"No Software is Free"

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/ignorant-teacher-linux-in-education.html

What is this teacher's problem?

Youtube Grabber

http://www.download.com/Youtube-Grabber/3000-2071_4-10574801.html


Free program for downloading videos off of youtube. Now don't go stealing copyrighted material.

My Preparation for this class started over last summer. I didn't have a computer by the end of the year last year and knew I needed to get a new one for school over the summer. I talked to Pat and after a few discussions and research of my own, I determined that the macbook was the way to go. Editing and composing multimedia files is leaps and bounds ahead of what I was able to do on Windows.

Throughout this class, I've learned so much about my computer, that I would not have explored on my own. I have been able to explore the suite of editing software that comes with macs, as well as the add on Quicktime Pro. Quicktime Pro was a purchase I never would have considered before taking this class, but now that I know how to edit video on my computer, I have found how powerful a program it really is.

In the middle of the semester, I had the opportunity to work with the Signs of Life troupe as a VJ. Using Pat's PD patch, we were able to show and manipulate video clips supplied by the group. The clips were placed into directories which were then randomized using a joystick to switch randomly between clips. This was augmented by a wide array of effects, including a live feed of a person in a mask, which we keyed over the videos being mixed in real time. Other effects included static, blurring, text, bloom, and gain. The part that was most artistically satisfying for me with this project was the collaborative aspect. Along with Pat and Shamar, we each controlled different aspects of the live mixing, while also feeding off of music played by a live DJ.

Throughout the semester, I was also the digital designer for the Florida Player's show Braggart Soldier. The concept for this show was that the characters were like those of a cartoon, and we're invading reality. To facilitate this concept, two separate digital aspects were introduced. First, as the backdrop of the set, there was a large projection screen, on which flash animations were projected. The cartoons were first drawn by a cartoonist, and then animated using the adobe flash program.

The other digital aspect was used during the intermission. There was a small television set in the lobby, andd it played a DVD I authored of commercials circa the 1960s. Finding appropriate commercials in creative commons websites proved dificult, however, there was one source that had ample content, Youtube. The problem with this source was that the videos could only be played in a browser. To solve this problem, I downloaded the Youtube Video Grabber program to extract the files and convert them to .mov files. I was then able to edit out introductions on the youtube videos and have just the pure commercials. I then edited them together using Quicktime Pro to create 1 .mov file of all the commercials, and then authored a DVD of the file using iDVD. The result was exactly how we wanted it to turn out. However, had the videos not been played on a small television screen, youtube would not have been an appropriate source, as the resolution on youtube videos is notoriously bad. For the purposes of this project however, they served excellently.

Shamar's Final Project - Legends

The process:

First, I met with Tiza and the cast to discuss their ideas of developing a play from scratch based on legends from different cultures.

Once I had a general feeling of what the cast was aiming for, I started searching through the Creative Commons and Prelinger Archive databases. I collected an enormous amount of material, which I then scoured through, picking only the material that I felt would best fit with the feel of the play.

I then converted the pictures using Gimp, used Sony Vegas to turn the files into .mov files, and captured short clips with QuickTime.

Throughout all of this, my ideas continued to develop as I played around with the footage, using PD to mix and match the footage in a variety of ways.

Once I had a rough draft of the script, I started mapping out the projections scene by scene.

I then started attending the rehearsals and running some of the projections. Tiza gave me feedback on what she thought worked and what needed changing.

I made the appropriate changes to the pieces and learned more about Sony Vegas and PD in the process!

I continued attending rehearsals and started making a cue list as the cast ran through the play every night.


What I learned:

I learned that developing video projections is actually a very organic process that is largely based on the quality of the content. The content that I collected allowed me to realize possibilities that I had not even thought of before I came across the content. So, I learned that the search itself is just as important as putting all of the material together! For example, one of the scenes called for a spider which led me to collect about 10 media images of spiders before picking the winner! This is how I did everything. I found tons of landscapes, cityscapes, etc. before choosing the final files. Out of all of the material I collected, I only used about 10 percent of it!

I also came to see that the preparation of the files is very time consuming! Before I could even get to the fun part of bringing the images together in aesthetically pleasing ways, I had to put in hours and hours of time just re-formatting the images and files.

