On the heels of the DNA release, I’ve put together some simple patches and documentation that shows how you can make your Max and jitter patches functional in DNA:
http://www.lividserver.com/dl/DNA_DevKit.zip

It’s pretty easy, really. The main consideration is to boil down any process so that it can be controlled with one knob. As long as you follow the examples, and add the few required elements into your patch, you can add pretty much anything to DNA that you create in Max.

Your patch could be a processor of video. It can use shaders. It could be an audio player – just latch the DNA knob to the volume! It could be a video synthesizer that completely ignores any of DNA’s video sources. It could even be an automator that just sends messages to various components of DNA (check the Network.pat in the Extras folder for an example of how to use messages to control DNA). The possibilities are endless, really.

The great thing is that by using DNA as your foundation, you are free to explore the possibilities of Max/MSP/Jitter without having to build a performance system and UI in addition to creating things that expand your artistic capability.
Be sure to share your creations with others! You can post patches in the forums, or video of what you’ve done.
Enjoy!

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Livid Union user Faisal Anwar is concocting a multimedia mix on which I recently gave a small assist.  As part of Toronto’s 175th anniversary, he has a project called 360extended that invites people to geo-locate their stories of their city. This web-based project will then be part of an installation for the anniversary party on March 6th at Nathan Phillip’s Square, where he mixes these stories with video of the city and realtime stories delivered in an intriguing way.
He emailed me wondering if he could mix web-based flash content with video in Union. Well, in theory, yes, but in this case, no – his particular example wasn’t working, and even had it shown an image, it still would not have been satisfactory. What was so intriguing about this flash movie was that is generated from SMS messages sent during the performance.
This was too good of an idea to let cave to technical reasons. I coded up a Max/MSP Jitter patch to parse the xml file where the SMS messages are compiled, post the most recent 20 or so messages, and animate and mix them with existing video content in Union. Take a look.
Of course, you can have a much better look as he projects ACTUAL text messages on a building during Toronto’s blowout, so if you are near the city, pay a visit to experience a nice piece of temporal civic art.
Oh, and he’s looking to expand this to your city – so keep an eye out for it so you can tell your story.

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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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