Infected Mushroom’s Big Balls
Psychedelic trance artists Infected Mushroom needed a trippy show….so who would you call? V Squared Labs, natch,….and VV delivered a big pair of balls. Literally. Two huge orbs flank one another against a white cyc and the artists duel it out under the influence of Touchdesigner. From some other shots you can clearly see one of them using a KS-1974 from SmithsonMartin to mix. Stay tuned for a review of this groundbreaking console!
Coolux Pandora’s Box 5.1 Released
Pandora’s Box Version 5.1 has been released and is available at their DOWNLOAD SITE. This latest release offers a range of new features including AES 256-bit Media Encryption. To protect exclusive content from being copied or misused, users can choose between code based encryption generated within the Pandoras Box interface, or dongle-based encryption that would allow content to be played only during certain pre-defined times or on certain machines.
The new version 5.1 features are:
(more…)
Avolites AI
Avolites has formed a strategic partnership with Immersive LTD and they now manufacturing a suite of products under the name AI- meaning their high end media servers. AVOLITES MEDIA Ltd. will release Ai media servers through the existing AVOLITES international distribution network. Meanwhile Immersive Ltd. will continue in their successful business of event production, experiential design and content creation for an expanding and diverse, high profile market.
AVOLITES MEDIA Ltd. will design, develop, manufacture and distribute the Ai media server range. Immersive Ltd. and AVOLITES MEDIA Ltd have unique businesses, which
complement each other.
They have formed a strategic alliance and are committed to working together. This relationship of co-operation, communication, feedback and support will be channelled into product design and development. In an alliance that is defining the future.
Here’s a product sheet
It looks like the rack mount version is the AIS-T4, with Avolites Media Ai software, Ais-T performs smooth playback of multilayer 4k resolution content with up to six full 1080p HD outputs arranged in a timeline timecode sequencer. Users can build and create their show in a 3D Stage Visualizer and use the powerful mapping capabilities to allow rapid, precise mapping and warping onto any 3D surface. Tightly integrated support for 3D displays, LEDs, moving lights and other visual elements allow designers to merge video and lighting with unprecedented control.
They’re also releasing the Sapphire Media console, the AI-SM, in August, as well as a dedicated server console- the MSC-1. Exciting stuff from Avo and I can’t wait to get some more info. Be sure to check back for an update!
Electrosonic at the European Parliament Visitor’s Center
London (May 1, 2012) – The Parlamentarium, the new visitors’ centre at the European Parliament in Brussels, uses a variety of interactive multimedia exhibits to take visitors on a unique and personal journey into the heart of European Politics. Electrosonic engineered and installed the main exhibition audio-visual hardware for Stuttgart-based designer ATELIER BRÜCKNER. The Parlamentarium is the first visitors’ centre fully accessible in 23 languages, and to-date has attracted over 120,000 visitors from across the globe.
Guided through state-of-the-art exhibitions by a personal electronic multimedia guide, visitors see how policy decisions are made and how they influence Europeans’ daily lives. All signage and media is presented in 23 languages, which had an enormous influence on how AV techniques were used throughout the centre.
Electrosonic won the bid for the project in an open Europe-wide competitive tender; the
scope of work consisted of the detailed design, supply, installation, set up and commissioning of the media hardware for different themed exhibition areas. These areas include a pair of 360º theatres, nearly 100 LCD panels, (more…)
MeshWarpServer- My New Favorite Toy….
My Dad was an architect. Well, first he was a draftsman, then an architect. When I was a kid, I used to hang out in my Dad’s office on the weekends (he pretty much worked ALL the time)….but I remember very clearly playing with all the models that were there. They had every imaginable scale of every kind of building- little cars, little people, tiny shrubs, fake grass, miniature trees. Combine this with all kinds of architectural drawing gadgets, erasers, and pens of every hue, and you had a little kid’s dream world…or a parent’s nightmare….
So it was with great pleasure that I came across this video of Martin Fröhlich’s MeshWarpServer that shows projectionmapping in a whole new way. Well, you should watch the video first then read on….
So for all of you that want to absorb the technical details, the following video really goes into depth. MeshWarpServer is powerful stuff. There are many features beyond just mapping, as you’ll soon see:
I plan on overdosing on MWS and doing a full write-up…(just as soon as I get time), but I seem to have inherited my Dad’s work addiction. Make sure to check it out and give it a test drive!
Plus it’s just fun to say “Meshwarpserver….Meshwarpserver…“
Cinema 4D Overload!
