Processing (BETA) 122 released. Download here. New core libraries for loading SVG (built on the Candy library from Michael Chang) and XML files are added. The EnvironmentXML library from Usman Haque is added to the libraries index.
Some assorted updates and snippets
A portable computer on the back, a DS in the holster, the roaming visualist is ready to spin live eye candy in any situation, with only an S-Video port and four drink tickets to the bar.
Yes, if you happened to catch the wireless MIDI controller here on CDMo before it hit the rest of the blogosphere, I have good news: the download for DSMIDIWiFi is available today. You can now transmit MIDI from your DS to control your computer with no hardware other than a flash cart for running homebrew apps.
And, since Collin and Tob released their source into the wild, programmers out there have a great foundation for creating other apps. That means, not only is the DS Lite a tax write-off for the working VJ, it could be a student’s digital media thesis project, too. (Heck, one piece of software provides both the project AND procrastination options, all in one, compact device …)
File this next to the ndsvisuals project, which transmits via TCP and UDP, and is specially configured for visuals, including clip triggering and ordering, live scratching, and extra visual feedback on the DS screen. Unlike DSMIDIWiFi, ndsvisuals still isn’t ready for download, but you can bet we’ll let you know when it is. And developers / hobbyist programmers, it’s worth visiting the ndsvisuals page for additional ideas and resources — the WiFi communications component was already out there and enabled both projects, for instance.
Via MIDI or UDP, it would be possible to hook up the DS to software like Processing (both MIDI and UDP) or Flash (MIDI with some work, probably better off with UDP) in addition to the traditional VJ apps. Processing + Nintendo DS sounds like an especially tasty option to me.
Lastly, if you’re looking for an easy solution for running all this homebrew goodness, the DS-X shows lots of promise. All you need now is a game to suck up the rest of your time, but I’m guessing you can figure that part out for yourself. (I suggest Mario Kart, naturally.)
Now get that stylus finger twitching:
DSMIDIWiFi Free Download: Turn Your Nintendo DS into a Wireless Synth and Controller (Now Available!) [Create Digital Music]
Nintendo DS as VJ Controller, with vvvv and Homebrew Developer Tools
DS-X and Homebrew Apps (probably the most plug-and-play solution) [Create Digital Music]
controllers, DS, Flash, gaming, hacks, homebrew, MIDI, Nintendo, processing.org, programming, software, wifi, wireless
I’ve updated the Processing moviemaker library. Implemented more codecs and I think I fixed the Intel Mac bugs (but no way to tell since I don’t have one.) Hopefully nothing else broke in the process. Anyone reading this on an intel mac or windows machine, please test and let me know, thanks! Oh, and documentation coming soon!
Daniel Brown has an impressive resume. Besides being named the London Design Museum's UK Designer of the year in 2004, his portfolio is chock-full of first class work. His commission for the British Council, for example, features generated animations projected onto ceramics - giving a peek into the future of hi-tech surfaces. Elsewhere, his Software as Furniture initiative explores the use of plasma screens and projections as replacements for static wallpaper.
While I hesitate to put myself in the same bracket as such an accomplished artist, there are certainly some similar currents running underneath our work. It is very inspirational to me, see someone working in this medium in such an impressive and successful way. I will certainly be following Daniel's work closely.
I have been working on a new project which has me a bit excited. Its fairly basic but has a great deal of potential to be a nice A/V piece. Here are a couple videos.
The thinking behind this piece is fairly straightforward. Make a node, send out a bunch of arcs from that node but label one as being ’special’. The non-special arcs will simply end when they reach the ground again, but the ’special’ one will continue the process and make a bunch of new arcs ad infinitum.
To keep things from getting bogged down over time, each node has a lifespan. Once the age reaches the lifespan, the corresponding arcs will retract and eliminate themselves.
There is also a fairly robust dynamic camera system which follows the ’special’ path. It has a nice random but controlled appearance which was actually a happy mistake. The camera maintains a distance from the tip of the special arcs as they grow and this distance is represented by a sine wave. It also rotates a bit by determining the angle in which the ’special’ arc is growing and moving around that angle in another sine wave.
