Art installation using Maxforlive

[LOFA]

In case anyone is interested, I have a somewhat ambitious art installation up in Pittsburgh at the moment that uses maxforlive.
It's a 20' diameter, 10' high, flat-packable dome, consisting of 560 led clusters and a custom 8.1 surround system, driven exclusively by generative programming in max, and dsp in m4l/live.

The physical structure was up in Brooklyn for a few warehouse events (Unicorn Meat productions) while I was workshopping it, but now the completed, audiovisual installation is up at the Pittsburgh Center for there Arts, through April 20.

I just ran into an old face from the board the other day, and I thought I might as well see if there's anyone else in the area that might be interested in it and not heard about it yet. Other than that, some of you might find the technology interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkKvyM29IsM

[LOFA]

Also, here's an outside view of it, without audio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh7a1iwHAVQ

I first got into Jitter here, via a convo with Machinate, somewhere around 2006. It's wild to think about how maxforlive really became a thing after being a dream for so long

[regretfullySaid]

That's pretty sweet. They should have stations housed like that in the arctic.

Pretty simple/ small patch or not so much? Did something end up being way more complicated than you thought, taking up a lot more time than expected or vise-versa?

[chapelier fou]

fantastic !

[LOFA]

That's pretty sweet. They should have stations housed like that in the arctic.

Pretty simple/ small patch or not so much?

Not really that small of a patch. It ended up being an amalgam of three patches- one which I've been working since 2010, one from late 2012 and part of another that a collaborator contributed to in late 2013. It's sort of a really large max patch, tbh, but it's (mostly) tidy. By the time I got to sit and try to compose within the setup structure, I barely touched on the possibilities.

Did something end up being way more complicated than you thought, taking up a lot more time than expected or vise-versa?

I'm sure there were a number of things that were harder than I thought.
• Finding a metro rate that would allow me to clear images in [jit.lcd] to show the next, replacement frame, without having things ever go black. This seemed to become particularly difficult as the size of the patch grew. One suggestion was to do this portion of the imaging differently, with OpenGL, but it was done so long ago and I did not have the time to rebuild it. It took time but I go it to work good enough
• Establishing a connection with the arduino due, and optimizing the framerate.
• Electrical logistics
• Designing the structure
• Fabrication

I learned a lot.

[regretfullySaid]

Well it looks like it paid off

It always ends up being more complicated than you think

[gavspav]

Hey looks great! Good work.

Do you have any more info about the build, the diffusing blocks, type of lights used?

[LOFA]

Hey looks great! Good work.

Do you have any more info about the build, the diffusing blocks, type of lights used?

Thanks

Here's some pix of the development process, from my website:
http://ianbrill.drupalgardens.com/conte ... ion-images

I used interlocking slats made from corrugated plastic for the structural components. Lots of zip-ties as well. The diffusers are white, translucent HIPS (styrene). The LEDs are a custom-build of WS2801-based, addressable strands- 560 total modules of 6-rgb-LED clusters.

[clydesdale]

Very nice exhibit! Let me say that I really appreciate the work that you're doing. I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to CMU so it's great to see a work like yours that incorporates and promotes technology and the arts. I'll be right down the street on campus in early April so I'll definitely stop by to see it. If you don't mind my asking, have you ever considered a collaboration with either the Fine Arts or Computer Science departments at CMU? It seems like a perfect fit.

[LOFA]

Very nice exhibit! Let me say that I really appreciate the work that you're doing. I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to CMU so it's great to see a work like yours that incorporates and promotes technology and the arts.

Thanks

I'll be right down the street on campus in early April so I'll definitely stop by to see it.

Please let me know when in advance. I'd be glad to meet up with you there.

If you don't mind my asking, have you ever considered a collaboration with either the Fine Arts or Computer Science departments at CMU? It seems like a perfect fit.

I have been collaborating with former graduates and MFA's from CMU since 2001, and a CMU-based roboticist/researcher/professor of upcoming technological-arts courses since 2005. I would be very interested in a formal collaboration with the University itself in the future, for either of those departments.

[LOFA]

I'm really into collaborating. I'd be very interested in knowing more about what you do.

[clydesdale]

I'm just a hobbyist composer/producer getting in touch with the opposite side of my brain. I was fortunate enough to have brief access to the computer music lab back when I was at school and I've never quite shaken the impression it made on me (around the time of the Yamaha DX7). With the explosion of EDM and computer based music in the last several years and the advancement (and lower cost) of the tools available to dabble with those I put together an Ableton studio to mess around in my spare time. I'm a programmer too so the thought of learning M4L also interests me very much.

The reason I asked if you had collaborated with anyone at CMU is because I'm making arrangements to meet with folks doing the Music & Technology program to see what types of technology they are interested in researching. They have a few from-the-ground-up applications they've developed such as Audacity and Nyquist but I thought they might be interested in an application such as M4L, certainly something they may have already considered but perhaps needed help with funding. When I saw your work it struck me very quickly as an equally valuable use of M4L that I hadn't even considered. I'd be happy to do everything I can to give you an opportunity to expand and share what you're doing but I didn't want to assume that you hadn't already done work with the very same people that I haven't even met yet! I'll be there April 10-13th, if you're available to meet at the Center that would be really great, we can make further arrangements in the coming month. I'll also send a note to the school to see if I can expand my visit to include people that are interested in a broader use of technology in mixed media and visual arts.

What a great thing to see your post today. Thanks

-Randy

[LOFA]

I have really admired that program now for some time. I would indeed be very much interested in talking more about this and potentially exploring opportunities to work with them. Indeed, I am overjoyed to have this talk today

[slatepipe]

really nice work feller - congratulations. inspiring stuff.

your work inspires me to get my lazy arse into gear again and make things

[LOFA]

really nice work feller - congratulations. inspiring stuff.

Thanks man!

your work inspires me to get my lazy arse into gear again and make things

That's part of why I do it too