General video thread?

[tremolo3]

I'm trying to get some visuals for a show and want to make it interesting, not just a bunch of prerecorded clips being displayed but actual interactive content.

I've been messing around with TouchDesigner for some weeks and I'm able to create some basic audio reactive projects but I'm still not happy with the results and I still have to figure some things out, latency being the big one.


So... I then found the LZX guys and their Vidiot seemed like a very good alternative with immediate results, although very limited compared to TouchDesigner and $800 more expensive. But I may give it a shot

Anyone messing with video? Any other alternatives to these two? Preferably standalone.

[tremolo3]

[kaeth]

Duuuuude, there's a thousand things you could do. It's as big of a rabbit hole as music is. I do experimental light shows with a friend of mine.

You can make video feedback with a camera pointed at it's own video feed. You can make self-generating fractals, and there are a number of fx boxes you can put in the signal path to manipulate the output, which gets exponentially more crazy the more you mess with it.

You can circuit bend video mixers, enhancers, colourizers, titlers, old game consoles to add all sorts of live glitch work to video. A few people like Tachyons+ and BPMC sell pre-bent gear.

You can learn to make all sorts of geometric graphics on an oscilloscope with synthesizers, which can also be ported to lasers with the right controller.

You can get a document presenter or just an old fashioned overhead and learn practical FX like oil plates, splodascopes, moires, colour wheels. 60's style. My favourite.

You can learn lumia, which is either bouncing lights, lasers, video projections, or slides off of flexible mirrors like mylar, or projecting it through warped glass for all sorts of undulating nebulous shapes and pools of light. If you can't do it large scale, you can use a camera to bounce to a screen.

You can get a video microscope and explore stuff like geodes, bugs, and weed, or even your own body up close. If you wanna get a little brave, you can watch tin crystals grow in hydrochloric acid.

You've already found video synthesis. Gieskes also does some interesting low-cost video synthesis gear.

That's not even touching software which can reach into a whole other world of live coding, datamoshing, deep dream, projection mapping.

It gets more fun when you combine a few of these.

If you're on facebook, get on Video Circuits and Psychedelic Light Show Preservation Society. The former leans electronic, while the latter leans practical, but there's some overlap. Tons of ideas and helpful folks there.

Depending on what looks more fun to you, some things can be expensive, or require technical knowledge, or the gear can be vintage and rare, but if you're dedicated to experimenting, you can do all sorts of killer light shows on a budget with stuff from hardware, craft, and party stores, and flea markets and garage sales.

Sorry to overwhelm you with options and an obnoxiously long answer, but it's a pretty broad question.

[tremolo3]

See, that's why I should have friends or hire someone who already knows what he/she's doing

And thanks, it does sound like another rabbit hole I'm not ready to chase (or something like that )

You got a point on your last sentence actually, I'm still kinda debating on what would fit best for me, and right now I want to stick to basic elements, meaning just 1 piece of hardware/sofware doing the magic, a camera and a projector, but I've been thinking in adding a Kinect down the road, or some sort of external device that can help to make this project more dynamic.

Thanks again man, I will look up for every one of those concepts to get a better idea of what is going on. I'll be attending Mutek MX in a few weeks, pretty sure there will be a lot of artists sharing really crazy stuff.


Also, where can I see some of the stuff you're doing?

[retinal orbita]

You can get a video microscope and explore stuff like geodes, bugs, and weed, or even your own body up close. If you wanna get a little brave, you can watch tin crystals grow in hydrochloric acid.

Damn this sounds super cool. I don’t think I need another hobby as I can hardly afford/find time for the niche shit I’m into now but what a concept!

[kaeth]

And thanks, it does sound like another rabbit hole I'm not ready to chase

You're welcome. Didn't mean to imply it was all or nothing. You can do great shows with just one or two elements. I just have a feeling the more you get into it, the farther you're going to want to explore, but take your time!

