For custom 3D work or GPU-native processing of images and videos, a working knowledge of coding shaders is essential. Custom shaders are widely supported in tools like Max/MSP/Jitter, Processing (with some work), Java coding, Pd/GEM, Quartz Composer, and even many other video and 3D apps. In Jitter, for instance, you can basically add some custom […]

There’s nothing like the occasional reminder that commercial effects pros get to do stuff we can’t. Today’s example: a real-life Katamari Damacy, starting with a single person (ouch) and rolling through a city, courtesy the Travelers Insurance group. The results are stunningly realistic, particularly at the beginning: there’s a sense of real physicality to it, […]

There’s nothing like the occasional reminder that commercial effects pros get to do stuff we can’t. Today’s example: a real-life Katamari Damacy, starting with a single person (ouch) and rolling through a city, courtesy the Travelers Insurance group. The results are stunningly realistic, particularly at the beginning: there’s a sense of real physicality to it, […]

There’s nothing like the occasional reminder that commercial effects pros get to do stuff we can’t. Today’s example: a real-life Katamari Damacy, starting with a single person (ouch) and rolling through a city, courtesy the Travelers Insurance group. The results are stunningly realistic, particularly at the beginning: there’s a sense of real physicality to it, […]

The Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros are here, and even if you’re a Windows user, these machines deserve a look. See Create Digital Music for the full once-over, but here’s my short list for why the MacBook Pro has appeal for the VJ/visualist/live visuals person, particularly for the intensive requirements of running live visuals in […]

Apple has announced an update for its MacBook Pro line that makes it up to 39% faster than the previous MacBook and seven trillion times faster than our sorry PowerBook G4s. Wait — scratch that last line. I think they said “seven.” But having tested the first MacBook Pro, suffice to say that the Pro […]

I started using Live with version 1, and since that version, Live users have longed for an easy way to customize the color scheme in Ableton Live. It’s a no-brainer: two-dimensional interface, high-contrast UI elements, basic graphics — why not be able to choose the color scheme you want? Ableton’s own themes let you abandon […]

Bless K-mart and their $2.50 contact sheets of faux woodgrain. They can turn your average, ordinary plastic M-Audio USB MIDI keyboard into a retro-styled custom job that just screams, erm, class. Melbourne-and-London-based CDM forum reader soloandata did just that. (Talk about bi-coastal — they have K-marts there?) Kudos: it takes a steady hand to line […]

Regular readers of this site and Make Magazine know I’m a big fan of Limor Fried’s MIDIsense, a physical computing (aka real world aka sensor input) MIDI board. Sensor data goes in, MIDI goes out, and thanks to standard MIDI DIN connectors, you can plug it into any computer MIDI interface or music hardware and […]

The problem with truly virtual synths? No sound. Second Life is one of those things I might try out one of these days, except that I’m quite busy with my first, second, third, and fourth lives at the moment. I’m surprised that while Tom at Music thing catches on to music gear sales in the […]