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Some interesting tools for the near future

I've always been interested in experimenting with mocap for my animated film production BUT I don't want to invest in a suit or solutions that require 3-4 cameras...ALSO I would use it for creative purposes and probably NOT to capture stuff to apply to a biped rig... so the thangs going on with the Microsoft Kinect look very interesting... apparently some skilled programmer types have already created software bridges to integrate it with Motionbuilder, Max and Maya...

So this would make your garage/bedroom/basement studio that much more powerful ^ ^


THIS really got my ideas going... I know there's sites like Veetle and Ustream to do live streaming stuff BUT your subject to they ad's and restrictions... but with the forthcoming Bit Torrent live platform you'll be able to stream whatever you want whenever you want as long as you have enough of an audience to seed and support the stream... so it kind of builds in a kind of natural selection....if no one want's to watch it then the stream will be weak...

And since here in he U.S. the ISP's severely limit your up speed so you can't do any kind of serious live streaming from your connection it seems Bit Torrent Live would work around that... it adds latency but as long as all the viewers were in sync that would be titE.

So you could run your own live streaming film festival and stuff like that... very interesting stuff indeed!

Comments

  1. I'd be SO stoked on an internet film fest. I'd enter in a heartbeat! You could even possibly do Q&As and stuff. We were talking about doing a screening of our flick when it's finished online for a few nights. Just depends if we raise any hype I suppose.

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  2. Talking about ISP's....
    I jsuty got word that as of march 1st the unlimited internet deal no logner exists in ontario
    right now we were paying 36$CAD a month to be able to do anything i want (even host a gameing server) amd we used on average 150GB's a month (most of that probably be me lul)

    But for whatever reason some asshole decided that the new way of doing it is with meters
    Now we get a 25GB cap for 55$CAD a month.... what? how does that begin to amke sense? plus a charge of 1.99$CAD for every GB over?
    With insurance on over usage?

    this world dosen't even

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  3. Im not very familiar with the live torrent idea. I think its sounds cool. Yo, M why is it that the bandwith is restrained for upload in carriers, if i understood correctly?

    On the KINECT mocap stuff...there is a plug in for quartz composer known as animata... check it ...it was developed by some younglings in budapest and best of all, ITS FREE....i haven´t played with it yet but i know it was developed to use a camera for live motion capture and that little characters mimic on screen...characters you can create from scratch....and all you need is a camera as crappy as a webcam and a mac...imagine what it could do modded to the infrared capabilities of a kinect.....oh YEAH

    And the great thing about quartz is that it comes with every mac. at least every new one. if you have an older model you can download it for free from the developer tools at the apple site. THEY want to give stuff away so you learn how to program in their language. Which is kinda sneaky but clever. And hey, free tools? i can live with that.

    I got into apps like quartz, max/jitter, and pd (ALSO FREE) because i was trying to integrate video compression artifacts into live vj sets. Vid compression artifact aka datamoshing is this effect where pixels "melt" from one frame to the other, but i was trying to do it live, melting snap shots of the people in the place with footage on my hard disk.

    The datamosh effect got pretty popular with david oreilleys first videos. This was araound 2 years ago. But people where experimenting with that stuff way before. Not much later the effect got pretty popular in the mainstream as well, but i personally couldn´t really hate since i stopped my research due to my poorness. And i had to get a day job...

    But i just recently quit that...im a happy trouper...and with the money i saved i hope to finish the experiment...

    Also, apps like max, quartz and pd are cool because they are modular. You can make them do anything you want in patches you build yourself. You can use them for music, for video, for security, for wacky modern art hipster performances....everything. All you need is a little basics of c++, which really, if i could get into im sure everyone who reads this blog can figure out easily....heres another link, this one for c++

    Back from this detour....my point is if you want to do mo cap for a feature 3d i wouldn necessarily recommend something like animata for quartz composer, or max....but for live performances, with like evil holographic puppet dolls...they could open up the game for plenty of awesomeness

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  4. @Kid

    Man i love Quartz Composer! I've been experimenting with it to create patches for VDMX 5 for live triggering. Have you seen the recent datamosh plugin here:

    http://kriss.cx/tom/datamosh

    I played around with it and it looks pretty sweet but i don't use it because since Kanye West had a datamoshed video clip, the technique lost a lot of relevence in a short time D:

    I found it surprisingly similar to the node workspace with Cinema 4D's Xpresso.

    What's the best QC community for learning how to use it better? I'm just beginning my visual coding journey.

    Also, have you ever used VVVV? As soon as my macbook breaks i'm not getting another one because of bad experiences i've had with it, so i might hit VVVV on pc instead.

    Also check out http://vimeo.com/6654322 it's my favourite generative animation atm. :D

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  5. @PERMIAN

    Hey, man! Yeah I was kinda bummed after the Kanye vid and some Linkin Park stuff...but since i didn´t invent a and i frames i was kinda embarrassed by getting upset about it...ha

    I had heard about the QC patches for VDMX but never really tried it...do you like triggering live from VDMX better? I might have to give it a big go...

    And Ive never used VVVV, but i do have a couple of PCs. Not laptops though, which are jolly fun for vjeing....the easiest tool I found for that was Modul8, but its not as flexible as say QC and it doesn´t let you mess around with its insides as much...but Ill check out VVVV fo sho...does it let you create patches?

