Noobie video question
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Hi I'm brand new to this, so apologies if I'm asking a question that is answered elsewhere - I've been looking but it's not making sense. I want to be able to select a smaller scaled video (can make it small!) and reposition it to a 'hotspot' on the stage, where it will enlarge. (I know I can reposition it using the mouse watcher etc) I'd then like to be able to trigger it so that it rescales back to it's original position.
I want this hotspot to do everything I can do elsewhere, additive mix etc but not when these video feeds are not within its bounds. Can I do this with a shape? (like putting a picture into a shape?)The endpoint is a kinect interface, but the more I read these forums the more I'm realising this is going to be harder than I thought. Simple steps first!Many thanks,Joe CitizenNZ -
Sorry, it does not make much sense. Could you try to explain a bit better. Maybe step-by-step?
So far I understand that you have a video of the size of your stage that you scale down and place it on ”hot-spot” that is not the center of the stage. Maybe the ”hot-spot" position is changing with Mouse Watcher. But when the video rescales to its original size it will fill the entire stage with its center matching the center of the stage. Do I understand this?I would probably use Trigger value or Envelopes feed to scale and position on Projector to rescale and reposition the video.I want this hotspot to do everything I can do elsewhere, additive mix etc but not when these video feeds are not within its bounds. Can I do this with a shape? (like putting a picture into a shape?)This, however I do not understand at all -
I don't really understand what you're asking either, except for this: yes, you can us the shapes actor to contain video.
Have a look at the Troika Tronix channel on You Tube. Mark has some great videos there that will help you understand this and how Isadora works.
Cheers,
Hugh
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Hi, thanks for your interest. I will try with the shapes actor first. (I've watched all the videos on youtube and from this site, thanks). What I want is a series of smaller sized videos as the default (not the entire stage as the default - know how to do this) which I can then pick up and place in a 'mixing area' (hotspot) ie show an audience the act of selection and mixing the small framed video in a larger framed video space. I then want to be able to select single layers of video in the mixing area and have them snap back to their original selection space. I'd like to have a series of videos playing as small versions on one side of the stage, and a larger frame (will try a shape actor, have been trying with a film frame still and a luminance key) on the other side of the stage. I want to pick up the single smaller sized videos and place them into the larger frame where they will resize to the size of that frame. (Have been using mouse watcher and cmd keys.) Then want to be able to select each layer of video inside this larger frame and when I move it outside of the larger frame space it snaps back to it's original size and position. I'm trying to demonstrate the act of making meaning from montage in an interactive way - ideally I want audience members to actively mix video layers themselves rather than simply watch it happen (previous VJ experience has come from vision switching, not triggers..) Thanks again, Joe
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Well I never did get around to that shapes actor - I've found Izzy quite counter-intuitive, but it's started to make a lot more sense after I tried out the excellent video tutorial by DusX (http://www.dusxproductions.com/blog/create-a-video-sequencer/) Many, many thanks. (It's particularly good at how it teaches the useful application of the User actor) The trouble with the existing YouTube tutorials is that they don't go far enough - there's very little project based tutorials out there for those of us who don't like wading through the alphabetically arranged manual. (Why is it not arranged around the tool box ordering? (Like photoshop, final cut pro and countless other types of software...)
It's methodology is perfectly logical, and completely insensible at the same time. It also needs a judicious amount of editing - either more commas or the use of inverted commas to locate which word is the value that is being talked about within the sentence...) The real trouble is of course that the whole thing doesn't make sense until you have got your head around inputs and outputs - it's much more analog than digital in its usability - it's probably completely logical to some that it's patch based (only started to make sense after a realised its like plugging in a DVD player to different types of vision switchers, then finally to a projector - wow, completely not what I was expecting...)So we finally got NI Mate working sending OSC to Isadora. The interesting thing about translating 0-127 values into XYZ space is that it doesn't naturally flow into percentiles. Sure, the use of a calculator to divide or minus the value into itself to limit the range within a workable amount was useful, but unfortunately the body just doesn't flow into straight line planes. Multiple triggers then for the specified spatial location, which led to logical calculators - sure wish there's a tutorial that talks about all of that - and the pass value actor. But just triggering different layers of video felt a bit dumb, the midi output is kinda interesting (remind me however never to use Garageband ever again.. you can't specify different ports), which is a heck of a lot more 'interactive' as it's more bleeding across the zones when you send out notes. Hmmn.Coming from a video perspective its a bit nuts to make my files so small. I've always liked lots of RAM but Izzy has made me realise I need HEAPS more. Shooting inside a black box studio helped lots as it meant that the compression could really crush on the backgrounds. Spitting them back out with soft edges is good too - the lack of a straight edge allows it to blend better when resizing /repositioning /adding layers. Used a 2 key side lighting set up using kinoflos and no back light, which means that the black backgrounds are all reasonably flat with the figures.Anyhow, thanks to Skulpture too. Its quite hard jumping into a forum - seems like there's a few people who know lots but I've found it really hard to get the information I needed. It's not like there's a book I can refer to or anything. I've found it incredible that for a software that's 10 years old there's a remarkable lack of information about it. That said, it's pretty damn awesome. Cheers. -
I think the problem is that there are hundreds of Isadora actors inside the software and for Mark to not only comment on each actor in the mauna but to also give an in depth example or scenario in how to use it would be a daunting task, the time it would take to do this is unimaginable also.
Mark is a one band still lets not forget, hiring a few freelance coders when he can, an admin person and a couple of us helping with the forum - thats it.I don't know of any software; module, arkaos, etc, where they show you in depth what each effect does, etc. And the isadora manual (I think) is really good. I guess thats what this forum is for, asking questions and figuring stuff out between us.Thanks for the recognition of my blog, glad its helped. I'd like to do a lot more tutorials and I will consider talking about a full project rather than just individual actors in the future. I have a few projects that I would be happy to document and talk through once I have time. :) -
Citizen, I am glad you found my tutorial helpful.. I have plans to do more (some in the works currently), so please do check back now and again.
I personally read the entire manual twice before getting into any real projects, and found it very informative.. however; tutorials are lacking and I think that if a few of us on the forum made the effort to create even a couple that the documentation voids could be filled very quickly.
I know I appreciate browsing Skulpture's blog from time to time.
