Nicks Blog

Decortica: Mathew Bosher, Daniel Bosher & Antoinette Lee – decortica.com
Video Director: James Turnbull – gekkoimagery.co.nz
Programmer: Nick Sayes (nicksayes.com) & Jordon Saunders

The “point cloud” effect used in Decortica’s Featherlight music video was generated by running video frames through a Processing script.  Processing is an open source lightweight programming language and environment geared towards creatives and researchers to generate various data visualisations.  Processing provides simple means of accessing and interpreting: images, video, sound, web data etc.  It is a particularly simple programming tool for those who want to give it a go.

The Featherlight script resolves 2D images into a array of pixels (point cloud) which it colours and positions in 3D space.  Brighter pixels are positioned at a depth and darker pixels closer to the viewing plane or front of the point cloud.  From front on, the point cloud appears a close representation of the input image with some interesting distortions.  These distortions are a result of visual perspective.  The bright points, most distant from the viewer, appear inset from the bounds of the video frame and behind the darker pixels which then appear to be stepping out from the frame.  A best example of this effect is between 2.00 and 2.30 in the video.  This portion’s explosive backgrounds force the script to drop the bulk of the point cloud away from the viewer and behind the silhouettes of the band.  Variations in the brightness of the explosions cause the points to move forward and back, warping the frame edge.

At other points in the video, such as between 1.00 and 1.20, the point cloud orbits.  Here you can see the variation in point depth most clearly.  The brightness of Matt’s face appears to be pull off its background.

The Featherlight processing script can be downloaded here.  (you will need to download processing first).

I have simplified the and annotated the script so that it is clear what each part is doing.  Most of the programming occurs within the draw() function.  I have highlighted three key parts.

Part 01 imports the specified image and interprets into pixel by pixel data.
Part 02 goes through the pixel data to determine its colour and brightness.
Part 03 draws each pixel as a point in 3D space.  The brightness defines the depth of the point.

More info, summary, images, outakes posted on decortica.com

Dan gave me a Processing script to play with for a quick Decortica video.  Its a bit house of cards like, but works on quite a different principle … we don’t have 3D video cameras.  Was also playing with a variation on it that starts to respond to sound etc.  Its was too weird for an MTV or C4 music video.  It may see light in the future as another Decortica vid or other …

The screenshots above are the script run over the Coldplay iPod Advert. It looks way cooler in motion.

Dan’s vlog on the Video

Decortica website

Concert at Galatos – Was Awesome!

Long Player Live on C4

Part 01

Part 02

Part 03

Last Sunday

“It was that musical canvas they explored in a generous concert which ran past the two-hour mark, and in which Hancock also reached across time from playing material like the funk-like Stitched Up off his latest album Possibilities, picking Actual Proof from the mid-70s Headhunters days for a staccato and driving attack where Colaiuta came into his own, and – more rewardingly – essaying classic material such as Watermelon Man” … my highlight … “explored as funk-fusion with Loueke on discreet wah-wah, his hit Cantaloupe Island, and a moving solo treatment of Maiden Voyage, the programme highlight.” Don’t forget Chameleon.

Although I would have loved a horn (trumpet or sax) player, and without my sisters ‘best drummer in the world’, these musicians made today’s contemporary popshit/rock artists sound amateur.

Highlights were: The first two tracks, Can’t Stop and Dani California. Then having left the stage they returned with a jam including fleas trumpet launching into a full mix of old stuff. Suck My Kiss, Sir Phyco Sexy, Californication (massive improvised intro), Scar Tissue, Higher Ground (easily the best), Right On Time (with The Clash intro).

Steve Jobs writes, “With the stunning global success of Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to ‘open’ the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Let’s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future.” apple.com

Link to full article.

Japanese mix of music and visuals. Multimedia design.

Apple profile With Video

KiwiTabs Version 2.0 Up and going. Some more changes to make, but its up there.

Enjoy