topological media

TML collective creative research projects 2008: Touch, Remedios Terrarium, IL Y A

2008-01-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

Forgive me for writing to you en masse, because I much prefer to talk 1-1 with each of you. But the year is already four days old, we haven't the time to talk enough yet, and my arms' nerves hurt from too much "communicating."

I'm really delighted that you've come (back) to the TML variously this past Fall. (And I'm delighted to welcome Patrick from U Manitoba and Freida from Brown U as as visiting student creator-researchers.) Each of you brings craft and art that I esteeem, Some of you have practices that are already developed to a considerable degree, so please pardon me for "flattening" the perspective by addressing you collectively. (But time has been brief with me, and my arms hurt :)

I'm inviting you to work together with me and others in the TML in a more concerted, team-based way this term on one of our three public exhibit-events as assistant creation-researchers:

(1) TOUCH - a video of a performance-installation to be completed in January for a dance-film competition, exploring themes of emergence of subjectivity from material/movement fields;

(2) REMEDIOS TERRARIUM - FoFA gallery exhibition-event to be presented in March 17 - April, exploring alchemical homologies between interior and exterior activity;

(3) IL Y A room-scale installation exploring contrapuntal, distributed modes of other and agency, to ramp up May through summer.

What can I offer in exchange for your volunteered energy is the opportunity to learn some craft in TML's collective extended-theatre production and real-time media. Most importantly, I can offer the opportunity to carry on a knowledge-generating conversation with me and fellow travelers about distributed modes of agency and materiality, and ethico-aesthetic play. What this means emerges in concrete work, but if you're interested in where I'm coming from, please read http://www.topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei/papers/papers.htm

These are emerging as concrete installation-events that look and feel quite distinct, but hopefully will share some craft. Certainly we need to work in a concerted way if we're going to create something with high production value as well as ethico-aesthetic impact. This is why I'm inviting you to work as high-powered team-mates in these projects. These vary considerably in scale, and so have different production processes, which we'll discuss, but I'm inviting you to work closely with people who we'll entrust with project coordination responsibilities and power.*

We'll meet MONDAY 1-4 PM (in the TML, to start but may move elsewhere) for REMEDIOS TERRARIUM,
and to finalize the roles before Tuesday's campfire.

Friday today circa. 2 PM, for TOUCH, but this must be a very tight small team to get the video done in time. Freida, if you could join JS Tim today with Soo and Desh and me that'd be great!

Monday, I must turn in a tenure package, Tuesday night I am flying out to Vancouver, so must leave the EV building right after the campfire (maybe earlier if it snows!), and return Thursday 10 AM. Hence this hasty email. Please forgive me for addressing you en masse today -- we'll talk individually as you can come around to the TML this term.

Cheers,
Xin Wei

(*Power, as "Mao", "Foucault" and "Deleuze" pointed out, can serve life if distributed in vegetal ways.)

Wednesday Remedios Works Sessions

2008-01-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

I propose Wednesday works sessions for Remedios Terrarium.
1:30 in the TML.

The first one can be January 30.

Xin Wei

campfire notes jan 15 - 16h

2008-01-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the late/double/makeup post... it seems like the first one didn't like my pasting.
Note that this is echoed on the forum thread for campfires, started by Harry:
http://web1.hexagram.ca/~mifortin/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=25

Most of this meeting was discussion about ideas for the Remedios Terrarium installation. Please post any ideas, sketches, etc. to this blog!

present:
j-c
ludwig
michael
xin wei
marine
tim
patrick
valerie lamontagne
felix
soo
morgan
j-s
desh

guest: christophe (sorry for maybe misspelling!)

introductions

mark and ayesha to work with puppeteers in the lab this semester for the upcoming small works festival in NY city in march.

touch
- physical structure more in place now in the lab for testing
- scheduling a booking for the imca space for the weekend of 26th-27th (?)

remedios terrarium
- ideas - kinetic sculpture w/ patrick's direction
- possible to use as standalone sculptures or lens-like uses
- overall, could be viewed as a sort of autopoetic system, in that it can take in data from environment and react to it

- also opportunity to showcase jitter/msp instruments
- suggestion of using cameras and displays to reverse the direction of the 'lens' - using security cams to take input data, and using displays to show the other sides of the walls of the space

- suggestion of using lighting systems to work in a choreographed logic over the course of the installation

- incorporating a narrative logic using several intermediate states as separate interacting entities via the 3 rooms available at the gallery
- this is an extension/implementation of the lab's existing topological model

