Project Showcase: Landschapslumen by Beeldjutters

Between all the EDM LED screen madness and the onslaught of geometric projection mapping, sometimes it's nice to see something completely different.

Such a thing is Landschapslumen by the Dutch artist collective Beeldjutters:


Dwaallumen (pilot).
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Our name is Beeldjutters, and we have a long-term project which is called Landschapslumen. We create images which we use to transform a landscape into a surreal spectacle. The first version of Landschapslumen was shown at the Dutch Oerol Theatre Festival in 2010. Following a successful try-out year, the installation returned to the 2011 edition of the festival in a large-scale version with 14 beamers projecting onto the sand dunes near the sea. Since then, we projected on the forest, snow, palm trees and other landscapes. Back in those days we used to work with Wings Platinum. Nowadays, we mainly work with Resolume Arena and sometimes old-school DVD players. Resolume gives us more freedom to experiment and to see instant results.



Sneeuwlumen

For our latest project Dwaallumen we need this freedom because we need to create a dialogue in projected images with the dancers, musicians and actors. For example to add extra arms and hands in the shadows of de musician, or double reversed silhouettes of the dancers, or even project a fish with the head of an actor flying through the landscapes. Our work stands in stark contrast to the techno bombast that you usually see in the clubs. Most of the time we don’t use advanced 3D mapping, but focus on the narrative images. However, we do use the mapping options very often to place the images in our landscapes and create the desired composition.

Come and experience Dwaallumen, 3 oktober in Utrecht. Tickets are available at our website. In december, Landschapslumen is shown at Amsterdam Light Festival. For more info, please visit http://www.landschapslumen.nl (mainly in Dutch, sorry!)

New Footage: Visions of the Future

These three new releases all show us glimpses of worlds that were hitherto unimaginable.

New artist on the label Catmac takes us on a psychedelic trip in his pack HallucinoGene. Lazy summer days....
HallucinoGene by Catmac



STV in Motion tells us a story of an alternate reality as well. Gear up for some steampunk!
SteampunkVision by STV in Motion



And Daniel Knight delivers the goods with some high-tech FutureTech.
FutureTech by Daniel Knight

Brace Yourself, Workshops Are Coming in October!

This October, we'll be hosting another round of Resolume workshops.

Whether you've just been bitten by the visual bug, or if you're a hardened veteran that wants to get more out of your favourite software, we got a session for you. Or sign up for the whole week to get a crash course on all things Resolume!

New this time is the Creating Content workshop. Using Resolume to create visuals is a great way to get to know the possibilities of the software. More importantly, it's a lot of fun in the process!

New things will be learned! Fun will be had! Sign up now!

10661678_10152716021948288_1322304351031590795_o.jpg
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Getting Started Resolume Workshop
Monday 20 October 2014
5 hours. From zero to hero. No experience required.

This workshop teaches you all you need to know to start VJ'ing with Resolume.

Starting with the basics on how to load and trigger clips, you'll be compositing multiple videos, applying realtime effects and using live cameras in no time.

First hand knowledge from the developers themselves will make sure you'll pick up a few things even the pros don't know about.

The focus will be on practical knowledge and skills, and we'll show you how to best prepare your footage, how to connect to a projector, and before the day is over, you'll be VJ'ing on the big screen yourself!


Advanced Resolume Workshop
Tuesday 21 October 2014
5 hours. Basic experience required.

This is for everyone who already has some experience with VJ'ing in general, but wants to get to the nitty gritty of the many options Resolume has to offer.

Sync clips to the BPM or have effects pop to the music. Use Cue Points and the Beatloopr to remix your footage on the fly. Streamline your signal flow and get your compositions and decks organized.

We'll go over every nook and cranny, and leave no stone unturned. At the end of the day, not only will Resolume have no more secrets to you, you'll also have the skills to take your visual sets to the next level.


Creating Content With Resolume Workshop
Wednesday 22 October 2014
5 hours. Basic experience required.

During this workshop, you'll learn how you can use all of the features of Resolume to create high quality content, without the need for After Effects or Cinema4D.

Creating content with Resolume is a great way to see all the possibilities that Resolume has to offer. You'll combine sources, effects, blend modes, audio input and parameter animation to create powerful visuals from scratch. It's a great way to challenge yourself to do new things in new ways.

Keyframes are soooo 2008.


Live performance with Resolume
Thursday 23 October 2014
5 hours. Basic experience required.

Okay. So you know the basics. You know which buttons to push and how to control effects in realtime.

But when do you push that button? And which effects do you apply where? And how to map that shiny new midi controller or iPad?

This workshop will show you how to set up Resolume so that you can quickly improvise to changes in the music. Because it's much more fun to be creative with your content, instead of trying to remember which button does what.


Projection Mapping with Resolume Arena Workshop
Friday 24 October 2014
5 hours. Advanced experience required.

Warning, when this workshop is over, you'll never again be able to look at the objects around you without trying to warp video on them in your head.

Projection mapping has been the buzz word in the land of live visuals for a while now. This workshop lets you get in on the hype!