My biggest obstacle was trying to figure out how to provide 50 or so minutes of seamless projections even though the play was cut up into 20 scenes!! Since, Tiza preferred not to fade to black between each scene, which I completely agreed with, I had to figure out how to make all of the projections hold together and yet keep them changing. This is where all of the material I collected came in very handy! I had happened to collect one clip that zoomed from space to the clouds over the Earth. And then it hit me, aha, clouds! I realized that a loop of clouds could be faded into and out of to keep the various projections flowing smoothly!

And last, having the opportunity to use what I’ve learned this semester in an actual performance has allowed me to learn so much more than just how to use PD, Gimp etc. I’ve come to see how important the process of collaboration is and how the images must work WITH the actors and lights and sound!

I’m excited to keep exploring the possibilities that digital media offers for theater and look forward to more collaborations!

My Personal Progression with Technology Through the Use of Media Design

-Kent Barrett

 

 

 

 

Throughout these last few months I have gained a great deal of insight, knowledge and overall personal growth from this foray into digital culture, media design, and exposure to new technology.  This development can be seen clearly throughout several aspects of my work both directly related to this class as well as in my professional work.

 

 

The first tangible change I have made as a result from this class is my switching of platforms from Windows to Mac.  My entire life I have been a die-hard anti-apple combatant.  I know a little bit about hardware, and didn’t like the idea of not being able to change anything.  I had no interest in learning a new syntax, becoming a part of some pop phenomena, etc.  However, after talking to Pat, and really exploring the options, I did find that A) my laptop is incredibly outdated and incapable of doing the kind of work I’d like to be doing, and B) Mac really does make the best computers for those in the field of fine arts.  So I took the plunge, have been re-learning the basic operating system and couldn’t be happier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next crucial piece of information and skill set I have gained from this class is the integration of technology for presentational material.  In my line of work, I often have to show research imagery, models, draftings, renderings, etc.  This work can be tedious, and often times not the most exciting to actually view.  In class, we were assigned a few projects, making films form stills.  This would be much like the first progression of film technology, (the nickelodeons, penny arcades, etc.)  My first attempt at this can be seen in this video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, I stuck with black and white still images (referencing the original slides and origins of film), and chose various public figures, typically authors, artists, etc. whom I admire and look up to.

 

While this attempt is very sophomoric, it did inspire me to take this idea and push it to the next level.  At the same time that Pat assigned us this project, I had to give a presentation for a show I was working on.  I had research imagery (still photographs pulled from various sources), 3D virtual model (which Pat taught me how to export out as an object, and “walk through”) as well some written text, which I wanted to display.  I wanted this information to be exciting to watch, but also readily available, not only to the directors and designers who typically view this type of material, but also to the cast and any others who might be interested in seeing the process of how the show really comes together.  To this end, I created this video and uploaded it on the Internet:

 

 

 

As you can see, this video has been viewed multiple times and even commented on by one of the cast members.  I have had multiple people talk with me about how excited they were to see the ideas behind the set, and how this material was available to them on the Internet.

 

 

 

The next tidbit of wisdom I’ve gained from the experience of this class is the use, theoretical implications of, and practical application of open source material. 

At first, like my trepidation with the apple corporation, I was weary of all things open source.  In my previous experience with the majority of open source programming I’ve run across, it tends to be slow, unreliable, and requires a good deal of patience to master the monstrous learning curve which is the syntax of these individual programs.  However, after much cajoling and agonizing argumentation I finally ceded that there is quite a lot of open source software readily and freely available that is not only useful but also quite powerful.  The idea that the technology, information, and work should not only be shared, but also expanded upon through collaboration is an incredibly idealistic and noble theory to me.  And as for use, after I purchased the new Mac book pro, my funds were less than stellar, so instead of buying the Adobe CS suite, I downloaded Gimp and have been mastering it ever since:

 

 

While it doesn’t do everything that Photoshop does, and the learning curve is still throwing me for a loop sometimes, I do find it to be an extremely powerful program and one that I have and will continue to use over and over again.

 

The other wonderful piece of open source software that I’ve been exposed to through this class is Pure Data.

 

Pure Data has opened the doors to me to what media design truly is and can be.  Through the exploration of this program I have started to learn and understand the basic structure of most media servers including Catalyst, Green Hippo, and Jitter.  Not only is PD configured in the same basic kind of skeletal framework as these notorious servers, but also it seems to be able to function in relatively the same capacity once you start to understand how you can tweak and customize the functions of the program. 

