Creative Coding for Live Visuals
Creative Coding for Live Visuals

Creative Coding is rapidly becoming a very popular topic all around the world. It involves the creation of high-tech interactive digital artworks by using open-source as well as affordable commercial tools and hardware that was not available before. The creative coding philosophy is also about how to make programming and computer technology more accessible to artists and designers, thus allowing to create artworks and design prototypes faster, cheaper and with less effort than before.


Live visuals is an interpretation of audiovisual performance, which usually involves artists who play their visual material in real-time. In the context of Creative Coding for Live Visuals to become a live performer, you do need to have skills in creative coding and live performance, which means that you have to be engaged to the environment that allows you to manipulate with your created applications in real-time. A good connection with sound artist is usually strongly involved. Creative Coding for Live Visuals is an attempt to extract the specific parts from the world of creative coding and live visuals that are required to make them work together in a form of real-time audiovisual performance.

OPEN CALL TO WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS


We are inviting visual artists, designers, creative coders, experienced performers of AV/VJ scene as well as beginners and interested people from Nordic-Baltic and North-East Europe participate in workshops related to the theme Creative Coding for Live Visuals and the meaning of music within this context. We believe it is a good way to improve ones skills and understanding for creating works in a form of visual performance. You are welcome to learn, practice and also participate in collaborative work with experienced sound, visual and audiovisual artists. All workshops are free of charge. Selection criteria for potential workshop participants:
10 people is the maximal amount of participants for one workshop. Please send us your motivation letter (500 characters max) and a short bio (500 characters max). You should be motivated to perform at the final performance of the chosen workshop. Please mention which workshop you are interested to attend. Send us your application by March 18. Results will be announced on March 20.
Email: irina [at] pixelache.ac

WORKSHOPS


INTRO LECTURE / DISCUSSION: Introduction to Creative Coding for Live Visuals


When: 10.04.2013. (Wednesday)
Time: 15:00-16:00
Where: Aalto Node gallery Description: This discussion will provide a brief introduction to the world of Creative Coding – what does it mean, who are the creative coders and what are the outcomes of this approach? We will try to answer these questions and share our experience connected to the theme. Short info about workshop holders: Nuno Correia (PT/FI) is a researcher, new media artist (mainly as Video Jack), and musician (also as Coden). Nuno is a researcher at the Sound and Physical Interaction research group at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (where he also teaches). He has been teaching new media art and design since 2000 in universities in Portugal, Finland and Estonia. His main interests are to create engaging multi-sensorial experiences and to enable audiovisual creativity. He has participated in several exhibitions, performances, conferences, publications and online projects in new media. His work has been showcased in more than 20 countries; in such festivals and venues as Electro-Mechanica (St. Petersburg), FILE (São Paulo), Le Cube (Paris), Mapping (Geneva), NAME (Lille), Optronica / British Film Institute (London), PixelAche / Kiasma (Helsinki), ISEA (Istanbul) and SXSW (Austin). http://www.nunocorreia.com/apps/avvx Krišjānis Rijnieks (LV) works in the field of New Media for about 6 years. He has background in Painting and experience with different kinds of New Media creation tools. For the last two years he has been working with Flash ActionScript and different projects that include Creative Coding (using openFrameworks, Arduino and projection mapping techniques). Currently Krisjanis is doing his MA in New Media at Media Lab Helsinki and is mainly interested in connecting generative graphics with projection mapping. He is also working on an introductory book about Creative Coding with Cinder. http://rijnieks.lv Matti Niinimäki (FI) is a media artist who currently lives and works in Helsinki. Working mainly in the field of interactive art, he has been using Quartz Composer as his main tool for creative coding ever since it was released in 2005. He has also been performing as a VJ in various events in Finland and abroad for the past 6 years. Matti is finishing his MA studies in Aalto University, where he also teaches programming and physical computing. http://mansteri.com/

