User Manual


Editors  

POI Editor


The POI Editor displays the Points Of Interest of a file, such as HotCues, Saved Loops, Automix points, Beatgrid anchors, Remix Points, and Action Points (with assigned VDJscript). Any POI can be moved, adjusted, added or removed in the editor. VirtualDJ will automatically create First Beat (Beat Anchor) and Mix Point POIs when a file is first analyzed to create the Computerized Beat Grid and Automix In and Out Points of the file. These points can all be adjusted.



  1. FILE INFO. This area displays the Artist, Title and Remix (if entered) of the file being edited.

  2. SCROLL BAR. Displays the zoom level of the waveform and can be dragged to any part of the file to perform precise adjustments.

  3. WAVEFORM. Provides a visual display of the audio information. It displays the beatgrid using the grayscaled background as well as the POI markers. The waveform can be zoomed in or out to make precision adjustments with a wheel mouse.

  4. PLAYHEAD. Shows the current position of the track. All new POIs and play functions use the playhead to determine the marker placement and start position. It can be clicked and dragged to any part of the track with a mouse.

  5. OPTION BOXES
    Snap
    When checked, will line up the POI to the closest beat.
    Show All
    When checked, will display all POIs (including VirtualDJ created) of the track.

  6. POI LIST. Displays all Points of Interest depending on the view chosen (Show All checked) or just the user created POIs (Show All unchecked). Any POI in the list can be highlighted (clicked on) and modified. The focused POI’s position will display both time and the number of beats in the lower right corner of the editor.

  7. POINT TYPE. POIs can be changed to a different type or edited from this area once the POI is created or selected from the POI List. Each Point will be marked on the waveform showing it’s type and position by default. Point types can be named as well as made invisible if required. Depending on the type of point chosen, some POIs can have colors associated with them.


    The POI operates as a HotCue (default).

    Sets the track position as a Saved Loop. The Saved Loop will be enabled using the HotCue buttons of the VirtualDJ Interface.

    Assigns a VirtualDJ script action, which will be executed once the track reaches the specified point.

    Sets the track position as a Remix point. Remix Points are available in the Pads Remix Points page.

    First Beat of the song used by VirtualDJ to create the 4-beat pattern (CBG). Additional Beatgrid Anchors can be added if the song has a variable BPM.

    Sets the track position as an Automix point. A Point option drop-down list will be displayed on the right side to select the Automix point type.

    If a Load point is specified, the track will be loaded and stopped on this position.


  8. SNAP TO POSITION. Moves the highlighted POI to the position of the playhead.

  9. DELETE. Removes the highlighted POI from the file.

  10. PLAY/STOP. Will play the track if it is stopped and will stop the track if it’s playing.

  11. PLAY-HOLD. Plays the track as long as the button is held. Once released, the playhead will jump back to it’s previously stopped position.

  12. BPM DISPLAY. Shows the current BPM of the track and opens the BPM Editor when clicked on.



The track will only be audible through the PFL if a headphone channel or External Mixer configuration has been created in the Audio Setup.

If an External Mixer Audio Setup is created, a button will appear to the left of the Play/Stop Button with channel routing options. If no PFL channel is available a pop up window will display asking if the feature can be used through the master output.



POI MANAGEMENT


Right-click on any track in the browser to open the POI Editor.


Click on a POI from the POI List on the left, or on a POI Marker in the waveform area to select a POI.


Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of the Waveform and the Scrollbar to navigate through the different sections of the file.


Drag and move the POI to a new position by grabbing the Playhead (green vertical line). If Snap is enabled the POI will be moved to the nearest beat. Utilize the play buttons to preview the file as often as needed to insure correct placement of the POI.


Use the Point Type area to Name, modify the type, and Cue behavior of the POI. The Name field can be overwritten with any preferred text. The Type will display a drop-down menu when clicked and will display the various POI types to choose from (HotCue, Saved Loop, etc). The Cue drop-down will display the POIs Cue behavior: visible or not on the Interface (Invisible/Marker Only), or if it will act as a HotCue as well.

The POI saves automatically, but can be removed by clicking on the delete button.




When creating a new POI, Hot Cues are the default type. VirtualDJ does not automatically create any Hot Cues as they need to be user created.

Just like other POI types, Hot Cues are managed identically with the addition of adding a color. Adding a color to a Hot Cue will display in the POI Editor and will also affect the display of controllers with RGB pads as well as the Hot Cue display and markers on the default skin.