I want to stick to basic elements, meaning just 1 piece of hardware/sofware doing the magic, a camera and a projector

The core of a video set-up is usually a powered video mixer, so I suggest you consider that also, but there are next to no modern cheap options. 80s/90s jank on Ebay can still be had for reasonable prices though. One with an aux send for feedback loops, some interesting swipes and transitions, and a couple of onboard effects like keying, colour correction, contrast, invert, strobe, or mirror would be tops. They're generally equipped with a Time Based Corrector as well (which you'd need to learn about if you ever want to delve into glitch or corruption effects). You can do a whole show with no input and just a mixer fed back into itself! But then later it becomes your command station to manipulate your source feeds, like mashing a video synth and camera together in various ways.

If you're already leaning towards video synthesis, an LZX system would be the wiser choice to grow with in the long-term, but if you find it too pricey and can solder a through-hole kit, take a look at the Gieskes 3TrinsRGB+1C. Pretty simple looking interface with a small patch bay and just a few knobs, but it's the synth I use, and I'm still finding new tricks years later. Gieskes makes a few physical plugins for it, and ReverseLandfill sells a matching pin-header comparator that really expands the possibilities.

Also, where can I see some of the stuff you're doing?

Appreciate the interest! We're not pros, but we are huge nerds. We're more geared towards live performance than studio recording, so most of our online content is mediocre cell phone vids from shows. It's called Burning Chroma, and most of our stuff can be found on our facebook page. My friend Drew also has an online presence for his solo video/still work under the moniker ＧＬＩＴＣＨＥＤ ＭＥＭＯＲＩＥＳ and I think it's worth a look.

I'm always excited to see new interest in video art! I usually lurk around if you wanna talk shop or share ideas or whatever.

[Warpsmasher]

I've entered video nerddom via After Effects, which I mostly use as a multi-FX processor for video clips. Many elements of synthesis and sampling can also be incorporated, and I've found it very useful to have the past experience with all of that before getting deeply involved with AE. I think it's the most worthwhile investment of time if you're looking to create lasting permanent work, but for fast creations on the fly, a gear-based/modular system may serve you better. AE is also a marketable skill that you can go freelance with once you learn enough useful stuff.
Boris Continuum is the plugin pack to install for all the best effects. It has pixel chooser and beat reactor extensions for most of its effects, which multiplies the possibilities quite a bit. It is also available for Vegas, which is easier to use and learn, but that was crashy on my computer so I just bit the bullet and learned how to use AE. The time effects in AE are also lots of fun. They are the delay and reverb of video.

Love Death & Robots is where it's at for me now. Cutting edge styles from real video artists, with beautiful palettes of familiar influences. Everything from death metal cover art to Pinky and the Brain. The cartooning on the amazon show Undone was not impressive at all to me, especially after seeing LDR. It looks like a bland formula style being done by a team following a bunch of rules, so it kinda sucks. LDR on the other hand throws a new style at you with every episode, and while some look quick and cheap, others are daring and amazing and fresh, rich with little gemstones of influence, to be appreciated by those who can see it. I find myself pursuing certain looks in the cartooning process now, once I notice that they might be attainable through fx chaining. A light Kevin O'Neill-like inking style, a heavy Bill Sienkiewicz watercolor style, Jack Kirby energy crackles, 60s/70s comicbook burst lines, toony superpowers etc. The colorizing in Continuum's light effects is great for those Vertigo-looking color palettes. It's also super simple to do some Ralph Bakshi style layering with the keying effects, and/or the pixel chooser.



This is where I'm at with it after about six months of heavy use. I already had some prior experience with AE, but not with Continuum, which I've still only scratched the surface of. I'm excited to explore some other applications now that I have some systems in place for getting projects started quickly. I put some really old artwork in the video too, stuff that was drawn and digitized 20 years ago and just waiting for the right use. I got the jellyfish from http://www.pixabay.com, it's a good resource for royalty-free footage and images to use as ingredients in your compositions. I've also got a folder of my own creations started for regular use, just like a sample library and recording folders. It's also good practice to save all your AE project files, because they take up no space and are like presets in a synthesizer or multi-fx.

[$harkToootth]

You are a remarkably intuitive person... I think you can make this work for you http://lumen-app.com/
Tuesday Night Machines uses it plus an axoloti controller. Let me know if you need a link to the specific video.
Wishing you luck Trem. I think Lumen would be a good short term solution before you get the hardware.
@Resincum knows a couple things too.

