Friday, December 21, 2007

Is this Anyware?

Think this share site may be the same as Anyware, found through Radio Vague some time ago.

It is the only search result on "Anyware" that seems to be working.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Flickr confusion

Something has gone a bit wrong. the Flickr slideshow has some of the current Spacex selection but has also gone back to the North.

JODI - what was that all about?

I am starting to look for JODI again on the web. A couple of years ago there was a Computing 101 at Spacex, completely misfunctional. Apparently that was the point. I tried to get web access from the Apple kit on display and was very disappointed when nothing worked. But it was an art comment on technology. Very funny. There is a blog that has the same effect and has not changed since maybe last year sometime.

So what is the point being made about YouTube? Apparently the videos sampled were all made by "amateurs". Is the performance of Bach in the current show supposed to be effective? Or is it a representation of an alleged Youtube experience? I think some YouTube contributors should be asked to comment. Some YouTube stuff is not amateur at all in my opinion.

Photos from Spacex opening for Cory Arcangel show



Shooting Andy - there could be a penalty for shooting others



These books are on a table for reference



Endpaper from Cory Arcangel book



These lights create an image on the wall. They come from a malfunctioning VCR player.



There were no release forms so this is deliberately blurred although the original is not that sharp anyway.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

YouTube Link

Found this link on one of the pages from the previous post.



From the notes at Spacex it seemed that most of YouTube etc could be seen as amateur until edited together for a proper gallery. Something like that. Plenty of time to discuss various points of view. And something could drift on into Vibraphonic.

Web links for Cory Arcangel

Looking through some notes on weblinks from the folder at Spacex

Don't Touch My Computer is a PDF with helpful hints on how things are done.

Recent Show at Max Wigram, text

Things I made, think this is copied down wrong, seems to be part of a blog

Beige has something to do with it. This is dreadful design unless meant as a comment on how moving images distract from text.

From 2006

Friday, December 14, 2007

Cory Arcangel starts 2008 at Spacex

This blog is back to animation mostly. WifiExeter will cover most kinds of content.

Spacex launches a new exhibition this evening from Cory Arcangel.

One unknown will be what it is permitted to photograph. Last year at Animated Exeter there was not much permission to video. Exeter City Council has a clearly defined policy on releases. Spacex usually do not allow exhibits to be photographed though I was allowed to photograph a film projector on a plinth. They do have some digital equipment but this is often hidden.

Maybe it matters not in a digital age. The Ice Rink would have been a photo opportunity but all image rights are held by the Express and Echo. There are some script ideas or at least bits of text through Rougement Global Broadcasting. Much more sensible short video turns up through Exeter Television, currently on YouTube.

By the way, editing loads of samples from YouTube is interesting in itself and also raises the art status of the originals. Just my opinion. Comment welcome.

Fortunately a search on Flickr for Creative Commons pictures finds quite a lot for Cory Arcangel. I have altered one of them to reveal the audience. Yet to check out YouTube but it is in theory possible to cover this aspect of Animated Exeter through links to existing web resources, whatever else we manage to video or not.



Original by Amanda McDonald Crowley on Flickr

Paper Rad and Cory Arcangel @ MoMA



Wednesday, November 21, 2007

New video swicki for animation

I am trying out a video form of wordcloud with a swicki for animation, a sort of combination of search engine and wicki.

Here is what it looked like recently



It should change to show choices on each keyword that come up high on the list. You can vote to move results up and down. The sizes seem to change as well depending on what people search for.

Eurekster have only recently offered the video cloud. The data is from Blinkx. Could be interesting. See press release.

Recently Adobe have launched a site to show off Flash for video and they also have a visual menu. Usually I prefer text but this works ok once you accept it for the intended purpose.

Friday, November 09, 2007

leaves one

meanwhile from The North

Actually not that far north, but on holiday so a bit off topic. Not enough time to follow up any detail online but here are a couple of photos or maybe just one. web access a bit dodgy.

Nothing happening with image upload. Maybe later, days or weeks.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Diagram inspired by Autumn Festival



The diagram is from a new page to suggest a discussion around media possibilities.

Further explanation possible over the next fortnight or so during the Autumn Festival. People from LifeBytes will be at the Globe on occasions.

