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Viideo VJ Software
Live Visuals with the Nintendo Wii Remote
Viideo is custom VJ software for improvisational cinematography. It uses the Nintendo Wii remote to manipulate live 2D and 3D video projections in real time. You can control movie clips, OpenGL graphics and effects using gestures and motion tracking, and also record and loop your gestures for a completely improvised performace.
Battlehooch at the Casbah
A live performance with the Majestic Masters of Meddling Melodies Battlehooch at The Casbah, San Diego, California. (Please excuse the poor YouTube video quality.)
Using the Wii Remote (a.k.a. Wiimote)
Viideo uses the Wiimote's pointing ability and accelerometers to control movies and effects with simple hand gestures. The two-handed nature when using the nunchuck allows for a powerful control style: selecting effects with one hand and manipulating them with the other.
There are four layers with four effects each. You can control the composite blending of the layers with the D-pad and switch movie clips and effect presets with the buttons. You can also record and loop automations for each effect to layer many effects over each other.
How it Works
Effects are divided into manipulators and generators. Generators can be movies, camera input, cellular automata, spiderwebs and other textures. Manipulators transform the image from the generator into somthing else, like color bias, hue rotation, convolution/blur, kalidescope/mirror transformations, and more advanced effects.
Most of the effects are implemented as shaders in the GPU, so the system is fast enough for real-time performance. Viideo is written in Javascript using the Max/MSP/Jitter platform.
The Wiimote connects via Bluetooth thanks to the aka.wiimote interface by Masayuki Akamatsu. I built a simple USB-powered "sensor bar" using two infared LEDs and attached it to my MacBook Pro for the Wiimote's IR pointing functions.
Gallery
These are some stills from a Hey Three Eyes/French Miami concert at Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, California.
All photos by Drew Beck
Performances
I have used Viideo for improvisational cinematography in many different shows for many different types of music. If you would like me to do visuals for your band in the San Francisco Bay Area, please contact me.
- Battlehooch, George Cochrane, DJ Sarahdactyl @ Floppy's Flophouse, Oakland, CA
(November 5, 2008)
- Hey Three Eyes (with Titus Andronicus, Neighborhood Stars) @ Hemlock Tavern
(August 3, 2008)
- Battlehooch (with Grand Ole' Party, Mr. Tubes) @ The Casbah, San Diego, CA (view video 1) (2) (3)
(July 18, 2008)
- Battlehooch (with Howl) @ The Smell, Los Angeles, CA
(July 17, 2008)
- Battlehooch, The New Bloods @ The Space Gallery
(June 18, 2008)
- Mammatus, Battlehooch @ Kimo's Penthouse
(May 24, 2008)
- Maus Haus, Dark Meat @ Hemlock Tavern (view video)
(May 8, 2008)
- French Miami, Battlehooch, Hey Three Eyes @ Bottom of the Hill
(April 23, 2008)
- Finest Dearest, Maus Haus, Saything @ The Bike Kitchen
(April 7, 2008)
- Battlehooch, Maus Haus @ Hemlock Tavern
(February 7, 2008)
- Battlehooch, Chinese Bookie @ The Rickshaw Stop
(December 29, 2007)
