VideoPong competition: And the winner is...
In our humble opinion, VideoPong.net is one of the nicest footage sharing sites on the web at the moment. Instead of being a vault of footage that is regularly being raided by everybody and their grandma, users of VideoPong are actively encouraged to participate in a community.
First of all, after joining VideoPong, you have to give before you can take. You need to share some of your own clips in order to download those of others. But even better, you can remix other people's clips. It was this feature that we liked a lot, and it became the basis for the Resolume/VideoPong competition.
Long story short, you could win a boxed Avenue 4 license, simply by remixing this clip:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dtj0lqgw6v[/videopong]
(Lines moving across, by Joris. "it's beauty moved me to tears")
In the end, the winner was decided by VideoPong user votes, and a jury combined from the folks from VideoPong and Resolume:
Grand winner:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dtqxesduin[/videopong]
Lines moving across, by Paul Power
1st Runner up:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dud4wemh6l[/videopong]
Stripe Remix by Zweck
2nd Runner up:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duvmup9nlc[/videopong]
_stripeScraper by fredVJ.
As in all competitions, the decision was very hard, so aside from the top three we'd like to name a few honorary mentions as well. Be inspired!
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duxwkzoltl[/videopong]
Flowapowa by Biolume
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dub4eh36k1[/videopong]
white stripe_ deconstructed by patrick
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0ducafol8rw[/videopong]
Asp THE GreAt - RMX by Asp
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duqtoga1d5[/videopong]
1.6-15.7 win a resolume avenue4 license for best remix by Salil
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duoqyf3kwj[/videopong]
FANCY TREES UP THE HILL (remix contest) by fapol
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duupjpfpag[/videopong]
Them blades. by Biolume
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duvn8zf8p8[/videopong]
_20´s style dead of a stripe Part 1 by fredVJ
So, congratulations to the winner, and thanks to everyone to participated. You laid down more lines than a game of tetris.
http://www.videopong.net/
First of all, after joining VideoPong, you have to give before you can take. You need to share some of your own clips in order to download those of others. But even better, you can remix other people's clips. It was this feature that we liked a lot, and it became the basis for the Resolume/VideoPong competition.
Long story short, you could win a boxed Avenue 4 license, simply by remixing this clip:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dtj0lqgw6v[/videopong]
(Lines moving across, by Joris. "it's beauty moved me to tears")
In the end, the winner was decided by VideoPong user votes, and a jury combined from the folks from VideoPong and Resolume:
Grand winner:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dtqxesduin[/videopong]
Lines moving across, by Paul Power
1st Runner up:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dud4wemh6l[/videopong]
Stripe Remix by Zweck
2nd Runner up:
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duvmup9nlc[/videopong]
_stripeScraper by fredVJ.
As in all competitions, the decision was very hard, so aside from the top three we'd like to name a few honorary mentions as well. Be inspired!
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duxwkzoltl[/videopong]
Flowapowa by Biolume
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dub4eh36k1[/videopong]
white stripe_ deconstructed by patrick
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0ducafol8rw[/videopong]
Asp THE GreAt - RMX by Asp
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duqtoga1d5[/videopong]
1.6-15.7 win a resolume avenue4 license for best remix by Salil
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duoqyf3kwj[/videopong]
FANCY TREES UP THE HILL (remix contest) by fapol
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duupjpfpag[/videopong]
Them blades. by Biolume
[videopong]http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0duvn8zf8p8[/videopong]
_20´s style dead of a stripe Part 1 by fredVJ
So, congratulations to the winner, and thanks to everyone to participated. You laid down more lines than a game of tetris.
http://www.videopong.net/
Resolume Blog
This blog is about Resolume, VJ-ing and the inspiring things the Resolume users make. Do you have something interesting to show the community? Send in your work!
Highlights
Exquisite Motion Corpse
From the creator of the popular “Touch Resolume” controller comes a new and creative art installation called Exquisite Motion Corpse. A fun and interactive work based on the surrealist parlor game Exquisite Corpse. This four-channel video installation features a life-size tower of screens controlled with an iPad running TouchOSC. Users can swap out body segments that are synchronized with loop-based music and sounds.