Monday, October 15, 2007

PDF downloads for ENPAS events at the Globe

The autumn festival in Exeter includes events at the Globe.

The promotion is mostly through print - brochures and posters but this year the PDF versions are available online.

just over 200k each, the posters

http://www.enpas.co.uk/downloads/big%20poster.pdf

http://www.enpas.co.uk/downloads/big%20poster%20detail.pdf

and the brochure, under a meg

http://www.enpas.co.uk/downloads/globefest.pdf

My own interest in digital media started with print so the PDF aspect is still interesting for me. The animX project is sponsored by Acrobat Services.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Has this blog gone completely off topic?

You may be wondering what happened to animation as a topic. Well, it could be that any form of content would fit in. The wifiExeter blog is more clearly about distribution unless that turns up here as well.

On Sunday 11th November the Creative Collective will tour intrepidly all the way from the Phoenix to the Globe Inn, Newtown. there will be a selection of short films, possibly including animation. That is, some films may be completely animation or some films may include sections of animation or techniques borrowed from animation. Now there is so much digital technique it is often difficult to tell what a clearcut definition of animation may be.

Discussion to be continued on blog and at Globe, Phoenix etc.

Linking to YouTube could be scaled up in time for Animated Exeter in February

Meanwhile from Future Shorts, coming to the Phoenix big screen sometime soon

Continental Market

For some of us the food is an important part of any festival. The continental market will be in Sidwell Street on the 2,3 and 4th of November.

Here is my own video from last year. Very short but maybe Exeter Television will get out more this year. Most of the editing is done at Life Bytes at the other end of Sidwell Street.

Deadly Wars, folk at the Globe

On 9th November, folk songs about war and the experience of soldiers.

Exeter Television did record a previous occasion here, a concert by Wistman's Wood.

Correction to previous post

Due to an error in copying links, the previous post confused James Taylor and the James Taylor Quartet. Apologies. The correct link should have been



This is only a blog. You should check any information for yourself.

As far as I know this is the current album

Autumn Festival previews on YouTube

So far there are quite a few of the artists appearing in Exeter for the Autumn Festival who have video on YouTube. One aim of Exeter Television is that this should happen more often. More on this later. There may be a concentration on events at the Globe as this is the easiest venue for me to get to. Meanwhile here are a couple of other links.

The official site from Exeter City Council.

Bridgetower, English Touring Opera, Corn Exchange 9th November



James Taylor Quartet, 2nd November Phoenix

Monday, October 01, 2007

Mobile animation coming soon somewhere

Adobe MAX is an occasion to conjure up a vision of the future. Most people attending are developers and they need to work out what the audience will expect by the time something is launched.

Gary Kovacs, in charge of marketing at Adobe's mobile unit, called Flash Lite 3 "the most significant advance we've made in mobile" and said it brought Adobe closer to being able to release software versions for mobile and desktop simultaneously.

"It's probably a few years away. We'll do it over the next couple to three years," he told Reuters.

Meanwhile the Apple iPhone is seen as an inspiration.

According to VNUnet.com, Anup Murarka, Adobe's director of technical marketing said that the iPhone has "changed the landscape" with its sleek graphics and tight integration of services, turning the phone from a simple commodity into a fashion statement. Gary Kovacs, vice president of marketing at Adobe's mobile and devices branch added that
"Since the iPhone, the energy in the industry to create something compelling has been off the charts.The iPhone has convinced customers that data on a mobile phone is possible."

However a list of devices that are currently available with earlier versions of Flash shows that many of them are supported in Japan or North America.

It may be a while before Flash Lite 3 is widely distributed in Exeter.

There will be an Apple shop so the iPhone can be demonstrated. There are some doubts about the cost and capability. Martin Courtney in the UK IT Week suggests that wifi availability will be a factor given that there is no support for 3G. Not a problem in wifi Exeter.

