So who, what and why is Lucan Visuals?

Lucan Visuals is a 3d Projection mapping collective based in Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded by three like minded friends, all of whom have a background in the animation and VFX industry. We have always found projection mapping to be an exciting and intriguing medium with infinite possibilities and we wanted to explore it further. After many hours of researching the possibilities and brainstorming our ideas we started piecing together what is now Lucan Visuals.
By utilizing what we have learned as VFX artists, we aim to add something unique and innovative to our work.

How did you approach your projection mapping project? What software did you use to create the visuals, and how did you go about it?

It started with some initial concept set sketches which were then modeled in Autodesk Maya, after some refinement and tweaking we decided on the final set. Through a process of trial and error, our mock up set was then cut from polystyrene according to our measurements. We used a combination of Maya and After Effects to create the visuals.


Any major stupid mistakes that you can laugh about now, but made you feel like an idiot then?

We patiently awaited our order of 30 sheets of 4.5 x 4.5 meter cardboard, for the building of our set. After it having to be airlifted onto our driveway we quickly realised our weekend job turned into a, well, not a weekend job. We traced our set blueprints onto the sheets and then carefully started cutting and folding the cardboard. After what felt like 4 years of building, our cardboard set was finally complete. We were overly excited and rushed into painting the set. The next day we applied our first layer of white paint, being a water based paint our glorious set warped, buckled and collapsed in on itself. Needless to say, we were no artisans of set building.

What about the tech? What sort of gear do yo have in that basement?

In the basement we have a leaking kayak, a finless surfboard and some old wine.
For the tech we used a SIM2 ProC4 4500lm projector and an Asus i5 notebook.


How does Resolume fit into all this?

We needed something that would allow us to focus on the creative side of things rather than going back and forth with tricky software. After doing extensive research on which software would best serve our needs, it became clear that Resolume 4 was exactly what we needed. It is user friendly and has a large community and support base, which appealed to us and any technical difficulties we experienced were swiftly dealt with.

And what about the future? Where is Lucan Visuals headed?

We set our sights on raising the bar with each project we take on. Generating quality designs and innovative solutions that explore the potential and push the boundaries of projection mapping. Seeing other people getting excited about this as much as we are is a great reward in itself.

Hopefully we make enough money along the way to fix our leaking kayak...

http://www.facebook.com/events/270702536353979/



365mag & Unis Academy have teamed up with Ableton, Resolume and EKKO to present to you a very special workshop demonstrating today’s Ultimate Combination in Audio - Visual Performances.
The event is focussed on the latest in Music & Media Technology combined with a local and international artist Patrice Bäumel along side Trial & Error - the Utrecht based animation/VJ collective.
This special edition features the combination of the latest Ableton Live edition and Resolume's Avenue 4 as well as it's amazing 3D mapping possibilities.

PART 1. SYNTHESIS AND LIVE PRODUCTION with Cenk Unis and Alex Thomson
The evening will start off with Ableton Certified Unis-Academy lecturer’s Cenk Unis and Alex Thomson building a track live on stage in 45 minutes. For this purpose they will make use of synthesis along with a variety of production techniques and a couple of Ableton’s “hidden features” to show you how everything, including basic drum sounds, can be done from scratch. This means no samples whatsoever!

Unis Academy will be starting its next Ableton Master Course Program on the 24th of April 2012.
For more info just ask Alex or Cenk on the night or e-mail: info@unis-academy.com

PART 2. RESOLUME AVENUE 4 with Joris de Jong
The second part of the evening will focus on the newest in VJ-ing and live visual productions using Resolume's Avenue 4. Avenue 4 is an instrument for VJs, AV performers and video artists which puts all your media and effects right at your fingertips so you can quickly improvise with all your live visuals.

Joris de Jong, one of the main brains behind Resolume will be on stage explaining exactly how Resolume works, and how to custom make your own visuals in an easy to use and intuitive manner. Resolume has enabled VJs, A/V artists and Live visual productions to reach new levels of expertise.