Great. It’s not like I don’t have enough to do this week….now I have to peruse every single minute of Nick Cambell’s outstanding tutorial videos from NAB a couple of weeks ago. Nick runs Greyscalegorilla.com and is a master of C4D. His site is a treasure trove of great info. Be sure to check out the whole series which also features Chris Smith, Kevin Aguirre, Colin Sebastyen, Rob Garrott, Dave Glanz, ….good lord my head is going to explode. Just do yourself a favor and watch. To make it easy- I put a link on our Tutorials for Projection Page.
Indianapolis Opera Projectionmapping Faust
For the first time in the Indianapolis Opera’s history, projectionmapping is playing center stage. The past few seasons have seen projection playing a larger role in the repertoire, but this is the first time mapping has had a role. Gounod’s Faust, directed and designed by Joachim Schamberger, tells the tale of an aging scholar who trades his time in hell for earthly pleasures he’s missed out on. Schamberger, who’s previous projection designs were Tosca and Das Rheingold, has stepped up the projection role to a much higher level. I can’t tell you much about the actual opera itself, but I can tell you about the technical end:
For Faust, Joachim had 7 panels built (McGuire Scenic), various widths at 24′ high, that move on traveller tracks thus dividing the space into multiple planes. The panels are skinned in bright white and make absolutely pristine projection surfaces. In order to get the right perspective for sizing, he first used a camera view from the projection booth in Vectorworks to create the various scenes with line drawings. This gave a pretty good approximation of the angles, height, and space to be projected on. He then set about compiling the projection playback materiel using Photoshop and Final Cut. The resulting footage was then rendered in Final Cut at HDV 1920×1080 MPEG2. This presented a slight codec/bandwidth problem because the plan was to use VDMX and Syphon through Madmapper in order to size the scenes accurately. HDV and Mpeg2 are not the most friendly codec for playback through any software based system and the Radeon 2600HD cards in the trusty OctoMacPro were a bit under the task. Instead, I re-rendered the content, pared down the length of most of the clips, and packaged them all in PJPEG Quicktime movies. We ultimately decided on using Modul8 because of it’s extreme ease of clip organization, playback capabilities, and tight integration with Madmapper. All the content is played back via a FW800 1TB RAID 0. Viola- nary a burp in speed or smoothness. Because of the overall linearity of the set pieces, Madmapper proved to be invaluable. Joachim came up with a few templates of primitives that could be applied to many scenes and using presets, we were able to match the pieces exactly as seen in perspective. I used a Macbook Pro 17″ (quad i7, 16gb RAM), fed into an ImagePro, which fed a DVI DA and finally two DPI Lightning 35hd’s. The resultant image quality and brightness was astounding from 135′. Lensing provided by the good folks at Nationwide (thanks James!).
In a Thousand Drops….Refracted Glances
I recently came across the work of Aleksandra Dulic and was blown away! Aleks has been designing and creating animation/video artwork for over 15 years, with various artists. This piece, from 2008, is a fascinating blend of spatial audio along with motion-tracked video output. With Kenneth Newby and Martin Gotfrit, they created a vast, fragmented projection space that reacts when participants walk nearby… showing various body parts of over 100 different people from all walks of life.
From their website: “in a thousand drops… refracted glances is an audiovisual environment that constructs and deconstructs bodies through processes of stitching, repetition, collage, animation, stretching, contraction, multiplication and reduction. As a result of these processes (more…)
Madmapper wins LiveDesign Projection Product of the Year
Holy cow! This is a HUGE honor for the GarageCUBE team…..Madmapper, besides being the coolest mapping software on the planet, has been awarded LiveDesign’s Projection Product of the Year Award- right up there with Christie’s YK200 Nitro, the Barco ImagePRO 3G, and Advantage LED Solutions 5mm LED panel. Man, that is some serious company to be in. Congratulations to the whole GarageCUBE team for an outstanding product and a well-deserved award!
Electrosonic at NHM Los Angeles
When I was a kid, my elementary school used to take “field trips” to the NHM in Los Angeles, and I looooved the dinosaur and prehistoric section…..so it was nice to see that they’ve revamped the whole thing with the help of Electrosonic:
Los Angeles 18 April, 2012) – Visitors to the Dinosaur Hall in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County experience the wonder of the prehistoric creatures in a totally new way with innovative exhibits featuring audio-visual systems provided by Electrosonic.
Twice the size of the old galleries, the recently-opened 14,000 square-foot Dinosaur Hall displays specimens – including the world’s only T. rex growth series of baby, juvenile and adult skeletons – mounted on unique platforms and preserved and articulated using modern methods. The skylit L-shaped Hall is flooded with natural light; a glass-sided mezzanine runs along the short side of the L where additional wall-mounted exhibits reveal more about the amazing creatures and show what it’s like (more…)
VJ Software List
Industry vet and projectionist extraordinaire Dr. Mojo of MojoVideoTech has an outstanding list of VJ apps that he keeps in the toolbox. Make sure to visit his website and check out some in action on recent gigs.
