I've mentioned that I love Isadora, and I have a lot of patches that might be useful so I'm going to try and share a few here.   If you have any problems or questions about Isadora feel free to ask me, and I'll see if I know or can figure out how to help.

You will have to have "the newest" or close to newest version of Isadora to open my example files (1.2.9 on the Mac, or 9b51 on the PC)

One of the things I love the most about Isadora is the Quad Distort Actor.   I had been using my own cobbled together software in which this was the primary feature, and when I started using Isadora I though that it was so much better than everything I had tried, if only it had this one more feature.  Well Mark added the feature and I was hooked.

The simple explanation is that a Quad Distortion actor is just Like a Projector but you can control it's corner points to correct for even radical keystone distortions.

I think this is obviously useful, but I want to point out some of the great things that it makes possible.
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DPI:

What is your favorite tool(s)?

Hal Eagar:

Well the easy answer is the Computer, or maybe the Nvidia or ATI 3D card. Because maybe my favorite effect is trilinear filtering, (which is an anti-aliasing filter on resized textures. I could blab about that more but it's a bit obscure and uninteresting.

Anyway it's the software that you interact with, so how about I change the question to my favorite software on that "computer"?

Flash, it works the way I think animation ought to, with free running nested time lines.

I really like the nested structures of everything from computer programs, to little drawers, to good play scripts. Anyway programming flash has gotten more complex as they add more and more features, but it's still manages to stay in that sweet spot for me of being easy to just bang out something quick, while letting you get deep and solid and complex when you need to.

Tack a shell like SwfStudio or Zink onto flash and it's a great fast prototype development platform. And that's what theatre is, fast development.

(and hey I think the new flash beta may finally use some of that 3D trilinear scaling)

I still love PERL for the same reasons, easy to hack or get deep and powerful. Though it's way out of style now days, I should be hacking Python instead, but I still prefer PERL.
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Troika Ranch offers three workshops in 2008 in NYC.
CLASSES:

June 14-18, MIMA (for moving image media artists)
June 23-27, June 30-July 4, Live-I (for performing artists)
October 25-29, MIMA (for moving image media artists)

MIMA workshops use technological tools developed by Troika Ranch primarily focusing on Coniglio's Isadora® software, a graphic programming environment that provides interactive control over digital media, with special emphasis on the real-time manipulation of digital video. The participants learn to use their movements and vocalizations to interactively control computer-based media, such as sound synthesizers, video playback devices and theatrical lighting.
The Live-I workshop is a two-week intensive for performing artists. Once the technological
tools have been demonstrated, the students are lead through a series of games, discussions and experiments related to the integration of media in live performance. Under the guidance of the instructors, the participants have time to work on creative studies of their own.

Mallory and I have reached our first checkpoint in the Oh What War video system development. To the anachronistic surveillance system, I have added the following features:

-Detritus selector: This is a jpg player that inserts 'detritus' jpgs (pre-selected war themed paraphernalia; and sometimes not*) into the inter channel distortion. The idea is that like a 'radio tooth' our system is picking up some not-necessarily-random static. The selectors flash each detritus image for 1/10th of a second- however the detritus (when it is on) lasts for a full second- so while you might not be able to name/recognize/remember all the images (they appear on top of a wobbly scramble) you certainly realize that you saw something. Not like we need any more subliminal garbage!

HOWEVER I read somewhere recently that narcissists are more likely to read meaning into random symbols in their lives... Is our system a narcissist? (Just like mommy?) Before we get totally way off course- I am just injecting the words from the script as images in the interstices. There are: tanks, scribbles, sausages, rib cages... sometimes thematically: severed arms, severed heads, severed legs, severed torsos. And then linguistically (homo-nyms/phones) a spade, a spade, a spade... an idea stolen from more than one poet.

Since there are so many landscapes in the monitors/ afterall, the system is keeping an eye on the landscapes in the four directions, therefore there must be an instrument for digging into them.

stay tuned to hear about the unfortunate

-Singing/talking faceless man: our World War I pacman

Zbigniew

After consulting with Hal, I have begun work with the matrox- a device which is aptly named since the 'i' in matrix is stretched to an 'o' just as the device creates a stretched display of 2400x800 , allowing me to serve all the video from one stage in Isadora and develop the show on my laptop.
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http://www.troikaranch.org/workshops.html

Two types of in depth workshops offered by TrokaRanch oriented toward different audiences, both exporing the use of Mark Coniglio's software Isadora.
Isadora offerers one of the best balances of ease of use and power of any software I have ever used.

Week Long workshops: 10:00AM - 4:00PM daily
June 14-18
Application Deadline April 14 2008
October 27 - 31
Application Deadline August 25 2008
$500
3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street, NY, NY

Specifically Designed for Moving Image Media Artists the MIMA workshop allows students to explore strategies and techniques
for using gestures or vocalizations to interactively control computer
based media
Cost includes a six-month trial license for the Isadora software

Two Week Long workshop: 10:00AM - 4:00PM daily
June 23-July 4 2008
Application Deadline April 28 2008
$1000
3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street, NY, NY

Live-I (Live-Interactive) Workshop is an intensive seminar designed for performance-based artists, the participants will have time to work on creative projects and experiments of their own.

Cost includes a one-year trial license for the Isadora software

Location:
DPI/GSRT/Learning Worlds
15 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10010

2,000sq ft mixed use office and studio space shared with the company Learning Worlds.

3/4 of this space has a 1 1/4 inch pipe grid.

Grid height is 12 1/2 feet.

Approximately half of the space is outfitted with desks that cannot be moved, the rest is an open multi-purpose area.

Storage area for equipment is available when using the studio.

Space is available to resident artists outside the regular office hours of 8am-6:30pm Mon - Fri

Space must be scheduled in advance.
Artists can install screens sets or equipment in the studio space for the duration of their scheduled time as long as it does not restrict access to the office desk areas
Artists scheduled in the studio space have priority access to the equipment library mentioned below.

There is an additional 500sq foot conference room equipped with a computer and projector, suitable for meetings of 10 people. The conference spaces are available to resident artists primarily (though not exclusively) outside of Learning Worlds office hours.

Also available is a video editing station Mac Pro tower with DV/DVCam/HDV deck, HDV camera, and NTSC reference monitor; and a small "sound both" and audio editing station G5 tower w/M-Box. Final Cut, After Effects and Pro tools and other software available. You should provide your own hard drive to use the video or audio editing stations. Resident artists can use these primarily (though not exclusively) outside Learning Worlds office hours.

Equipment Inventory as of July 15, 2008
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