Unis Academy in association with Resolume will begin its next Visual Course on the 25th April. It will be taught by Joris de Jong himself at Unis Studio in Amsterdam.
For more info please e-mail: info@unis-academy.com

PART 3. AUDIO/VISUAL PERFORMANCE USING ABLETON AND RESOLUME with special guest Patrice Bäumel
For the third part of the evening internationally renowned DJ and producer Patrice Bäumel will explain and demonstrate how he used Ableton in conjunction with Resolume to create his amazing, upcoming audio/visual performance.
About Patrice:
Patrice Bäumel is a German electronic musician who has been living in Amsterdam for the last 14 years. Before fully committing his life to making music, he had a career in teaching, computer programming and design, which makes him the perfect person for this event.

PART 4. MAPPING WITH RESOLUME ARENA 4 with VJ Collective: Trial & Error
Trial & Error will demonstrate the mapping possibilities of Resolume's Arena 4. To do this they will use everyday materials such as a piece of cardboard and a simple roll of duct tape along with Arena 4 they will demonstrate just how easily you can leave the flat world behind you and immerse yourself into a 3D wonderland. While using the same interface as Avenue, Arena opens up a new perspective and gives you the ability to create amazing results with minimal efforts and investments.

OVERALL INFORMATION
Date: 11. 5. 2012
Time: 19.00 – 22.30
Location: EKKO
Address: Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3. Utrecht
Price: € 12,50
Ticket link: https://v1.paylogic.nl/frontoffice/?command=paymentMenu&merchantModuleID=54449

Hate to say it, but it's more or less true. Less is More.


MNMLv2 by RebelOverlay
Again. Less is More.


WireSystem by Unit44
The devil is in the details, and detail is something WireSystem has in abundance. Prepare for take off in the 3d city, make sure you check your vitals on the Heads Up Display. Top it off with some Plexus action for any music style, and all systems are go.


Butterfly by Unit44
but·ter·fly ef·fect /ˈbʌtəflʌɪ ɪˈfɛkt/ the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.

FIBER Festival 2012 connects digital art with contemporary club-culture and enacts the in-between.
Audiovisual network festival FIBER is preparing to once again merge different worlds into one unified interdisciplinary experience of (visual) art and music.
The second edition of FIBER Festival will take place March 24th 2012 at ‘De Verdieping’, the basement of the renowned venue TrouwAmsterdam. Tickets are available in online presale at fiberfestival.nl and can be bought at the door during the event.

In the Resolume workshop, no-one other than Edwin will introduce you to our latest software and its mapping features. You will be mapping different objects and experiment with the possibilities of the software. And if you're good little boys and girls, you may even get a sneak preview of the new mapping features of 4.1 (l*y*r r**t*ng? m*sks? cr*ps? s*ph*n *np*t and **tp*t? Would you like to buy a vowel?)

365MAG & UNIS ACADEMY present ABLETON LIVE & RESOLUME MASTERCLASS special guest- Patrice Bäumel


365mag.com & Unis Academy team up with Ableton & Resolume ,supported by Sugar Factory, to present a very special workshop about today’s ultimate combination in Audio Visual Performances.
The event is focused on the latest in music & media technology combined with an international artist. This special edition features the combination of Ableton and Resolume. THE ULTIMATE A/V COMBINATION.
The last four DJ, Producer and VJ Masterclasses by 365mag were completely sold out and were a big hit! Get your tickets in advance via Sugar FactoryThe doors for the event will open at 19.00 hours sharp, there will be limited tickets available on a first come first serve basis.

THE PROGRAM

1. ABLETON LIVE: Unis Academy's Ableton Showcase - Building a Track - Live on Stage.
The evening will start with the Ableton Certified Unis-Academy lecturer's Cenk Unis & Alex Thomson, who will be showcasing a variety of production techniques as well as exposing some of Ableton's "hidden features". This will be done by creating a unique track on the fly and it will include various synthesis techniques allowing them to create their very own kicks, snares, hi-hats and other drum sounds, they will also dig into sampling, quick composing tricks and other different methods to help producers get the most out of Ableton.