VirtualDJ has the ability to create and save loops in the POI Editor and does not automatically create any Saved Loops. Saved Loops are managed like other POIs, but with the addition of adding a color as well as defining the length of the loop and it’s slot number.

The loop can be resized by grabbing the start or end point (white indicating lines) with a mouse and dragging it to increase or decrease the length. Alternatively, the number of beats of the loop can be defined by clicking on the drop down menu under the Point options.

Saved Loops are automatically highlighted on the Deck Waveform and Rhythm Wave when activated. If the Saved Loop is saved as a Cue Point, it will be triggered by a Hot Cue button and will remain looped until turned off in the loop control panel, keyboard shortcut, controller or custom button. The Slot Number can also be defined for custom script actions or Controllers that have multiple loop slots by using a script. The script action “saved_loop 2” would trigger whichever Saved Loop that is assigned to Slot 2 for example.

Adding a color will affect the display of controllers with RGB pads, the position markers on the default skin, as well as the Pads display.



Action Points allow the assignment of a VirtualDJ script action which executes once the track reaches that point. A Macro action field is provided on the right side to type the action and a radio button is offered to open the Macro Editor to help choose the desired action. Action points can also be colored which will display on the Deck Waveform and Rhythm Wave.

In the example the action goto +32 is assigned to the Action Point. When the track reaches this POI it will automatically skip 32 beats seamlessly.

More details about VirtualDJ script actions can be found here: http://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/VDJ8Script




Remix Points are POIs that act as additional Hot Cues directly from the Pads. When a file is analyzed, VirtualDJ will automatically create invisible Remix Points if there is a definitive change in the audio information such as the beginning or end of a break. An unlimited number of points can be added and managed.

Once the Remix Points are defined, they can be accessed from the Pads by clicking on the Page drop-down and selecting Remix Points

The Remix Points will display on the Pads when the file with those particular POIs is in the active deck.

The Pad view will automatically update to display the Remix Points in the active deck only. If there are no Remix Points for the file in the deck, the empty Pads will display N/A.

Pressing on a Pad will trigger the Remix Point by jumping to that particular point in the track. Hitting any additional Pads will trigger the specified point and jump to it’s position staying in sync giving the ability to remix on the fly.
Empty Pads can also be clicked to set Remix Points on the fly (See Pads for more details).




The First Beat is automatically detected by VirtualDJ when a file is analyzed and creates an invisible BeatGrid Anchor that is used to set the CBG. Additional BeatGrid Anchors can be created and managed if required. Any additional anchors that are created in the BPM Editor will also appear in the POI Editor.



When VirtualDJ first analyzes a track for BPM, it also creates several POIs for different Automix types. Depending on the structure of the audio information, VirtualDJ will create up to 8 different Automix points. These points can be adjusted and deleted, however, if the track is re-analyzed the Automix Points will return to their originally analyzed positions.

Mix ‘Tempo’ Start/Exit
Matches the tempo of the outgoing and incoming tracks to make a seamless mix.
Mix ‘Cut’ Start/Exit
Used if the BPM of the outgoing and incoming tracks are too far apart to beat match.
Mix ‘Fade’ Start/Exit
Marks the very beginning/end of the track even if silence is present.
Mix ‘Full’ Start/Exit
Marks the very beginning/end of the audio of the track (no silence).


Depending on the Automix Type selected, each Automix Point has it’s own purpose and preferred order. If the preferred POI is not available, the Automix engine will select the next preferred point. Not all POIs are used in every Automix Type.

AUTOMIX TYPE
1st PREFERRED
2nd PREFERRED
3rd PREFERRED
4th PREFERRED
Smart
TEMPO
CUT
FADE
FULL
Fade(remove intro/outro)
FADE
FULL
Fade (remove silence)
FULL
Fade Out/Cut In
FULL
Fade (remove nothing)
N/A
(Uses the full track and does not rely on Automix POIs)
None (back to back)
N/A
(Uses the full track and does not rely on Automix POIs)



A Load Point is a user created POI that determines where the specific file’s position should start. For this reason, only a single Load Point can be created in the POI editor. If a Load Point is not created, the file will start at the beginning.

When the file is loaded to a deck, it will be stopped on the Load Point specified. Sample Editor