The backbone of the installation is a Mac Pro is running Resolume 4 Avenue. Resolume controls the timing and playback of the video clips and does all the heavy lifting need to make this installation work. Instead of having to program a unique video application using Max/MSP and jitter, the creators of Exquisite Motion Corpse were able to use audio/video playback functions built into Resolume to do everything they needed. Be sure to check the how-it-works section on the projects' website for more techy goodness.
At the Ann Arbor Film Festival their installation was running 10-13 hours a day without crashing, clocking over 21,000+ measures on the BPM counter! A stress test of Resolume’s stability in a performance environment.
Now the project is being ported into an iOS application called “Bodies and Beats.” This will be the first audio-visual mashup app seen for the iPad and iPhone! Check out their Kickstarter campaign and help make this app a reality.
The backbone of the installation is a Mac Pro is running Resolume 4 Avenue. Resolume controls the timing and playback of the video clips and does all the heavy lifting need to make this installation work. Instead of having to program a unique video application using Max/MSP and jitter, the creators of Exquisite Motion Corpse were able to use audio/video playback functions built into Resolume to do everything they needed. Be sure to check the how-it-works section on the projects' website for more techy goodness.
At the Ann Arbor Film Festival their installation was running 10-13 hours a day without crashing, clocking over 21,000+ measures on the BPM counter! A stress test of Resolume’s stability in a performance environment.
Now the project is being ported into an iOS application called “Bodies and Beats.” This will be the first audio-visual mashup app seen for the iPad and iPhone! Check out their Kickstarter campaign and help make this app a reality.
3 New Footage Releases, 2 New Artists
We're very proud to welcome two new members to the Resolume footage label. Daniel Knight blasts on the scene with his first footage pack. No less than 33 high powered clips, with a sparkling color scheme and amazing sense of depth. And with great pleasure we give to you the amazing graphic skills of Zeplab! All eyes to centre stage for this 3D Circus extravaganza!
TunnelVision VJ Loops by Daniel Knight
Rest assured it's all killer, no filler. Every single clip a banger, they will burn out your LEDs and rip your projector screen to pieces. You've been warned.
Circus VJ Loops by ZepLab
Death defying are the dazzling depths he delves into, awe inspiring are the twists and turns of the psychedelic kaleidoscope he hypnotizes you with.
RaceStars VJ Loops by Space Monkeys
Strap on your seat belt and put the pedal to the metal with these high contrast retro clips. This isn't a race, it's a showdown!
TunnelVision VJ Loops by Daniel Knight
Rest assured it's all killer, no filler. Every single clip a banger, they will burn out your LEDs and rip your projector screen to pieces. You've been warned.
Circus VJ Loops by ZepLab
Death defying are the dazzling depths he delves into, awe inspiring are the twists and turns of the psychedelic kaleidoscope he hypnotizes you with.
RaceStars VJ Loops by Space Monkeys
Strap on your seat belt and put the pedal to the metal with these high contrast retro clips. This isn't a race, it's a showdown!
VJ Review of the New Retina MacBook Pro
We were amazed at how many reactions a single Facebook picture with Resolume running on the new retina MacBookPro could get. In that post, we promised everyone with a full review, so brace yourself for some serious number crunching!
Overall impression: For a laptop, it's pretty darn amazing!
Compared to setting up with a triple head, it's smooth sailing. Each screen is recognized as an individual display, making screen arrangment and assigning via the advanced output a piece of cake. The choice to use only HDMI for the third connection is a little unfortunate, since you're forced to use a consumer connection. We had to fiddle quite a bit with our projectors before we had all three outputs recognized correctly. In all fairness that has more to do with the HDMI input on the projectors than the MBP, but it would have been better if three DVI or component connections had been available. Connecting to the computer monitors worked immediately.
Performance wise, it's quite astounding to see the amount of pixels that are being pushed without the computer complaining. Of course better performance can be gotten on high end media servers, but we're talking about a 15" laptop here. 6 layers of 1080p at 43 fps, across three monitors, while fitting in a backpack? Everyone who ever had to haul a server case across a muddy festival field or into a elevated FOH booth will recognize how awesome that is.