- an invitation to invite people to contribute to and refine the structural concepts and implementation of the piece

- patrick gave an overview of his nycrome-wire*, polyetheline-skin geometrical structures
- possibility to use them like lenses
- patrick will be bringing his gear to montreal over the next few weeks to be able to work on them here, and give a workshop or two on the process
- discussing the malleability of these structures, mounting via the floor, and projection possibilities to get different lighting effects and distortion in the air and on the walls of the space
- potential of using liquids (with care!) with these structures

- valerie mentioned she may be able to lend her weather polling machines (need to be mounted on a roof within 100m) and expertise of patrice, a max programmer, to give pointers on how to set up and configure them. (can poll humidity, uv, rain, temperature, various averages, etc.)

- space has a 60lb./sq.foot grid

- xw: space as a vescicle

- two events roughly planned for the space
- vernissage in the first or 2nd week
- at the end, mark and ayesha may be able to show a work in progress in a made-up theater in the space

- **send suggestions/discussions to the blog at tml.morscad**

- presentation by christophe on his PhD research directions

Campfire notes, Jan 15 - 16h-17h45

2008-01-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

campfire notes jan 15 - 16h

(please add/correct as needed)
(this text also exists in the campfire notes forum thread where future notes should be posted)

present:
j-c
ludwig
michael f.
xin wei
marine
tim
patrick
valerie lamontagne
felix
soo
morgan
j-s
desh

guest: christophe [(sorry, didn't get the spelling/last name!)]

- introductions

- mark and ayesha to work with puppeteers in the lab this semester for the upcoming small works festival in NY city in march.

**touch**
- physical structure more in place now in the lab for testing
- most if not all shooting will take place in the lab

**remedios terrarium**
- ideas - kinetic sculpture w/ patrick's direction
- possible to use as standalone sculptures or lens-like uses
- overall, could be viewed as a sort of autopoetic system, in that it can take in data from environment and react to it

- also opportunity to showcase jitter/msp instruments
- suggestion of using cameras and displays to reverse the direction of the 'lens' - using security cams to take input data, and using displays to show the other sides of the walls of the space

- suggestion of using lighting systems to work in a choreographed logic over the course of the installation

- incorporating a narrative logic using several intermediate states as separate interacting entities via the 3 rooms available at the gallery
- this is an extension/implementation of the lab's existing topological model

- an invitation to invite people to contribute to and refine the structural concepts and implementation of the piece

- patrick gave an overview of his nichrome-wire, Polyethylene-skin geometrical structures
- possibility to use them like lenses
- patrick will be bringing his gear to montreal over the next few weeks to be able to work on them here, and give a workshop or two on the process
- discussing the malleability of these structures, mounting via the floor, and projection possibilities to get different lighting effects and distortion in the air and on the walls of the space
- potential of using liquids (with care!) with these structures

- valerie mentioned she may be able to lend her weather polling machines (need to be mounted on a roof within 100m) and expertise of patrice, a max programmer, to give pointers on how to set up and configure them. (can poll humidity, uv, rain, temperature, various averages, etc.)

- space has a 60lb./sq.foot grid

- xw: idea would be to think of the space as a vesicle

- two events roughly planned for the space
- vernissage in the first or 2nd week
- at the end, mark and ayesha may be able to show a work in progress in a made-up theater in the space

- **send suggestions/discussions to the blog at tml**

- presentation by Christophe on his research

Remedios Terrarium March 17- April 4

2008-01-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Remedios' Terrarium
March 17 – April 4
Sha Xin Wei and the Topological Media Lab

Initial Proposal to Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery
Concordia University

Abstract (15 November 2007)

Remedios' Terrarium is about the circulation and transubstantiation of
matter in a built space. An installation-event springing from the
Topological Media Lab's recent work on responsive environments will form the
basis of the installation based on an alchemical homology between the
Gallery and the activity of the street and corridors outside. The artists
will create a site-specific installation with projections onto fibrous
material or screens that respond to the movement of visitors inside the
space, as well as the movement of passers-by outside. Visitors will be given
the opportunity to engage with movement artists in the responsive
built-space over the course of the installation.

Remedios' Terrarium is about the circulation and transubstantiation of matter in a built space.

We propose to exhibit a room-scale installation-event springing from the Topological Media Lab's recent work on responsive environments. We would like to create a small responsive space based on an alchemical homology between the Gallery itself as an protected chamber and the activity of the street and corridors outside.

