Analog video synthesis

Generative art in motion.

ck

https://vimeo.com/cskonopka

By Christopher Konopka

Background

In the past year, Chris has published nearly 2500 improvised video pieces.

13522998_945476555985_3590046569317439705_o

You may be familiar with analog modular audio synthesis. The hardware to produce video looks nearly identical – a maze of patch cords and dials.

Television

13709835_10154366721684231_6046749253184273850_n

Analog video is television. A CRT (cathode ray tube) resynthesizes video information by demodulating signals from a camera. Vintage televisions have dials to adjust color and vertical sync. When you turn the dials you are synthesizing analog video. Distortion, filtering, and feedback – either at the source (camera) or the destination (tv screen) – offer up an infinite variety of images.

Analog vs. Digital

Today all media is digital. Like the screen you are looking at. The difference with analog is in how it’s produced. Boundaries are less definite. Lines curve. Colors waver. Feedback looks like flames. Every frame is a painting.

https://vimeo.com/172035463

Patterns

Images can be generated electronically using modules – without a camera.

Filters

Like with audio sampling, anything is a source. Movies, Youtube, live television, even Felix the Cat.

Feedback

When you aim a guitar at an amplifier it screams. Tilt it away slightly and the screaming subsides. In between there’s sweet spot. The same is true with cameras and screens. Feedback results when output is mixed with input.

Radio

Analog shortwave radio signals are distorted by the atmosphere in a manner similar to video filtering.

A studio in Bethel, Maine.

image1

An improvised collaboration between Chris and Tom Zicarelli using shortwave radio processed with audio effects.

Live Performance

Gem

https://www.instagram.com/p/BImQwOGBveV/?taken-by=cskonopka

A recent screen test at the Gem Theatre in Bethel, Maine. Source material is a time lapse film of a glacier installation – produced at the same theatre – by Wade Kavanaugh and Steven Nguyen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c36Y-Dcj30  The film was re-synthesized using analog video and feedback. Soundtrack by Tom Zicarelli.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BImRSzHBOLL/?taken-by=cskonopka

Big screen equals mind bending experience.

Note: previous clip excerpted from this 15 minute jam: https://vimeo.com/177843310

TAL

The patterns in this clip appear to be three dimensional. They are not.

From a show that happened somewhere in the known universe:

Alto

Improvised analog video with the band “Alto”. Patterns reminiscent of magical textiles.

More about analog video synthesis

 

ep-426 Interactive Video – Spring 2015 week 14

Jitter programming

Developing with javascript, gen, and external objects.

Javascript

Jitter in javascript: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=19218

Gen

Jitter gen: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=19205

Particles

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=19194

Jitter objects

Writing Jitter external objects: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=19208

Revisiting Vizzie

Even after all that, Vizzie is my first choice when starting a project or building a prototype.

Vine analyzer example:

https://github.com/tkzic/max-projects/tree/master/maxvine

patch: maxvine-analyzer.maxpat (requires other files in the maxvine folder)

More analog video

media converter demo: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=19173

Miscellaneous

And topics that didn’t get covered.

Algorithmic video and data visualization
Projection mapping

Cornerpin: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=11838

Lighting control systems

DMX: Andrew Pask tutorial: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=18266

Development tools
Miscellaneous

60 minutes of whales: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=8433

Assignment

Do something.

Jitter in javascript

Why would you write Jitter code inside a js object?

  • Math expressions
  • File IO
  • Borrowed code
  • You’re just that way

There are three Jitter javascript tutorials (built in to Max) 45-47

Screen Shot 2015-04-24 at 12.55.44 AM

The Max javascript documentation is generally far flung. A helpful reference by Tim Schenk https://reactivemusic.net/?p=17445

Here’s an example to get started with. It downsamples a movie and changes the background color. Something I often dream about.

Screen Shot 2015-04-24 at 12.35.31 AM

Download

https://github.com/tkzic/max-projects

Folder: jitter-js

  • patch: downsamp-thing.maxpat
  • javascript source: downsamp.js

Video media converter ADVC-110

Bidirectional analog/digital conversion of composite, s-video, and firewire/ilink.

By Grass Valley

http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc110

20091222_prodctShot_ADVC110.1920x1080.VidRes.png_305_0

Using this device on Mac OS X 10.9, analog video input shows up as a system device. It also works as a firewire video output device.

Input

 

Using Jitter you can get real time input from analog video devices like cameras and VCR’s. Here’s an example using jit.grab (Max help file) to get input from an analog camcorder.

Screen Shot 2015-04-22 at 8.48.35 PM

 

Output

Sending output via firewire to a TV using jit.qt.videoout (Jitter tutorial 22):

Screen Shot 2015-04-22 at 9.53.39 PM

This is what it looks like on a TV:

tv-out2