Hand Drawn Mapping from Retchy


You read it right. Part of our creative community since 2007, Retchy (aka Graeme Hawkins) is a quirky animator with a curious esthetic sensibility and a taste for making it live. Graeme’s work is definitely a soft spot for me. There is humor, illustration and a general air of adventure and sincerity.

Via the message system on vimeo I was able to ask him a few questions about this project and his relationship to modul8 and vjing:

m8.us: In one of your clips you mention that you were making it for VJing and you did not get to VJ or something like that. Is this still true?

Graeme: Yeah I’ve only just started in the last few months to actually get out there and do some vjing with a friend – that film was just an FCP edit of some content I’d created a while ago and which I’m now using in vj sets. To be honest, my VJ skills aren’t really up to scratch yet. I need a lot more practice and content… love playing about with theses techniques though.

m8.us: Are you using a midi controller? If yes which one?

Graeme: I’ve got an M-Audio Trigger Finger drum pad that I use for triggering clips and cross fading etc, and a Behringer 2000R that I don’t really use much.

m8.us: I love the TF. Its quite possibly my favorite. Its a damn shame that it has been discontinued. Can you expand a little bit more on the live drawing mapping project? Your ideas behind it? Motivations?

Graeme: The project was part of my studies at Norwich University College of the Arts where I was doing an MA in animation and sound design. It was really a series of experiments using the mapping technique, trying to find different uses for it other than on architectural, ‘static’ objects, but I kind of ran out of time for it on the course as I had to move on to other projects. With the first few tests I was trying to create floating, animated objects that I could move the camera around to create the illusion of movement.

The hand drawn version was really just an attempt to get away from the sterile, neon glow of the other tests you can see on my website, and I had grand visions of a really intricate, detailed setup with loads more transitions and movements (something similar to Michel Gondry’s White Stripes projection video) but I just didn’t have the time or resources to do anything like that. Plus it was bloody cold in the middle of winter in an abandoned warehouse – I couldn’t leave the set up over night cos it might have been stolen, so everything had to be done pretty quickly and with very stiff fingers :D

My knowledge of the technology was perhaps a bit limited back then too – it was a struggle to get the dualhead2go even working! – but I reckon I could do something much better now if I were to go back to it.

And with that we both ‘got back to it.’

If you’re looking for some inspiration overload I highly recommend having a look at Graeme’s website and his vimeo page. Personally looking forward to seeing him expand and blend his crazy animations with his ideas for mapping objects.

posted by admin @ 26 February, 2010 0 comments »

VisionSonore creates mapping display for MINI store in Paris


I had planned to post this tomorrow but this was such good thing that I could not hesitate and posted a day in advance. The company of Gael Abegg Gauthey, the Annecy based VisionSonore, were commissioned by TBWA to create a mapping display for the MINI Cooper store in Paris. The campaign is called ‘Live’ and highlights all of the activities that can be done when they buy themselves a MINI. Gael confirms that for this particular installation they used three beamers, two laptops and (appropriately enough) a Mac Mini. From the module end, the setup was rather straight forward, using the Paint module to create masks and the SlideShow module to run through the clips.

posted by admin @ 12 February, 2010 0 comments »

Sweden report, Sonom again, Oigovisiones


[ Audiovisual live based on sinusoidal waves ] from Sonom on Vimeo

I have a bunch of things to write about but this video above from Borja Alexander of Sonom. Water is one of those properties that does not come quickly to mind when working with computers. And here we have a pool a very, very cold water that is projected on with geometry responding to sound in real time. This is somewhat less moody then previous works of Sonom but no less otherworldly.

Just recovering from the past weekends festivities at PixelVärk. Some special special memories collected from this experience like walking a few kilometers, ankle deep in snow through fields and forrest, dimly lit with a half moon to take a bus into Gothenburg. Helping setup a video wall at club Nefertiti and in the process getting to know VJs of the area, most associated in the Swedish VJ Union. Chatting with a very enthusiastic couple who came up from Copenhagen and like to VJ to Balkan music. I also had a chance to meet up with part of the Startsladd crew again, the discussion led to an interview I am conducting with Andreas Apelqvist about the Startsladd project Club Visual Planet, coming to you in a future post.

Sadly I had too much stuff to cary with me, 2 midi controllers, small LED lamp, DMX controller, all in one backpack and the camera got left behind. The Midi Thief (aka Mikael Wehner) was taking a lot of photos so I hope we can see some of those at some point.

The weekend ended with trip off usual path to a similar world of obsessions, at the recommendation of a friend, GOTO80, Mikael and I took a cab to an industrial park area of Gothenburg to see the week end long demoparty, Datastorm. If you are not familiar with the demoscene, the basics are that computer enthusiasts use older computers like the Commodore 64 or the Amiga to create short animated sequences with music that represent their skills in coding, design and sound. The demoparties bring the community of demoscene creators together to compete in various categories. The animations are never rendered but are played back in ‘real time’ as you would do if you used the animation FX in modul8 or if you coded it using the module system.

What really excited me about this party, besides beer drinking computer enthusiasts was how people were gathered together and motivated to do something, to be creative amongst other creative people. There were no big sponsors and you could actually talk with people about what they were doing. It reminded me somewhat of LPM in Rome, the ongoing bustling activity, a cycle of presentation and creation. It was spirited and therefore liberating.


DesOrbitArte CUE Berlin TorpeDeArte from JERONI on Vimeo

If C64 and Amiga programming is not your style there are a variety of other activities that combine social activities with creation. The video above features a semi-time lapsed video of a party with visuals created on the spot by Visual Berlin’s one and only beloved
Oigovisiones films. Not the entire video is dedicated to his humorous VJing, but the overall concept of this event is quite endearing. Get a bunch of people together, put up a green screen and camera, take video portraits of everyone who attends, get some bananas and then promote it on sites like qashqaiurbanlife. I am a huge fan of Oigovisiones. Unfortunately I can’t embed my favorite demo of his here for the same reason he got kicked out of doing visuals at a party in Berlin last year. Now that’s a reputation a VJ can stand on.

posted by admin @ 11 February, 2010 0 comments »

PixelVärk, Gothenburg, Sweden, modul8, workshop.


Opening Party, Gothenburg Film Festival from Startsladd on Vimeo.
They got the party started up in Gothenburg.

As promised here are some more precise details in regards to the modul8 workshops taking place in Gothenburg.

Who?

To start with there are two workshops. A basics workshop provided by the VJs who featured and published the video, Andreas Apelqvist and Dan Nordgren from the local VJ group Startsladd. This class is a prerequisite for the advanced class that I will host. Please do not let the advanced label scare you away. Take the basics class and you can enter the advanced class with head held high.

When?

The basics class is on Thursday, February 4th from 18h00 through 20h00.
The advanced class is on Saturday, February 6th from 14h00 through 18h00.

How?

Both workshops are free! But you will need to register for both because there is limited seating/computers available.
To register for the basics class access the related page and scroll to the bottom. For the advanced class access its page and do the same. The basics class will be done in Swedish or depending upon how many people who attend speak Swedish. The advanced class will be done in English because my Swedish is limited to saying hello.

Where?

The precise location is Södra Allégatan 1B. The google location is in the link. But you still need to register to know the exact room. Fun secret VJ society stuff.

I recall quite a few requests in the past from people in Coppenhagen about a modul8 workshop. Gothenburg is only about four lovely hours by train. May be well worth a free workshop no?

posted by admin @ 1 February, 2010 0 comments »