New York, New York-based Livid Instruments on Tuesday introduced the Tactic m2. It’s a US$899 interface developed for VJs and other video performers, and it’s paired with Tactic Pro v1.5, a Mac-based software application.
The Tactic m2 features ten sliders, six knobs, seven effects triggers and a 36-movie clip bank to allow users to do real-time video mixing. It also features a 4-inch LCD display. An “extension” of the software’s interface, the hardware connects to a Mac using a MIDI to USB interface. The device can drive external MIDI gear. It measures 25 x 1 x 2.5 inches and weighs about 12 pounds — it’s constructed of mahogany and maple.
The Tactic Pro 1.5 software features a “Clip Grid” that lets users access more than 4,000 QuickTime sources on the fly. Users can sequence clips in a timeline, manipulate live feeds, record creations to disk and synchronize to an external MIDI source. Tactic Pro features more than 100 real-time effects, is OpenGL-accelerated, can handle alpha and chroma keying, and can add alpha masks and transparent shapes to the output.
System requirements call for Mac OS X, 1GHz or faster processor, 1GB RAM, MIDI to USB interface and 1024 x 768 pixel resolution.