The fact that it includes a SSD by default makes the interface feel incredibly snappy.Triggering a column of 30 clips is gaspingly instantaneous. Deck switching is a fraction of the time as with moving drives. [s]Also it finally has USB 3.0 ports so you can plug in your Intensity Shuttle and make this a full mobile server laptop.[/s] Turns out Apple didn't use a USB3.0 chipset supported by BlackMagic. Perhaps BM will update their hardware, but currently the USB equipped Shuttle does *not* work (the Thunderbolt equipped Shuttle however, does). All in all, it has a bunch of features that make it a very appetizing box for mobile VJs, albeit one with a hefty price tag.
Check below for all the facts and figures of this fanboy extravaganza!
One cheeseburger, please.
Wait! Make that a Big Mac, actually:
Supersize me!
But will it blend?
Would you like fries with that?
The main monitor was running at retina recommend size, which is the middle one of the scaling options (resolutions apparently are handled differently on retina MBPs). So we could have gone with a larger interface screen, but we were more interested in output performance than screen real estate on this test. This also was a comfortable viewing size for a live performance, without having to hunch over the screen more than we already would.
For temp and performance monitoring, we used atMonitor.
Overall impression: For a laptop, it's pretty darn amazing!
Compared to setting up with a triple head, it's smooth sailing. Each screen is recognized as an individual display, making screen arrangment and assigning via the advanced output a piece of cake. The choice to use only HDMI for the third connection is a little unfortunate, since you're forced to use a consumer connection. We had to fiddle quite a bit with our projectors before we had all three outputs recognized correctly. In all fairness that has more to do with the HDMI input on the projectors than the MBP, but it would have been better if three DVI or component connections had been available. Connecting to the computer monitors worked immediately.
Performance wise, it's quite astounding to see the amount of pixels that are being pushed without the computer complaining. Of course better performance can be gotten on high end media servers, but we're talking about a 15" laptop here. 6 layers of 1080p at 43 fps, across three monitors, while fitting in a backpack? Everyone who ever had to haul a server case across a muddy festival field or into a elevated FOH booth will recognize how awesome that is.
The fact that it includes a SSD by default makes the interface feel incredibly snappy.Triggering a column of 30 clips is gaspingly instantaneous. Deck switching is a fraction of the time as with moving drives. [s]Also it finally has USB 3.0 ports so you can plug in your Intensity Shuttle and make this a full mobile server laptop.[/s] Turns out Apple didn't use a USB3.0 chipset supported by BlackMagic. Perhaps BM will update their hardware, but currently the USB equipped Shuttle does *not* work (the Thunderbolt equipped Shuttle however, does). All in all, it has a bunch of features that make it a very appetizing box for mobile VJs, albeit one with a hefty price tag.
Check below for all the facts and figures of this fanboy extravaganza!
One cheeseburger, please.
- 640x480 composition, 640x480 DXV content. Sent to three monitors, 2xMiniDP to DVI, 1xHDMI, 1920x1200 each. Layer 1 and 2 each get their own screen via layer routing, entire composition is sent to screen 3.
Wait! Make that a Big Mac, actually:
- 1920x1200 composition, 1920x1080 DXV content. Sent to three monitors, 2xMiniDP to DVI, 1xHDMI, 1920x1200 each. Same output routing as above.
Supersize me!
- 5760x1200 composition, 5760x1200 DXV content. Sent to three monitors, 2xMiniDP to DVI, 1xHDMI, 1920x1200 each, one continuous image.
But will it blend?
- 5760x1080 composition, 5760x1080 DXV content. Sent to three 1080p projectors, 2xMiniDP to DVI to HDMI (!), 1 x HDMI, 1920x1080 each. Edge blended to form one continuous screen with about 15% overlap between each projector.
Would you like fries with that?
- Effects, sources, Quartz Composer patches and Flash content run fine, fps hits vary with the actual file or effect used, as is to be expected.
All tests ran for about two hours, GPU temperature stayed steady at 68-71º. The body gets hot in the usual places, but not much hotter than a late 2011 MBP with one monitor connected.
For the super wide content, the limiting factor for the fps was the disk access. When the framerate drops below 30, it was maxing out at 90%. GPU load never came above 80%. For the 480p and 1080p content, the GPU was the limiting factor, and it was maxing out at 95% when dropping below 30 fps. Disk access in these cases was not even touching 1%.
In general we felt that when the fps dropped below 30, it would start affecting performance. The output was still fluent, but the interface became more sluggish. We were pushing things quite a bit in these cases, and bringing things back to 'only' 6 layers of 1080p content brought the snappy feeling right back.
