Which software application is best suited for an interactive video project?

April 14, 2008 6:20 PM

Please help me determine the best software (windows) for an interactive video/video game art project. I'd like to have participants use a video game controller to create a realtime animation by cycling through different sprites and "drawing" their paths on a single scene. Or better yet - where can I find someone skilled in programming who might want to collaborate on such a project? I can't seem to determine whether to look at game-construction apps or interactive video apps (vvvv, Processing, etc.)

I'm envisioning an interface where the participants can cycle through a small number of different, pre-rendered sprites, "draw" their movement paths on a scene, and when the participant triggers a certain button on the game controller, the sprites begin their movement. Each individual sprite would also have their own unique movements (ie: a butterfly sprite might flap its wings while moving along the path drawn by the participants.)
I can't seem to determine which application would do this the best, and be easiest to program - a game-construction app or an interactive video app, such as vvvv, Processing, etc.
Better yet - is there an online community where artists with little-to-none programming experience can connect with people with a lot of programming experience and cross-collaborate on projects like this?

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

Adobe Director can do this type of thing fairly easily. You can find pro developers here: http://listserv.uark.edu/archives/direct-l.html
posted by nonmyopicdave at 10:06 PM on April 14, 2008

Director is probably your best bet for fast sprite manipulation software. If you need joystick interfaces and Director won't recognize your joystick device, consider something like the JoyKeys (a DOS-based TSR that can translate joystick movements, supposedly).

I've built arcade cabinets with customized joystick/button interfaces which use a hardware encoder -- that sends keyboard strokes, effectively. Director may be happier with something like that, as well. Plus, you could design your joystick in a robust manner with replacable (and fairly cheap) parts. Lots of kids' museums go this route.

Check arcade emulation enthuasist web sites like ArcadeControls.com...lots of great info there for the controller side.
posted by catkins at 10:14 AM on April 15, 2008

Processing would be a pretty good platform for this (I actually did something kind of similar last year, with sprites controlled from mobile phones), and the forums on the processing site would be the spot to find a collaborator.
posted by moonmilk at 7:29 PM on April 15, 2008