Visual Reel Picks: vvvv and Audiovisuals from Max Hattler

Enough talk about free software – back to some actual visuals. German visualist Max Hattler sends us his latest visual reel, a live A/V set performed in Serbia, and it’s a brilliant diversion. Textured geometries meld and blink in lovely combinations of hard-edged abstraction and painterly layers. It’s all done in vvvv, the graphical patching […]

Google Hands Open Video a Huge Win, as Misconceptions Persist

Google ups the ante. H.264, it’s on. Of course, given the entrenchment of existing videos and the Flash plug-in, many are predicting the “die tryin’” scenario is the more likely one. Time will tell. Photo (CC-BY) Linus Bohman. Today, Google announced it is omitting H.264 support from its Chrome browser, in favor of free and […]

A Custom Shop for Music Gear, a “Third Deck” DJ Controller, and DIY Hardware Secrets

Dave Cross thinks more about the design of DJ gear than even most passionate electronic music enthusiasts. Aside from stints at DJ Times and Ableton, this is a man who wrote an honors thesis on the history of the DJ mixer [PDF]. Then again, maybe it’s more a matter of the industry being painfully behind. […]

Why iOS' Problems with Free Video Won't Spread to Android, Most Other Platforms

Free as in beer is a great concept, too. Photo (CC-BY-SA) The Art Gallery of Knoxville. While on the topic of the conflict between the GPL-licensed free VLC video tool (and GPL software in general) and Apple’s App Store, I can’t help but be slightly amused at the common reaction. It goes like this: “hey, […]

Why iOS’ Problems with Free Video Won’t Spread to Android, Most Other Platforms

Free as in beer is a great concept, too. Photo (CC-BY-SA) The Art Gallery of Knoxville. While on the topic of the conflict between the GPL-licensed free VLC video tool (and GPL software in general) and Apple’s App Store, I can’t help but be slightly amused at the common reaction. It goes like this: “hey, […]

As Apple Pulls GPL-Licensed VLC, The Developers' Version of Events, What it Means for Free Video

Why did Apple remove the free VLC video player from its iOS store? One developer close to the story who asked not to be named answered that question, simply, “No f**king idea.” And that perhaps sums up the mess, misunderstandings, and resentment now surrounding a mobile port of the video app. The word “open” these […]

As Apple Pulls GPL-Licensed VLC, The Developers’ Version of Events, What it Means for Free Video

Why did Apple remove the free VLC video player from its iOS store? One developer close to the story who asked not to be named answered that question, simply, “No f**king idea.” And that perhaps sums up the mess, misunderstandings, and resentment now surrounding a mobile port of the video app. The word “open” these […]

Autechre-Inspired Geometrical Audiovisuals; Grab the Cinema4D File Free

I really enjoy when I get the chance to cross-post stories on Create Digital Music and Motion; I think it means maybe we’re doing something right. Inspired by Autechre, the collaboration of Leisure-B and Usselino produced this pulsing music video full of primitive geometries. It’s not entirely unlike some works we’ve seen before, but at […]

Human Bodies the Subject of Percussive Video Composition, in New Dance Video

Call it full-body percussion. Kasumi’s “soundboard” short film centers on sliced footage of dancers, composed into an audiovisual rhythm. It’s brief but nicely focused. I can almost feel the weight of the movement. More notes from the work’s creator: This piece is as much about the sound as is it the image. Using only the […]

Pulsing Geometries, Free Massive Synth Downloads: Ableton + NI + Cinema4D Music Video

Artists Leisure-B and Usselino collaborated on this Autechre-inspired audiovisual short, filled with pulsing geometric primitives. The work is a kind of A/V composition, the music arranged with abrupt, video-style edits. For fans of Native Instruments’ thick-sounding Massive synth, you also get some free preset downloads in the deal. With Native Instruments’ software providing the sound […]