Devlog 2.5 - Performative Development

Live multimedia programming is at it's best when its done performatively.

In my last post, I talked about a few of the abstract films and audio visual performances that i discovered in my research.

In my jazz history class, I'm learning about the basic psychology of musical improvisation. Jazz artists play with a preset key, chord, sometimes even a full composition. They memorize the scales and rhythms in order to improvise solos and new sections of music. This way, the musicians have freedom to create while still having an auditory motif to return to. This gives jazz music unity, and I think the same idea can be applied to my own performance.

The best course of action is to develop a system, plan a performance, practice, and know exactly how to execute it. I'll need to develop a system which I can practice and master. I should be able to confidently manipulate the images without guesswork.

This section will go through the different video mixers that I've built in max, and how they evolved.

v0.1 - 2 video tracks with 3 toggle-able effects per track. Each effect can be mixed on each track through 4 track mixers.

v0.2 - Same video capabilities with an updated effect rack and cleaner UI. The 4 track effect mixers were removed because it wasn't a useful feature, and made the interface needlessly more confusing.

v0.3 - 0.2's track setup with additional cross-fader control for the final image. In this patch I also began experimenting with signal generators, which can be plugged into effect controls to automatically manipulate the effects. I also introduced audio capabilities in this version, though limited.

v0.4 was a stripped down version with better readability. Instead of cross-fading between 2 separate tracks, the video signal runs through an effects chain and mixed with it's own dry signal. In this environment, simple storytelling was much more achievable with a consistent base signal. However, it was very limited.

Percolator 0.5

Features and Specifications -

• 1 video track from Mp4
• 1 video track from attached camera
• Customizable effect rack 
• 1 generative alpha mask
  
• 3 tweak-able audio receivers to control effects
  

Interlochen's open mic series "Academy Cafe" will be a perfect opportunity for a few reasons. the performance must be no longer than 5 minutes, and the A/V setup is limited but substantial enough for my purposes. This will challenge me to develop a system that i can quickly setup and confidently use. 

Performance Development 

To prepare the live set, I started by creating a short set-list of music. I used existing recordings to create a 5 minute audio track. Along with this, I'm editing public domain and creative commons footage from various resources to create a base layer of self cutting footage. This way, my brain can focus on effects and performance while cutting between footage is done automatically.