Simple Osc media server-client video system
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Hi everyone,
I’d like to share an OSC server and client video patch that we created during an Isadora workshop in Cuba some time ago.
The patch was developed as part of a collaborative learning process, exploring real-time communication between systems using OSC. It’s a simple but practical setup that can be useful for those experimenting with networked video, interactive installations, or remote control between machines.
We also used this setup in The Escapist, a large-scale video projection by my friend and artist Pavel Méndez, presented at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba. I’m also sharing a link so you can check out the project and see how it was used in a real-world context. https://youtu.be/gRqExMF7MdA
I’ve made a small update to make it compatible with Isadora 4, although it was originally created for version 2. The goal was to help students implement video-splitting systems without requiring highly specialized or expensive hardware, since access to technology in Cuba can be quite limited. For this reason, the system was designed to run across multiple basic computers. The system uses a Data Array actor to save parameters. You can export and import these settings as external
.txtfiles, so students only need to import their own media.It’s nothing super advanced, but I’m proud that it worked and was useful for many students, and I believe it can serve as a starting point for anyone interested in creating something similar. It’s by no means perfect, after all it was developed during a 5-day workshop. I didn’t run into any issues, and neither did my students, but you might encounter some.
Feel free to try it out, modify it, or use it as a starting point for your own projects. If you have any questions or ideas for improvement, I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’m always curious to see how it’s being used, so if you do end up using it, please send me a picture or a link—I’d love to check it out.
Best, Milton