Overall CPU never strayed too far from 15%.
We used both graphic as well as photographic content. Performance was overall better when using graphic content, since DXV can compress this more efficiently, so disk access is less. One of the super wide edge blend test files can be downloaded
The main monitor was running at retina recommend size, which is the middle one of the scaling options (resolutions apparently are handled differently on retina MBPs). So we could have gone with a larger interface screen, but we were more interested in output performance than screen real estate on this test. This also was a comfortable viewing size for a live performance, without having to hunch over the screen more than we already would.
For temp and performance monitoring, we used atMonitor.
Quick Tip: Copy Effects
Ah, the delightful colours of Avenue 3. The tricks are still valid though!
How to quickly copy effects between clips, layers and the composition:
How to quickly copy effects between clips, layers and the composition:
Resolume 4.1 Released!
We rarely are as excited about an update as we are about this one. Resolume 4.1 comes guns blazing with new additions to the arsenal, and shows everyone there's a new sheriff in town. So strap on your boots and put on your cowboy hat, because here we go!
By popular demand we added masking and cropping to the Advanced Output of Arena.
Also you can now route layers directly to slices, saving composition real estate and generally making your life easier.
Syphon is now natively supported on MacOSX. No more mucking about with 3rd party plugins. Just enable it via the preferences and check them thumbnails!
You can drop the bass like Paris with the new AV example set by Dan Wise.
With the new Layer Router you can now create a clip that takes the input from any layer below. For instance you can take layer 1 and and display it again as layer 4 but perhaps smaller or with a different effect. This is also really handy to create picture in picture compositions. Because the world needs more picture in picture effects.
This is a long wish come true. Like, over 10 year wish come true. Ever since Composite Station, we wanted to have a Japanese version of Resolume, and now that dream has finally come true. Konichiwa, Resolume-san! Thanks to the Projection Mapping Association of Japan.
Besides that of course there's a bunch of improvements to help improve your workflow and the ever important bug fixes. Check the full list below, or head over the download page: http://www.resolume.com/download/
New Features & Improvements
Draw mask & crop shapes in advanced output (Arena)
Direct layer input to slices in advanced output (Arena)
Reorder slices & masks by dragging & dropping in the list (Arena)
Native Syphon Input & Output (Mac)
Direct layer input to other layers via router source
Blackmagic capture speed and image quality improved!
Japanese translation and interface
Russian translation and interface
Support for 14 bit Midi via Pitch Bend
Show time remaining on clip timeline (click the time to switch between two modes)
Stop MIDI mapping with the escape key
Drop an effect directly on a layer or composition
Play once & hold for AV clips
Number of steps and Step size values for relative MIDI controller
New AV demo clips by Dan Wise
New B&W mixer
Fixed Bugz
[FIXED] Some plugins do not load on OS X 10.5
[FIXED] Some mixers do not load on win 7
[FIXED] DMX channel number sheet has been updated (again)
[FIXED] Crash with using some AV clips
[FIXED] AV clip set to play once and hold switches back to play once
[FIXED] MIDI out on APC40 makes the slider get stuck on min or max
[FIXED] Crash when triggering a column while low fps
[FIXED] Right click to reset layer AV slider no worky
[FIXED] /2 *2 buttons for BPM sync are not mappable
[FIXED] SMPTE Crashes
[FIXED] Crash when changing composition resolution
[FIXED] USB DisplayLink devices don't work (cause crash on startup)
[FIXED] After triggering a column the clip panel shows the wrong clip
[FIXED] Preview with SHIFT Arrow Keys does not show the clip in the preview monitor
[FIXED] Parameter reset by right click does not work on the name of the parameter in the advanced output
[FIXED] Crash when moving QC clip with parameter linked to audio FFT
[FIXED] Memory leak on shutdown
[FIXED] DMX shortcut for select deck is not remembered
[FIXED] Closing Resolume when QuickLook is open causes crash on shutdown
[FIXED] Add date to Screenshots file names instead of all the 1's
[FIXED] Decks disappear
[FIXED] CMD + A select all clips but does not show multiclipsettings panel
[FIXED] AV slider is not sent via OSC out when V slider is moved
[FIXED] Layer direction shortcuts (MIDI out) are not sent out correctly when clip is in ping pong mode
[FIXED] Column names are disappearing (again sigh!)