2. RESOLUME: VJing, Visual Productions and Audio-Visual Performances.
The second part of the evening will focus on the newest in VJing and Visual Productions using Resoulme's Avenue 4. Resolume have made it possible to custom make all your own visuals in an easy to use and intuitive manner.
Cenk Uniswill give a demostration of Resolume’s interface and how to set up your visual or Audio visual set with connecting midi controllers for hands on control! Resolume have enabled VJs and Visual productions to reach new levels of expertise.

3. SPECIAL GUEST: Patrice Bäumel, A/V Performance Using Ableton connected to Resolume.
The Internationally renowned DJ & PRODUCER Patrice Bäumel will conduct this. Patrice Bäumel is a German electronic musician who has been living in Amsterdam for the last 14 years. Before fully committing his life to making music, he had a career in teaching, computer programming and design, which makes him the perfect person for this event. Patrice will explain and demonstrate how he uses Ableton with Resolume to create his unforgettable upcoming Audio-Visual performances. ABLETON + RESOLUME= THE ULTIMATE A/V COMBINATION

Date: SAT-17-03-2012
Time: 19.00 – 22.30
Location: Sugar Factory
Address: Lijnbaansgracht 238, 1017 PH Amsterdam
Price: € 12,-
Ticket link: https://v1.paylogic.nl/frontoffice/?command=paymentMenu&merchantModuleID=53948

http://www.ableton.com
http://www.sugarfactory.nl
http://www.365mag.com
http://www.unis-academy.com
http://www.resolume.com

The following broadcast is Dutch only, but great news if you're from these parts.

Voor alle creatievelingen
Op 7 April geven de veejays van Vision Impossible en Sense Studios een
uitgebreide kennismakingsworkshop in de Sugar Factory in Amsterdam.
Maak kennis met het vak, de beelden, software en de apparatuur.
Leer hoe je prachtige visuals maakt en hoe je indruk maakt op een uitzinnig
publiek.
Schrijf je nu in voor de introductieworkshop op 7 april. En wie weet win je
later in april de talentenjacht…
De perfecte start voor jouw veejay-carričre in Amsterdam, de veejay-hoofdstad
van de wereld!

Meer info op http://www.VjAcademy.nl

Here's what you get when you throw Avenue, Quartz Composer, IRMapio, two 10K projectors, a dance company and a whole lot of talent in to a blender:

Creative talent behind all this is Mika Ventura, and he kindly explained more of the details to satisfy your geeky needs:

Geneva dance company Diadé hired us to create a backdrop video for their new show "Metro". The whole backdrop had to look like a metro train, so we built a 9m by 3m screen to project upon. The elements had to be independently triggered : opening of doors, tilting of the metro axis, outside view (through the windows), charting speed, insertion of other elements as vehicles or fake billboards, etc.

The need to use Resolume became obvious really fast, as 80% of the content was created with Quartz Composer, like the 3D metro train or the backdrops charting on different layers. The Resolume interface, with its layer levels and its possibility to directly control Quartz Composer elements offered us the flexibility we needed. More over, we had to use two 10.000 lumens projectors connected to a Mac via a Matrox Triplehead2Go. Using IRmapio, we were able to create a soft edge in no time.

Resolume's structure was set up as such :

layer 1 : forground elements, tv noise, flames, smoke
layer 2 : QC metro controlled by slider parameters (published input splitters in QC)
layer3 : QC backdrop and some video loops for the subway station

Here are a few pictures :

Metro setup in Resolume:



Metro setup in Quartz Composer:




For more of Mika's amazing work, check out his blog at http://mikaventura.tumblr.com/ There's some cool stuff to be seen there!

This footage release introduces two new artists on the label, which is always an exciting thing. Fresh blood with fresh styles is good for the gene pool.

AkustoOptik is a VJ team from Berlin, a town buzzing with creativity. In fact they show just how much Berlin is buzzing with their new set MiniBerlini.


MiniBerlini by AkustoOptik

Unit 44 blasts itself on the label with the grungy GFX. Originally developed as a video clip to satisfy their craving for brutal 3D work, they now let their baby loose to wreak havoc on the world.