Other announcements at MAX included another update on the runtime now known as AIR - Adobe Integrated Runtime- and an example in the form of an Adobe Media Player. Warning, this is all beta stuff. Uninstall previous versions of AIR or Apollo or it could go wrong. The Media Player can only cope with Flash video as far as I can tell. You can enter demographic information about yourself to help the advertisers. there is quite a lot of video already including animation. the Two Dollar Pistols on nTune.TV are not reaaly the sort of band that would be booked for Vibraphonic but they deserve a hearing. It is not all from the USA. there is areport on a Lady Sovereign Concert at the Scala in King's Cross from Jumpoff TV. Now back to technology issues, enough time for content later.

So my point of view is that this is well worth watching but is some way off in the future. The Media Player works ok full screen. Something similar will be possible later on mobiles.

Meanwhile I am looking at two photographs as a token for discussion in the near future, say the rest of this year.

One is to show that an Apple shop is expected in Exeter sometime. This is on the Time Travel section of Snap City so could connect with other places.

The other one is an impression on Flickr of how Exeter Castle may look when the icerink arrives, an almost certain event for the fourth quarter. Mostly it is borrowed from Paul Keleher in Boston. The Creative Commons has many possibilities. I have claimed that there will be some genuine photos later. Maybe there will be some video.

Meanwhile this blog is mostly text. And I can add to it from Life Bytes on Sidwell Street.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Adobe Max Video Wall works ok as a slideshow

Here it is

But is it animation?

Is there a plot?

Are there characters?

Moral development?

Can it be stored on film and curated properly?

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Feb 08 for discussion on distribution

Conversation with Jo Gedrych of Exeter Television about future possible meetings. More later but just as a note to come back to it seems probable there will be some future conversation around the time of Animated Exeter in February 08. At the Phoenix Media Centre there is an interest in YouTube and offering support for people who want to find better ways of using it. My own approach so far has been to load very short token clips and try to persuade other people to load longer ones. Otherwise I just borrow something that is already there.

A few examples



The Plump DJs mix video. There is a connection with the demoscene in my opinion. You could start with a search on Sundown and Budleigh Salterton.



Mobile phones as an input. Would it work as an output?

More later. there will be a closely argued script with categories each making up a timed sequence of television. Unless something else keeps turning up during such a project.

Almost forgot

From Exeter TV



Can it all fit together somehow?

Monday, September 24, 2007

Modem Festival continues

In the Guardian it said that the Raindance Festival would be showing stuff online. More about this when it turns up.

Meanwhile the Raindance site seems to be promoting their TV that turns out to be based on Joost. So far I have found some stuff from Aardman. A Town Called Panic. So this is reassuringly normal animation.

You have to follow the link then think of a name, use an email address that works etc etc. install takes a while. random adverts turn up. but maybe the Raindance stuff will be worth a look.

Joost™ the best of tv and the internet

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Flashforward winner has a plotline

More later on the demoscene in Budleigh Salterton.

Meanwhile a link to one of the winners from Flashforward.
Works ok on a small screen, just wait a while for it to load.

Nothing abstract about this and it has characters. So some balance there in the wide scope of this blog.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Sundown invite

Trying out the new add a video feature in Blogspot.

Actually, cancel that. No link to YouTube so I still need to copy code



Come on Google, life is supposed to be easy.

Friday, July 13, 2007

John Whitney on YouTube

Update to yesterday's post, John Whitney is on YouTube. Arabesque.

My memory is that a previous example did disappear. Maybe you should be quick to see this. Who knows?

In a sensible world, everything from the early days of computer animation would be on YouTube. But this cannot be guaranteed.



There is also a video on Charles Csuri with short extracts towards the end. Personally I find the soundtrack annoying. But this is an example of how to mix interviews, presentation and original computer animation. Half an hour or an hour is not impossible to imagine.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

A New Canvas, notes for Sundown

Thinking about an online guide to digital animation it strikes me that the top problem is the lack of availability of the classic stuff. For some reason the kind of work covered in A New Canvas is very rarely shown and is also very heard to find on the web. It seems to have the same sort of status as an ancient oil painting, best kept in the dark away from anybody except a distinguished academic.

Seriously though, why is it thought this style is suited to film and more or less film only. I may be repeating myself from previous posts but I feel certain that computer distribution would have been used in 1967 onwards had it been available.