 

The first step in using this program was to simply mix alternating media together in a relatively simple patch:

 

 

Next came filtering and effects layering.  Then recording this mixture, until I was able to manipulate real time or pre-recorded video at whatever pace need be:

 

 

I am currently working on customizing a patch which will allow me to have several different options of filters, affects, videos, etc.  While this patch is somewhat complex, I am trying to customize it with colors, labels, etc. to make it as easy as possible for a board operator who would not be familiar with the software to use.  Also, so that in dimly lit theatres, the screen itself is easy to view.

 

 

The most substantial contribution this class has imparted upon me is in the mere exposure to contemporary artists, discussions of cultural identities and how this is defined through technology, and an overall understanding of underground culture/advancement, etc.  This has been crucial in shaping my outlook on theatre as well as redefining how I approach my work, and what I plan on doing with my life as a whole.  This sounds much more melodramatic than it is, but not nearly as important to me, as it truly is.  We spent a good amount of time in class discussing various artists, different cultures as defined by their use of media technology, etc.

I found it fascinating that raps music was actually a true embodiment of the postmodern art movement, in its use of re-appropriation, collage, personal narration, etc.  Richard Prince should be proud!  I loved seeing how drugs, music, and videotape all seemed to interconnect hand in hand.  Not only that, but how art, literature, music, etc. seemed to progress along the same kind of curve.  At the same time.  Each intertwined, and yet maintaining some since of independence.  And yet, throughout all of this, I wondered how my art form of choice fits into this mix?  The answer: it doesn’t.

 

Not really.

 

No seriously, theatre seems to be this dinosaur of an art form.  Not only is it old, decrepit, and basically extinct, but also it progresses slower than anything I’ve ever seen.

Our audiences are getting older and older (they’ll be dead soon, I promise), and with it smaller and smaller.  The art form itself is stuck in this formulaic awful perpetual motion device, that just can’t seem to break free of this one antiquated style: realism. 

 

Really, how many shows can you really do about families set in living rooms or kitchens?

 

While art and music and literature, and poetry and all these other glorious cultural achievements are racing towards new goals and higher planes, experimenting with different styles, and breaking down barriers and walls of the basic construct of their form, all being fueled by the integration or at least exposure of new technology, theatre sits there idly by, slowly chugging away, trying to pretend like film, and television, and the internet doesn’t really exist.  Saying, “come on guys, why don’t you come in and take a load off.  Sit down and let me show you what it’s like to actually see a radio drama.”   The problem is nobody’s listened to radio dramas in 50 years!

 

I have been struggling with this revelation for a long time now.  Questioning why I pursue a career or lifestyle or whatever you’d like to call it, dedicated to an art form, which by most accounts is already dead…

And yet, through this class, I think I’ve found where the future of this dying beast could be headed.  The way in which it could actually gasp for air.  A light at the end of the tunnel.  OK, enough metaphors.  Or are they similes?  No definite metaphors.  Regardless, the answer and savior of theatre will come from technology. 

 

In the late 1800’s when the daguerreotype came out, everybody said painting would be a dead medium.  Because in the past, the primary function of painting was to replicate reality, to put realism on a canvas and present it to the viewer.  Once the camera cam into existence, there was no need for this type of form any more.  Yet, instead of dying, the medium completely transformed itself, starting with the impressionists, to the abstract expressionists, to the post-modern painters of today.  It no longer tries to recreate reality, but rather presents so many varying and complex subjects, messages, and theories.  Yet, when we look at theatre, and put it next to painting, it seems as if one has learned nothing from the other.  In just the same was the camera and still photography has replaced realism in painting, so does film and digital imagery beat out theatre.  Yet, instead of transforming itself into a completely different and wonderfully exciting and experimental medium, theatre has tried and tried to pretend like movie theatre and television programming and the computer don’t exist at all. 