[FIXED] After relocating, resolume jumps back to first deck...
[FIXED] PNG image without extension causes crash when added as mask
[FIXED] Input field calculations do not work in the composition settings window
[FIXED] Load folder from Finder
[FIXED] OSC /activeclip/quicklook/0 does not turn quick look off
[FIXED] Closed Decks are coloured too dark
[FIXED] When you drag something over a clip, select the clip for easier drag & drop behaviour
[FIXED] Layer name label is midi mappable
[FIXED] Switch to 2 property panel layout when "Show layer property panel" is disabled and the layout is set to 3 panels
[FIXED] Video panel is unfolded by default (to keep Freek sane. Relatively speaking.)
Resolume 4.1.1 bug fixes:
[FIXED] Potential crash when using composition MIDI mapping
[FIXED] Composition MIDI mappings duplicated when switching decks
[FIXED] Serial number registration only valid for one user
[FIXED] APC40 controller dial has incorrect range
By popular demand we added masking and cropping to the Advanced Output of Arena.
Also you can now route layers directly to slices, saving composition real estate and generally making your life easier.
Syphon is now natively supported on MacOSX. No more mucking about with 3rd party plugins. Just enable it via the preferences and check them thumbnails!
You can drop the bass like Paris with the new AV example set by Dan Wise.
With the new Layer Router you can now create a clip that takes the input from any layer below. For instance you can take layer 1 and and display it again as layer 4 but perhaps smaller or with a different effect. This is also really handy to create picture in picture compositions. Because the world needs more picture in picture effects.
This is a long wish come true. Like, over 10 year wish come true. Ever since Composite Station, we wanted to have a Japanese version of Resolume, and now that dream has finally come true. Konichiwa, Resolume-san! Thanks to the Projection Mapping Association of Japan.
Besides that of course there's a bunch of improvements to help improve your workflow and the ever important bug fixes. Check the full list below, or head over the download page: http://www.resolume.com/download/
New Features & Improvements
Draw mask & crop shapes in advanced output (Arena)
Direct layer input to slices in advanced output (Arena)
Reorder slices & masks by dragging & dropping in the list (Arena)
Native Syphon Input & Output (Mac)
Direct layer input to other layers via router source
Blackmagic capture speed and image quality improved!
Japanese translation and interface
Russian translation and interface
Support for 14 bit Midi via Pitch Bend
Show time remaining on clip timeline (click the time to switch between two modes)
Stop MIDI mapping with the escape key
Drop an effect directly on a layer or composition
Play once & hold for AV clips
Number of steps and Step size values for relative MIDI controller
New AV demo clips by Dan Wise
New B&W mixer
Fixed Bugz
[FIXED] Some plugins do not load on OS X 10.5
[FIXED] Some mixers do not load on win 7
[FIXED] DMX channel number sheet has been updated (again)
[FIXED] Crash with using some AV clips
[FIXED] AV clip set to play once and hold switches back to play once
[FIXED] MIDI out on APC40 makes the slider get stuck on min or max
[FIXED] Crash when triggering a column while low fps
[FIXED] Right click to reset layer AV slider no worky
[FIXED] /2 *2 buttons for BPM sync are not mappable
[FIXED] SMPTE Crashes
[FIXED] Crash when changing composition resolution
[FIXED] USB DisplayLink devices don't work (cause crash on startup)
[FIXED] After triggering a column the clip panel shows the wrong clip
[FIXED] Preview with SHIFT Arrow Keys does not show the clip in the preview monitor
[FIXED] Parameter reset by right click does not work on the name of the parameter in the advanced output
[FIXED] Crash when moving QC clip with parameter linked to audio FFT
[FIXED] Memory leak on shutdown
[FIXED] DMX shortcut for select deck is not remembered
[FIXED] Closing Resolume when QuickLook is open causes crash on shutdown
[FIXED] Add date to Screenshots file names instead of all the 1's
[FIXED] Decks disappear
[FIXED] CMD + A select all clips but does not show multiclipsettings panel
[FIXED] AV slider is not sent via OSC out when V slider is moved
[FIXED] Layer direction shortcuts (MIDI out) are not sent out correctly when clip is in ping pong mode
[FIXED] Column names are disappearing (again sigh!)