WORKSHOP 01:
AVVX - Visual Music with Vector Graphics

nuno_correia Photo by Natan Esku Workshop holder: Nuno Correia
When: 10 - 11.04.2013 (Wednesday, Thursday)
Time: 16:00-21:00
Where: Aalto FabLab Description: The workshop meant especially for beginners in AV field and others who want to experiment in different medium. The workshop intends to bring awareness to the interconnections between the different senses, namely between sight and hearing, and how these interconnections can be used creatively for audiovisual composition. Workshop holder Nuno Correia will provide specially developed software that analyses audio in real-time, and manipulates visuals according to that analysis. The visuals are based on vector graphics (SVG). The software is entitled AVVX and is available at: http://www.nunocorreia.com/projects/avvx. Participants can use other software if they prefer. Participants will develop the visuals during the workshop, and will propose sounds to be used together with those visuals. No knowledge of programming is needed, only some experience creating vector graphics. There will be a final performance, combining the sonic and visual outcomes of the workshop. Outcomes can also be shared online, at www.avvx.org. Requirements: - Hardware: own computer (Mac/PC)
- Software: any vector drawing application; some experience working with it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_vector_graphics_editors) The proposed duration of the workshop is of 2 days: Day 1: Lecture about visual music, audiovisual composition and synesthesia; artist presentation; demonstration of the software; discussion. Development of visuals by participants; proposal of sonic material. Day 2: Development of visuals by participants; customization of software (if needed). Integration of sound, visuals and software; feedback; sharing of materials. Day 3: Final performance on 11.04.2013.
AVVX workshop participants will collaborate with Nuno Correia (PT/FI) & Joel Tammik (EE) sound project. More info soon.

WORKSHOP 02:
Generative Graphics using Cinder and Syphon


krisjanis_rijnieks Workshop holder: Krisjanis Rijnieks
When: 11 - 12.04.2013 (Thursday, Friday)
Time: 10:00-15:00
Where: Aalto Node Gallery Description: This workshop is intended for people who want to bring their creative skills to the next level by using one of the most powerful Creative Coding frameworks – Cinder. During this workshop participants will learn the basics of Cinder, how to create a simple generative animation and how to implement Syphon in the application so it can be used hand in hand with other Mac OS X software. Cinder is an open-source professional grade Creative Coding framework written in the C++ programming language. It is mainly used for creating rich interactive visual experiences for real-time use, where pre-rendered video or animation is not an option.
(http://libcinder.org) Syphon is an open-source Mac OS technology that allows to share still and moving images between Mac OS applications (also the ones created with Cinder) in real-time.
(http://syphon.v002.info/) Requirements: - Basic programming knowledge (Processing, ActionScript, JavaScript works. C++ - perfect)
- Your own laptop (PC or Mac - with PC you will not be able to do the Syphon part of the workshop) The proposed duration of the workshop is 2 days: Day 1: Introduction to Cinder
- Basic information (what is it, where to download)
- Some examples (what is possible with Cinder)
- Setup (installing and configuring Cinder on your computer)
- A quick tour through examples (testing the installation by compiling some of the included samples) Day 2:
- Basic application structure (creating an empty project, setup(), update() and draw() functions)
- Drawing Basic shapes (how to draw a line, circle and triangle)
- Creating animation (simple generative animation using basic shapes)
- Syphon implementation and compiling the final application Day 3: Final performances on 13.04.2013.
Experimental audiovisual performance guided by Krisjanis Rijnieks and Matti Niinimäki in collaboration with a sound artist. More info soon.

WORKSHOP 03:
Visual Programming using Quartz Composer, Syphon

matti_niinimaki Photographer: Sirja Moberg / Live Herring Workshop holder: Matti Niinimäki
When: 12 - 13.04.2013 (Friday, Saturday)
Time: 16:00-21:00, 10:00-15:00
Where: Aalto FabLab Description: This workshop is intended for people who want to learn how to create real-time motion graphics using Quartz Composer. During the two-day workshop, participants will learn the basics of node-based programming in QC and some advanced techniques for real-time graphics and animation. The participants will also learn how to combine QC with other applications using Syphon. Quartz Composer is a visual programming environment, included with Apple's developer tools, that allows you to quickly creates ophisticated motion graphics compositions without having to write code. It is a very powerful tool for quick prototyping and also for creating finished applications. Syphon is an open-source Mac OS technology that allows to share still and moving images between Mac OS applications in real-time.
(http://syphon.v002.info/) Requirements: - No programming knowledge required, but experience in visual or text-baed programming languages will be helpful
- Your own Mac OS computer The proposed duration of the workshop is of 2 days: Day 1:
- Introduction to QC and node-based programming
- Installation and setting up the software and plugins
- The basic workflow for image processing in QC
- Generative graphics in QC
- Real-time animation techniques Day 2:
- Creating stand-alone applications
- Integration of QC compositions in other applications (VDMX, CoGe, MadMapper)
- Using Syphon in QC Day 3: Final performances on 13.04.2013.
Experimental audiovisual performance guided by Matti Niinimäki and Krisjanis Rijnieks in collaboration with a sound artist. More info soon.

