Soldering is strangely addictive, like knitting for tech geeks. Maybe it’s the solder fumes, but I find myself oddly relaxed. The other big surprise is that it’s really far easier than beginners think. (Read: I’m a klutz. If I can do it, so can you.) And there are plenty of good visualist hacker projects to which you can apply your skill, from the Arduino to video switchers and synthesizers and other sensor-to-computer rigs for DIY VJ controllers or distance-sensing 3D animator thingies.

But the one soldering mountain even hardware DIYers seem not to fear is surface-mount soldering. It requires a lot more precision, and has a far greater potential to destroy an expensive component (partly because it’s trickier, and partly because you’re more likely to be doing it with something pricier).

Sparkfun, purveyors of cool DIY gadgetry and raiders of credit cards (at least mine), have a terrific tutorial on SMD:

Sparkfun Tutorials (scroll down for multi-part SMD knowledge written in a beginner-friendly style)

I hear you. You’re still not sure you won’t screw this up. It’s easier to watch it being done than hear it explained, so watch a soldering ninja at work in this new Sparkfun tutorial video:

Perfect for assembling your own Arduino and creating a new Processing visual project. Stay tuned; I’ve got some new projects for March and April that I’ll finally get to document here on CDMo.

Holidays are fast approaching. Do you have enough new gear to keep your brain occupied while your body suffers though the inevitable food-coma? Peter and the CDMu gang have listed their choices for electronic musicans. So we’ve decided to follow up with some last-minute ideas for yourself or the visualist in your life. PK: I like to think of this as, rather than last-minute shopping — or, erm, after-the-fact shopping if you were looking for Hannukah — this as the Way to Cure the VJ Blues By Shopping For Yourself list. And, aside from having been raised half-Orthodox (Christmas isn’t for over a week yet!), my birthday is in January, and should also be a holiday. (Macworld stuffers?) So, without further ado…

Jaymis

VJ: Audio-Visual Art and VJ Culture
Sick of trying to explain what it is you do to random wrinklies at family gatherings? VJ, put together by the immensely talented D-Fuse gang. Pingmag interview about the book and the state of VJing here
US$26.40
Update: Reviewed on We Make Money Not Art

Nintendo Wii
Ok. So with the newest console on the block sold out everywhere, this item may be a little wishful. Unless you’re willing to pay whatever the scalpers extortionists scumbags fine chaps on ebay are currently asking, then it may be prudent to wait until the storm has passed. Of course, that doesn’t stop you from picking up a wiimote, making with the wireless midi for a while, then bringing in the console for some multiplayer boxing at a later, saner time.
Wiimote: US$61

Since receiving my Arduino I’ve found myself looking at technology a little differently. As your post-production skills increase you tend to watch videos thinking: “I could do that”, or “I could do that if someone gave me lots of money and got out of my way”. In my post-Arduino life I now look at technology and think either, “I wonder how I could interface my arduino with that,” or “I wonder if anyone will mind if I pull that apart.”

Nobody will mind if you pull an old Inkjet printer apart. Every house has at least one in a cupboard somewhere, kept because it cost good money back in the day, but now replaced by all in one devices which cost less than their own replacement ink cartridges. My household had 6 mothballed inkjets. Now there’s only 5, and my parts box is filled with cool bits and pieces.

From CDMo reader and forum member Grigori:

Piksel 06 (thats in Norway) has just been and gone and they have left tons of great info and resouces for people to check out..
 
http://www.piksel.no/piksel06/talks.html
 
http://bekstation.bek.no/piksel/piksel06/video/arduino.ogg
 
Just scroll down through heap of stuff on talks.html page and pick your faves. I highly recomend to
see the stuff by Thomas Vriet and Aymeric Mansoux (those guys are rockstars of geek world 4 sure)

I’ve got to admit, the video and audio quality is terrible, the videos are rather long (Arduino one is 2.5 hours) and boring in places, but there’s some fascinating material in there, and if that’s not enough for you, check out the opening slide from Arduino Co-Creator David Cuartielles’ talk:

Arduino: Just like drugs.

I just, like, spent $100 on my Arduino habit today, buying extra breadboard sections, 555 timers, resistor and capacitor packs, 240v relays… Or as the police will surely come to refer to them: Paraphernalia.

I received my Arduino today, and in preparation I’ve been saving up some Arduino/Wiring/Processing links of interest to a newbie physical-computerer.

If you haven’t Arduino’d before, here’s Todbot on why it’s a rocking little microcontroller. Tod also tells us how to make an Arduino Breadboard Shield, for quick circuit prototyping.

You should probably familiarise yourself with the Arduino Board, then have a look at ARDUINO meets PROCESSING - physical computing and computer graphics site: Projects containing the basic physical interactions mediated by an Arduino board.

The Arduino meets Processing project intends to make it as easy as possible for anyone to explore the world of physical computing. All you need is an Arduino board as well as the Arduino and Processing software, which you can download on their project websites.

Some of the pages seem a little incomplete, but it contains basic circuit information and code for: Pushbutton, Switch(es), Tilt Sensor, Accelerometer, Potentiometer, LDR Light Sensor, NTC Temperature Sensor, Joystick, Ultrasonic Sensor, Piezo Element.

Of course the Arduino Tutorials page has loads of examples. Of major interest to VJs may be:
Blinking LED.
Dimming 2 LEDs (RGB colour mixing).
LED Driver makes use of an LED Driver in order to control an almost endless amount of LEDs with only 4 pins.

Both Peter and I have Arduinos now, so you can expect things to be getting a little more physical in the future. Don’t be scared, we’ll be gentle.