Meiosis of Cell into DNA.

We’ve been working on dividing Cell into two products, with each meeting different needs of the live video community. Cell remains mostly the same, with its simple video triggering capability and basic image adjustments. We also added captions to Cell, so people can add names, lyrics, jokes, or messages on the fly to the video mix.

But a lot of people want more and better effects in Cell! Well, we could just point them to Union, which has more and better effects. However, we saw that VJ software seems to have 2 extremes – either VERY simple, or VERY complex, and nothing in between.  DNA fills that gap, and take Cell to a whole new level, with a variety of OpenGL effects and FreeFrame compatibility, but stays true to the simplicity of Cell.

As I wrap up this division of Cell, I have to reflect on what has been a pretty intense development period.  On the surface, this new version isn’t very different. It adds knobs where there were once buttons, and also adds a crossfader.  Doesn’t seem like a big deal, does it? But the knobs not only provide new avenues of expression, they make Cell a much better pairing with the Ohm.

But to get those knobs, I had to change how Cell mixes video, and I had to design a whole slew of effects that do great things with just one knob. I had to keep it simple to use and understand, and I also wanted as many of the the effects as possible to run on the integrated graphics cards that so many laptops are shipped with these days.

To satisfy the last parameter was the hardest restriction.  I had to dig deep into OpenGL, and figure out some creative ways to manipulate shapes, colors, and textures, without the freedom of altering bitmaps (with the exception of FreeFrame effects!) or the freedom to manipulate “fragments” with a programmable shader. And I had to get most of them done in a couple of weeks.

I’m really pleased with my work, and I hope that VJ’s and video designers will be too. It will also be incredibly easy to add more effects and customize existing effects (by anyone who uses Max/MSP), so what is there now is really just a starting point.

We really wanted to balance the simplicity of Cell with the creative potential of Union, but always err on the side of simplicity. The goal of Cell has always been that you can figure it out completely in less than a half hour, trying to fill a niche in the video world for theaters, lighting designers, and a “second source” for VJ’s who do a lot of realtime mixing. With DNA, the mixing potential becomes incredibly potent, but always under easily under control.

We hope you like it!

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