I use a few of these and thought I’d add a couple:
Derivative’s Touchdesigner
TouchDesigner 077 is a visual development platform that equips you with the tools you need to create stunning realtime projects and rich user experiences. Think Amon Tobin…
d3 from d3 Technologies
d3 is a real-time 3D stage simulator, timeline based sequencer, video playback engine, and content mapper, all integrated into a single piece of software that runs on your own laptop or dedicated d3 hardware.
Import stages from the CAD program of your choice, add screens, props, and content to get a true simulation of your production, well before you actually start your build. U2, Red hot Chili Peppers, Coachella…
Coolux Updates Pandora’s Box
The latest Pandoras Box V5 REV 6799 is now available for download on the Coolux webpage
www.coolux.de/support/dowload-center/
Please do not forget to log on to our download section before trying to download the file.
This version will fix the ASIO bug found in REV 6700.
Rev 6799:
- fixed color fringe around text assets
- fixed ASIO transport controls
- fixed incorrect removal of effects and particle systems in virtual devices
- fixed possible crash on startup when using a ASIO card with more than 24 channels
- fixed effect crash for certain effect combinations
- fixed incorrect video export for quicktimes and avis
- fixed possible wrong colorspace for images
- added possibility to load objects with more than 65000 vertices
- enhanced project saving (about 20 times faster)
- new MatrixPatcher Rev 24
The new Matrix Patcher introduces a new Map-View in order to make it possible to re-locate individual pixels for creative setups, when working with conventional LED processors like e.g. Barco, Daktronics, Galaxia/Winvision etc.
Electrosonic at this year’s Counter Terror Expo
Don't $&^% with this man's AV install....
London (April 2, 2012) – Electrosonic’s Control Rooms team has partnered with Detection Technologies and Integrated Security Manufacturing Ltd (ISM) for this year’s Counter Terror Expo to exhibit a full range of command and control, security and protection services.
Electrosonic’s dedicated Control Rooms team specialises in providing complete audio-visual solutions, which include systems integration, technical design, project management and service and maintainance.
Electrosonic works with a wide range of suppliers in the AV industry. The Counter Terror Expo will see Electrosonic demonstrating the NEC ultra-thin bezel 46″ LCD screen. Powered by an Extron Quantum Elite video wall processor, Electrosonic will display (more…)
The new MBP is here!
I recently took delivery of a new MBP 17″ (quad i7, 8 gb RAM) and it is heaven. Without sounding too much like a fanboi, I have to say unpacking the thing was nothing short of a pleasure. Everything is clean, precise, and extremely well designed. Transfer of apps was only a pain due to machine ID ( I had to go one-by-one to make sure the licenses took). I went ahead and installed Windows 7 for a dual-boot and it was painful. So much about the Windows environment makes me crazy- but- it was so I could take advantage of a few projection related tools that I hope to write up very soon. One is Emulator from our friends at SmithsonMartin, and also Derivative’s Touchdesigner. I’ve been dyeing to take a crack at these and hopefully I’ll only have to deal with the PC side for these and these alone…..
Carry on Projectionfreaks- and remember….- hit the “donate” button on the right- or I’ll just settle for a follow on FB or Twitter. Try our RSS feed or subscribe by email for info like this on a timely basis!
Skrillex is out of control
Skrillex blew up the Ultra Music Festival this last weekend and then took off in his own scissor-lift style spaceship. Here’s the proof. With Lasers, dammit! Can someone please teleport me back to being 18 again?….
Mapping Festival 2012 Lineup announced
Below you’ll find the complete lineup (so far) of the Mapping Festival, being held in Geneva May 10th-20th. Of particular note is Joanie LeMercier’s Eyjafjallajokull and Aleksandra Dulic’s In a Thousand Drops… Refracted Glances. If you’re anywhere near Geneva around that time- by all means go see these projects!
