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Variations on a theme by Casey & Finch #1

For the first variation I used the video of the entire performance - minus the introduction from Don Cornelius and the fade out - as input. I then wrote a script that created 600 segments of varying lengths (up to 0.999 seconds) from random positions in the video and finally composed them into one video.

Observations

This variation is perhaps too chaotic to be considered a reproduction of the aesthetics of a skipping CD. The individual segments jump from extreme ends of the video too quickly to be recognisable, which bears little resemblance to skipping CDs or broken video files, which often repeat segments at the point at which they encounter an error.

Code

This script requires libav to run and has been tested on Ubuntu 13.04.

#!/bin/bash #Usage: ./movie_cut.sh /path/to/file.avi #e.g. ./movie_cut.sh video.avi

filenumber=$(printf "%05d") while \[ $filenumber -le 600 \] do

#calculate the length of the video length=\`expr $(avprobe -loglevel error -show_streams $1 | grep duration | cut -f 2 -d = | head -1 | cut -d "." -f 1) \\\* 100\` #start position startPos=$(echo "scale=2;$(shuf -i 1-$length -n 1) / 100" | bc | sed -e s/^/0/)

#define random duration (up to 0.999 seconds) duration=$(echo "0.$RANDOM")

#get path of file path=$( readlink -f "$( dirname "$1" )" )

#get filename minus extension file=$(basename "$1") filename="${file%.\*}"

#cut the video avconv -i $1 -ss $startPos -t $duration -qscale 0 -ab 384k -y "$path"/"$filenumber"\_"$filename"\_cut.avi

filenumber=\`expr $filenumber + 1\` filenumber=$(printf "%05d" $filenumber)

done


8 Bit Lounge - Alex Juno v hellocatfood

With my hardware now fully functioning I’ll be providing visuals for the awesome Alex Juno (of Elmosexwhistle) at 8 Bit Lounge at the Hare and Hounds on 13th August (yeah, I know it’s late notice).

8 Bit Lounge - Alex Juno v hellocatfood

The event starts at 8pm, is free, and, in addition to awesome performances, will feature the usual assortment of retro console games!


Multimedia Programming with Pure Data

A new book by Bryan Chung, Multimedia Programming with Pure Data was recently published by Packt Publishing.

Multimedia Programming with Pure Data

Multimedia Programming with Pure Data

Multimedia Programming with Pure Data

Despite it being a big part of Pure Data Extended, GEM - and making visuals in PD - doesn’t get as much attention as audio processing. Whereas sound-makers have resources such as Loadbang and excellent tutorials from Obiwannabe, visual artists have little access to such a comprehensive resource, which can be a bit off-putting for new users. With that in mind I was more than happy to be a reviewer for this book that focuses almost entirely on GEM and making visuals in PD.

Although it is definitely suited to new users this book does get quite complex in later chapters where it begins to detail camera tracking, OpenCV and particle generators. I even learnt a couple of things!

Most of the tutorials are written to work on all operating systems (Linux, Mac and Windows) though some instructions, such as installing libraries, aren’t always covered. That could be another book in itself!

Get yourself a copy now!