Help me find the best real-time video generative software for someone with little programming experience.

February 19, 2008 1:48 PM

Help me find the best real-time video generative software for someone with little programming experience (PC, no Mac.)

I've been using Resolume for a few weeks for just triggering clips and manipulating effects, and I think it might be really great for VJ'ing, but I'm also looking for a generative video app to use for my video art. I've looked into vvvv, Pure Data, Processing, Jitter, etc., and can't seem to tell the differences between them, and more importantly, how easy each one is to learn. I have little-to-no programming experience, but I'm willing to learn some coding if it'll help.

I'd like to manipulate objects in real-time (ex. importing a path from Illustrator, or a flash object, or maybe even a 3D model), as well as visualize incoming data streams and be able to manipulate the video output. Obviously, I'd also want to use video clips, fframe plugs, etc. Is this something I'd be able to do in a single app, or in real-time - and if so, how easy would it be to learn for someone with little programming experience, but a lot of media production experience?

Alternately, is this something that Flash could do? A lot of VJ apps can use swfs, and if I could program a swf to take incoming data and/or react to outside input streams, that's an additional thing to consider. I'd much more inclined to go with Flash if it's a viable option. Thanks!

posted by itchi23 to media & arts (3 comments total)

Processing > Pure Data, in my opinion. Pure Data is better for certain realtime applications, but the interface is as cryptic as the documentation is lacking. Learning Processing lets you learn a lot of standard syntax conventions for programming - something that other environments lack. I would guess Jitter is a bit better than Processing (it better be, with the price tag...), but you might want to just start out with Processing first to see if it fits your needs.
posted by tmcw at 1:54 PM on February 19

You could certainly manipulate incoming stream objects in Flash under ActionScript 3, but the filters are restricted to basic operations like blur, rotate, etc. Conceivably someone could build more complex filters within AS3, but I haven't seen anything like that yet.
posted by rhizome at 2:26 PM on February 19

This isn't the cheapest product by a longshot...but Boris Blue is a real time 2d+3d manipulation software. It's interface isn't easy (and your use isn't what this is for either...but it's pretty cool.
posted by filmgeek at 3:20 PM on February 19