EXHIBITION
@ Le Commun – Bâtiment d’art contemporain (BAC) /// from 10 to 20/05
Preview: 10/05
Pascal Dufaux (CA) Déjà vu
Joanie Lemercier (AntiVJ/FR) Eyjafjallajokull
Daniel Canogar (ES) Scanner
Aleksandra Dulic (CA) In a Thousand Drops… Refracted Glances
Frederik De Wilde (BE) UMwelt-VIRUtopia
Danny Perreault (CA) Flow
ARCHITECTURAL MAPPING
@ Musée d’art et d’histoire /// 19/05
Bordos.ArtWorks and Invited Artists (HU)
Apparati Effimeri (IT)
AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCES
@ Théâtre du Galpon /// Fonderie Kugler /// Cinéma Spoutnik /// Théâtre de l’Usine
Insectotropics (ES) La Caputxeta Galàctica
Insanë (CA/CH) Dieu est un DJ- 1st representation
Sculpture (UK) Unstable Modular Collage
Casper Electronics (US)
Tasman Richardson (CA)
Chloé Tallot + Arnout Hulskamp (FR/NL) Red bus
Yilab (TW) Loop Me
RYBN (FR) ADM7:FLASHCRASH – 1st representation
Michael Vorfeld (DE) Light bulb music
TVestroy (CA)
FLEETING INSTALLATION
Cie Nejma & A-li-ce (FR) La Baraque Foraine 6.1
VISUAL-AUDIO CLUBBING
@ Zoo /// La Gravière /// La Fonderie Kugler
Discodeine (Kill the DJ/FR)
Remain (Meant Records/FR)
Vosper (Meant Records/CA)
El Hijo De La Cumbia (AR)
Nekochan (FR)
Label Commercial Suicide Party (UK)
Ras Mali (CH)
Tempo Moderno (BR/IT) Discotecario Doca et Actaruss1
RomBeads (K.O.E/CH)
Monkey Freakz (CH)
Dirty Mad Sound vs The Hiiters (CH)
SECRET LABEL PARTY
@ Fonderie Kugler /// 12/05
The official launch of a brand new audiovisual label!
The best artists of the moment and long-time favorites of the Mapping Festival, all gathered around for a full day of lectures, performances, and of course party. A wild event, keep an eye on them…
WORKSHOPS
MadMapper (CH/FR)
TagTool (UK)
And as always, the VJ CONTEST
@ Cinéma Spoutnik /// 18-19/05
3D in the Darkroom
Motion graphics house The Darkroom (PF article on Glastonbury) were commissioned for the Sunburn festival in Goa by Percept D’mark to come up with a stage design and and perform live video mapping on it over 3 nights. The result was aptly named the “Cubezoid Stage” and by the end of the festival was voted by the public as the best stage at the festival. On the final night 20,000 pairs of 3D glasses were distributed to the punters and the the first 20 minutes of Axwell’s set was projected in 3D.
3 HD projectors, 3 Arena Media servers, a whole bunch of 3d! (Speaking of Arena, here’s a review I did for PLSN….) and make sure to check out their website for some pretty good examples of their work…
Madmapper Workshop- Berlin
fRED and Ilan, Maestros of Madmapper, will be holding a workshop in Berlin April 11-12. There’s only 20 spots available and the registration deadline is April 3 so get on it! This two day workshop will focus on preparing content for mapping and mapping the content to physical surfaces.
The workshop will conclude with the participants collaborating on an installation in the cafe of Panke and performing with it in a lounge like atmosphere that will be open to the public, accompanied by special guest DJ Mo Greens.
The location for the workshop is called Panke, a creative hub in the heart of Wedding that presents music, art and other artistic endeavors.
Workshop schedule:
Day 1
- Introduction to MadMapper
- Using MadMapper in conjunction with other VJ applications
- Practice session
- Discussion on the activity for the following day
Day 2
- Content creation for an installation
- Summary of activities
- Party
Pre-requisites:
- Mac OS X based computer running 10.6 or greater
- DVI or MiniDVI adapter that allows you to connect your computer to a projector
- Working knowledge of graphics and video creation software
- Working knowledge of VJ software
UVA Updates d3- Designer is here…
The United Visual Artist’s powerful d3 system underwent some changes recently. They now offer a software only version- dubbed ‘d3 Designer’ that allows designers to use the power of d3′s pre-viz capabilities on their own machine, and then run it on a server later. Right now, d3 is spec’ed for a Windows environment (or Mac running Windows). d3 was previously only available as a software/hardware bundle. The new d3 Designer is a software only solution that has all the powerful features of d3 but with the outputs water marked. Made specially for show creators; content designers; projectionists; project managers and other video production professionals, d3 Designer is the most advanced integrated production platform in the market. Created to design and simulate your show from concept design to delivery. Shows created on d3 Designer are transferable to both 2U and 4U d3 production systems. d3’s real-time stage simulator also allows for pre-vis of moving screens and props, giving you full control of your show – on the train, or the plane, or even in your hotel. All the power of d3 (more…)
Mojo Video Tech in a 10 Hour VJ Meltdown
Projection Conniseur Dr. Mojo is co-producing the 10 Hour VJ Meltdown at the Flat Iron Hotel tonight. Looks like it will be a serious bash so get there if you’re in the NYC area!