GFX by Unit 44

And not new but still fresh we got our very own Hybrid Visuals, offering slick and stylized motion work in hypnotic patterns. As always, the Quartz Composer for even more Repetitive Strain on your eyes.


RepetitiveStrain by Hybrid Visuals

We're quite happy with the stability of Resolume 4.0.0. For most people Avenue and Arena are running rock solid. But there's always the odd bug here or there and this update (4.0.1) fixes a few annoyances. Just fixing bugs is no fun so we could not help ourselves and put a few tiny new features in. Just because we can.

The most handy feature ever is that you can now do calculations in all numeric fields. So if you want to make for instance a clip half the width you just type in: 640 / 2 and it will make the width 320 pixels. This is really handy in the advanced output screen if you need to move a slice 10 pixels, you just type + 10 after the position value and it will move. We just love it ;-)



Thanks to Daniel Radutu, Oscar Vaquero Viñes and Ronam Bonfim, Resolume is now also available in Romanian, Spanish, Catalan and Brazilian. Would you also like to translate Resolume? Japanese? Chinese? Swahili? Send us a mail@resolume.com.

Go download Resolume Avenue or Arena 4.0.1. It's a free update as always.

Resolume 4.0.1 Changelog
[NEW] Math in number input fields. SUPER HANDY!
[NEW] Romanian, Spanish, Brazilian and Catalan translations
[NEW] Mask relocate
[NEW] Disable Quit confirmation
[NEW] Automatically detect if OSC msg uses a bundle
[FIXED] Cue points triggering with keyboard broken
[FIXED] Registration only works on one user account
[FIXED] Video speed is not stable, videos drift out of sync
[FIXED] Slider in-out points click area too small
[FIXED] DMX automap PDF contains wrong channel numbers
[FIXED] Windows installer contains old FFGL plugins
[FIXED] Windows installer does not contain VST plugins
[FIXED] Masks can't be dropped from Finder or Explorer
[FIXED] Crash: Open advanced output when it's minimized
[FIXED] Clicking the name of a playing clip in the layer jumps to the layer tab instead of the clip tab
[FIXED] Decks clear after switching between them
[FIXED] When a file used for a mask is moved, Resolume crashes when it tries to use it
[FIXED] Quartz crash with some compositions
[FIXED] Speed/pitch slider does not show midi range in midi mapping mode
[FIXED] Opening a 'closed' deck from a composition causes crash
[FIXED] Shortcut is not cleared when moving clip in composition midi map
[FIXED] OSC stability improvements
[FIXED] Flash animations set to 10x the original speed make the interface very slow
[FIXED] Master fade and cross fader are not properly reset when choosing 'composition new'
[FIXED] Setting range for midi control in clip context is not remembered for other clips.
[FIXED] OS X Dock and Menu overlap fullscreen output
[FIXED] Multiple shortcuts can be assigned in composition map
[FIXED] Shortcut still works even when menu item is disabled
[FIXED] Effect Clip preview isn't working.

Nobody would have thought it when we started making Resolume more than 10 years ago, but the VJ software business is booming. It's booming so much in fact that we need more people to help us out.

We have a lot of users and a lot of ideas. What we don't have, is enough hands to build it all.

So this is where you come in. Do you have hands? Do you have brains? We have a full-time position available at our Resolume HQ in The Hague, The Netherlands. We work in a small team with a flat hierarchy, so your input will help shape the future of Resolume.


What we're looking for:
* 5+ years experience in developing software using C/C++ & OpenGL on Mac OS X & Windows
* Fluent with GLSL shading language
* Advanced foosball skillz

What makes our hearts beat even faster:
* VJ-ing experience
* Experience with Objective C
* Experience with FFGL SDK
* Affinity with creative coding environments like openFrameworks, Cinder and Processing.


So here it is. Your chance to work for one of the worldwide market leaders in the live visual industry. And to learn a whole new way of playing foosball.

To apply, send a cover letter, your resume and examples of your work to mail@resolume.com, ℅ Bart van der Ploeg.

Recruitment agencies don't have to respond.