As a visualist I have an incessant appetite for gear. The inaugural Plug N Play Brisbane on Tuesday reminded me that it doesn’t have to be this way, however. While I rocked up with bags and boxes of computers, cables, cameras, controllers and hardware, others arrived with a single laptop, and of course were able to put equally compelling material on the screen. Or, to be perfectly honest - more-compelling material, as I struggled to remember which icons were required to get 3L’s automation chains working.

Debilitating addictions aside; everyone present was interested in my source for cheap security cameras, BNC converters, HDMI cables and other necessary items, so I’m guessing that the rest of the community may also enjoy: DealExtreme (disclosure: Affiliate links used, if you buy stuff I get a cut).

DealExtreme has a huge range of, basically, ephemera: iPod batteries, LED torches, cable converters, chargers… The type of things you’d get for $20 in a local shop, or you could find on eBay for $2 plus $15 shipping. DealExtreme matches those deceptively cheap eBay prices, and then proceeds to not charge shipping, which puts everything into the category entitled “Ridiculously Cheap Stuff”.

The range is large and varied. This coupled with a not particularly intuitive search and categorization of the site has resulted in me wasting many hours paging through, but along the way I’ve bookmarked plenty of things which may be useful to the average VJ:

I’m not sure why we didn’t mention it here while it was “current”, but we did talk about Radiohead’s recent webcast of their album In Rainbows on CDMusic. Even if you’re not in to Radiohead it’s worth watching, as it brings a beautifully varied, personal, low-budget aesthetic to one of the biggest bankers in modern music, it completely changed how I identify with the album. As mentioned in the CDMusic comments, I’m historically a huge Radiohead fan, but have found myself drifting away from their music over the last couple of albums. I paid money for In Rainbows (even though I didn’t have to), listened to it once or twice and then forgot about it, but the Scotch Mist videos made me re-examine the entire album, and it finally clicked for me.

All of this preamble is by way of introducing Adam Buxton, a British filmmaker who says he “helped out” on the webcast, but is billed #2 in the introductory credits to the piece, so it seems he was doing a little more than making coffee.

Not everyone wants loads of advanced video processing, compositing, custom programming visual tools in their software. For dedicated visualists, a tool you can grow into has major advantages. But some people just want some straightforward video triggering. I regularly get questions about what a simple, cheap solution is. In the past, I tended to direct people to Vidvox’s Grid, but that tool has been effectively replaced by their new application, VDMX. I love VDMX, and think it could be a great choice to “grow into.” But for people who want a basic but flexible solution, I’ll definitely be taking a closer look at Livid’s Cell, which clearly fits a Grid-like niche:

Livid Instruments Cell

US$99 gets you a nice set of bread-and-butter tools:

• Basic grid playback of various video formats
• Integrated, OpenGL-accelerated video effects
• Full MIDI control
• Automated triggering and sequencing
• Included clips

It sounds like just the right combination of ingredients for someone adding live visuals to an existing music or DJ set, or who needs just the basics, without lots of more advanced features and customization to get in the way. The interface also seems to be nicely laid out. We’ll take a closer look soon.

Incidentally, back to Grid, note that one of the really nice things about VDMX5 is that you can use a window layout to get all the simple video-triggering properties of Grid, but with the added flexibility of customizing the interface to exactly what you want — or switching to a more “advanced” mode for sets that require it. We’ll be looking more at this soon, as well.

I actually used my long-dormant Yahoo! messenger username to activate a Flickr account just so I could order some Moo Minicards. They’re US$20 for 100, including free international shipping.

Business cards are a great promotional tool, and especially useful as a distracting device when punters approach you mid-set. I have a couple of designs for different occasions, but Moo’s double-sided, full colour cards seem much more relaxed and friendly.

The Moo Flickr Group contains plenty of action shots and positive feedback.

I admit to being an incurable retro junkie. With that in mind, it’s worth making Super 8 part of your digital image arsenal. Even though few Super 8 cameras have been manufactured since the early 1980s, Kodak still offers a solid lineup of color and black & white film for as little as $14 per 50 foot cartridge (which lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds). Once you start shooting motion picture film, there’s no turning back — there’s something addictive about the sight of genuine film grain and the way film responds to light.

Cameras are inexpensive and plentiful on eBay. You should expect to pay under $100 for a well-equipped device that can shoot at a “professional” speed of 24 frames per second and offers useful options such as slow-motion and timelapse. In fact, the ability to shoot film at a variety of speeds is one of its strongest benefits.

Once you’ve captured images on film, there’s no need to haul out a clunky old projector. Many companies offer pro-quality film to video transfers, starting at around $20 per reel. You can even purchase excellent video transfer equipment for under $1400. Once your film has been copied to miniDV tape you can manipulate it using all of your favorite video editing software.

Filmshooting.com: the most active online Super 8 film forum
Kodak’s Super 8 film lineup
OnSuper8.org: one of the most up-to-date Super 8 resources on the web

3rd Ward, the workspace/studio/gallery in Brooklyn where I’ll be giving a class on interactive Mac design later this month, is offering a discount code for Create Digital Motion readers, if you happen to be here in the New York area:

Enter code PK0806 to receive a 10% discount on a 3-month trial membership or 1 free workshop at 3rd Ward.

3rd Ward is a 20,000 sq. ft. workspace and studio facility for artists & creative professionals, located in East Williamsburg.

Our facility was formed based on the needs of contemporary artists and creatives whose work is often multidisciplinary. 3rd Ward is an über-studio environment that is cost-effective and provides open-source access to space, facilities, and equipment while still addressing personal and private work needs.

Not sure what an über-studio is, but the space is really lovely; I wish I had a membership there! (See facilities info) You’ll also get access to their digital lab for free (with a membership, or without a membership for free while you’re enrolled in the class).

Australian tech blogging ubernerd Dan has published his slightly extended take on the Megapixel Myth.

The crux: Paying more money for a camera with more pixels may give you less image quality.

So what’s the take-home message?

Well, if you’re shopping for an ordinary digicam, bear in mind that money spent on higher resolution may actually be buying you less than nothing. A lower resolution camera can actually be a better product in every respect.

Of course, the camera companies just can’t sell lower res cameras any more. Even entry level models are averaging 5MP as I write this - real resolution hasn’t, of course, improved much since the 2MP days.

If you want a decent range of lower resolution, lower priced cameras, you therefore need to consider buying old stock, or second hand. This leads to the same problems you face when buying any used gadget - apart from the obvious wear and tear issues, you’re likely to find that lithium ion batteries for gadgets a few years old may be dead as stones, and replacements that aren’t also dead may be hard to find.

There’s some great advice in the article, and coupled with the general public’s general cluelessness on this issue, it’s not surprising to find ebay flooded with extremely cheap very servicable cameras, accompanied by descriptions along the lines of “I am selling my digital camera so that I can upgrade to another which has more megapixels“.

I’m seeing plenty of great cameras going for $30 or under, including shipping. Does that look like sub-$1000 time-slice rig to anyone else?