Multo & Mojo Video Tech Inc
in association with Frère Independent
present a 10 HOUR VJ MELTDOWN
on Friday March 9th from 3pm – 1am
to celebrate the opening of the Pool Art Fair NYC
we will be taking over the entire lobby of the
FLAT IRON HOTEL
26th Street & Broadway
New York NY 10001
featuring live mixes by
Liquid Light Lab * Miixxy * DoctorMojo
Guillaume Clave * Fuzzy Bastard
installations and presentations by
Globalrev Live * VJ Electrabelle * VJ KRUNCH
Francesco Carnesecchi * VJ Albert * Ray-V
plus international artists livestreaming
Ioann – Edinborough * Vlad/Niikky – Spain
music by
DJ JayPhantom * others tba
Jands Vista L5…. Squint-Vidiot-Programmer, Your Muscle Car has Arrived…
Not for the faint of heart or of wallet…..this console is not really something you’ll be using at the typical nightclub gig…it’s destined for FOH at large venues and festivals. Jands has unveiled the L5 and it looks pretty amazing….from the 21″ HD Wacom screen (who needs multi- monitors?) to the back-lit keyboard to the sleek, “monocoque” chassis, it’s a good-looking piece of industrial design. While I still believe that lighting consoles should control lights, and video consoles should control video, the industry seems driven to marry the two- and I suppose out of all the larger consoles, the Vista has been one of the easiest to use. Squints and wanna-be video programmers rejoice! While you’re drooling on your own keyboard, make sure to visit THIS LINK to see the video and enter a contest to win a Macbook Pro (pre-loaded with the V2 software). From their website (where you can also find the specs):
“The Vista L5 – the ultimate platform for the creative mind
The new Vista L5 is the latest addition to the revolutionary Jands Vista range of consoles and control surfaces. (more…)
Karolina Sobrecka “It’s You”
One of the great things about running Projectionfreak is that I get to connect to all kinds of creative minds in the world of technology. Recently I ran a few pieces that utilized the work of Flightphase-their installation of a huge, interactive video wall at the University of Dayton, and an interactive museum exhibit at the National Maritime Museum in the UK.
Karolina Sobrecka, Creative Director of Flightphase, gets to do some pretty amazing projects and her solo work looks (more…)
Vaddio ProductionVIEW Switcher- Review
The following appears in the current issue of PLSN magazine, and I can’t thank them enough for printing it. But here on Projectionfreak you get some extras….
I use a PTZ camera system at work that is a package supplied by Markertek (outstanding prices and service from these folks….highly recommend them!) ….and manufactured by Vaddio…namely a ProductionVIEW switcher, 3 HD19 PTZ cameras with CCU, a Vaddio 3-way monitor, and a Vaddio 2-way HD monitor. The switcher is at the heart of the rig, providing control over the 3 cameras, a fourth PTZ (Sony EVI-D70), computer input, and DVD input. I should say up front that I am not paid by Vaddio or Markertek, nor do they receive advertising credit or endorsement from me or from Projectionfreak.com.……although ANY/ALL of those options and scenarios are open for discussion! Hint hint- as in “call for a rate card” hint….
I happen to use their gear based on price and performance and I couldn’t be happier. It’s great stuff and the image quality is outstanding- but on with the hands-on review:
Vaddio ProductionVIEW HD Switcher
As the ‘video guy’ I get asked to wear a lot of hats and it’s not just because I’m a nice guy that says “yes”. There’s a lot of factors to keep track of- not the least of which is keeping a decent image onscreen. If you’re touring, you’re usually just trying to keep the gear from being destroyed- if you’re in corporate you have the constant harangue of having to edit presenter imagery- if you’re in trade shows, well- that list is too long. Usually this is all on top of being the switcher. If you are the lucky person that owns/rents the gear that makes all that happen, you need equipment that does more than one thing. So it goes (more…)
Voyagers at the National Maritime Museum
I posted a while back on Electrosonic’s involvement with the installation of the AV system at the National Maritime Museum, but I dug a little deeper and found the artists responsible. The Light Surgeons, a multimedia collective based in East London and founded by Christopher Thomas Allen, collaborated with media artist James George to create a one-of-a-kind immersive work called Voyager. The Voyagers Gallery acts as an introduction to the extraordinary depth and range of the Museum’s collections and is dominated by a 20 metre wave-like structure that stretches the full length of the room. Designed by exhibition designers Real Studio, this 3D wave is (more…)
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