We propose to create a site-specific installation with projections onto fibrous material or screens that respond to the movement of visitors inside the space, and perhaps also to the movement of passersby nearby. We've done a study that worked in the corridor outside the Gallery, last year, and have a series of installations from the Hexagram Blackbox to draw on. We use a combination of media: fibrous textile, scrim or screens, responsive projected video, responsive sound, sensor-laden textiles, theatrical lighting, and kinetic sculpture.

Events and Exhibit
We will have one opening vernissage and one closing event. A small number of movement artists will engage visitors in the responsive built space. In the typical setting, the responsive environment will evolve and respond quietly with no intervention needed by staff.

Technical needs:

1. The spaces
The installation will occupy the available footprint of the Main Gallery. It will be made of a combination of media, possibly sheets and strands of natural fibers, plastic or cloth sheet, some lightweight metal or plastic tubing, and small electronics.

(We probably will want the 4m "écran pivotant" swiveled flush with the main wall.)

We may produce prints for the vitrines (calligraphic work with dancers + painter/print-maker + responsive video)
We would probably want to store a couple of computers and accessory equipment safely in the Gallery's blackbox EV 1.721, with cables and power.

2. Grid
We may install our own camera(s) with no recording of identifiable features of passersby.
We will use the installed lighting, but may also supplement it with our own DMX controlled dimmers to be able to change the lighting in a controlled way.

3. Projectors
We ask to use the Gallery's projectors. (are there 2 or more than 2?)

4. Sound
We can bring our own powered speakers, probably a 4.1 system. It will be subtle, with occasional sonic "events." (It is not necessary, but does the Gallery have its own sound reinforcement system? PA speakers?)

To give an idea of what the installation could look like, here are some images from recent studies, and exhibits.

For example, the Ouija workshop:
http://www.topologicalmedialab.net/joomla/main/content/view/155/11/lang,en/

Note that this was a movement workshop, not an installation, but we will use some of the same media techniques in addition to physical, kinetic materials.

Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D.
Canada Research Chair, Media Arts and Sciences
Assoc. Professor • Fine Arts and Computer Science • Concordia University
EV06-769, 1515 Ste-Catherine West • Montréal, Québec • H3G 2W1 • CANADA
1-514-817-3505 (m) • 1-514-848-2424 x 5949 (art) • x 7801 (cs) • 1-514-848-4252 (fax)

MONDAY opening show and tell session

2007-11-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

Patrick and Dedale have arrived, and are in the BlackBox to work with TML this week.
Welcome!

All folks interested in playing in the Soft Architecture / Dedale workshop:

please come to our orientation show and tell session

TODAY MONDAY NOV 5, 14h - 17h

in the Hexagram Concordia Blackbox, basement B2 of the EV building.

Today we will show each other the ingredients,
From TML:
Elliot with Arduinos, maybe the 6' WYSIWYG tapestry
JS, Jitter
Morgan
Tim et al, mic's, MSP and sound processing
Morgan
Harry, DMX, lighting
Everyone present should have a chance to show work
e.g. Flower, Elena, Josee-Anne

Dedale folks:
all creatures

We (Patrick, Xin Wei, Harry) will get together with everyone at this session to map out also the large scale proto-structure,
decisions on where to drop , hang "infrastructure"

See you all in the Blackbox THIS AFTERNOON :)

Patrick, Harry, Xin Wei

Topological Media Lab • EV 7.725
packages: 1515 Ste. Catherine Ouest, Montreal H3G 2W1, EV11.455
http://topologicalmedialab.net/ • topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei/ • sha@encs.concordia.ca
Calendar: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=shaxinwei@gmail.com
+1-514-848-2424 x 4351 (studio-lab) • 514-817-3505 (m)

news eve of Soft Architecture Dedale workshop

2007-11-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hi Patrick, Harry, Josee-Anne,
(Apologies to everyone else for redundancies, or omissions):

Greetings from TML where Tim and Morgan are preparing for the workshop.

Patrick is setting out the Soft Architecture Dedale workshop schedule in consultation with Harry and JA, Mark Sussman and Barbara Layne.

This is what little I know from the TML side:

lighting
I see here tonite that Harry's staged the gear needed for DMX controls.

