Max/Msp/Jitter version 5 : a Project-Oriented Workshop with Jeremy Bernstein, Peter Castine, and John Dekron.
Participant level: Beginners and Intermediate users.
Monday 30 March- Friday April 3rd (Course Work)
11.00-19.00 daily with one hour lunch break
Final Presentation Friday April 3rd-5th
Location: NK / ElsenStr. 52 (2.Hof) Berlin, Germany
Telephone: +49(0)176 20626386
Course Participation fee: 325 €
email to: eNKa_NK@gmx.de
Please register early to ensure a place. Places are limited to 12
Essential:
Participants are required to bring their own laptops with Max/MSP/Jitter installed. The demo version can be downloaded from <http://www.cycling74.com/downloads/max5>
and is fully functional in demo mode for up to 30 days after
installation. Registered participants who require an extension of the
demo period for the time up to and including the workshop can request
this from the workshop organizer.
All participants must
prepare for the workshop by completing Tutorials 1-14 included in the
Max documentation, part of the download linked above. This will
maximize the benefits of
participating
in this project-oriented workshop and is essential to achieve the goal
of completing a working project in the course of one week. The final
projects will be put on exhibition as an installation open for viewing
on the weekend of April 3-5.
Max/MSP Topics:
We
will rapidly move through the basics of the MaxMSP visual programming
environment, answering any lingering questions of the participants (who
are assumed to be mildly familiar with the system — they should have
already worked through the first 14 tutorials) and getting everyone in
the group up to speed with the essentials of patch construction,
message passing, encapsulation, order of operations, data processing
and so on.
Although
MaxMSP is a large and complex set of building blocks, the construction
of compact, understandable and (above all) useful patches is
surprisingly simple. Within a couple of hours, participants should be
comfortably creating basic patches and analyzing/modifying more complex
existing patches to implement their ideas within the MaxMSP environment.
Jitter Topics:
Armed
with the essentials, we'll move right into visual data processing using
the Jitter extensions to MaxMSP. Topics to be explored include still
and moving image playback and processing, use of external controllers
or user interface devices to influence playback and processing
behaviors, direct pixel access and transcoding (conversion of Jitter
data to "normal" MaxMSP data and vice versa), among others.
Jitter
extends the data vocabulary of MaxMSP (integer & floating-point
numbers, symbols, lists) to include a 'matrix' type: a table of numbers
(think Excel spreadsheet). These tables can have several layers/planes
and multiple dimensions, making them an ideal carrier for (among other
things) frame-based media such as video or OpenGL (3D) vertex and
texture data, text and audio analysis data. We'll be taking a survey of
the most important and typical uses of Jitter matrices, particularly as
they can be applied to the group's project.
Project Idea:
The
core idea for the workshop project is to start from a small and simple
video file—typically formatted 48x64 pixels, either monochrome
(black-and-white) or 16 grays—and generate an acoustically interesting
audio signal that will be used to encode and transmit the video to
another computer. This will, in turn, use the video data to control
simple everyday household electric devices.
Participants
will need to bring at least one such household device with them. The
device will be "operated" simply by opening and closing the power
supply. It must be simple enough that its power switch can be left in
the 'on' position, and electricity being turned on and off will control
its operation. Possible devices: lamp, fan, portable electric grill or
toaster, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, power drill, older television.
However, any device that automatically resets itself when power is cut
off (most CD/DVD players and modern TVs do this) will not be
suitable.
The
devices may make a noise, produce light or heat, or create a smell. We
want to involve as many senses in the installation as possible. Be
imaginative.
Schedule:
* Day 1- 2
o Introduction to Max: objects, messages, and patch cords
o Jitter: introduction to image processing.
* Days 2 and 3
o Building audio based protocol to transmit image based information
* Days 4 and 5
o Attaching physical devices to the system
+ We
will investigate different interfaces that enable Max to communicate
with the outside world. This may include the Arduino board, the Teabox,
DMX interfaces, and/or serial boards with attached relays. The devices
that can be addressed may be of any kind: hair dryers, vacuum cleaners,
vents, lamps, toasters... whatever you find in the kitchen or basement.
The more noise, heat, light, dust, fog they make the better they are.
The goal will be to orchestrate these devices so that they form some
sort of composition—or at least that it is fun to watch.
Tools:
-Arduino Board
-DMX Interface
-DMX Dimmers
-USB to Serial Board with Relays
Workshop leaders:
Jeremy Bernstein
makes temporal media, comprising mostly sound, video and code. In
various forms—performances, presentations and screenings—his work has
been exhibited throughout Europe and North America. For several years,
his work has been concerned, on a technical level, with
"reanimation"—assembling temporal structures out of static or frozen
fragments of "personally associative" materials—home movies,
snapshots, field recordings, old records, etc. Increasingly, he has
been exploring sound and image as "influenceable media" -- semi-fluid
forms capable of withstanding structural modulation -- through the use
of custom computer software. He has composed numerous music and sound
scores for theater and dance productions, and constructed several
interactive video and sound environments for theater and other live
performance events.
He
is also a developer of MaxMSP (Cycling '74, 1988 - present) and
co-author of the Jitter multidimensional data processing environment
(Cycling '74, 2002 - present).
http://www.bootsquad.com/
Peter Castine
is a composer and sonic artist who has been using Max since 1990. He
has produced electroacoustic music at the “Elektronisches Studio†at
the Technical University of Berlin, the "Studio for Sonic Arts" at the
University of the Arts in Berlin, and the Bergen (Norway) Center for
Electronic Arts (bek). His electroacoustic and instrumental music has
been performed in Europe, Asia, and North America. He is increasingly
working with sonic and multimedia installation art, particularly the
realiTV project where he works with John Dekron, and has shown work at
Transmediale, ICMC, and other festivals. He has taught courses in
Max/MSP at Darmstadt, Warsaw, and Berlin.
Castine
is also known as a developer of external objects for Max/MSP/Litter,
with projects including the Litter Power Package, the Litter Bundle for
Jitter (LBJ), and the ICE Sequencing tools with (with DSPAudio). He has
also developed code for the BIX media façade and the iPhone application
FutureSound.
http://www.bek.no/~pcastine/
John Dekron
is a media artist, performer and developer of customized video
applications for media environments. His work and long-term media
experience cover a broad spectrum: from media for architecture and
video installations to custom setups and individual programming for
clubs, artists and visual concepts for internationally operating
companies and high-profile events. Past projects include performances
in Germany, Europe and South America, programming of the BIX media
facade in Graz, Austria, the SPOTS media facade in Berlin, works for
musician Gonzales, the artist Carsten Nicolai plus multi-screen
software development for Formula One side events in the Middle East.
John Dekron is programmer and developer of the Softmix HD Video-Mixing
and ES-X crossplatform VJ performance software.
He
has given lectures and workshops on realtime video processing and
performing at Merz Akademie, Stuttgart and the HBG, Leipzig, and at
other venues.
http://www.thismedia.com
http://www.thisserver.de/john_dekron.php
