Onoxo: Clean exp

Onoxo: Pipet filters

Onoxo is the project name of Zagreb-based VJ and motion designer Vedran Kolac. Working in VVVV, he creates forms that tend towards the architectural while retaining an organic quality. His work is proof positive of the potential of VVVV for creating generative live visuals. Be sure to take a look at the movie version of Clean Exp.

Kolac is also a part of the Strukt Visual Network, a collective operating out of Austria which puts out a magazine for graphic design and live visuals. Strukt has also become a gathering point for various projects, such as the Redestrukt Visual Crew and other spinoffs. In a VJ scene that has yet to find a coherent voice, Strukt stands out as a group that communicates both loudly and clearly.

Joreg: triko

The clever boygroup boys over at Meso have released a new version of their patching programming tool VVVV , vvvv_33beta9. It fixes some bugs and adds a few nodes, as well as making a few old ones a bit more useful.

See our previous post for more info if this is the first time you hear of VVVV. As always, the vvvv screenshots on the Wiki contain a snapshot of what people have been working on lately, published directly from inside the tool.

Paul over at dataisnature.com blogged some nice links to VVVV projects, like Joreg’s triko music video and David Dessens’ shell-like objects. I can only second his approval.

Meso: VVVV

Oval: do while x (video)

Sebastian Oschatz is a German media artist and educator with a background in Computer Science. At one point he was a third of the experimental music ensemble Oval, famous for their uncompromising systems-based approach to the creation of sound. Oval did away with instruments and musical structures, pioneering the use of “glitch” sounds and microsamples. In 1995 Oschatz created a series of generative music videos for Oval , using custom software running on a SGI Onyx supercomputer. The group later split up, but documentation of their activities are available from the Oval archive.

Oschatz is one of the founders of the Frankfurt-based media company Meso, established in 1997 to work with experimental media interfaces and interactive installations. Meso works with big name clients like Lufthansa, FIFA and Volkswagen, creating computational exhibition designs.

Meso is also the developer of the visual programming tool VVVV, created originally to run Meso’s own projects. VVVV has since snowballed into a freely available programming environment with a growing fan base. VVVV is well-suited for realtime video synthesis, and gives easy access to a range of control protocols like MIDI, OSC and DMX-512. In general it is an excellent tool for sound-responsive visual performance. See the previous blog entry on VVVV for more details.

In addition to Meso, Oschatz co-founded Involving Systems, a label for interactive audio works. The concept behind Involving Systems is to involve the visitor in the music-making process, exposing it to manipulation through lo-fi interaction devices. A good example is inv.sys.3.1, an “interactive breakbeat entertainment system”. A leitmotif in Oschatz’ work is an interest in a system-based approach to creation and the use of physical interfaces to open the work up to interaction. For some of his own thoughts on the subject, read this interview with frequency magazine.

Sebastian Oschatz will give a presentation at the Generator.x conference. He will also be exhibiting a new piece for the “Code as Material” section of the Generator.x exhibition.

Relevant links:

• Sebastian Oschatz
• Oval archive
• Meso
• VVVV
• Involving Systems

Meso: VVVV visual programming tool

VVVV is a patch-based visual programming environment for real-time graphics, video processing and installation control. It was created by the Meso group in Frankfurt, who originally designed it as a tool to develop their own projects.

Similar in operation to Max/MSP but focused on visuals and show control, VVVV is Windows only, sacrificing portability for hardware acceleration using DirectX 9. It’s free software, but not Open Source. It’s visual programming style makes it a unique alternative to text-based programming systems like C++, Java, Flash or Processing.

One of the most exciting uses of VVVV is for live visuals. Unlike compiled programming languages, patching systems like VVVV are constantly running, so it’s even possible to “program live”. In performance use the tool feels very responsive and allows live improvisation. Using the AudioIn and FFT nodes, sound-responsive graphics are easy to create. VVVV also interfaces easily with a wide range of input and output protocols such as RS232, MIDI and DMX-512 for show control or installation use.

The most unique feature of VVVV is the “boygrouping” feature. Boygrouping is a way of setting up a piece to render on a cluster of separate PCs using a master-slave distribution setup, allowing easy multiple-projection output.

For examples of the tool in use, see the Screenshot of the day, published by VVVV users directly from the software itself.