Fri & Saturday, Tim, Ayesha, Morgan, got together to build some contact mics etc. -- so the sound circulation should be fun, too.

sound
Tim has been showing Morgan some of the sound environment.
Tim will be picking up sound gear at 2 PM, so needs help for that!

video synthesis
Morgan is now working on a new wrapper for Michael Fortin's timespace patch. I've asked Morgan to take this on as a real programming mini-project, with Q&A support from me & Tim -- and JS when he's recovered from Portland.

rest of Ozone team
JS and Mani are coming back from Portland today, so I would like to assume that they'll have at least Monday for R&R.
@JS or Mani: Patrick will hold our initial workshop overview probably Monday early afternoon, in case you are interested, and able, but you'll probably want to rest on some laurels after this US installation!

Monday schedule
I'm assuming that Patrick, (perhaps Harry), Josee-Anne will be able to start the workshop with everyone else, but without me in the morning.
Patrick said he plans to come in ca. 9 AM for the key from Cheryl Donison (thanks Harry for setting things up),
and the students will gather at 10 AM.

(I'll be dealing with immigration work in the AM, then the Hexagram grant -- thanks to Tim and Elena for video support, due 6 PM at the Hexagram offices.)

But please just let me know exactly when you're ready to gather everyone together for the workshop overview, and I'll be there, gladly.

Cheers,
Xin Wei

Dedale workshop: toward room-scale, diachronic, performative design imagination

2007-11-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

See my post "toward room-scale, diachronic, performative design imagination"
on http://www.arch.umanitoba.ca/dedale/index.html

We should rough out some plans for the system, make room-scale sketches this weekend,
after the SLSA Panel 10:30 - 12 noon ET.

- xw

this weekend's prep for Dedale workshop

2007-11-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

Hi,

If anyone else is available this weekend, e.g. Morgan, I will be able to come in to the TML to prep for the workshop.

For ex, I plan chat with Harry and Patrick (remote) about the overall event;
work with Morgan and confer with Tim & JS (remote) on sound, video processing.
The plan for the visuals is to modify Michael's wrapper of his ported timespace patch to a tool that can deliver squares of delayed video to user-specified locations.

Patrick's students should be working this weekend to get some toy data flowing through their Arduinos in Winnepeg into a local Mac, and ideally test shipping data over OSC from Max on a Mac there to a Max running on a Mac here in Montreal .

Flower, Josee-Anne, it could be interesting to see whether we can bring organic matter other than human bodies into such a space. (for later as well).

Next week, when Mani comes back from Portland, I propose that Elena and Mani compose a room topology as an exercise.

Cheers!
Xin Wei

staging projected images on floating panes in the air

2007-11-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

I say we should reserve as many projectors for as many days as we can. Even if we do not mount the big one from the ceiling, we could use it planted hear floor level.

I think we should mount at least one, perhaps both smaller Sanyos from the ceiling firing down onto the floor.

I would however like to fire them down onto panels suspended at different heights,
say 2', 5' and 8' off the floor

Each panel can be a 2' x 3' sheet of white paper or lexan sheet (or other material that Patrick's students and Soft Arch folks would like to try out). 3 or more such "panes" can be suspended to intersect the beam of each Sanyo projector at these staggered locations in mid-air. Therefore we may need to suspend them using monofilament from trusses. I imagine putting trusses say 3-6 feet outside the cone of the beams, and run monofilament diagonally down to weights on the floor threaded through those panes. This way the images can appear suspended in midair . We should try to suspend these panes free of visual clutter so the images can pop out of thin air as much as possible as people walk close to them.

(I am including Mark Sussman in this discussion for thinking about staging this space of "circulating" images)

Soft Architecture Dedale workshop themes, documentation

2007-10-31T04:43:00.000-07:00

What are some of the most interesting global aspects of this workshop (to offer alongside Patrick's interpretations)?

http://www.arch.umanitoba.ca/dedale/

As I see it, a major point of this workshop is to explore, architecturally, the flow of image, sound, data, and people through an activated space. We use circuits of toy-sensors, cameras, and microphones, to give the space its senses. We flow the data: sensor data, video, sound, through the data networks and deliver them, sometimes modified, sometimes delayed, always re-spatialized back into the blackbox space. In this architectural workshop, the fine-scale textural nature of the video processing is not as important as coarse issues like time-delay, and placement of images in the full 3D space of the black box. The sound diffusion can be more subtle, and should play a large role in thickening the voices in the void of the blackbox. The lighting (DMX) can provide a symbolic forest and direct attention. The challenge for the Dedale students is to exfoliate the sensing - response logics of the toys in multiple ways:

1. architecturally to occupy and activate the space;
2. co-activate the space with visitors
(which involves thinking "theatrically," performatively);
3. inviting elements: toys, lighting, video and sound instruments,
and people to respond to each other.