CREDITS


IRINA SPICAKA


The concept Creative Coding for Live Visuals was born during a 3-month AV Culture Research at the Pixelache Helsinki platform in the Autumn 2012. The research was initiated by Irina Spicaka, who is also this project developer. Irina has studied BA Visual Communication at Art Academy of Latvia, experimental video and mixed media at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and is working on her MA thesis that is related to electronic audiovisual performance. She participates in contemporary art exhibitions, collaborates with sound artists, creative coders and works in graphic design field. Her 9-month internship at Pixelache Helsinki is supported by the Erasmus Programme. http://schprici.skematic.lv/ | http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/pixelversity/av-research/ Irina Spicaka has joined Pixelache Helsinki in Autumn 2012 to focus on electronic audiovisual performance culture research and development, within the context of the Pixelversity programme.

AAVE


This year Pixelache is co-operating with AAVE festival. AAVE Alternative Audiovisual Event is a Helsinki-based yearly festival. The mission of the festival is to represent, promote and showcase different forms of audiovisual arts. Our activity consists in screenings, live cinema, workshops and side venues. AAVE is not a mere film or media art festival but aims at opening the gates into the vast world of moving image.
We rejoin different genres and audiences. Festival program will be available soon on http://www.aavefestival.org/

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

AAVE http://www.aavefestival.org/?page_id=1224
Aalto FabLab http://fablab.aalto.fi/site/
Aalto Node gallery http://nodegalleryproject.wordpress.com/
Media Lab Helsinki http://mlab.taik.fi/
Bar Sandro http://sandro.fi/
Creative Coding for Live Visuals

Creative Coding is rapidly becoming a very popular topic all around the world. It involves the creation of high-tech interactive digital artworks by using open-source as well as affordable commercial tools and hardware that was not available before. The creative coding philosophy is also about how to make programming and computer technology more accessible to artists and designers, thus allowing to create artworks and design prototypes faster, cheaper and with less effort than before.


Live visuals is an interpretation of audiovisual performance, which usually involves artists who play their visual material in real-time. In the context of Creative Coding for Live Visuals to become a live performer, you do need to have skills in creative coding and live performance, which means that you have to be engaged to the environment that allows you to manipulate with your created applications in real-time. A good connection with sound artist is usually strongly involved. Creative Coding for Live Visuals is an attempt to extract the specific parts from the world of creative coding and live visuals that are required to make them work together in a form of real-time audiovisual performance.

OPEN CALL TO WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS


We are inviting visual artists, designers, creative coders, experienced performers of AV/VJ scene as well as beginners and interested people from Nordic-Baltic and North-East Europe participate in workshops related to the theme Creative Coding for Live Visuals and the meaning of music within this context. We believe it is a good way to improve ones skills and understanding for creating works in a form of visual performance. You are welcome to learn, practice and also participate in collaborative work with experienced sound, visual and audiovisual artists. All workshops are free of charge. Selection criteria for potential workshop participants:
10 people is the maximal amount of participants for one workshop. Please send us your motivation letter (500 characters max) and a short bio (500 characters max). You should be motivated to perform at the final performance of the chosen workshop. Please mention which workshop you are interested to attend. Send us your application by March 18. Results will be announced on March 20.
Email: irina [at] pixelache.ac

