The successor to ArKaos VJ, a staple in early VJ application history, is nearly here. GrandVJ just hit public beta.

GrandVJ is a complete, from-scratch rewrite of the app, with some new features — but still a nod to the simple, one-screen interface that made the original popular. You can now download a working demo, beta build (with some watermarks on output and other limitations) for both Mac and Windows. I have to say, I like the music keyboard interface and drag-and-drop-everywhere philosophy. At the very least, this could become the beginner-friendly VJ app a lot of people have been looking for. (That is, if it’s successful, I may have an answer for the "where should I start with VJing for something simple — and I don’t have a lot of time" question I get a lot, particularly on the music side.) It’s also got some generative and Flash-playing tricks I’ll be looking into. At the same time, I think it will be worth some constructive criticism. This field is also getting crowded — and users more demanding.

Watch for a more detailed preview from us soon, but in the meantime, you can go ahead and give it a spin and let us know what you think:

ArKaos GrandVJ Public Beta 1 [ArKaos Users Forum]

Previously:

ArKaos Rebuilds VJ Software From Ground Up: GrandVJ

eMotion - Basic particles tool example from Adrien Mondot on Vimeo.

We saw eMotion last year — it’s a Mac OS-based 3D tool for particles and visual effects, with physics modeling, Wacom tablet control, input from sensors and OpenSoundControl, a text engine, and integrated Quartz Composer support. In other words: it’s a friendly tool for making pretty motion imagery, designed to be usable by performers.

Creator Adrien Mondot has new videos up and a beta available for download. (An Intel Mac running Leopard is required.)

eMotion on stage from eMotion for Animation on Vimeo.

More videos, including screencasts on features like forces and Quartz Composer:

Vimeo screencasts

Details on the software and a download link:

eMotion

The description is a bit hyperbolic ("a new way to define movement"?) given that a lot of this is indebted to 1970s "augmented reality" research by Myron Krueger and physics simulations by, well, a lot of people. (Particle systems were specifically invented by Bill Reeves of Pixar in the early 80s. Ahem — Khaaaaaaaaaan!) I don’t think that takes away from the coolness of this — on the contrary, I think acknowledging historical lineage helps demonstrate why the new, accessible, personal rendition of that is valuable. But there is a lot here that’s done very well. It’ll be fantastic to watch it develop.

Likewise, it’s interesting to see these tools (and vvvv, also mentioned today) working with proprietary, platform-specific technologies. There are certainly some advantages to hooking into the Mac’s Core Image and other app development tools (see Quartz Composer, VDMX, etc.), or Windows’ DirectX (as with vvvv). I think the challenge for people interested in open, cross-platform development is to make things just as usable and visually consistent with OpenGL and cross-platform APIs.

The free (for non-commercial use), Windows-only, insanely-powerful visual/multimedia patching environment vvvv just got a killer feature: the ability to make your own "nodes" (what are called objects in some other modular tools).

It’s actually pretty easy to build, too, and the developers have some templates for you. This is way up the list on my summer projects. You can do matrix transforms, as well, so 3D / GPU-based video processing gets very interesting, along with simpler manipulations of color, string, and number values:

The latest vvvv version offers developers an interface to write their own nodes for vvvv. A plugin is basically a .dll file, that can be drag&dropped into a vvvv patch where it appears as a node. If its stored in vvvv’s plugins directory, its even available in the node list.

vvvv gurus, if you give this a try and make something interesting, let us know:

vvvv40beta16 release with plugin interface [Results in Reverse blog]

Calling Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC and beyond — Momo the Monster has just moved from Los Angeles and the comforting company of the Los Angeles Video Artists to Portland, Oregon.

Join the discussion at nwav.org and shape the future of VJing and AV Performance in the Northwest US. Or at least get together for monthly meetings of screenings, beer drinking and AV Geekery.

My love of time-lapse meshes perfectly with my love of, well, the 5 foot carpet python I share my house with. Having a companion animal (is it politically correct to say “pet” these days?) around is great for any visual artist. More specifically, having Python around an HD, slow-motion capable video camera, well I think that’s a fantastic combination:

I am yet to create any actual “HD” material with this camera, but for web-resolution work it has been an absolute revelation. The ability to shoot a show as a single wide shot from a tripod and then pan and scan in post production means that those previously unexciting “gig documentation” tapes are now actually worth editing. Similarly, if you’re shooting hand-held HD but delivering web resolution you have huge latitude for image stabilization.

For the python dinner I had a couple of DV cameras as backup angles, and the difference in detail is frightening.