The challenge for TML folks is to ingest these new sensor-logics into the proto-CDRE media system, and deploy responsive media into the whole volume of the blackbox in a performatively interesting way.

And how should we document the work?

1. Still photo
The architectural, architectonic, aspects of these can be documented best in print quality still photographs.

2. Video
We ned video only to document flow, movement, some time-based media.
Be judicious, use video to capture salient movement, not static structures or tableau
(use stills for tableau). Do days end (or half-day) reviews of Firestore random-access
video to select the most salient hour (half hour) of movement --
done collectively, this can be part of the reflective practice of the workshop.
There are (1) tracking camera video, (2) documentation camera video, (3) video files direct from Jitter output

3. Sensor data
We MUST journal all sensor data in sync with some tracking video.
The is the best way to re-construct the media for an event, by running the inputs through our
media code.
(So the CODE and some seed texture files should be journaled into SVN as a branch labeled for this workshop.)

4. Web
Dedale workshop blog for dailies, etc.; (Patrick et al);
also TML WIKI page, later a TML page.

- xw

TODO general list

2007-10-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

TML TODO's Responsibilities, examples

Misc as Needed Shared by TMLabbers

Space

• space planning

• cleanup: teas

Office admin

• key requests, security access, etc

• office administration (ordering and stocking supplies, etc)

• signature authority

Media

• Publicity Elena, Josee-Anne

Documentation

•coordinate with project documentation

•Event

•Video production

Website content updates

•TML

•TML WIKI

•TML Blog

• document scanning

Equipment

• distribution/receiving/inventory

• maintenance tickets and workorders

• equipment booking

Strategic

• project coordination

• specification

• new lab member orientation

• tours, demos, etc

• grant preparation assistance

System admin

• coordinate Hexagram user/network services with Paul Fournier Harry

• ❑ servers Michael

• software installation

Weekly Harry, Josee-Anne

• Financial Admin (Expense Reports, Journal Transfers, etc) try to consolidate this to twice a month

• Personnel Admin

prepare notice of hire forms, prepare bursary

request forms, account requests, regisration

requests, key requests, etc.

• Equipment Administration

equipment check-in/check-out, inventory, management, work orders repair orders, spares management, new user orientation

• Lab System Administration

account management, maintenance requests, software updates, backups, reports

• Web Site Administration Overall

• Database Administration

account management, maintenance requests, software updates, backups, reports

• Grant Administration and Reporting

purchasing, budgeting, progress reports

• Lab Projects various

• Technical Research and Specification

as needed research for grants, special

projects, etc

• Technical Documentation

documentation of admin procedures,

configurations, and setup

Monthly Harry, Xin Wei

• Grant Progress Reports summary of weekly reporting

• Grant Preparation research grant proposals, review and

feedback, analysis, budget drafts

Patrick will talk about his work and studio Dedale on Tuesday after the campfire

2007-10-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Everyone,

Tuesday after our campfire = clean-up of the old TML space,

Patrick will speak about his work, and introduce his studio DEDALE

http://www.arch.umanitoba.ca/dedale/

We hope to open up a videoChat with Patrick's students in U Manitoba.
His studio class at the School of Architecture is coming to visit ca. Nov 5, and seem to be doing fantastic creative work, so we should be prepared to "jam" with them when they come.

TODO

2007-10-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

Bookings
Documentation
Event
Editing
Logging
Purchasing
Website
TML
TML WIKI
General maintenance
Housekeep
tea
Software installation
Equipment inventory
Publicity

TODO: inventory 8 stools

2007-10-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

OK GREAT news -- you may have noticed that TML now have 8 cool stools.
Thanks to Harry for sourcing and getting all the new furniture through the pipeline. I think only one other TMLabber knows what a nightmare procuring stuff can be. So ...
they are very dear, in multiple senses of the word.

Would someone other than JA HS, Oxygen folks please inventory these critters before they get rolled away? Very simple matter. 15-30 minutes tops?

HS or JA can be consulted on what's involved.

- xw

Interactive Architectre

2007-10-16T02:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to "contemporary" site Interactive Architecture

http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/seagulls.html

- xw

2007-05-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Oxygen,

Here are a few links to chew on in the interest of modularizing in Max/MSP.