[FIXED] After relocating, resolume jumps back to first deck...
[FIXED] PNG image without extension causes crash when added as mask
[FIXED] Input field calculations do not work in the composition settings window
[FIXED] Load folder from Finder
[FIXED] OSC /activeclip/quicklook/0 does not turn quick look off
[FIXED] Closed Decks are coloured too dark
[FIXED] When you drag something over a clip, select the clip for easier drag & drop behaviour
[FIXED] Layer name label is midi mappable
[FIXED] Switch to 2 property panel layout when "Show layer property panel" is disabled and the layout is set to 3 panels
[FIXED] Video panel is unfolded by default (to keep Freek sane. Relatively speaking.)
Resolume 4.1.1 bug fixes:
[FIXED] Potential crash when using composition MIDI mapping
[FIXED] Composition MIDI mappings duplicated when switching decks
[FIXED] Serial number registration only valid for one user
[FIXED] APC40 controller dial has incorrect range
Win an Avenue 4 license at VideoPong.net
In case you hadn't noticed, our friends over at VideoPong.net have been hosting a remix competition, with a license for Resolume Avenue as the grand prize!
There's some impressive entries already, so grab your chance to get in on the fun: http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dtj0lqgw6v?show=showlastuploaded
There's some impressive entries already, so grab your chance to get in on the fun: http://www.videopong.net/clip/detail/0dtj0lqgw6v?show=showlastuploaded
September is workshop time at Res HQ
It's that time again! Resolume HQ will be opening the doors to host another series of workshops.
New this time is 'Live Performance with Resolume', focussing on how you actually structure a VJ performance. Also sessions for beginners and advanced users, and of course projection mapping. It's going to be a jam packed week this coming September!
Workshops booking and details over here.
New this time is 'Live Performance with Resolume', focussing on how you actually structure a VJ performance. Also sessions for beginners and advanced users, and of course projection mapping. It's going to be a jam packed week this coming September!
Workshops booking and details over here.
Fresh Visuals by RebelOverlay, Unit44 and Space Monkeys
We have some fresh visuals for you. Our Dutch friends Unit44 show us their excellent 3D skillz with LineRush and despite the cold weather here in Holland Space Monkeys reminds us it's actually SpringTime.
MNMLv2 and UltraForm by RebelOverlay are insanely popular and he now completes his hattrick with OptiCron. This guy is at the peak of his game! Can you tell we're getting in the mood for the European Soccer Championships? :-)
OptiCron VJ Loops by Rebel Overlay
Relive that feeling of blasting asteroids on your Vectrex or the moment when Zod is imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. Or just rock the party with high contrast abstract imagery that works on every screen. OptiCron has something for everybody. Not just for nerds stuck in the eighties.
LineRush VJ Loops by Unit44
Whether you're carving down a hill of fresh powder or you're about to beat your high score on Tetris, you can't beat the rush of laying down a good line.
SpringTime VJ Loops by Space Monkeys
Plant your feet firmly and get back to your roots with these flowery loops that give instant grassification. It'd be a shame if you missed out on these flower loops because you haven't botany.
MNMLv2 and UltraForm by RebelOverlay are insanely popular and he now completes his hattrick with OptiCron. This guy is at the peak of his game! Can you tell we're getting in the mood for the European Soccer Championships? :-)
OptiCron VJ Loops by Rebel Overlay
Relive that feeling of blasting asteroids on your Vectrex or the moment when Zod is imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. Or just rock the party with high contrast abstract imagery that works on every screen. OptiCron has something for everybody. Not just for nerds stuck in the eighties.
LineRush VJ Loops by Unit44
Whether you're carving down a hill of fresh powder or you're about to beat your high score on Tetris, you can't beat the rush of laying down a good line.
SpringTime VJ Loops by Space Monkeys
Plant your feet firmly and get back to your roots with these flowery loops that give instant grassification. It'd be a shame if you missed out on these flower loops because you haven't botany.
Show business has its ups and downs
A while back Ben Peoples from Trinculo’s Attic contacted us about a project he did, using Resolume as a playback device. The write-up offers a great insight into the actual real-world experience of creating physical installations. And it made us giggle. Maybe it will make you giggle too.