Here is another video of a simple particle system that I tried to implement but it ended up detracting from the simplicity of the original version so I made this video showing just the particles and no arcs.
Also worthy of note is the presence of antialiasing which Processing on a Mac was having a hard time of dealing with. A friend did a quick recompile of Processing with the necessary changes to make it use hardware level antialiasing. Here is a before image:
… and an after image:
Hooray nerds!
I posted a couple of weeks back about the 'Into the Woods…' collection that my artwork is to be part of at the Digital Well Being Showroom, in London. The collection opens on Thursday the 23rd, with an opening event featuring live performances by digital music artists and a projection installation by yours truly.
I just took a look at some of the other products that will be included in the collection, and boy-o-boy, did it get my geek blood running. Of particular note are Vahakn Mattosian's Microscopy Table, and Owl project's iLogs.
If you are in London, you should head on down and check this out. And post photos. And video. And tell amusing stories.
Florian Jenett hat eine erste Version seines Projekts builtwithprocessing online gestellt. Das ganze ist eine Art Meta-Sketchbook, das Applets die mit Processing erstellt wurden und im Internet stehen sucht und auflistet. Damit die Seiten aufgenommen werden müssen sie folgende Bedingungen erfüllen. Die Sketches müssen online sein (klar), der Source Code muss online und verlinkt sein und der String “Built with Processing”, der beim Export der Applets mit Processing automatisch erstellt wird, muss auf der Seite stehen.
Bisher sind 4221 Sketches von 479 verschiedene Domains in der Datenbank. Die Liste kann man anhand der Domain- oder Sketchnamen durchsuchen, aber da wird sich wahrscheinlich noch einiges tun. Demnächst sollen zu jedem Sketch Srceenshots angezeigt werden. Sinnvoll wäre sicherlich auch ein Ratingsystem,die Vergabe von Tags oder eine Kommentarfunktion.
Lustig ist, dass er zwar meine Sketche von der Homepage nicht auflistet da sie nicht den String “Built with Processing” enthalten, dafür aber zwei alte Sachen die ich schon längst vergessen hatte und die nur so auf meinem Server rumliegen.
Final quick post before the workshop tomorrow… um, crap, look at the time… that would be today. You can find a simple tutorial en français here on how to configure Arduino and Wiring. More examples will follow, of course.
processing[11] = “Arduino|Wiring” ;
Pour ceux qui seront au cours demain (ou ceux qui veulent suivre en ligne), voici une petite introduction rapide aux cartes Arduino et Wiring. Plus de cours à suivre, comme d’habitude.
My Travel Time Tube Map is mentioned at the end of Peter Ackroyd’s City of Illusions article for the New Statesman. Here’s a direct link if you’ve just arrived from there:
On Thursday night, I'll be taking part in a round-table discussion about acheiving balance between our professional lives and our 'real' lives. The panelists have a range of experience both inside and outside of the hi-tech and design worlds, and it will be interesting to see where the discussion goes.
I'll be the one advocating working less and playing more.
If you are in Vancouver, come out and join in on the discussion:
NMBC DEBATE - Work/Life Balance: Empty Promise or Key to Happiness?
DATE: November 23rd, 2006
LOCATION: VFS - 420 Homer Street
REGISTRATION: 4:30PM
PRESENTATION START: 5:00 PM
WRAP-UP: 7:00 PM
My Travel Time Tube Map is mentioned at the end of Peter Ackroyd’s City of Illusions article for the New Statesman. Here’s a direct link if you’ve just arrived from there:
Short post for all those who are getting ready (like me) for the ENIAROF Video Arcade workshop which starts tomorrow : I’ve just added a class on how to register noise in Processing and thereby enabling yelling at your computer: processing[10] = “Chanter|Gueuler” ;. This can come in very handy when making video games.
Another article should come later (this evening) on the basics of using Arduino/Wiring with Processing.