The max/msp list thread (first link) provides a lot of information about people's own solutions to managing larger systems. Arne's article is written more towards the beginner, but may provide ideas. The others are interesting in that they are relatively new, actively-developed libraries.

max/msp list thread on o-o programming in Max:
http://www.cycling74.com/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=25272&prevloaded=1&rid=0&S=cb0225f57e8bb724fdb6f0a8d25c50c0&start=0

cycling 74 article (arne eigenfeldt) on building complex patches:
http://cycling74.com/story/2007/2/5/142639/8843

pure-data montreal abstractions library:
http://wiki.dataflow.ws/PdMtlAbstractions

jamoma modular max/msp system:
http://jamoma.org/

State engine update

2007-04-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Reminder, Cosmicomics network convention :)
Sound machine ip: 10.o.o.2
State machine ip: 10.0.0.1
Video machine ip: 10.0.0.3

OSC udp port: 60001

tcp (for jit.net.send / receive)
Video tcp port: 60000
Sound tcp port: 60002

If their is a problem about the network you want to go check in the patch OXY.OSC_out you can access it by the Cosmicomics patch.

Ok now about the patches:

Motion:
The motion is the only patche for now that you have to go start, because of it complexity of selectioning the right adapter (not really, but didn't have time to modify it and it was working as it is) You will find it in Csmcmcs.Sens. Once tml.oxy.motion started, the video machine should receive the motion matrix and the activity under this naming:
Motion ##### (##### is the value)

State:

I have setup a preliminary state topologie:

Luna:
Escape-Eclipse
Generous-Shy-Playful

People:
No one-Few-Many

Universe:
Small-Large

OSC naming for the states:

/State/ Luna # # # # # (each # is a value the order is Escape Eclipse Generous Shy Playful, becareful because of the behavior of the prepend objec i realize now that their is a space before and after the word Luna)

/State/ People # # # (each # is a value the order is Noone Few Many, becareful because of the behavior of the prepend objec i realize now that their is a space before and after the word People)

/State/ Universe # # (each # is a value the order is Small Large, becareful because of the behavior of the prepend objec i realize now that their is a space before and after the word Universe)

Now the last Time:

you'll find the time in the patch Csmcmcs.Time it include the Time a cycle of a minute with three epoch equaly divided and 5 phases of the moon, for now.

the naming:
/Time/ Epoch# ## (Epoch# is either [Epoch1, Epoch2, Epoch3] and ## id a value between 0 and 1, 0 means we just entered the Epoch and 1 we are ant the end of the Epoch)

/Phase/ Phase# ## (Phase# is the phase we are in, Phase1, Phase2,... Phase5 and ## is a number between 0 and 1 0 means we just enter the phase and 1 we are at the end)

Everything start on it own beside the motion, so just start the patch!

If their is a problem email me, and i'll arrange it, It might be the only reason that i'll come before the thursday 26 april 2007. I couldn't test the netword, since the network was undone.

Voila
ciao
Have Fun i'll go study and write la report. :)

Re: a cheap solution for triple projection

2007-04-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the Matrox 1 -> 3 video splitter
Good point re. reducing engineering complexity.

While I think the parallelizing the lattice computation is straightforward, we, well, Michael, may well not have time to implement it with me and test it in time for Elektra.

The test will be to see what is the maximum number of lattice points M x N on which we can do computation on our G5 (CPU + GPU), and see if M x N will split across the 3 plasmas at their maximum resolution, at more than 15 fps.

Do you have the numbers (max grid at say 20 fps) for the processes:
motion tracking
Mateor Shower
hi def video repos

Also, what if we run different patches on different G5s
eg one G5 per Epcoh, and using Mani's state engine
to orchestrate a blend across their outputs ?
At minimum the blend can be a simple fade, but each Jitter instrument
can have a more sophisticated interpretation of the state vector
eg rate, type of seed video texture, swirliness, matcihing texture & color palette etc
so that at t = 1/3 and visual outputs of Engine Epoch 1 = Engine Epoch 2, and
at t = 2/.3, Engine Epoch 2 = Engine Epoch 3 ,
if you get my drift.

