45 minutes of VPT 6 tutorials now available on the VPT 6 playlist on youtube
The available tutorials
Getting Started with VPT 6 (shown above)
Learn to use the navigator and preview window
Understanding presets in VPT 6
Explore the example presets that come with VPT 6
Learn how to use the new cuelist in VPT 6
A quick introduction to using midi in VPT 6
With almost 5000 downloads of VPT 5.1, I am happy to announce that the next version of Video Projection Tools, VPT 6 is now available.
VPT is a powerful and flexible video projection tool that does much more than just mapping.
What´s new in VPT 6.0
A completely new graphical interface making it even simpler to position, scale and distort the layers.
32 layers (previously 16)
mesh distortion with variable-sized control grid.
a completely rewritten cuelist making it even simpler to create transitions and to build complex sequences. You can now also send osc formatted commands directly from the cuelist.
crop-scaling of sources.
increased syphon support with two syphon (crop-scalable) inputs as well as syphon output support (mac only)
a DMX module has been added, with support for Enttecs usbdmx pro interface, enabling both control of VPT from DMX light consoles, or the possibillity to control dmx devices from VPT.
VPT still supports mac and windows, and it is still free. However, I have added the option for contributions through paypal:
VPT 6 is made possible through the support of IMAL in Brussels and Atelier Nord in Oslo.
IMAL offered me a one month residency in april to give a VPT workshop and to do an exhibition.
Atelier Nord has supported me twice this year: First they hosted a workshop as part of Oslo Lux in January which ended up in a VPT 5.1 release, and in june they gave me a week residency to write documentation for VPT 5.5 which instead turned into intense development of VPT 6.
So hosting workshops and inviting me to residencies is another way of supporting my work.
The new version of VPT just passed 1000 downloads after less than a month, which is pretty good. I decided this would be a good time to make some more documentation.
There are now some basic video tutorials (not very exciting but gives you an idea of how to handle the interface) as well as the missing manual, which will be updated (ir)regularly. There is also lot´s of useful help built into VPT, not to forget the VPT forum.
Get updates on VPT5 on Twitter by either searching for #vpt5 or follow @hcgilje
I am happy to announce the new version of VPT for osX and Windows xp/vista with lots of new features:
16 layers (previously 8 )
2 live sources (previously 1)
8 A-B mixers (previously 0)
greatly improved MIDI and OSC capabilities
enhanced interface
monitor preview for 2ndmonitor (single screen, matrox 2x or 3x),live camera.
lot´s of bug fixes and more efficient code.
And as always, it is free.
The sourcecode is also included, (GPL 3 license)
There is a new manual and new video tutorials covering the new features, everything available from the VPT page.
An outdoor event on the roof of the opera house in Oslo, with two short concerts using video projection.
This was a projected iniated by electric violinist Victoria Johnson, which is currently a research fellow at the National State Academy of Music in Oslo.
The white marble opera house designed by Snøhetta has become one of the main tourist attractions in Oslo, with a nice view over the harbour and the city. It is almost like a iceberg that you can climb onto.
Standing on the roof, listening to the sounds of sirens and seeing something which could almost be a skyline (actually 90% of the tall buildings in Oslo are just behind the opera house), you could get the impression that Oslo is actually a big city!
In short, a quite spectacular setting.
The concert consisted of two compositions by Knut Vaage, Electra and multimorf, performed by Johnson and Thorolf Thuestad. Ellen Røed has made a beautiful volcano timelapse video for Electra, and I did a live impro video for multimorf.
We decided to do the concert in front of one of the walls of the stage tower, which is about 30x15m. We managed to cover one half of the wall, using a 15000 ansilumen projector.
We have performed multimorf twice before, in very different contexts: First with a big brassband at a concert venue in Bergen, then a stripped down version for electric violin,electronics and live video at the Concert Hall in Oslo. My video has changed from venue to venue, trying to adopt to the setting. The only connection between the three performances is a series of microscope images from brass instruments, which I made for the original version.
For the outdoor concert on the opera roof I wanted to have a more direct relation to the surface we projected onto, a beautiful aluminum wall with a relief pattern made by the artists Løvaas & Wagle.
The 30x15m wall consists of panels of the relief patterns and I decided to use my videoprojection tools software to mask rows and columns of these panels.
Working outside with a short timeframe means a lot of practical issues needs to be solved, and this left very little time for my slightly ambitious masking project.