The demoscene stuff is getting easier to access. A dedicated web TV channel. Versions on YouTube. A big screen at a party is much much better so the YouTube versions are in no way damaging parties as events, any more than MySpace damages live music. By the way, exhibitions of oil paintings can also benefit from online versions in reasonable resolution.

So plan A is to find at least some still images in time for Sundown. Not sure when it is, but summer has not started yet so there must be a few months to come.

Aim is to show some connection demoscene / new canvas. Maybe this will be an occasion to discuss archiving, preservation, distribution.

Not wanting to upset anyone by directly ripping off graphics, here are some links.

A New Canvas

Cibernetik 5.3
1961-65, USA, 16mm, colour, sound, 8 min.

John Stehura

Charles Csuri
Hummingbird
1967
Computeranimation, Microfilm Plotter, Film übertragen auf DVD, 10 min
Charles Csuri

Lillian Schwartz Papillons
1973 music by Max Mathews,
video [large detail of still from installation]


John Whitney Biographical Page
Digital Harmony
still and Quicktime extract

what about some complete stuff somewhere?

Friday, June 22, 2007

Radio Vague and Flash

A very strange thing has happened.

Radio Vague, a longterm supporter of open source, have made the following statement about broadcast from Glastonbury this weekend-

"To listen in you'll need nothing more than Flash Player version 7 or higher, available from Adobe."

I wait to see if this is true. I have now managed to get Ogg Vorbis working and VLC seems ok. So something as simple as Flash seems too obvious. I hope the bandwidth can cope now this is not something just for the dedicated techies who can persevere.

I am not making this up. I first discovered Open Office when Psand refused to send me a Word file.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

More on Remixer

Look for "Remixer" on Youtube.

Presumably you can load up anything, then select what to include.

The full Ann Shelton extract is here.

YouTube video edit test

The Adobe online video edit option reaches YouTube, I have tried this out.

Seems to be missing the last bit. Tests from a lunchtime lecture on electronics during Vibraphonic and the food festivities of Sidwell Street. More next weekend but maybe you only get sausages in the winter.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Meanwhile Ubuntu turns up on YouTube

Not sure what is happening with the project discussed at Sundown for intros on Ubuntu but a short video has turned up on YouTube made by a librarian. As promotion it is fairly convincing, making simple points well.



one special effect towards the end.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Video from Animated Exeter now on YouTube

Exeter Television has now loaded to YouTube a short on the Games Day at the Phoenix.
It shows an impression of what went on, including how easy it is to get to the big screen from a digital input. in this case a Wii machine but it could be a web link in theory. So the demoscence material could end up in the Phoenix one day.



Here again is a previous video from Sundown 2006 in Budleigh. Expect another one in 2007.



Not sure what has happened to the idea of intros or idents for Ubuntu. Maybe there will be an update out of sequence. Things move fairly slowly so one year being much like previously the breaking news could be at any time. At least now there is at least one video from Animated Exeter and one from Sundown on the archive for Exeter Television. Several others on YouTube for Sundown.

Debris, looks even better on a big screen

Friday, April 13, 2007

Video web possible in Exeter

A couple of things have happened recently to make me think that a video web is getting closer. People at Life Bytes on Sidwell Streeet opposite the Odeon are expecting a plasma screen sometime next week. Apparently this is funded by advertising and will be one of several in Exeter. Not sure how this will work. Will there be enough content to make it interesting or will the ads just be annoying? But at least the idea of display from web will get over. There may be wireless access at some locations. The content is all supplied over the web. More on this later.

Also I am finding more video from Exeter on YouTube. For example, this about the cathedral. Not sure what is being said as it is in Italian. Still, it means that a guide to Exeter can be made up from various sources.


Thursday, March 22, 2007

Future Shorts arrives at the Phoenix

Last night was the first occasion Future Shorts showed at the Phoenix. There is usually at least one animation. This time 'Last Train Ride' directed by Gokhan Okur from Turkey. Apparently illustration, maybe computers were in there somehow. Well integrated with the soundtrack from Jigsaw Soul. Many of the Future Shorts are online at full length. This one is hosted by Atom Films



You may have to wait for an ad

Or here if you have Quicktime.