Cheers,
Xin Wei

a cheap solution for triple projection

2007-04-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Cosmics,

Harry and maybe others, you know about the Matrox dual-head VGA splitter device, but I just found out from this thread (on c74 about jitter triple projection):

http://www.cycling74.com/forums/index.php?t=msg&goto=99744&rid=0&S=914b10f00385449f8ae5f3bba84475a5&srch=synchronizing#msg_99744

that Matrox also makes a a triple-head splitter. People seem to report success with it. All it does it make itself available as a monitor with a 3:1 aspect ratio out of one output and does some fancy multiplexing to split this into three displays. I searched it on froogle and it's as low as < $300 US.

http://www.google.com/froogle?q=triplehead2go&btnG=Search+Froogle

JS and I were talking today about the use of 3 G5's to handle just video, and this of course affords us 3x the GPU processing power to handle, but managing the communication I fear will be a headache, even though JS I know you didn't have much fear :) Essentially this would involve each machine getting a set of points to compute, so three patches running rendering engines listening for coords from one brain.

Anyway I think we could seriously consider this option of running all the GL video on one machine. The fact that the Matrox box is cheap would make it a very useful addition to the lab for any other project, as well. Since we have one plasma display to play with, perhaps JS in the next couple days, we can see how much GL we can throw at the highest res possible.

Eager to hear what you guys think,

-Tim

Jitter, OpenGL and HD video

2007-04-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Olfa and Josée-Anne for their great help/assistance/ideas/playfulness during the texture capture session, which was a real/palpable success. The results are so stunning, that we are thinking about having another session this week (probably wednesday the 11th).

The other good news is that I have been able to run high resolution video textures (1920x1080) with the particles flying around at ~25-30 fps, by mapping video to planes in GL, which ends up being about twice faster than rendering everything together into Jitter matrices. The next step is to add slab/shaders effects in GL. Once I am done with transfering the rest of the textures (probably tomorrow) , I will post image samples.

On a technical note, one important thing that we discovered today by digging the Jitter developement email list (I should say surfacing, as this answer/hint was posted today, without even asking the question) is that if one wants to use and scrub trough HD playback in Jitter, the video should not be encoded using HDV codecs, but should be preferably encoded using MotionJPEG @ 75% quality, which ends up being the best ratio quality/size that will provide skip-free playback. The reason for this is that MotionJPEG is keyframed at every frame, and this insure that all frames will be found on request, and that no searching will slow the process, as it would be the case using an HD codec. By following this hint, the size of the file will expand, but there will be a fair improvement in performance/response, and still keep the needed higher resolution.

I am really excited to see all the other works that will be produced using these textures. It is going to be impressively rich (Frida has already begun exploring...) . Olfa and I should do so over the summer.

incorporating high quality sampled / edited video into jitter ?

2007-03-28T04:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Freida for so generously sharing the video footage she shot of flows and liquids that we might use for la Luna or the living sky. Does anyone have ways to actually incorporate high resolution video in Jitter? I imagined that as a person reaches for the projected video image, we would track the movement and make the video roil with the person's movement. It doesn't have to slavishly (boringly) track fine movement, just respond suggestively (thinking of the ocean Solaris), suggestive of life.

But the main technical bottleneck is that processing the hi res video (jit.repos, ) could chew up a lot of CPU. Another possibility could be to map the video onto a GL surface and then perturbing the surface, perhaps using a GL equivalent of jit.repos but on the points of the geometric surface. However this has two problems:

- it'll take a lot of extra GL level programming, which could be energy better spent on more experientially meaningful issues like the physical set construction etc.

- the GL effects generally look too cheesy (ie like a sci fi film effect) for my taste, which would undercut whatever richness and magic that your videos and Olfa's or the ones that JS and JA will shoot may have.

Compositing hi res with lower res simulated dynamics may help: maybe we can play a veil of hi res, video mapped onto subtly varying GL surface, together with lower res but more reactive Jitter -- maybe using particles as control points for the perturbation.

Processing in Jitter may limit the video to too coarse a resolution.

JS we should test to see what is the maximum resolution we can get on our plasma screen in the lab, and see what it looks like from say 2 foot distance.

Oxygen/Cosmicomics meeting notes

2007-03-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2007 - EV11.435
Attendance: Sha Xin Wei, Emmanuel Thivierge, Josée-Anne Drolet, Michael Fortin, Timothy Sutton

Do post comments as you see fit to fill in the blanks..

Also, mp3 of the meeting is on the TML hexagram share in the Cosmicomcis folder. But the audio is rather quiet and cryptic..

