Software Tools Overview (Patreon)

This post provides a brief overview of my favorite tools.Resolume Arena is my go-to software for VJing and projection mapping. I use it for live performances, stage mapping at festivals, live streaming, compositing, and recording mixes.3ds Max is a 3D modeling and animation software, and my primary tool for content production. I use it to create all my 3D geometry and animations. (If you're interested in 3D, I recommend checking out Blender—a powerful and free 3D software.)tyFlow for 3ds Max is a particle simulator and an incredibly powerful VFX tool.Redshift Renderer is a fast GPU-accelerated renderer, which I use for most of my renderings. It's also ideal for 360/VR rendering.After Effects is my tool for basic color grading, video effects, format conversions, and VR editing.Photoshop is essential for creating textures, 2D graphics, and general image tweaking. I use it to edit my still artworks and to batch-process image sequences for animations.Illustrator is my favorite vector graphics editor. I use it to create and prepare vector graphics, which are then exported for use in 3D software.Magix Vegas has been my preferred video editor for years. I use it for video compositing and arranging. I also highly recommend DaVinci Resolve.Mettle Mantra is a plugin suite for After Effects that offers great effects for VR/360 videos.ffmpeg is an extremely powerful command-line tool for video and audio transcoding.OBS is a live-streaming and video recording software. I use it for recording Resolume output via Spout and for streaming the output of Resolume Arena to YouTube.Ableton Live is a music production software. I use it to create soundtracks and for audiovisual sets, where Ableton sends MIDI via an app called loopMIDI to Resolume Arena to control parameters.VVVV is a visual programming environment for working with signals and data. I use it for audio analysis and OSC communication between Resolume and Ableton Live.EmberGen is a fantastic fluid and particle simulation tool that I use for creating specific effects.Topaz Video AI is a tool for upscaling, stabilizing, and enhancing video recordings.FlowFrames is a free video frame interpolation software that I use to slow down videos.Waifu2x is a free AI-powered image upscaler that saves a lot of time.RSMB (Real Smart Motion Blur) adds smooth motion blur to videos.