In my opinion not much is lost by putting content online. It is a bit obvious that the Phoenix screen is a better place to view something. Online is ok but is mostly promotion for something else. There may be a short pause for discussion on this next time before the 8pm film. I will be in the bar somewhere. Meanwhile please leave a comment unless this is just obvious for most people and I am going on about it out of habit.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Broadcast link

Found this link to a wiki about community broadcast.

Seems relevant to Exeter Television

Also shows how a conference can be followed up. Could there be something similar in Exeter to continue topics from the Industry Day and other ideas?

Please add comments or drop by LifeBytes sometime.

Friday, March 02, 2007

and now the soundtrack from Vibraphonic

Animated Exeter closes as Vibraphonic opens.

It is all a desperate ruse to get through the last of the winter till the sun arrives and we can move outside.

I will use the blog for "wi-fi Exeter" as a suitable spot for Vibraphonic. The idea is to connect with whatever is going on.

Monday, February 26, 2007

More on Flickr

I have loaded some photos from the weekend. Reverse order helps the slideshow so this is now routine.

tag is "southpool", actually on the way back from Southpool so the North is home in this case.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

IT Games on North Street waiting on Wii stock


Maybe it was the tennis in the Phoenix auditorium last weekend. There is no wii stock at IT Games. Apparently there may be a few in sometime but no proper supply till nearer to April.

Flickr animation tip

Well it is new for me anyway. Load the photos in reverse order. It starts with the last one for some reason.

I was inspired by the dropin session at Spacex to try some more at home, using one of the apples given away by Tim Brennan during the walk.

It works ok. Link to Flickr, please launch slideshow then speed it up.

Friday, February 23, 2007

extract from animation

This is a short extract of an animation that could be available online later.

Connects with previous photo. Also I am trying out this site for editing options linked to Adobe.

Rocks could be used as planets



Recent photo from Spacex where animation follows on from Tim Brennan's take on theNORTH. These were painted last week based on rocks. They could also be used as planets. Some animation may turn up online, see previous posts for previous links to other workshops.

90 degrees could be on the demoscene imho

So far almost no connection with the demoscene during Animated Exeter.

The Festaval favourites at the Picture House included "90 degrees". I noted down www.90degrees.fr but this seems not to exist. Handwriting in the dark not very reliable. Could we have more web links on the handout please?

However, it turns up on YouTube. search on "supinfocom" finds several pages so more later.

This animation would work ok at a demo party I think. Maybe there are many people who already know this but my impression so far is of two sepearated worlds.


Thursday, February 22, 2007

at last, an animated penguin

click here for animated penguin

Pirate University in Plymouth

This is where the open source support may be found. Suggest you try things out online, get stuck, then ask them for help on the day.

open source software is not always easy to find

Finding out more about the i-dat software. I found some help on Macs at the Phoenix. However the only zip file that unloaded ok was a video edit from thugs at bay. I could not actually use it but found a really neat video through their website.

There will be more help about open source sometime soon.

Maybe it is just me and a Mac that seems difficult. You drag a used zip file towards the dustbin then it changes shape and moves away from you.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

More about v-mob

V-MOB is "video workshops for mobile phones". The website includes some examples and some downloads. Intended for people attending workshops but the software is open source so presuamably anyone can attempt to get it to work. Seems best suited to Mac so I may try to get help at the Phoenix. (It appears there is a Windows version but the word MAC turned up in the zip file I found once it unfolded so I stopped there.)

Rescue seems to me the short film with the most sense of movement or journey in it.

Similar info at another site on Digital Workshops. Links to stop frame site where the latest work is a version of a computer game.

This may seem a long way from Tim Brennan and the watercolour tradition. But the move to digital may be just a way of opening things up. Stop frame is still in there somehow.

v-mob from Respect in Plymouth

This turns up on YouTube. Mobile phones, probably filmed on one as well if that is the right word. So far no sign of any video from Spacex animation but it is clearly a possibility.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Seagull link found

Searching on "seagull" and "ogles" has found this link.
Massive file by the way, well 20 meg or so. Think before you click.

Failed to load at home but works ok at LifeBytes. Quicktime on Windows is an option, you don't have to be a Mac person.

It may be part of a podcast from Imagine Magazine. Looked like XML or something.

