Post by joachim on Jul 7, 2019 5:07:02 GMT -6
I had an interesting week. I opened JamKazam for the first time in many months, and I noticed someone nearby had send me a friends request. I added him and joined an open session he was in, just to the test if everything was working properly. And all of a sudden I was in a session with a kick-ass bass-player / vocalist, another guitarist and a drummer. Needless to say, I felt a little naked jumping into a session unprepared, but the bass-player called out "Stormy Mondays" and walked us through the progression as we played.
There was no video, just audio, but it worked perfectly for 4 players in Denmark and UK.
Then I bought a new computer, a tiny quad-core Intel NUC, which is way more powerful than my old laptop. I installed Linux on it and have played around with recording audio and video. The conclusion is that it is just as easy on Linux as on Windows, and the result is better.
I record the webcam using ffmpeg directly:
$ ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 60 -video_size 1280x720 -input_format mjpeg -i /dev/video0 -f alsa -i hw:1 rhythm.mkv
and then record audio in Reaper with my SM57 microphone at the same time, as usual. Then I use Blender to make split screen videos with the audio from Reaper, and that process in Blender is not more difficult than using Sony Vegas Studio. Everything works brilliantly without installing special drivers or tweaking systems settings. And I won't be unpleasantly surprised by random Windows Updates.
The only downside is that JamKazam doesn't have a Linux client, but I can use my Windows laptop for that.
There was no video, just audio, but it worked perfectly for 4 players in Denmark and UK.
Then I bought a new computer, a tiny quad-core Intel NUC, which is way more powerful than my old laptop. I installed Linux on it and have played around with recording audio and video. The conclusion is that it is just as easy on Linux as on Windows, and the result is better.
I record the webcam using ffmpeg directly:
$ ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 60 -video_size 1280x720 -input_format mjpeg -i /dev/video0 -f alsa -i hw:1 rhythm.mkv
and then record audio in Reaper with my SM57 microphone at the same time, as usual. Then I use Blender to make split screen videos with the audio from Reaper, and that process in Blender is not more difficult than using Sony Vegas Studio. Everything works brilliantly without installing special drivers or tweaking systems settings. And I won't be unpleasantly surprised by random Windows Updates.
The only downside is that JamKazam doesn't have a Linux client, but I can use my Windows laptop for that.
First I was busy with yard work and it's like a gazillion percent humidity outside, which didn't leave me feeling like playing guitar afterwards. Then I did some computer upgrades - the damn stuff on the screen keeps getting smaller and smaller so I got a larger monitor, then I decided since it's 4K I should get a new graphics card, and since the new card draws more power than my old one I got a new power supply which of course is a bit of a job to install. And to top it all off I caught a cold lol. 
