This just in from pixel-burninators and soon-to-be-purveyors of fine realtime 3D visual performance software, artificialeyes: VJ Loop Century seem to be claiming that 3L is their “home made realtime visual software”, which is “available as a freeware for unlimited downloads !”.

They then go on to, erm, reproduce without attribution, Peter’s “How awesome is 2008 (3L! Whoo!)” post, even though it explicitly names artificialeyes as the creators of 3L.

I’m not sure what else to say about this. Michael has plenty more though.

artificialeyes are keeping us updated on the impending release of 3L (current status: Soon), and while I’m still in “getting my studio in order” mode in the lead-up to the “2008 massive VJ geek-out and CDMoFest” and unable to play with new toys, CyberPatrolUnit has posted some great demo videos (and followup), showing us some of the places that 3L may be able to take us.

3L and Lemur at LAX from CyberPatrolUnit on Vimeo.

Exciting? Maybe a little. I still have lots of 3L video to edit from Perth last year, and I’ve promised Michael that I’ll have some videos ready for the official launch. Stay tuned!

After a little random number generation, I have the pleasure of announcing the winners of our 3L Beta Giveaway.

• Leon Grant Bussinger
• Chateau Bezerra
• eri
• Michael Hart
• Nek

Soon you’ll be gaping at this interface in awe, wondering what to do next. So I hope you’ve read the manual!

Those of you who didn’t win, don’t fret! You will soon be receiving an invitation from artificialeyes to join the 3L mailing list, so you’ll be among the first to know when the commercial release happens. Stay tuned for more 3L information as the software nears release, and those lucky Beta winners, please tell us when you have some 3L output available online for others to see!

Thanks to everyone who ran the system spec gauntlet and proudly entered our 3L Beta Giveaway. We’ll draw and announce the winners on Monday when ExiledSurfer and I have finished our respective travel itineraries.

In the meantime, for those who would like to get a head start on the 3L interface, artificialeyes have released the manual for public consumption (Download link: 1.2MB PDF).

When you open that file, you’ll be confronted with the following image.

Sage advice. artificialeyes have made some very interesting interface design choices with this software, and while they’ve packed a huge amount of control and signal flow functionality into a single screen interface, few would accuse it of being intuitive. Even with Michael and Todd showing you through the system it’s still quite confusing, and takes some time for the 3L paradigm to sink in. So for those 5 new beta testers hitting the software on Monday, getting a head start on the manual will have you blasting pixels out smoother and faster.

Good luck! As the commercial release of 3L approaches I’m sure we’ll have more exciting news coming.

Hang tight — we will have that announcement here. It’s Monday in New York for another few hours. -Ed.

It’s been 2 months since artificialeyes announced their new Mac-only visualist tool 3L ("Thrill"). The ae guys have just pushed out a new beta release, updated the 3L manuals, posted a new features page with screenshots, and the word from Michael is that the commercial release will happen as soon as they have the infrastructure in place for selling it.

To further whet your appetite, over 100 free VJ loops created with 3L have been posted to archive.org:

Free VJ LOOPS created with 3L
3L VJ Loops Series 2
Free VJ Loops created with 3L Series 3

… and leading by example, they have also released two content DVDs on VMS. These feature content generated almost entirely in 3L and are designed to be used with the VMS Video Moving Systems.

Hungry? Well, how would you like a main course of "Free 3L Private Beta" to go with that? artificialeyes have provided CDMo with five invitations to give away. The beta group is currently under 50 people, so this isn’t your average web2.0 style "put it out there and call it a beta so we don’t have to make it stable" software release.

Before you go putting up your hand, however, there are some conditions. Most importantly: You’ll need a machine which is capable of running 3L.

2.33GHz Intel based MacBook Pro or Mac Pro running:

• OSX 10.4.1 or later (leopard included)
• Quicktime 7.2 or later
• Minimum screen resolution 1440 x 900 pixels
• 2Gb RAM
• 256Mb VRAM ATI or NVIDIA video card

If you can tick those boxes, then all you need to do is leave a comment on this post (edit: Entries are now closed. Winners will be announced on Monday). Entries will be open for 72 hours, then we will randomly select 5 people to join this exclusive group of visual visionaries beating their graphics chips into submission. Those who have been chosen will receive a beta invitation, and the others will receive an invitation to join the 3L mailing list (opt-in, of course).

If you miss out, don’t fret. The pricing for 3L - €200, €150 for students - is very competitive, and I’m sure that artificialeyes will keep us in the loop on their release progress.

In case you haven’t noticed, a theme has been emerging on CDMotion: alternative interfaces geared for performance, software that expands the range of expression, and projection that gets visuals out of the 4:3-ratio box. There’s no one solution, and the expense involved in the tools covers quite the gamut. (I may have to personally start the “ghetto” guide to this stuff.)

But bringing together these elements is still essential to raising the impact of visuals. I still hear the “but the visuals aren’t as important” over and over again from people outside our field, and I think it’s a phrase that is — mercifully — doomed to extinction as visualists expand their craft.