    The place I got a lot of good help from, for QC in particular, is this blog here . I used to go there a lot but i havent had the chance lately...the few times that I have, Ive noticed theyve kept it really fresh...tons of good freebies, like open source apps, patches and other fun stuff like projection mappin, scripts and plugins...its kinda a big community...-o.o-

    PS>Thanks for the video link...it made me almost kernell panic all over myself......oh my

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Kid

    I know what you mean about getting embarrassed haha. Still, i feel that as soon as a style or technique reaches that point in the public consciousness, people will then associate it with those acts. I don't want people being all "hey that's like the Kanye west video clip" when i'm showing my stuff. It sucks to be funneled like that but I want my own unique style and technique. Even Paul b. Davis has bailed from datamoshing for that reason. Check out: http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/creators/paul-b-davis--2

    Live triggering in VDMX is great, I really enjoy the interface and it's super easy to throw in a bunch of clips and mash them up. I've been using it and QC to experiment with a bit of projection mapping as well. And the VDMX community is pretty strong.

    I don't actually know a whole lot about VVVV but i get the impression it's similar to QC, but maybe i'm wrong.

    Maybe you can help me with a dilemma i'm having man?

    So i enjoy VJing and playing with things like QC live, however i also really dig narrative and want to create stories with meaning. Now i'm not saying you can't use VJing to create narratives or create more than ambiance, however if you DO VJ in bars, clubs, pubs all they want IS the eye candy. Like Craig Baldwin says "I don't dismiss it, but ultimately I'm not into escapism. I mean, eye candy is OK, but i'm a filmmaker - I want to deal with ethical issues. With abstract visuals, it's hard to ask questons. I want a visual language where you can speculate or interrogate."
    I also hate art gallerys and the patron grovelling that goes on with that scene.

    I'm spending about 50/50 on animation(narrative) and live triggering respectively.
    I also can't help but feel that i might end up a jack of all trades master of none.

    Also VJing is very temporary. As in you do it and there is no real record kept of what went on. Which is great in some regards but bad in others. Where as when you make a film it floats around for a very long time.

    So i'm not sure what i should do. If i should give up the VJing part and mainly use QC and other tech associated with VJing to add on to my filmmaking(anims). Or to do both but use live triggering in other ways than eye candy?

    Agh sorry to dump it on you dude, just need an outside perspective that's all.

    @mdots
    sorry for hijacking your post man :p

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Permian!

    Well the question you ask is really difficult for me to answer. And i think it would make your life way less interesting and at the risk of sounding really corney, it would make it less complete, if you don't figure it out for yourself.

    That said im going to tell you how it has worked for me. Beware, im not famous, my work isn't shown on galleries or film festivals, or on tv anywhere where you could actually catch a glimpse...the people that know how i work and what i do are people i used to work with, as in a job, and the a very small community of visual artists in mexico. But i will work my way to world domination...mwahaa

    Ive never given up passions. Ever. Maybe im not as successful in the standard society rewards as successful. Im not swiming in cash. But the things that i work on, the life that i lead, i wouldnt trade with anyone. Really, the times when im at a crossroads about giving up things to do, art, narrative or vjing as in your case, i figure out a rythm to try to do both or more...Ive been crazy about THIS since i was like 8 and totally wrecked my parents handycam shooting a stop mo TMNT homage....

    Wake up early, light brakfast, write from 7/10, healthy breakfast, go jog, get back, shower, fix tea, learn tutorials from 1 to 3 with snacks hehe, eat, read a book or watch a movie, since i was basically raised on movies with subtitles, all foreign movie, including american make sense to me, than write again for a couple of hours at nite, light dinner, and go to bed....really thats my daily schedule, mixed with a few days of going out to see a part of the city ive never been to.

    This works for me right now cause I saved money at the last job i had, i can go on for a while like this, but even if/when i run out of money, ill never go back to working for the man. It was, educative to say the least, but man, the world of "commercial" or "Mainstream" arts, designers, tv writers, director, live in a world of drones and cut throat ripoffs. Its flattering to have your ideas copied....the first time around. Because after that people claim them as their own....and don't even add on it...anyway, im straying again.

    Really I think M dot is the man at this kind of advice. His ideas have motivated me to take a stand when faltering. And having a healthy schedule is something that I read from him, but also from a writer friend of mine who in my opinion is one of the most talented writers alive....oh yeah, and murakami haruki practices this discipline as well. So these 3 artist I admire...teh must be on to something...

    I think the fact that you have these curiousities and that youre actually getting involved, holds a lot of hope for your SUPER ART POWERS. I mean man, you realize the dilemma you are in? Choosing between two super powers! are you crazy, how many people wouldn't kill to just collaborate with someone like that...The rest, how and why it will work out in the end will happen naturally...the monster within, the CREATORRRR wont let you sleep until you accomplish what you want. All you need to do is take it real.

    And M thanks for allowing and like giving good ground for conversations like this...plus, we got a sweet datamosh plugin and got to watch a crazy inspiring video.....can you imagine a horror flick, kinda like Ekusute, but with that scracth explanisve normals covering the screen?!!! Rrrrr

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Kid

    Thanks for the outside opinion man! That was a great read and i will definitely take what you said into account. ><

    ReplyDelete

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