[$harkToootth]

Or... if you can find an old school projector (like the ones teachers used in the 90s early 2000s) you can have someone drip oil and other liquids on it. The Hologram guys did the most basic thing like that for the Infinite Jets promos.

[K2000]

A lot of different ways you can go - if you have a laptop, there is software that you can use with audio triggering (sorry, that's not the correct term).

https://vdmx.vidvox.net

One of the issues you'll have to wrangle is just how much attention can you give to video projections during your set? Do you need to give most or all of your attention to your music performance? If so, the suggestion to learn After Effects is a good one - you would do all your video effects ahead of time. Then use simple technology to manipulate it (inexpensive 'video toasters' etc) or just play a clip you made beforehand.

I haven't projected video for a while, but in my limited personal experience I preferred manipulating "found footage" (YouTube etc) ahead of time via After Effects, and just letting the rendered (or as you say in the DAW world "bounced") video file play via my phone into a projector. I need all my attention on the music. Some great suggestions above (video microscope, etc) but seems to me that for many approaches you really need a person there working the video full time for best results. To be fair, that's also true of my suggestion of VDMX, although you can cheat the process by using source clips that were already manipulated, then manipulate them further via VDMX.

I think your best procedure is to think about what you want the content to be - content is king here too - and then working backwards from there, to figure out how much attention you can give to the live video projection, then figure out which hardware or software you want. Maybe the exception would be that you already own or have access to certain equipment, or have limited resources that dictate your hardware or software.

[$harkToootth]

Everyone has posted so much great technical advice. If you're looking for inspiration... I'm always dying to post this show more. I have not figured out how to embed vimeo. Show is called 'The Experimental Half Hour'
https://vimeo.com/240403284 Only posting this episode cause JAMES K played and I adore her and her music.

[manymanyhaha]

Some awesome info throughout this thread so far

Boris Continuum is the plugin pack to install for all the best effects. .

Holy fuck, that's expensive but looks pretty awesome. Is OFX the windows version for AE? I've been using AE the last few months for some video work but this 3rd party plugins thing is new to me.

Love Death & Robots is where it's at for me now.

I watched this a couple months ago but admit I don't recall thinking about the visuals a whole lot since each story sort of required attention to the story itself. There were three or four that I thought were really great. The one with the blue artist (pool cleaner) and the one with Topher whatever his name is and the woman who won the oscar for Room a couple years ago I really enjoyed. Will need to watch it again now.

Watched a couple vids on your youtube channel, I like the effects you are getting. Do you use the other Boris packages as well?

[Warpsmasher]

Thanks, all my old video effects were done with regular AE and Vegas fx, and some Alien Skin plugins, which I just copied over to AE from the photoshop folder. OFX is the one for Vegas I think, it was an unstable pairing on my computer and would crash Vegas after chaining up more than 2 or 3 effects. I haven't tried any other Boris stuff yet, but I do also like the Topaz Labs stuff for photoshop. Haven't had much use for Alien Skin since getting those.

I loved the Zima Blue episode, found the character relatable on many levels. The Witness had lots of cool subtle visual stuff happening, and was one of the most interesting animation styles of the season IMO. Fish Night episode is the best looking comic book inking style I've seen so far. I would love to see how they did that. The dead soldier in Three Robots is a pretty obvious shoutout to Heavy Metal. The death metal looking stuff is at the end of Beyond the Aquila Rift, and Brain narrates the yogurt episode. So much to love, can't wait for more.

[$harkToootth]

More inspo... I'm subscribed to Tachyons +. He makes hardware circuit bent stuff. This thread isn't about Tremolo anymore... video synth general...
Posting cause I love this song and when I saw Tachyons made a video it was a dream come true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCrKGKPYYIA

[tremolo3]

Video synth general indeed!

Thanks for that Tachyons and everything so far, lots of content and inspiration for sure.

On another note, I just found on LZX fb group that Vidiot and other LZX modules are being discontinued... but they're putting another module that is making everyone shitting their pants.