It gets dark quite late in Norway in the spring, so the concert was to start at ten in the evening. Only at around nine was I able to see enough of the projection to actually start masking the image, so everything needed to be done in less than an hour. On top of this it was freezing, so I was literally shaking while I was trying to do very precise masking.
In the end, it turned out quite nice, and triggered some ideas for a project I am planning to do next year.
All photos from multimorf and of me is taken by Ellen Røed, thanks!
I have made a new manual for the Videoprojectiontool, documenting the latest improvements including cornerpin keystoning and OSC support. There is also a slightly modified version of the application, v3.1c, with some bug fixes and increased OSC support.
All available here.
I have added rudimentary Open Sound Control (OSC) and MIDI functionality, and provided maxmsp templates for osc/midi for people to develop this further.
This makes it possible to sync several computers, and control the videoprojection tools from other applications that support OSC.
Announcing the latest version of the videoprojection tools, now with 8 layers with cornerpin distortion, advanced masking ++. Also there are now 8 individual video sources, 1 live video source and 1 draw source.
As before it also has a quite extensive preset and sequencing system.
It is available for free for osx and windows xp/vista.
It is not so often that there is snow in Bergen, it usually rain by the time it hits the ground. But last week has been an exception, which finally gave me the opportunity to testing out my videoprojection tool on forms made in the snow. It was a pretty nice location, on the roof terrace of BEK overlooking the harbour of Bergen.
I hope to develop this snow projection project further as it is quite fascinating to explore black and white contrasts. I am especially happy with projecting black with a white background, check it out in the video below.
There are more images to see.
This post is really an announcement for an updated version of my videoprojectiontool + a new handy cornerpin keystone application.
But first some lines about another program, vvvv:
The last few months I have spent some time working with vvvv, which is a graphical programming language similar to max and pd, but with a few distinct differences.
First of all, it is windows only (It is based on directx instead of opengl), which is the main reason why I haven´t used it before.
The vvvv developer´s attitude is that it is better to make the program as good as possible on one platform rather than trying to make everybody happy.
Second, it has a clearer focus on 3D than max/jitter.
The main reason I have looked at vvvv is because the developers seem to be quite interested in making it a practical tool for real-life projects, to make it easier for the users to focus on content rather than trying to solve programming problems all the time.
Especially for people like me, who work with projectors, multi-screen setups, mapping etc, it was a relief to see dedicated modules for multiscreen blending, cornerpin keystone, and a projector module to make it easier to combine virtual models with physical environments. Also, there are easy-to-find modules and examples for how to interface vvvv with different hardware.
I had an interesting exchange with one of the jitter developers in the cycling74 forum a little while ago, where I was complaining about how such a useful thing as cornerpin keystoning is not available in jitter. I have attempted several times to make this in max/jitter without luck. It took the developer fifteen minutes to make it, but I would have never found this solution myself.
I guess my point is that I wish there was a set of useful abstractions and instructions, especially when working with 3D, instead of always being referred to the “red book” (the opengl reference book). Something like auv-i was for earlier versions of max/jitter for working with video.
And now, to the announcements: cornerpin keystone + v2.5 of videoprojectiontools
I have made a simple application, based on the above-mentioned exchange in the cycling74 forum, for a very simple but effective cornerpin keystoning. So, instead of tweaking the projector settings to get the projection to fit your projection surface, you can now just click in the corners on your desired projection surface, and the image will fit. The source code for the cornerpin keystoning is available on the cycling74 forums.
Videoprojectiontool v2.5 is now available, for mac osx and windows!
The new features are corner pin distortion of the individual layers, + enhanced functionality for drawing directly on the projected output for advanced masking. Please watch the video tutorials to learn more.
If you are working with mapping image content onto physical objects or surfaces, there are two main approaches: Creating a virtual 3D model which matches the physical environment, and then project that 3D model back onto the physical environment. This is not an easy task which involves a lot of calibration, as everything has to match exactly. For this I think vvvv is by far the best tool, check out their tutorial.
The second approach consists of positioning and masking individual layers in the physical environment. I think my videoprojectiontool is a good starting point with this approach. It involves no projector calibration, and you can get some great results in a very short time. By combining 3d placement of layers with advanced masking, and a sequencer for storing presets and creating transitions it has become a quite powerful tool.
Go to the resourcepage for the videoprojectiontool for the links to the new applications and several new video tutorials related to the update.
Conversations with spaces 