We'll go over the tools you have at your disposal when mapping with Resolume. Using the powerful warping features of Arena, you can tackle any surface. And if one projector wasn't enough, we'll show you how to extend your maps across multiple projectors.

New Footage Releases: The Season Ain't Over

You've been banging lush content at every summer festival, but let's be honest, you could always use some more.

We've got you covered. 3 new packs to keep you going with fresh pixels at every stage, from sun up till sun down, straight through the night and back out the other end.

Video2000 rocks some bold colour choices with a slick drop shadow.
http://www.resolume.com/footage/linearecta



The second release by Ican Agoesdjam is a minimal banger, with a touch of glitch and op-art.
http://www.resolume.com/footage/dashbase



And Laak drops another pack of his signature style popping colors and dito animation.
http://www.resolume.com/footage/kosmo

Gorgeous AV Production by Bob White

Occasionally, a certain project will catch your eye. When you start watching and listening, you find yourself drifting away for a few minutes. The acoustic and the optic will blend together to one beautiful harmony.

Such a project is Intermittently Intertwined by Bob White. Take a moment out of your day, and watch this in HD with some good speakers.

[youtubeshort]http://youtu.be/acqIfU-UsaI[/youtubeshort]

We were even more amazed when we found out that the video above is actually created in realtime. It's not often someone is equally talented at music, motion design as well as coding. So we had to find out more about the project.

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Bob explains:

The basic rig is:
Ableton > Network Midi > ofApp > Syphon > Resolume > Avermedia GameHD

In Maya I make a series of quick geometric loft animations and export these as alembic files (.abc). Alembic files are point cache animation files that are typically used to transfer dynamic simulations from say Houdini to Maya. Because I wanted the geometric element to "grow", alembic is a good vehicle as I'm animating vertices.

The brilliant ofxalembic addon loads alembic files as meshes in OpenFrameworks. Because my geometry is fairly low poly count, I can run a lot of them at the same time triggered by Midi notes. Surprisingly even with a lot of polys, playback of abc files is very fast.

My ofApp is very much a work in progress and the code is sketchy at best. The app has ~25 slots for abc files per scene. Additionally, I setup 6 scenes that can be switched with OSC messages. Each abc file can be triggered by an incoming Midi note and there are controls to randomize the playing of single abc files (single actions) or triggering sections of an abc file in sequence (sequence of actions).

I recorded a song I wrote in Ableton and setup a number of Network Midi tracks to send data to my ofApp. I then paint notes that drive the animation. The network midi sends trigger data directly to ofApp. Additionally I send minimal OSC messages to change scenes in my app.

ofxAlembic.png

I love the Resolume M4L devices and I would use them, but because I've finalised the song mix in the session view I used the showsync.info M4L devices to convert midi notes to OSC. The OSC changes scenes, clears the screen, and moves the camera. Alternatively, if I were working in the session view, perhaps looping or performing live, I would use the Resolume M4L on clip launch to send OSC.

The ofApp has Syphon enabled so I can display it in Resolume. I have some effects on it like Mirror and Edge Detection to sweeten it up. Like I said, next i would love to explore Ableton control more of the params in Resolume. I would also love to make put this whole app in a FFGL plugin that way I wouldn't have to rely on Syphon. So much to learn :)

Alone the animation is kinda static if it were not for the mirror effect. It's refreshing to be able to easily change the character of the animation using Resolume in real time. Having the ability to "paint" the animation, see the layered effects in real time, I think allows for a more immediate process. For me it's important to be able to work fast so not to get caught up in minutia.


Check out more of Bob's work at http://www.bobwhitemedia.com

Resolume 4.1.11 - Gotta catch 'em all!

First there was 4.1.9.
Then there was 4.1.10.
Now here's 4.1.11.

Bugs are like Pokemon. It's hard to catch them all.

But we keep going. Because we love you.

4.1.11 is a free update, available from the downloads page...

[Fixed] Crash with some DXV encoded files.
[Fixed] Some thumbnails are upside down.
[Fixed] Alpha not recognised in Animation / ProRes codecs.
[Fixed] Crop doesn't work on 4.1.10.
[Fixed] Turning on Show Display and Slice info, disables all output.
[Fixed] Mouse cursor does not change in Advanced Output Transform mode.

New Footage Releases: Alchemic Minimal Bling

Golly, do we have some bad boys for you!

Firstly, we're very proud to introduce you to Ican*Agoesdjam, a VJ and motion designer from Indonesia. His first pack is called Paragon, and it mixes like butter.


http://www.resolume.com/footage/paragon

Secondly, STV in Motion delves into strange techo-alchemy on his new pack BeatReaction.


http://www.resolume.com/footage/beatreaction

And thirdly, Luminator never ceases to surprise with his new pack LuCore, full of buggy bling.


http://www.resolume.com/footage/lucore

New Footage Releases: A Little Different

This footage release contains the work by three artists that each have a very unique approach to creating content.