 

 

The key is not to pretend like film and television and the Internet don’t exist, but rather to embrace that they do, and use them to further your own art form.  What is it that film can do that theatre can’t?   What is it that the Internet achieves that theatre wills never being able to touch?  What does television offer people that theatre has never been able to?  The answer to these questions is endless.  Which makes the potential for the integration of this technology into this antiquated art form not only incredibly exciting, but at this point, it is necessary.  As our audiences become older and older, we will need to still fill those seats with somebody.  Who will that be?  Why not the twenty something crowd?  Those in there thirties or forties?  The kid who comes into star bucks with his ripped up jeans and converse, and just happens to have a Rolex on his wrist and drive a Mercedes because he’s a software programmer.  The idea that the younger generation isn’t a marketable audience base is absurd.  The ipod phenomenon should be proof enough.  And what does this younger hipper audience want to see?  Not fifty-year-old men who mourn the loss of their jobs.  They want to see the integration of technology that they have become so familiar with and accustomed to.  Not only should it be a technical presence, but also it should help to define the very structure of the work itself.

 

There was a day in class in which Pat and I got into an argument about the work of various video artists such as Brian Eno, Yoko Ono, etc.  The exact expression which I delighted on was “artist as author”.  In media art or most fine art forms actually, there tends to be one person in charge of the material presented in that graphic space.  Whether it be Mathew Barney’s warped visions on film, or Richard Serra’s massive steal structures.  While each of these artists has teams of people who work to make their product a reality, they themselves are the artist and author of their work.  Pat explained to me, that the reason theatre was so slow to progress; why we’re still stuck where painting was nearly 100 years earlier is because theatre requires so many different people to make it happen.  What I don’t understand is why?

 

This is the key to me.

 

This is what this class has taught me, that no other class ever has or ever will and why I feel so inspired. 

 

This class has shown me exactly what I want to do with my life.  I want to start a theatre company that uses and fully integrates technology into new works that appeal to a younger contemporary audience.  I want this work to be wholly mine, as an artist and author so that what you see inside the graphic space of that theatre is my idea and vision.  I want to write the script, direct the play, and do the lighting design, set design, sound design, and projection design.  I want these elements to all work seamlessly with one another and I want it all to deal with contemporary issues and functions of the present today that we are all living in and dealing with.  To this end, I have written my own play, I have gained experience in directing and different aspects of design, and next semester I will be putting on a show called Scorched Grounds in which the chorus of actors will not only function as players who move the action forward, but also as moving projection screens for the digital art that will be displayed across them.  I’m planning on designing every aspect of the show, with projections as the key central figure.  Not only as the key figure of design, but as the principle actor of the play. 

 

This project is so thrilling, and exciting and terrifying to me, and it is exactly what I feel like I should be doing right now.  Because I truly believe that the future of this art form, which I love so much, must be tied into the use and complete integration of various technology.  Because I feel the medium itself is so far behind the times, I think the only way to make the art form progress quickly enough, is by simplifying the hierarchal structure that has typically been used in traditional theatrical environments.  This is how I think this class has inspired me to try to change the future of theatre. 

 

 

     

Joshua's Presentation

Windows Vista
- Vista in my opinion is a slow laboring giant with high system requirements. Not open source with its restrictive licensing terms and puts forth new technologies aimed at complete control of digital media.

- The struggle
-It was difficult to achieve my goals in the class with its limited capabilities.
- Pure Data
- Crashed more than worked
- Not user friendly
- Video Editing
- not free
- Quick Time Pro

Linux
- Open source
- is the creative practice of appropriation and free sharing of found and created content. This practice has opened a new world for freedom in the creative process. The ability to modify products and allow others into the process has greatly expanded my knowledge.

- Ubuntu

“The Ubuntu promise
-Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
-Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
-Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
-Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.” (Ubuntu Website)

- The Switch to Ubuntu
- Proportionment
- Easy to install
- 50% Ubuntu
- 50% Vista
- Benefits
- Open Source
- Many free programs
- GIMP
- Open Office
- Pure Data
- Free Frame
- Audacity
- Cinnalarra

- Fast Interface
- quick start up and shut down
- opens programs quickly
- Easy to use
- modifiable

- Difficulties
- Acer Aspire 5520
- Wifi
- Had to manually build headers
- difficult process
- Video Card
- NVIDA
- Trial and errors
- Second Screen
- Did not work
- NVIDA has improved to just a click away
- Kernel and Updating
- Change NVIDA following directions on forums
- Fixed with restore
- Updated my Kernel and lost headers for Wifi and NVIDA
- learned when something works, no need for the total update
- Unable to use programs in my field
- CAD programs
- QCAD
- unable to import or export

I would recommend the use of Ubuntu. It seems to be growing and the possibilities are endless.