Trinculo’s Attic founder and book author Ben Peoples has worked with Disney Creative Entertainment, Cirque du Soleil, Paramount Theme Parks and Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
For more mathy geekness, data diagrams, production haphazards and full source code, check out the original blog post on the Trinculo's Attic website: http://www.trinculosattic.com/2012/05/show-business-has-its-ups-and-downs/
We were contacted about doing an “Elevator-controlled video switcher”. Here’s the initial inquiry: “we have an elevator at an event… we want to play one file when it’s going up and then a second when it’s going down…”
Of course, the first question is: Can someone push a button? No. Can we hook into the elevator controls? No. Not even a little? No. They had three ceiling-mounted video screens, and it was up to us to find a way to sense when the elevator was moving, and in which direction, and then trigger the appropriate video.
The end result looked like this:
We built a standalone video player that hooked into custom built position sensors to tell us where the elevator was. When the elevator went up, it played one video file, when it went down, it played another, and it had splash screens at each floor while idle. Our logic allowed us to tweak the configuration on-site, and we even added functionality on the fly.
The final effect was pretty magical: as the elevator started to move up, the first video played. 5 seconds after it arrived at the second floor, the video crossfaded to a splash screen. As soon as the elevator started its trip down, the second video played, and again 5 seconds after arrival, the video crossfaded to the splash screen. Nobody had to remember to do anything: the elevator’s own movement was triggering the video.
The Event
The event had folks sitting in one session, then being moved to a second session that was one floor up. This elevator was the way they got up and then back down for the main keynote in another room on the first floor. When you got in the elevator, there was a logo on the screens. As the elevator started to rise, the logo crossfaded to a video about “Up into the wild blue yonder.” A few seconds after arriving at the second floor, the screens switched back to the logo, flipped upside-down: the elevator was a “feed through” type, so people getting on at the second floor were coming from the opposite direction. While the screens were flat, we wanted the audience to have a similar experience in both directions. The ride down had a video of a ceiling fan (which worked nicely with the natural airflow through the elevator.) Overall, it was a nice effect, and made an otherwise boring 25-second elevator ride into a far more themed environment.
Making it Work
We walked into the event with two different plans fully implemented, as well as a few backup plans if parts of either of those failed.
The first plan (Plan A) was to use an accelerometer to measure the movement of the elevator directly, and then plot out our position as best we could. This worked! After several hours of testing and tweaking, it was doing pretty well. And then it missed. For no reason at all, it didn’t see us stop at the 2nd floor, decided it was a false trigger, and got lost until we went back to the first floor. End of the world? No. But we needed this to be 100%, or as close to that as we could get in the real world.
So we went to Plan B. Plan B’s first incarnation used line-follower IR reflectance sensors to see targets attached to the wall. On the first floor, we placed targets on the wall where one sensor saw white and the other saw black. On the second floor we did the same, but we flipped the targets so the sensors would see the opposite colors. Quite happily, this worked. The only time we saw a failure was when the elevator operator stopped the elevator after it started moving and then restarted it; the elevator moved much more slowly, and it caused a false trigger. This wouldn’t happen during the event, so we felt we were safe.
To actually playback the video, we used a program called Resolume. Resolume is Video Jockey (VJ) software, and we chose it because it could handle cross fading between streams at random, and it could operate blind: full screen on the primary display, using a keyboard input to switch video.
We set up Resolume to accept keys 1 through 6 as switching between streams 1 through 6 (which is its default mode), and used a Pololu Wixel in HID Keyboard mode. We could have used the ATmega16u2 on the Arduino to do this, but we needed to be able to load code through the 16u2, and we already had the libraries to make the Wixel an HID device. The Wixel accepted digital high/low signals on 6 of its pins to trigger 1 through 6. So when pin 0 went high, the Wixel pressed 1 on the keyboard. Releasing the pin or driving it low caused the Wixel to release the key. We also used an onboard LED to indicate that it was pressing keys, to aid in debugging.
Trinculo’s Attic founder and book author Ben Peoples has worked with Disney Creative Entertainment, Cirque du Soleil, Paramount Theme Parks and Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
For more mathy geekness, data diagrams, production haphazards and full source code, check out the original blog post on the Trinculo's Attic website: http://www.trinculosattic.com/2012/05/show-business-has-its-ups-and-downs/