WORKSHOPS


INTRO LECTURE / DISCUSSION: Introduction to Creative Coding for Live Visuals


When: 10.04.2013. (Wednesday)
Time: 15:00-16:00
Where: Aalto FabLab Description: This discussion will provide a brief introduction to the world of Creative Coding – what does it mean, who are the creative coders and what are the outcomes of this approach? We will try to answer these questions and share our experience connected to the theme. Short info about workshop holders: Nuno Correia (PT/FI) is a researcher, new media artist (mainly as Video Jack), and musician (also as Coden). Nuno is a researcher at the Sound and Physical Interaction research group at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (where he also teaches). He has been teaching new media art and design since 2000 in universities in Portugal, Finland and Estonia. His main interests are to create engaging multi-sensorial experiences and to enable audiovisual creativity. He has participated in several exhibitions, performances, conferences, publications and online projects in new media. His work has been showcased in more than 20 countries; in such festivals and venues as Electro-Mechanica (St. Petersburg), FILE (São Paulo), Le Cube (Paris), Mapping (Geneva), NAME (Lille), Optronica / British Film Institute (London), PixelAche / Kiasma (Helsinki), ISEA (Istanbul) and SXSW (Austin). http://www.nunocorreia.com/apps/avvx Krišjānis Rijnieks (LV) works in the field of New Media for about 6 years. He has background in Painting and experience with different kinds of New Media creation tools. For the last two years he has been working with Flash ActionScript and different projects that include Creative Coding (using openFrameworks, Arduino and projection mapping techniques). Currently Krisjanis is doing his MA in New Media at Media Lab Helsinki and is mainly interested in connecting generative graphics with projection mapping. He is also working on an introductory book about Creative Coding with Cinder. http://rijnieks.lv Matti Niinimäki (FI) is a media artist who currently lives and works in Helsinki. Working mainly in the field of interactive art, he has been using Quartz Composer as his main tool for creative coding ever since it was released in 2005. He has also been performing as a VJ in various events in Finland and abroad for the past 6 years. Matti is finishing his MA studies in Aalto University, where he also teaches programming and physical computing. http://mansteri.com/

WORKSHOP 01:
AVVX - Visual Music with Vector Graphics

nuno_correia Photo by Natan Esku Workshop holder: Nuno Correia
When: 10 - 11.04.2013 (Wednesday, Thursday)
Time: 16:00-21:00, 10:00-15:00
Where: Aalto FabLab Description: The workshop meant especially for beginners in AV field and others who want to experiment in different medium. The workshop intends to bring awareness to the interconnections between the different senses, namely between sight and hearing, and how these interconnections can be used creatively for audiovisual composition. Workshop holder Nuno Correia will provide specially developed software that analyses audio in real-time, and manipulates visuals according to that analysis. The visuals are based on vector graphics (SVG). The software is entitled AVVX and is available at: http://www.nunocorreia.com/projects/avvx. Participants can use other software if they prefer. Participants will develop the visuals during the workshop, and will propose sounds to be used together with those visuals. No knowledge of programming is needed, only some experience creating vector graphics. There will be a final performance, combining the sonic and visual outcomes of the workshop. Outcomes can also be shared online, at www.avvx.org. Requirements: - Hardware: own computer (Mac/PC)
- Software: any vector drawing application; some experience working with it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_vector_graphics_editors) The proposed duration of the workshop is of 2 days: Day 1: Lecture about visual music, audiovisual composition and synesthesia; artist presentation; demonstration of the software; discussion. Development of visuals by participants; proposal of sonic material. Day 2: Development of visuals by participants; customization of software (if needed). Integration of sound, visuals and software; feedback; sharing of materials. Day 3: Final performance on 11.04.2013.
AVVX workshop participants will collaborate with Nuno Correia (PT/FI) & Joel Tammik (EE) sound project. More info soon.