Joris does it with code. His Plexus FFGL plugin comes as a bonus to the loop pack created with it.

http://www.resolume.com/footage/plexus



Muzencab does it extreme. He explores the limits of visual perception and then goes well beyond them.

http://www.resolume.com/footage/Complementary



And VJ Hummer does it retro. As usual, he's rocking the bold graphical style that he does so well.

http://www.resolume.com/footage/mazerunners

Resolume 4.1.9 Update: Sweating the Small Things

//Edited 27/5 with 4.1.10 update info //

Resolume 4.1.9 is a happier and smarter Resolume. 4.1.10 is even happier.

Thanks to your quick and awesome user feedback, we were able to squash a few important bugs that had snuck their way in to the 4.1.9 release. So here's the 4.1.10 update which fixes the following bugs:

[FIXED] Glitches and crashes with some clean aperture clips
[FIXED] Twitch does not load correctly on PC and OSX 10.6.8
[FIXED] Slice stacking order is reversed
[FIXED] Alpha layer blend mode and Alpha clip transition do not work well together
[FIXED] Flash crash on Mac when removing with X button on the clip panel

Stay calm and download 4.1.10.

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For this update we focused on workflow improvements. Check out the video for a quick overview of the eye catchers.


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We tweaked lots of little things in lots of little places. The devil is in the details, so while you’re downloading, check out the full release notes below.

A special note to people on OSX Mavericks: in some cases, Resolume’s performance would drop when the menu bar on the second screen was disabled via ‘Displays have separate Spaces’ in the Mission Control system settings.

In 4.1.9, we are removing the menu bar automatically. So we recommend enabling ‘Displays have separate Spaces’ again in the preferences of your Mac.

Triangulate.png

NEW: Scroll to layer and clip when made active with shortcut
NEW: Disable scroll to layer and clip via Preferences
NEW: The playhead and In and Out points show their values in MM:SS:FF
NEW: When position x/y is animated, set default in and out points to comp size
NEW: When a monitor is lost, it is disabled instead of moved to the remaining monitor
NEW: Remember deck scroll position per deck
NEW: Show audio codec
NEW: Audio FFT Gain knob is midi mappable
NEW: Polish translation ( thanks to Marek Olczak! )
NEW: PolkaDot, Triangulate and Twitch effects

Polish.png

FIXED: Output doesn’t cover Menu Bar on second screen on Mavericks
FIXED: Alpha Transition crossfade
FIXED: [CRASH] Selecting a buffer size of 64 or lower gives spinning wheel of death on Mavericks
FIXED: Black level compensation no worky
FIXED: Saturation filter doesn't actually saturate
FIXED: RGB Delay does not initialise the viewport correctly
FIXED: When show display and slice info is turned on, syphon displays show "no device"
FIXED: Screen (both interface and output) flash black when dragging a clip from the browser
FIXED: Syphon source does not have a duration
FIXED: No worky for different user on OSX
FIXED: On windows startup, the last layer is selected
FIXED: Position X/Y does not have a midi range for spinner
FIXED: Transitions are wonky when incoming clip is Syphon source
FIXED: Opening a VST ui for the second time gives a blank white window
FIXED: Composition Midi Map shortcuts for BPM Tap/Pauese/Resync/-+ are not saved
FIXED: SMPTE stutters after ~30 minutes
FIXED: Recording a file with special accents in the name did not save and load correctly
FIXED: Composition master opacity is multiplied with slice alpha
FIXED: Autopilot does not kick in at the right moment after scrubbing the playhead
FIXED: Bright line on edge blend
FIXED: Disable Quit Confirmation doesn't work on Windoze
FIXED: Menubar pops up when using a parameter from property panel in windows
FIXED: [CRASH] when creating a new comp when the advanced output is open
FIXED: Cursor no snappy on folded effects
FIXED: If Show in Finder/ Explorer is chosen, would be nice if the file is also actually selected
FIXED: Waveform zoom does not go away when switching to empty clip

MMSSFF.png

Spout - Sharing Video between Applications on Windows

Do you like stringing apps together like they are sneakers? Do you like the wonderful Syphon framework, but don’t have a Mac?

Then rejoice. Thanks to the efforts of Lynn and Robert Jarvis, there is now an easy way of doing exactly that.

It's called Spout.

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For Resolume users, the system works by installing two FFGL plugins and a utility app. You can then play the output of any Spout enabled application like a camera in Resolume. This means you can use all the effects in Resolume on your generative visuals made in Processing or VVVV. You can also map your projection easily, without having to write your own projection mapping tool while you're at it.

The other way also works. You can apply the Spout effect anywhere in Resolume to send the output to another Spout Receiver.

The real beauty of the framework is that its well documented and easy to use. Setting up takes less than a minute. Using it is a matter of filling out the correct sender and receiver names. This really makes Spout worth its weight in gold ( “But it’s software, so it really doesn’t really weigh anything. That analogy doesn’t make any sense.” “Shut up inner voice! I do what I want! ”)

Supported apps include Processing, VVVV, Jitter and VIZZable. Example code is available for openFrameworks and Cinder. Support in Isadora and Touch Designer is rumoured to be on the way.

Head over to http://spout.zeal.co/ to read more, ask questions on their forum and of course download. But not before you’ve pressed that Donate button, because quality work like this deserves your support.

Now let's make some awesome things happen.