We’re all about the cheap, characterful, DIY aesthetic here at CDMo, but sometimes bigger really is better.

CDMo reader Seej has been getting rather DIY projection, with instructions on how to build a portable projector screen, and a DIY projector mount.

I do a lot of projection installations, in unique locations, usually with about zero setup time. When I looked into buying a professional 10’x7’ “fast-fold” screen, I was blown away by how much they cost. Instead, I decided to design my own, using easy to find materials.

The Challenge:
1. Fast to set-up
2. Fits in a cab
3. Front or rear projection
4. Affordable

We’ve seen a similar projector mount before at VJKungFu, but Seej’s version seems to be even easier. A couple of these would have saved countless setup hours for me over the last year.

So, the next step is to make this even cheaper: Does anyone have a source for cheap ball joint heads and clamps?

If you follow CDMu, you might have noticed Peter’s recent Kore@CDM announcement. Today I’m extremely happy to be able to officially launch of our first visual minisite; for the Vixid VJX16-4 video mixer:

Vixid@CDM, http://vixid.noisepages.com

The visualist world is in a real period of growth at the moment, and we think that Vixid are one of the companies who are doing great things to help this growth. From our first moments with a VJX we know that we wanted to spend more time and really get to know it. So we approached Vixid about partnering with CDM to create a site devoted to exploring the VJX16-4, and how it can help our art grow and develop.

How this partnership works: With a tool as deep and flexible as this, the traditional “couple of days or weeks” review loan wouldn’t really work. So Vixid have sent me a VJX16-4 to keep. This will allow me to spend time learning its tricks, trying it in different configurations in both live and studio settings, and to share what I’m learning.
In effect Vixid are paying for this content, but it’s not a “home shopping network advertorial” kind of situation. There will be no hand up the back of my shirt or sanitized autocue telling us what to say. We’ve built vixid.noisepages primarily because we love the mixer, and want it to become part of what we do. Getting paid for writing about it is an added bonus, for everyone really: Readers and users get new information and inspiration on what the VJX can do for their art, Vixid get a resource to help their existing users (or inspire new ones), and I get an amazing new toy to play with to spend some very serious and scholarly time doing educational research with a technologically sophisticated device.

I’m quite aware that some will consider this to be “selling out”. Peter and I have spent a lot of time discussing how we want CDM to progress, and we consider this kind of partnership to be an important part of building the visualist site of the future. We’re aiming to grow CDMo to a point where we can spend more time writing and creating, to document and to help this artform mature, and sponsorship from developers we think are pointed in the right direction is just one part of this plan.

So, rationale aside, what can you expect to see coming up on Vixid.noisepages? I’ll be going through some of the basics, like how to set up, and differences between “traditional” VJ mixers and the “Vixid way”, and more advanced stuff, like using MIDI to do crazy stuff with live inputs, and how to get the Vixid to operate as 2 virtual mixers outputting to separate screens. Oh, and I recently received 16 security cameras in the mail. The Vixid has 16 inputs… that should be interesting.

Cycling 74’s Max/MSP/Jitter forum is a not just a resource for Max/MSP nerds doing Max/MSP nerditry, but an archive of new media art, ideas, algorithms, discussions and general mayhem. One gem caught my eye during a recent discussion: a YouTube video performance using nato+0.55. What is nato+0.55, you ask? Nato is one of the first, usable, extensible “new media” video systems ever. It helped bring real-time video manipulation to consumer computers, and thus was part of the birth of modern VJing. Ed.: Vade’s not exaggerating; some people still swear by nato, dissatisfied with Jitter and the like. -PK

Nato pre-dates Jitter by a few years, and was designed and sold by a narcissistic, rampant female AI / forum-trolling-as-performance-art spambot / Che Guevara inspired/reclusive futurist programming group/classic Ferrari-driving Dostoevsky character Netochka Nezvanova, aka NN, integer, antiorp (the list goes on). Get all that? I highly recommend this Salon article for some internet archeology on NN; it’s a fun read. Is it wrong to secretly lust after a meme?

But back to the point, KDaG_nato+0.55 is raw, in-your-face, f***ed up and just awesome. The user interface is the performance (McLuhan may have loved this), there is no distinction between the video screen, and buttons, patchcoords, preview screens, menus. It’s just beautiful, and reminds us how important a user interface can be, how it effects our aesthetics - or, how it can *be* our aesthetic.

Now go break stuff and report back!

Ed.: Okay, so now we know what turns vade on. I can’t get quite that excited — maybe I just need more coffee — but I am impressed. Other nato creations out there? -PK