Resolume Avenue 4 has been announced today, with a beta version for Resolume owners due September 19. And it’s looking like a very nice upgrade, indeed. Having vastly improved stability, now functionality in Avenue is looking really mature, building on the almost Ableton-style audiovisual clip metaphor introduced in Avenue. I just played a short gig with version 3 and had a blast, and 4 could make this the tool to beat. Here’s what’s new:
Clip Transitions and Effect Clips are especially big news. You can trigger effects as if they’re clips, and clip transitions allows you to automatically fade between clips when you trigger them rather than have to manually blend/fade them with layers. That alone could be a revelation.
Improved MIDI Support and Mapping. MIDI output means you can light up devices like the APC40 or Launchpad or motorize gear like the BCF2000. An eight-dial dashboard maps better to … well, just about everything, since there’s loads of MIDI gear with knobs and faders in sets of eight. MIDI controller range lets you set range for MIDI inputs, also essential. Continue reading »
Barcelona-based artist Evan Roth does beautiful translating motion into three-dimensional, sculptural forms, among his other digital works. In “Graffiti Analysis,” 2010 (video just posted), he algorithmically averages motion capture data from fifteen local tag artists to produce projected motion revealing the process and a squiggly sculpture seen here.
Graffiti Analysis, Barcelona, 2010
ABS Thermoplastic
31cm x 20cm x 35cm
Barcelona
2010
Cyber-illusionist Marco Tempest speaks in a full length video to the Innovators@Google series at Google’s New York offices. Marco, whose work we’ve followed before, is unique in that his presentation isn’t just a series of visual tricks, however wondrous. He roots his work in the history of magic and illusion, not only technically but as cultural construct. Then, he’s confident enough in his technique to reveal the (often open source) technologies behind the illusions. For me, that makes the effect no less magical; perhaps as a sometimes-coder, it makes it more so.
Watch in particular for some wonderful doodle projection mapping that may make you crack a smile even on a bad day.
I also like what Marco has to say about his work: “I blend the line between what is incredibly real and what is incredibly not.”
Open source magic?
Augmented reality?
Cyber-illusion?
Whatever Marco’s doing, it seems to get at the heart of visualist practice today. And in particular, I find that the global community of visualists – once themselves as keen to keep their secrets as the brotherhood of magicians – increasingly shares the apparatus behind their work. The challenge then: make the magic in your performance, in genuine showmanship, even as the technology becomes more widely-commoditized.
Disclosure: I’ve been a consultant and developer for Marco on Android tools. I hope we get to share some of that software down the road.
Video synthesis hardware is suddenly on fire – and you don’t need a fortune to get into it. From two legendary makers of audio electronics, we have two fantastic new designs for video synths, available on the cheap for your psychedelic optic nerve-massaging fun.
The folks at Resolume have been posting some terrific tutorials on their blog, but this one deserves special mention. Resolume’s audiovisual tool Avenue has sonic and even plug-in hosting capabilities, meaning you could use it as a go-to, all-in-one live music and visual performance tool. But musicians and producers and DJs are naturally familiar with Ableton Live and its unique capabilities, and may already have their sets there.
Enter a simple but powerful set of tools, built in Max for Live, for combining the two programs. As seen in the video at top, you get two functions:
1. Automatically trigger Ableton (audio) clips each time you trigger Resolume (visual) clips.
2. Forward parameters from a Rack to Resolume – so twisting, say, a Grain Delay effect could add a pixellated effect to your visuals, or whatever you imagine.
Via OSC, a Dispatcher tool does the work behind the scenes. There are ways of doing this with OSC via a variety of tools, so think of this as an example of what’s generally possible. That said, it’s also a very handy convenience having everything built for you, if you’ve already got a copy of Ableton and Max for Live.
Rigged something like this yourself, using Ableton, Resolume, or other tools? Let us know about it. And if you have a Max (or Pd, or Osculator, or whatever) patch to share, tell us about that, too!
3D stereoscopy may be the next big thing. Or… a really old thing that keeps coming back. Or a fun excuse to hand out glasses with your music video / performance. Or something.
Whatever it is, I’m enjoying the homebrewed video “Videodrome” for Great Tiger. This is no big-budget production, and that has me thinking. As MTV did nothing to celebrate 30 years, other than pumping out the usual reality TV crap that they’ve decided to make their legacy, the original creative spirit of that network lives on
In fact, at some point, I planned an extended editorial on the subject, but … well, there’s not much to say. We don’t need MTV. What was great about MTV in its early days is now great about the Internet. And the best days of the music video are almost certainly ahead.
And that… oh. Actually, that’s probably all I need to say.
In the meantime, add this to the “you know you’re a VJ / visualist when…” list.
You know you’re a VJ when you enjoy watching the red/blue stereoscopy without the glasses.
I want to live in this white, red-and-blue fringing world in which stylish vector graphics sometimes burst through the walls. Decorating idea, noted.
Steph Thirion is back. The talented maker of Eliss, an iOS game that devilishly challenged players and stunned ears and eyes with goodness, Steph now has something new to tease. Faraway is, like Eliss before it, a one-man opus. Gameplay, visuals, and sound are all designed by the artist, making for a uniquely singular aesthetic vision. With procedural content and a narrative involving a comet in a starscape, it looks like yet another in a small but growing vanguard of games that take on the role of part game, part A/V album – slash – experience.
From developer Steph:
I made a video teaser for my upcoming game Faraway.
Cool fact: it was all made in code, it’s an uncut programming sequence. No video editors were used.
- The game will come out this fall on iOS. Specific date and platform are TBA.
Today Indie Fund has announced its support in Faraway. They have written some very kind words.
Finally, the game will be playable this week at PAX. I am sharing a booth with Derek Yu, the painfully talented creator of the brilliant Spelunky. We will also be selling exclusive toys/tshirts we made for the event, so stop by if you’re around. He has made a very cool site to promote the event: http://www.playfaraway.com/pax.html
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