-Tim

---------------------------------------------
Notes

SOUND

- to emerge in the 3rd epoch: textures that form the spaces that weave the fabric of previous ambience/space
- micro-percussive, stochastic, electric/nuclear sounds which are the representation of the "dark matter" that emerges visually

- first epoch: sounds of enticement (whispering, laughing, playful)
- transition: as she begins to move away, the size of the space is exaggerated with reverberation (artificial)
- perhaps earlier on, use of subtle, low frequencies to create the sensation of "ambient presence", fullness, and to emphasize opening of space with transition

- spatialization: polyphonic sounds clustered in particular speakers, and in third epoch, the sharp, high impulse sounds will spatialize well
- reverberation increase will spatialize accordingly
- flexibility in terms of speaker placement: space isn't symmetrical, speakers may be able to be placed in alcoves, turned around, some at head-level others pointing upwards/downwards...

CONTEXT

- contextualizing calvino: to use speech? decided to not include this, at least for now, because it is loaded
- in terms of the presentation, there will be a small flyer/handout or something, but no contextualizing using choice phrases, explanations, etc.

IMAGE/PRESENTATION

- phenomenology in terms of the image illusion - that the sky should not be interpreted like a picture, but rather like a window
- plasma screens create their own frame: this (if plasma screens are used) is resolved by cutting the lights

- la luna's trajectory should be able to go beyond the limits of the frame – so that the physical distance, by our illusion, is consistent with on-screen behaviour
- tracking for lateral movement should be able to accomodate this with wide-angle lenses

- to michael f.: is researching video depth processing, but this won't be incorporated into cosmicomics (at least in this incarnation)

LOGISTICS

- issues of video transport: with plasma screens, ideas on how to tackle output, distribution among cpus
- tim brings up harry's ideas of keeping things analog using s-video output – here, at least interpolation happens on-screen, but we agree that this would still be a very low resolution across a 60" screen
- hoping that we can keep all the video work on one machine
- or possibly running only math on a separate machine?
- performance bottleneck in the video code, now that it is running much more efficiently with javascript/openGL

- Mac Mini will not be powerful enough to run video analysis code

RICH MEDIA SOURCES

- possible involvement of Olfa Driss(PhD Media Arts UQAM) in terms of video material of the moon
- Freida's abstract video with fluid shapes: oil in water, rocks/water reflections, bubbles

STRUCTURE

- vectors: people, cosmos, luna.. and for each epoch (?)

- ideas for evolution:
- the moon has her own cycle
- there is ultimately a clock, but there can also be an "energy" clock which can be ticked by injection, and this can influence evolution
- several parallel "emotion" vectors, ie. happy, playful, hurt, etc.
- eccentricity: how closely la luna hews/deviates to a predefined path

- important to find ways to entice people to reach to touch the texture, for example the effect of something dripping onto the surface of the video
- can't rely on people doing some necessary trigger action - actions will still need autonomy

- tracking: having less sensitivity on the outer edges of the screen

- transition to "dark matter" (epoch 3): is it relatively quick?
- idea of the third epoch as being the moon fully 180 degrees in phase?
- so epoch 1 and 3 are "frozen" with respect to the moon's phase, but that the rotation can take place during the 2nd epoch
- or an eclipse takes place to transition into dark matter?
- the transition to epoch 2 is signalled by the sky becoming visible

- dark matter
- how to characterize?
- conceptually intertwined with physics..

- idea for the moon: she deconstructs into mist, and reintegrates into a solid
- analogy to cosmicomics: the supernatural gravitation to the moon, where people on the moon find it harder to leave
- the concept of travel/distance in calvino, vs. the installation

COLOR

- merits for giving visuals in monochrome?
- dramatic effect, contrast, less information to distract the viewer, diffusion of perception
- will depend on the contrast achievable by available displays (yet TBD: projector or plasma... likely rear projection)
- also, the black/white colour/clarity control afforded in Jitter?
- the effectiveness of monochrome objects, but with some tinting for emotional expressivity..

- perhaps JA to work with L-A F, J-S R on mockups for epochs/transitions?

CLOSING..

- ideas for interactivity in the 3rd epoch?
- booking of a plasma screen as a lab houseguest, if Elektra will give plasma screens

Installation sketches

2007-03-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some quick and dirty renderings illustrating placement of the plasma screens. In this concept they are "ceiling" mounted to 2" lengths of pipe which in turn are suspended from the existing pipe running between the columns. The screens here are shown 7.5 feet(~2.3 meters) from the floor, which is about a hands width higher than a conventional door way.

..:: ATOPIA - the polylogic e-zine ::.. - home

2007-03-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

..:: ATOPIA - the polylogic e-zine :: :
"a virtual archipelago sharing philosophy, literature, arts and politics."