More on Imagine website. I hope to find out how this works. There are some Mac fans at the Phoenix. It is a vodcast, not a podcast, as it includes video.

I think this animation has some film in the background. May not be from a mobile phone but there is a sense of mobility.

Jodi recreates gallery effect in blog format

I was trying to check out previous events at Spacex and found a blog for Jodi. A couple of years ago Jodi came up with what I think was a rendition of computers as anti-functional. Based on Apple kit it was a world in which nothing worked as expected. There was a computer set up to browse the web but no actual connection. this was explained to me when I complained.

The blog is much the same. Very disappointing as there is no content, just error messages. i suppose this is art, at least it is consistent.

Why not have a gallery event with computers and web access that functions? I will suggest this to people at LifeBytes. Maybe LifeBytes is a gallery already but anything that works there could be moved around..

Example of animation online

One of the animations shown yesterday is also online. "Gone Fishing" is a music video for a track by Second Person. The animation was also used as part of live performance, online at Fabchannel.

Fabchannel obviously has got at least two cameras and a lighting specialist. Still I don't see why Exeter Televison could not get the same sort of result at the Phoenix for example, where it is claimed that sound mixing is reaching a new level.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Detail from Museum Poster


The 'Inspire' exhibition on Queen Street has many pictures from the basement and recent work from schools. There is still time till the 24th to see the Tim Brennan photographs at Spacex. The landscape painting tradition is in the museum.

more definition for a topic

I am starting to promote the next 'meet the blogger' occasion, Friday evening at LifeBytes and have come up with a fairly clear sentence or two-

"There will be another chance for real time discussion around a blog on
Animated Exeter. The meeting will be at Life Bytes on Sidwell Street
in Exeter on the evening of Friday the 23rd Feb between 5.30 and 6.30.

Topics will include all possible links between digital culture and
analog reality such as the Spacex / Tim Brennan exhibition of inkjet
in a watercolour style. Arguably this 'reality' is actually in denial
about the current potential of technology to distribute images in ways
that are easy to access."

So this is getting closer to raising some issues. Comment welcome.

just time for two more



large collection of archive items on a table. it games are on North Street. More later

Big screen for Games at Phoenix

The Phoenix had a really big screen for playing tennis on a Wii or two. Worked well. So presumably any computer source could work, such as demoscene or anything online.

More later, films start soon.

New photos on Flickr

I have done some photos for an extended manouver in Exeter from Spacex to LifeBytes and back.

It could have a theme of analog and digital in a blend but at the moment it is just digital on Flickr.

Other photos welcome. Tag "xm0702" as in Exeter manouver o7 Feb. Unique at the moment.

The slideshow is in opposite direction to the view direction. Should have loaded the last one first. So there will be other versions.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

links lead to actual Quicktime

Just had a look at the site for the Animators. last year's show at Spacex.

There is still a lot happening and the latest event leads to a website for Run Wrake where there is actual video to watch of recent work. Much better than stills or a 30 second sample in my opinion. Maybe this is the way more animation will be displayed.

Of course it is better in a gallery, or anywhere with a big screen.

Friday, February 16, 2007

but is it animation?

blog links to video

http://blog.celtx.com/celtx_blog/2007/02/a_cultural_anth.html

a question on public access to higher res images

Just starting to check out animation festivals on the web. Already one thing strikes me as a question. Why is it that a site like Spike and Mike that has a cafe press spinoff set up and most do not? Just as an idea I have in mind some funded public organisation with loads of images, some as paintings stored in a basement. They have had lottery funding to do some scanning but only low res versions are ever found on the web. There is no viable business case for making them more available as it seems. So something like cafe press would be very useful for organisations that find it difficult to package up a CD or whatever. Not getting at anyone. Just a question. Why do public bodies not put more high res images on the web?

name explanation

Some people have been asking about possible confusion between "animx", a digital fringe based in Exeter, and "animex" an animation festival based in Teeside.

The Exeter digital bit used to be known as "animex" and changed to avoid confusion. In Google any unique combination of words will do. Recent search shows that animx and animex get different results.

There are many more sites that turn up, by the way. Online uniqueness is not really as possible as is often imagined in other forms of reality.

