Modul8 at HBO Golden Globes 07′ L.A.

I was recently introduced to Bart Kresa of Bartkresa Design. The focus of his company is outdoor projections for a variety of media events and out door promotional displays. For the HBO Golden Globes installation a hybrid analog digital projection was used. 6kW PANI slide projectors were used for the larger image and 1 video projector. Modul8 enters the picture through the video that is inside the HBO logo. To give a true human touch Markus Schneider of thismedia controlled the content of this logo and used a Lemur by JazzMutant to control the elements. The content of the logo was masked using the ‘Global Mask’ module that comes pre-installed with modul8.

One of the most important aspects I would like to point out about this project is the simplicity of the documentation. While the documentation itself can never replace the physical experience of how the project enhanced the space this is definitely a quick and simple approach with nicely formatted type and photos that effectively demonstrate to anyone interested what exactly was created and for what purpose. I also love the small details such as the reflection of the light on the water and providing a quick glance at what the environment looked like without the projections. Not the least important is how everyone involved in the project is given equal credit for their contributions to it.

posted by admin @ 27 October, 2008 0 comments »

More Lemur + Modul8 love.

A not so recent post from VJ Kungfu with a slightly less elaborate approach but nicely described and prescribed. I remember seeing this first time and being really inspired by the possibilities.

A higher quality version is available on the VJ Kungfu website

posted by admin @ 30 June, 2008 0 comments »

Fun with modul8 and the Lemur

I have been putting the finishing touches on the eventually to be printed manual that I have been writing for modul8. We have a few relaxing partnerships with some cool hardware people out there. We have had the Lemur on loan from JazzMutant for some time now and I am finally able to have an excuse to sit down with it a bit seeing what my brain will do with it.

If you have not heard of it yet it is a pre-iPhone multi-touch screen that allows you to build your own interface for any performance software application that supports Open Sound Control or as it is commonly known in the geek music realm as OSC. I have actually known about the Lemur since about 2005 or 6. A friend, the sound artist o.blatt was given one on loan and some time later we hosted a demonstration of the Lemur at one of the SHARE events held at the now gone Sub-Tonic.

I was impressed with what the sexy thing could do but the sticker price put it out of the field in terms of something that I actually needed. Nevertheless during my first trip to Geneva in 2005 for the first Mapping Festival I mentioned OSC mainly because of the fact that it is not limited to the paltry 128 bytes that MIDI is ‘stuck’ with. They said they would look into it. I am pretty sure that I was not responsible for its eventual support within modul8. Nevertheless there it is. Unfortunately the Lemur is still the only device out there that I know of that support OSC. A pity too.

I do very much enjoy playing around with it. Check out the neat little sentry like figures I accidentally composed when building an interface for controlling two layers.

Many moons ago our friend in Japan Yoshiharo Okudaira bought a Lemur and made a little video demonstrating its use with modul8.

The Lemur is finally getting a lot more exposure these days. Last summer I attended this mega music festival in Nyon. Bjork occupied the headline dressed in what I would deem a potato sack. Sorry Bjork. They also had some really bad visual accompaniment that consisted of live feeds where some thoughtless video technician blurred her image or put a mosaic filter on it. Someone did get the brilliant idea to point another camera onto a Lemur one the musicians was using. In the following days lay people who also saw the show would tell me ‘The visuals were amazing! They had this image a very cool screen that someone was manipulating with their fingers’ and I would casually say ‘Oh that. That is a…’

posted by admin @ 10 June, 2008 0 comments »