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Danish filmmaker Anders Ostergaard was in Myanmar to do a half-hour portrait on a young member of the Democratic Voice of Burma, an underground group of video journalists determined to document the oppressive conditions in the country, when suddenly, in September 2007, the Buddhist monks’ rebellion broke out. It had been sparked by the military government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies, causing some fuel prices to jump as much as 500% overnight.

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MixEmergency is a visualisation application capable of being controlled by Scratch Live. It allows the user to mix and scratch video and visualisations in real-time. It is an attempt to expand VJ techniques into the visual realm in a single, integrated environment. It supports mixing and scratching of a range of files playable in Quicktime2 as well as support for Quartz Compositions.

Try it out

Seoul is currently hosting “Seoul Digital Culture Open (sedco.sab.kr)” from June 17 to 22 in order to present the operation of Digital Media City (DMC) to its citizens. The event was initiated by enterprises within the DMC as well as the people of Seoul. The unique aspect of this event will draw big crowds. I’m sure the way in which digital content is created from digital culture, research, production and circulation will be used to its full effect.

Digital Music Festival, being held on June 17, 18 and 21 will feature performances from university students and ‘indie’ bands. To keep things interesting, digital VJ’s will showcase their magic on large screens by mixing various digital clips. On the last day of the event, visitors will be able to watch the winning UCC as well as 58 other clips.

Perhaps one of the most interesting exhibitions of all, Digital Pavilion will offer visitors a change to experience the “future.” Film Museum featuring the history of Korean film through exhibition of artifacts is worth noting. The two exhibits will be available to the visitors without an admission fee. For those interested in the DMC itself, a DMC Culture Tour shuttles will also be available for free.

Garagecube has announced that the final version of Modul8 2.5.5 is now online. One free update for recorded users can be downloaded while using the “Download Modul8 Update”. For the units that you downloaded or created on the 2.5.4, it will be necessary to move them in the file modulate version 2.5.5.

Getting at Timecode
Digital vinyl systems like Serato Scratch LIVE and Native Instruments Traktor Scratch are designed for DJs. Part of the whole advantage is that you get an integrated system with vinyl, decoding capability, audio interfacing with the computer, and software for DJ functions. If you want to take the turntable to other frontiers, you have to find a way to get the timecode data from the vinyl directly and do something different with it, like control an instrument or scratch visuals. Only recently did a big-name, mainstream DVS, Serato, take on visuals, and even then it makes some assumptions about what you want to do.

Ammobox, an open-sourced, free Reaktor ensemble from Nathan Ramella, breaks the rules of how timecode decoding is supposed to work in a wonderful way, enabling something he calls “polyphonic scratching.” Since it sends MIDI, you can control other stuff with it, and since it’s built in Reaktor, you can customize the workings of the ensemble or integrate it into your own creations.

Ms. Pinky vinyl comes with a Max/MSP external for use in patches. The object also works with Torq vinyl; see comments. And talk about non-conventional DJing: the tech has produced art installations made with turntables in tree trunks and turntable-controller vibrating furniture, pictured top right. (Does anyone know if it’s possible to port the Ms. Pinky object to Pd as well as Max?)

• xwax is an open-source, Linux-based vinyl emulation software. Unlike the other two options here, it is actually intended for emulating digital vinyl systems on Mac and Windows; there are even open source drivers for Rane and Stanton audio interfaces. But to many of us, that isn’t nearly as interesting as doing something different with the vinyl.

The once popular ArKaos VJ software is finally starting to show its age and upgrades only take you so far. ArKaos are now working on rebuilding the foundation, and the results, GrandVJ, are due out soon. GrandVJ has a cleaner interface, multi-threaded graphics, and lots of new effects and generators. One differentiating feature in GrandVJ is its “synthesis mode.” This maps sources onto a virtual music keyboard, retaining ArKaos’ place as an easy, instrument-visual-tool.

The generative idea is nice, as well, but even with Flash support. 3L has powerful tools for building 3D graphics in the software, Processing is gaining support among coders, Quartz Composer has native support in software like VDMX for custom patches, to say nothing of Jitter, Flash/Flex, etc. Arkaos’ greatest advantage remains its uncommonly clean interface.

The P-10 Visual Presenter is interesting. It’s basically a video sampler with 12 pads and a tidy control layout in a small space that you could easily pack with a laptop. Importantly, the P-10 uses a standard video format (MJPEG, or JPEG) stored on removable SD media. That means you can shoot video and on a portable camera that supports MJPEG and JPEG and drop the card straight into the P-10 – very handy.

Basic features:

• MJPEG video
• JPEG stills
• Built-in display
• Capture live audio and video
• 12 triggers
• Effects dials