It may be that many people involved in Animated Exeter are familiar with Teeside and other animation events. So a connection with an online aspect may happen just as easily somewhere else or as part of a general process.

So I will try to find out an email address for other events and see if any exchange is possible. The animz website changes very slowly so there is a year round possibility.

Draft story for OhmyNews will probably take more shape during next week.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ah78wfp3rm6x_21p4wz4b

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

link found to New Canvas

Now found a link to New Canvas, previously reported missing.

This was a collection of films from early computer animation. Should be on YouTube complete, in my opinion.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

That reminds me about Apple


Exeter has loads of posters trying to suggest that all creatives should be Mac people as the PC crowd just work in offices and are rather boring. I don't understand the way they use the term "PC" as if it only includes Windows. I always thought that a "Personal Computer" could be anything, including Apple. The photo is a detail of a PowerPC so what was that about?

An apple from Tim Brennan not wearing well


This apple was one of many distributed during the manouver the weekend before last. I had thought about keeping it till the end of Animated Exeter but it is showing signs of stess. Maybe it should be eaten soon.

Also I can't remember what the reading was around the apples. I will visit Spacex again and find out if anyone has some clues.

Monday, February 12, 2007

shortcuts at LifeBytes

There are now shortcuts on FullyAutomatix desktop at LifeBytes for Digital Harmony and Arabesque.

Sidwell Street opposite the Odeon

See previous post for links if you are nowhere near Exeter.

Demoscene TV

Just a reminder that for those who don't often download a zip and move dll files around a fairly easy way to access the demoscene is a dedicated TV site.

You may need one downlaod to expand your browser.

Meanwhile I am looking into a DVD download that may be easier to show off at the Phoenix.
Two Rar files already, only 38 to go.
Then what?

Links to digital art from Devon

V Art 1

V Art 2


Here are links to two examples of virtual art from Paul Gillard, a Devon artist who sometimes visits Exeter.

Requires Quicktime and maybe a wait while it arrives. Move the cursor about to begin.

What strikes me is that this is intended to be seen on a screen. There is a complete digital process from creation to distribution and viewing. You could take a snapshot and print it but this would not be an original unless it took on a new life.

Couple of Quicktime samples from the official site

There is an official site and they offer a couple of samples of about 30sec each.

Page for Arabesque from '70s . Digital Harmony from '80s.

I think these are close to demoscene. Comment welcome, not sure how to d3escribe this.

There is a possibility of an archive. I think this should be digital and online. Seems crazy to me that this is not complete and widely available.

John Whitney link

Here is the only John Whitney aniamation I can find on YouTube or Google video
From the IBM pavilion at the Brussels World Fair in 1958

Creative Collective at the Globe



This is a digital projector as used at the Globe for a showing of short films from the Creative Collective based at the Phoenix. It was all based on tape, but could have had a direct feed from a computer. Not animation as such but there is now a lot of overlap on how video is created.

I hope to find more content from the demoscene and work out how to transfer to DVD.

Meet the blogger day at LifeBytes



Photo shows David Gedrych reading a Turner book I took to Life Bytes yesterday. David is there most days. For me it turned out to be like allowing too much comment on a blog, I hardly started on what I thought about raising. Still, connections with Spacex now more likely as there was some talk about flat images. the idea of taking digital images from a phone and putting them on a wall did not make much sense for the people present but I still see a connection.

More later. It is possible there will be courses on 3D.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

More tests on Flickr

Interesting talk today from Peter Davidson.

Apparently at one time a mirror had the advantage of making sure there was an oval frame. I have tried this on some photos now loaded on Flickr.

They were taken by Gary Trembling a couple of years ago. I don't think he will mind.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Wifi confirmed at Phoenix

Photos demonstrate that wifi is working in the Phoenix bar. Website for Animated Exeter is working ok. Some exhibitions have started already. Test kit courtesy of Jonathan Dawson who can independently confirm that these are genuine photographs.







Third photo detail from second.

Friday, February 02, 2007

theWEST

The walk with Tim Brennan was interesting today. More later.

Photos were allowed. I have done a PDF slide show (about 6 meg) and also some on Flickr. You can choose a slideshow on Flickr so this is close to animation if you don't wanr to download the PDF.