WORKSHOP 02:
Generative Graphics using Cinder and Syphon


krisjanis_rijnieks Workshop holder: Krisjanis Rijnieks
When: 11 - 12.04.2013 (Thursday, Friday)
Time: 10:00-15:00, 10:00-15:00
Where: Aalto Node Gallery Description: This workshop is intended for people who want to bring their creative skills to the next level by using one of the most powerful Creative Coding frameworks – Cinder. During this workshop participants will learn the basics of Cinder, how to create a simple generative animation and how to implement Syphon in the application so it can be used hand in hand with other Mac OS X software. Cinder is an open-source professional grade Creative Coding framework written in the C++ programming language. It is mainly used for creating rich interactive visual experiences for real-time use, where pre-rendered video or animation is not an option.
(http://libcinder.org) Syphon is an open-source Mac OS technology that allows to share still and moving images between Mac OS applications (also the ones created with Cinder) in real-time.
(http://syphon.v002.info/) Requirements: - Basic programming knowledge (Processing, ActionScript, JavaScript works. C++ - perfect)
- Your own laptop (PC or Mac - with PC you will not be able to do the Syphon part of the workshop) The proposed duration of the workshop is 2 days: Day 1: Introduction to Cinder
- Basic information (what is it, where to download)
- Some examples (what is possible with Cinder)
- Setup (installing and configuring Cinder on your computer)
- A quick tour through examples (testing the installation by compiling some of the included samples) Day 2:
- Basic application structure (creating an empty project, setup(), update() and draw() functions)
- Drawing Basic shapes (how to draw a line, circle and triangle)
- Creating animation (simple generative animation using basic shapes)
- Syphon implementation and compiling the final application Day 3: Final performances on 13.04.2013.
Experimental audiovisual performance guided by Krisjanis Rijnieks and Matti Niinimäki in collaboration with a sound artist. More info soon.

WORKSHOP 03:
Visual Programming using Quartz Composer, Syphon

matti_niinimaki Photographer: Sirja Moberg / Live Herring Workshop holder: Matti Niinimäki
When: 12 - 13.04.2013 (Friday, Saturday)
Time: 16:00-21:00, 10:00-15:00
Where: Aalto FabLab Description: This workshop is intended for people who want to learn how to create real-time motion graphics using Quartz Composer. During the two-day workshop, participants will learn the basics of node-based programming in QC and some advanced techniques for real-time graphics and animation. The participants will also learn how to combine QC with other applications using Syphon. Quartz Composer is a visual programming environment, included with Apple's developer tools, that allows you to quickly creates ophisticated motion graphics compositions without having to write code. It is a very powerful tool for quick prototyping and also for creating finished applications. Syphon is an open-source Mac OS technology that allows to share still and moving images between Mac OS applications in real-time.
(http://syphon.v002.info/) Requirements: - No programming knowledge required, but experience in visual or text-baed programming languages will be helpful
- Your own Mac OS computer The proposed duration of the workshop is of 2 days: Day 1:
- Introduction to QC and node-based programming
- Installation and setting up the software and plugins
- The basic workflow for image processing in QC
- Generative graphics in QC
- Real-time animation techniques Day 2:
- Creating stand-alone applications
- Integration of QC compositions in other applications (VDMX, CoGe, MadMapper)
- Using Syphon in QC Day 3: Final performances on 13.04.2013.
Experimental audiovisual performance guided by Matti Niinimäki and Krisjanis Rijnieks in collaboration with a sound artist. More info soon.

CREDITS


IRINA SPICAKA


The concept Creative Coding for Live Visuals was born during a 3-month AV Culture Research at the Pixelache Helsinki platform in the Autumn 2012. The research was initiated by Irina Spicaka, who is also this project developer. Irina has studied BA Visual Communication at Art Academy of Latvia, experimental video and mixed media at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and is working on her MA thesis that is related to electronic audiovisual performance. She participates in contemporary art exhibitions, collaborates with sound artists, creative coders and works in graphic design field. Her 9-month internship at Pixelache Helsinki is supported by the Erasmus Programme. http://schprici.skematic.lv/ | http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/pixelversity/av-research/ Irina Spicaka has joined Pixelache Helsinki in Autumn 2012 to focus on electronic audiovisual performance culture research and development, within the context of the Pixelversity programme.

AAVE


This year Pixelache is co-operating with AAVE festival. AAVE Alternative Audiovisual Event is a Helsinki-based yearly festival. The mission of the festival is to represent, promote and showcase different forms of audiovisual arts. Our activity consists in screenings, live cinema, workshops and side venues. AAVE is not a mere film or media art festival but aims at opening the gates into the vast world of moving image.
We rejoin different genres and audiences. Festival program will be available soon on http://www.aavefestival.org/

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AND PARTNERS


Aalto Fab Lab http://fablab.aalto.fi/site/
MUU Galleria http://www.muu.fi/site/
Media Lab Helsinki http://mlab.taik.fi/
Sandro http://www.sandro.fi/