Here in Los Angeles the weather is currently sunny and warm - great for going to the park, but not so much for creating that Xmas/New Year’s Wintry feeling. Here’s a patch you can use to fill the room with snowy interactive goodness. Fire up your Projector, Big Screen TV, or Wrist-worn LCD Display and let it snow!

Here’s a clip of the patch in action:

Interactive Snowflake Maker from momo_the_monster on Vimeo.

You can download the Quartz Composer patch here:
Momo the Monster: Interactive Snowflake Generator (Direct Download)

Open it up in Quartz Composer, and drag your mouse pointer over the output window to make beautiful silvery patterns. If you want to go full-screen with it, I recommend you set the monitor to 640×480 to keep a good framerate.

I’ve got a version controlled by a joystick that I put together for my Company’s holiday party - let me know if you make anything new out of it! Enjoy, and Happy Everything.

Cheer, indeed. We know how badly many of you want to get out from behind your laptop and out into a venue once in a while. Here’s a solution: wear your display. And it helps if that display has the insane interactive capabilities that this one does. Marco Tempest of newmagic.com writes CDMo:

A little X-Mas greeting for all of you! Showing of my Photonic T-Shirt. Wearable visuals. Haha…

I’m still working out whether that “haha” is an evil scientist “I’ll take over the world with this” laugh, a laugh at the rest of us that don’t have one of these t-shirts, or a jolly laugh of holiday delight. I’m betting some combination of the three. (Or, as suggested in comments, simply “hahaha, this isn’t actually real.” I take it then as inspiration to make something that does this but actually, you know, works, without needing sly magicians and fakery. I’ll leave it to you to determine what’s going on.) Just watch:

As good will spreads through the season, people are getting expressive with more than just paper. Toxi, aka Karsten Schmidt, sends along this Processing-based interactive 3d card: simple but elegant and definitely something different to find in your mailbox.

Postspectacular Xmas

You may need to “trust” the applet for 3D-in-browser, sadly (usually only the first time you run a Java app - but no worries, no actual security risk here). Still, it’s not hard to imagine a day soon where we pop little interactive greetings to each other’s mobiles. Well, not hard for me to imagine, anyway; maybe it’s the glow of this new Blackberry. But thanks to Karsten for all the skill and inspiration he’s offered over this year.

That’s actually not the only interactive card I got. Bubblyfish aka Haeyoung Kim sent an 8-bit holiday card out on her site. Next: a home-built card with homebrew, custom-programmed sound chip and LED array.

Hope everyone’s having lovely holidays. You have just under one week to build your own ball drop.

We’re planning an in-depth test of the new visual vinyl plug-in for Serato’s Scratch LIVE, VIDEO-SL, but in the meantime, one beta tester has already got his hands on it. DJ Steel puts together a pretty clear demonstration of what VIDEO-SL does and what makes it special, particularly in regards to comparing something like Virtual DJ (another DJ product with control vinyl support for video). The demo video isn’t perfect — he calls the product “SLV” instead of its correct name, VIDEO-SL, misses out on effects, and says “H.264 files are less CPU intensive to decode than “ordinary .MP4″ files.” (For the record, that’s basically the same format; MPEG-4 video generally refers to MPEG-4 Part 10, the video compression standard.) But he does give a good overview of some of VIDEO-SL’s capabilities, why the integration with the Rane mixer makes sense, and how this might be used in a “DVJ” (hybrid DJ-VJ) setup.

VIDEO-SL I think is very important, and could yield different VJ styles, for those who like working with vinyl. Stay tuned for our closer look soon. And if you’ve got one on test yourself, let us know your impressions!

Previously:

Serato Video Scratch Software, Now in Beta; Break Out the Turntable!

Live visualists are evolving a new toolkit of gadgets for eyeball-friendly expression. Translation: we want the candy that lets us make eye candy.

You may have seen our terrifyingly-large holiday guide on Create Digital Music. This list is a little more, how shall we say, restrained, albeit with some even more important big-ticker items — think HD video cameras. I’m so late with this that "holidays" might be inaccurate … well, there’s still Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s, and Orthodox Christmas, anyway. But as a guide to the stuff we perpetually desire in our Crumpler bags (other than more Crumpler bags), here goes:

Anton Marini (vade)

"Well, if you don’t have one, THE indy camera to get this year is still the Canon HV20. I just picked one up for myself, and it’s awesome. You could also go all out and get a 35mm lens adaptor or make one yourself!"

