electronic music scene is Visual and Musical artists working together to create a dynamic performance,” Virkhaus concludes. He has teamed up with Sandra Collins for 2006, “to help give an example of how VJs and DJs can work together to create a more immersive, visually musical show.” Their collaboration, called Interference, is showcased as part of UMF’s Carry-On afterparty.

“Unlike artists who take credit for others visuals, we are trying to show the community that VJ and DJ together are better than apart. [Although] the comparison is at the bare minimum, we have the same goal in mind as artists.”

For more information, please visit www.vsquaredlabs.com .

By Dennis Sebayan
Photo credit: © V Squared Labs Inc.2006

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