Suggested tags animx07 and thewest

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Links for the summer

I realise that part of the attraction of Animated Exeter and Vibraphonic is that they offer an indoors escape route for getting through the last of the winter before we can move around more easily.

Here are some links from the past, the Psand van once in Dorset and a blog of a travel round demoscene events. Future posts willa rgue that there is a connection between the demoscene and the streaming media found via the Psand site and Radio Vague.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

On being just a bit rude

Well excuse me. The time has come to raise a few issues. If you can't ramble in a blog what is the world coming to?

After all, the Animated Exeter fortnight is still a few weeks off so there is time to get some feedback and develop a new point of view that appears more reasonable.

What strikes me most often is the amazing potential of digital technology and the way this is ignored by some art institutions. Take the Spacex Gallery for example.

A couple of years ago there was a disaster environment based on Apple computers. At first I thought they were offering web access and complained when the connection failed. It was explained this was the intended effect, nothing was to work at all. An imitation of life apparently.

Last year there was technology that worked, mostly DVD I think but hidden away. Film projection was celebrated, see my photograph in a report for OhmyNews. As well as stills the exhibit featured video. Unfortunately the website did not show full video or any scale on the excerpts available. I think this has to change when YouTube and Google Video make so much stuff available. Some of what is on YouTube is not very good but it is getting better. Compare with the website from the Animators show. This is a bit flat. See also the Luxonline site. Other links suggestions would be welcome.

This year the technology has the potential to further challenge the limitations of gallery display. The images have been created through a wide-format inkjet from a digital source. I hope to find out more later but I am fairly sure some form of inkjet has been used. Reportedly there is no Photoshop manipulation of the mobile phone photos. Personally I don't think this would matter. Most digital cameras do a lot of adjustment anyway.

So there is no reason why a website could not have some downloads so that anyone could print out a version of 'theNorth'. Of course the display at Spacex has been carefull controlled and selected and I am not trying to discourage a visit if you are anywhere nearby. But a gallery is not the only way to show photos from a mobile.

Meanwhile at the Royal Alber Museum there are a series of prints, many from limited editions. There may be something about the technology that determines these limits on numbers. But digital is different.

During Animated Exeter there will be workshops at Spacex to create animation from still photos. It is not clear yet what form this takes or how they will be distributed.

My own photos are nothing special so there is no problem in choosing the Creative Commons copyright form on Flickr. See previous post about a limited form of animation.

Probably something better will turn up.

Not that online is better than a gallery. There is a recent Guardian article about museums still being better than an iPod. This seems too polarised a choice. I learning discussions there is now more support for 'blended learning', a combination of online and real life. Maybe digital display can work with something similar.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Sample of Google Video

Just checking this still works

Russian stop frame

Meet the Blogger 11th Feb

Animated Exeter starts 12th Feb. By chance the Phoenix tour with short films reaches the Globe, Newtown at 2.30 on Sunday. At the LifeBytes internet resource nearby there will be a live discussion around digital animation etc, starting about 12.30.

Top problem lack of food. Life Bytes is not actually a cafe as there is already one next door. The Globe is not really a Sunday lunch sort of pub. So details of what happens will have to be worked out around food at some point. More later.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Photos start to link the 'North' and the Globe

Animated Exeter has already started in that there is an exhibit at Spacex which will continue till 24 Feb. 'The NORTH' combines watercolour based on space photos with blown-up inkjet images from a mobile phone. The 'North' seems to be a romantic destination somewhere beyond the city.

During Feb there will be workshops at Spacex creating animation from mobile phone images. Maybe there will be hard copy results as well.

Meanwhile at Life Bytes on Sidwell Street there is ample web access and most software required for graphics including video. Not far away is the Globe where some short films will be shown for people who have not already seen them at the Phoenix.

Exeter Television is based at Life Bytes so may add a report during Animated Exeter. My guess is that there will be informal discussion on this at the Globe.

I have done a selection of photos that may show some connections. They are on Flicr with a Creative Commons copyright so feel free to reuse if you put in a link.

The photos

The slideshow

Animation has to start somewhere. More later.

Suggest "animx07" as tag for future stuff.