Canon HV20 at Amazon.com

(we’ve got some HV20 stories and how-to’s coming soon — more if I pick one up, as well! -PK)

Dan Winckler

• A Gorillapod flexible tripod [Ed.: the perfect visual stocking stuffer -- dig the new model.]
• A Pelican rolling hard case (above)

Bohus Blahut

Bohus is the co-star blogger over at Retro Thing; while James Grahame sends us goodies for Create Digital Music, we’re pleased to welcome Bohus to the site, and have some terrific stories lined up from him.

FLIP flash-based video camera: great for impromptu documenting, and reminds us that video is still fun. [Ed.: Watch for the review from Bohus, coming soon.]

DVD Recorder: authoring in a computer is better, but I find myself using a cheapie DVD recorder all the time in my work for quick dubs, capturing live performances, recording source footage off of TV.

Victorinox SwissMemory 2 GB USB flash memory + knife: not “visualist” per se, but a knife with a USB drive on it? What’s not to like? [Ed.: At 2 GB, I'd say that qualifies as visualist gear! Maybe not for toting video -- or much of it, anyway -- but if that's not a must-have, what is? Just remember to take it out of your carry-on on the plane, cough, Jaymis. -PK]

Gerber tool: superior to the overrated Leatherman multi-tool (try opening one of those with one hand while hanging from a gantry) Ed.: Leatherman makes my NON wish list. Heck, just give it to airport security. Get something better.

Digital Juice: stock media company offer much more than just animated backgrounds for wedding guys. Lots of stuff that can be remixed creatively, and their recent price cuts make this stuff incredible.

Calibar: pen-sized test signal & sync generator. Not made anymore, and used to cost several hundred bucks. There is something new — the Calibug — that’s similar in purpose that uses your laptop as a signal generator. Very cheap in comparison, but I still like my standalone Calibar. Awesome for troubleshooting.

Ed.: Okay, so the discontinued Calibar isn’t quite available as a gift, necessarily, unless you have a Fairy Godmother. But what about the Calibug? It requires a laptop, and lacks the lovely vintage-ness of the Calibar, but also worth adding to  — well, my wish list, at least. Watch for a review, but it looks terrific: tons of test signal options, a cute, neoprene-coated aluminum jacket, and everything you need is in the package:

Calibug, laptop-ready test signal generator (evidently Windows only unless I’m missing something, so Mac users, go find that Calibar!)

Uncle Milton Lightcast: analog audio to flashy LED party light thingy. Made by the Uncle Milton ant farm people. Got one for review for Retro Thing, but not quite retro enough. Nice for impromptu music visualization though. [Ed.: Yup, expect a review of this, too!]

Atari Video Music: not cheap, but the prices have come way down on Ebay. This device is pre- Atari 2600, before Atari knew the hit they’d have on their hands with video games. It’s designed as a stereo component and outputs crunchy and blocky pulsating graphics in time to music you feed into it. Very nice. I’ve got two. ;)

Peter Kirn

With all this other wonderfulness, and so many potential toys and goodies to own (and, um, store), I’ve decided to pick just one thing I really want. That’s the Chumby. Come on, as an obsessive-compulsive, interactive art-making visualist, you can’t just have an alarm clock. The Chumby is an intelligent, networked device that lets you stream Flickr photos, check the weather (since lovers of projection are often in dark rooms with no windows), and, yes, even run custom Flash visualizations and tools you code yourself. An alarm clock you can code yourself: now that’s a thing of beauty. Okay, technically, it’s not an alarm clock, it’s a "personal internet player", but if there’s another thing visualists need, it’s some technological assistance next to bed things. Late nights at the club, late nights coding, late nights rendering, all-night red eye flights — this application alone surely justifies the cost.

And with built in sensors, you could code the thing to double as a weird, small football-shaped performance controller.

I’m not sure this will get to anyone by Christmas, but you could draw them a picture (or print out some ActionScript) and wrap that. And my birthday doesn’t actually fall until January 13. Just sayin’.

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the perfect video scratching solution. The Ms. Pinky hardware is fantastic, but the software is long in the tooth, so for anyone not wanting to create their own Max/MSP/Jitter software, it may not be the best choice. Serato, while they’ve lagged seriously in basic features (only recently adding MIDI control, for crying out loud), nonetheless excel at rock-solid vinyl control. Vinyl-controlled digital DJing? Yawn. Vinyl-controlled digital VJing? Now that’s more interesting.

After a long wait, VIDEO-SL, Serato’s video plug-in for its Scratch LIVE software, is here. (Serato Scratch LIVE 1.8 is required; it’s an add-on. Updated: I erroneously said this was part of Scratch LIVE 1.9; not sure where I thought that up, but it’s 1.8!) It’s in beta for download now, with a full release shipping January 2008. (Yes, Serato, we’re clearing our NAMM schedule to talk to you about it.)