So, one artist collective we’ve been covering is Turkey-based artificialeyes.tv. We’ve seen the Video Moving System, the automated mirror system for projection, the Vixid mixer with its matrix and multiple blend mode features (among other things), and the eyeball-scorching interface of 3L (”Thrill”) now in beta.

To see it all put together, of course, we’d really like to hit the club in Istanbul. Barring that, though, Michael from artificialeyes.tv has directed us at some images and video.

It’s really clear to me from these images how little you need lights. And in motion, with architectural effects amplifying the imagery, the projector itself can be more than just lighting effect (especially with these in motion, something you don’t get from the stills).

It’s not the lumens that count; it’s how you use them. But it’s easy to forget that when your projections just got blown out by lights, which someone used because they can move and your projection can’t. And it’s easy to get frustrated with the limitations of projection when you’re again looking at a static 4:3 rectangle on another flat wall.

Unfortunately, the art of using mirrors and other techniques to make projection more dynamic aren’t nearly as well known as they could be. Alternative projection techniques have also tended not to be productized. One significant exception is VMS or VideoMovingSystem. It’s the rare case of a hardware product made specifically for creative, live, performative projection. VMS is similar to the iCue moving mirror and some other tools, but it takes the kind of tools previously customized for lighting and specially adapts them to projection. You can actually buy a VMS unit with a projector already attached, or buy a unit that will fit a standard projector, making these more effective and easier to mount and use than lighting-specific instruments. It’s not a cheap solution for an independent VJ, but it is cheaper than competing custom lighting solutions. And if you read this site, you should already know that digital, computer-powered projection can do all kinds of things boring motorized lights can’t.

artificialeyes’ Michael Parenti and Todd Thille have taken a unique role in both championing the VMS tool and developing custom applications for it, as well as rocking Istanbul with the results. Michael said repeatedly that it saved the whole act of VJing for him. We got to talk to Michael and Todd about VMS and why it’s important — and, better yet, we got to play with these units, remote-controlled by artificialeyes’ 3L software and Michael’s iPhone. Even if you don’t plan on picking up VMS yourself (or I should say, convincing a club to buy them for you), you can tell from the interview how much of a difference changing a projection technique can make — not lumens, and not content, the two things we often get hung up on.

Jaymis: I have plenty more video from the ae guys waiting to be edited, both long-form looks into Thrill, and quick tips as well. That said, video is a bit of a new step for CDMo. This past year we’ve been talking about being a visualist mostly through the written word, so it would be great to get some feedback. Do you find video reviews and articles useful? Like the editing style? Think Peter should do voiceovers for software training videos? Hit the comments.

2008 is looking like an extraordinary year for visualists: there’s an explosion of new software tools for live visuals. One of the most eagerly-anticipated is 3L (pronounced “Thrill”), a multi-purpose live visual application for Mac, from the massively-talented artificialeyes trio of Pascal Lesport, Michael Parenti and Todd Thille. (Todd, FYI, you may have to change that last name to 3iL.) We’ll be showing and explaining where 3L fits in, but let me jump into my unedited geeky take on it first.

3L is unique in that it takes a lot of the cool generative effects people are doing in individual patches for Max or Processing, loads them into one massively modular interface, and mixes in the prerequisite amount of pixel processing, audio, and MIDI. It’s like the monster Jitter patch you’ll never have time to finish, all on one screen — one very big screen; the software actually requires 1440×900 resolution to operate. If they had just done that, Thrill might fade into the blur of other modular environments created in recent years, but the software has also been packed with features tested by the Artificial Eyes crew in their gigs — meaning a whole lot of what you’d want to be able to do in a club is there already, including countless features you may not have even thought of yet. Pascal also apparently coded his way around limitations in Jitter.

We got an inside peek at the software in Perth. In fact, we peeked at a little too much — so much, we’re still, erm, editing all the footage we shot. And we might have gotten into that editing in Perth were we not out until the wee hours of the morning VJing with Thrill. Jack and Coke, Western Australian nightclub filled with ridiculously young-looking clubgoers, plus a completely unfamiliar interface that looks like the love child of Max/MSP, a 747, and a spaceship? Hell, yeah. With everything wired for MIDI and sound reactivity, Jaymis and I immediately found ourselves zoning into pulsing abstract patterns, even when we weren’t entirely sure what we were doing.

It has happened! Peter and I are finally inhabiting adjacent physical spaces, which is cause for Considerable Excitement amongst ourselves and the assembled visualistadors.

Yesterday was extremely busy as we flew from Brisbane to Perth, found our hotel, found my gear, setup and soundchecked for a little post-opening-party gig with Bobby, charged to and from the accommodation to change, warmed up, put on a mediocre performance and hyped down just in time to meet up with Michael and Todd of artificialeyes.tv. They took Peter, myself, Jean Poole and DPWolf back to their hotel room and plied us with the latest and coolest VJ gear, including the Vixid VJX16-4, VMS, and their soon to be released software, Thrill. After this we were treated to an impromptu VJ set from MoRpH with Michael and Todd, projected with 3 VMS systems on a neighbouring building.

We’ve all spent the morning hanging out in Perth’s amazing TigerTiger Cafe, getting our internets on and discussing the current and future states of the visual world. This evening ByteMe is screening the documentary Figwit.