Here are the specs from Serato:

• Add video clips to your Scratch LIVE performance
• View loaded clips and output from your computer
• Manipulate playback with control records or CD’s
• Mix Audio and Video with the Rane TTM 57SL mixer
• Use built in transitions and effects

The "built-in transitions and effects", "bonus music videos and loops", and "mixer overlay" are a bit worrying — well, at least we can ignore the last two, but please, Serato, we’re hoping you’ve done some decent effects that don’t shout Cheez-Whiz. (Not that I don’t like spraying artificial cheese product onto food. I am American. Just not in my VJ sets.)

As for system requirements, the good news is this runs on Mac, Windows XP, and Vista, provided you’ve got a recent 2GHz+ processor. (I assume they mean that for simultaneous audio and video.)

The bad news: you need a Rane TTM 57SL mixer. So I’d say this fits into the "niche" category as far as audience. I’m sticking to computers; I can’t even lift turntables. But let’s say I know at least one VJ who could do some beautiful damage with this (and we’ve got one lined up for a CDMo review).

About VIDEO-SL [Serato]

We hope to have that full-blown review soon; stay tuned.

Previously:

New Serato Scratch Live 1.8 Will Scratch Video

Actually, let’s just roll the video again. Mmmm… embedded video. Nope. Still want hands-on time.

I could not help but post these. How can you resist a Zeiss Mark I planetarium projector, a 1929 French Semivisor or a 150 foot Radio Telescope as a screen?. You can’t. At least, I can’t. Check out these Oobject series for more visualist inspired gear-porn. Im not a gear whore, but I find these series quite beautiful. The projectors have a striking aesthetic, the vintage TVs are stunning, and I could die to play a set in the desert on a giant radio telescope.

How my heart aches:

• Planetarium projectors
• Vintage TVs
• Giant Screens

Open Source software can be hard to approach sometimes, especially DIY programming environments, so there is some good news for those wanting to get started with two leading open source packages for performance.

Pure Data - the open source dataflow/patching environment now has a shared playlist on youtube. If you’ve been interested in Pure Data but hadn’t the slightest clue what it is or how to use it, you should check out the Pure Data Videopedia. The videopedia contains performance clips, tutorials and examples made with PD and some video related plugins.

Not into datalflow/graphical programming environments? Get your hands dirty with Processing. Check out the recently posted tutorials by user b2kn : “Coding for visual performance” workshop. You can find the accompanying processing sketches here. Good stuff!

Plug N Play - ByteMe Festival - Perth from Create Digital Media on Vimeo.

Being in Perth, Australia with some of our favorite VJs/visualists was a real inspiration. We’re still processing some of that inspiration — and, literally, all the footage and words we captured while there. One highlight was undoubtedly the Byte Me Festival’s Plug and Play night Thursday. Plug and Play is a regular event in what is supposedly the world’s most isolated city, an open jam for visuals. It reminded me of the open video mixers we’ve had in New York at Share and formerly at Eyewash, but it benefits from being dedicated, as the name suggests, to a full evening of visuals. (Maybe it’s time to follow up our Handmade Music events with Handmade Motion.)

This particular evening, though, was really a global event:

Solu

VJZoo

DPWolf

Jean Poole

Chris McCormick

VJ Lambency

Roly Skender

It represents people from all around the Australian continent, plus the United States and Europe. Here are some glimpses of the evening, featuring custom tools in Pd/GEM and Quartz Composer, but focusing on the extended ambient audio + visual set by Solu. (Solu had not only meditative visuals to watch but, along with the other VJs, some reflections on visualism in general; more on that soon.)

Plug and Play Perth

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The folks over at CHDK have been implementing custom firmware for the Canon Digic II and Digic III PowerShot cameras for some time - allowing for some awesome features for these small cameras. Previous added abilities such as shooting raw mode, USB tethered triggering, in camera motion detection and increased video recording options (compression options and no file size restrictions per clip).

But recently a new fimeware build by firmware hacker Allbest has allowed some very impressive high shutter speeds and high speed flash unit timings. CHDK folks have done tests measuring ccd timing vs flash timing, as well as capturing high speed subjects in controlled environments to find real world numbers. At the smallest aperture, the fastest timing available is around 1/64,000. Compared to high end professional cameras which costs one to two orders of magnitude more, this is quite the feat!

Check out the High Speed Shutter wiki page at the CHDK wiki for more information on high speed photography with the CHDK firmware.

Also be sure to check out the Video Plus options for extended recording and compression settings.

You can find a list of supported cameras on the CHDK wiki front page.

Impressive works. Thanks Yair for the heads up.