LZX Industries Vidiot

Kheone · 2019-08-21T22:46:42.024Z

I have a vidiot and use it for relatively mild stuff. I’ve used it for a drone yoga event where the yoga instructor led the class through a yin yoga session, a musician played slowly building drones and I did slowly evolving shapes and patterns with some video feedback.
The knobs are sensitive, so I used a batumi with really attenuated lfos to modulate the video.

It might think it wants to be wilder, but can be subtle.

I’ll see if I can find some photos.

zuliani · 2019-08-21T23:10:01.316Z

Oh, amazing! That sounds much more like what I’d had in mind. Some pictures would be incredible, if you could find them.

Something that I really liked in the LZX tutorials was a very simple external video edit — they had a visual cortex running with a DVD player in, and were able to overlay basic geometrical shapes onto the video feed without any crazy cross-interactions between overlay and feed. This is, again, super boring stuff, but it’s what i’d want to do

csboling · 2019-08-22T00:45:59.083Z

zuliani:

overlay basic geometrical shapes onto the video feed without any crazy cross-interactions between overlay and feed

Is that this part? If this is the sort of thing you want to do, you probably need the Visual Cortex, which can process color video because it has a component video (Y/Pb/Pr) decoder. The camera inputs on the Vidiot and the Cadet III Video Input module only process luma, color information is lost. If you want to retain color information from an external feed you’ll need Visual Cortex or the forthcoming TBC2 module, and need your source to output Y/Pb/Pr or to use a component converter box from HDMI or whatever. If you input composite video to Visual Cortex you’ll still only get luma information, the same luma signal is copied on all 3 input decoder channels.

Visual Cortex has a ramp generator which is also important for generating “shapes” rather than tiling patterns. The pattern sources in the Vidiot are basically: horizontal rate triangle oscillator, vertical rate triangle oscillator, noise. All the other outputs are derived from these, or from external camera/envelope follower inputs. However, oscillators are pretty important for getting more complex shapes than the options you can derive from Visual Cortex’s ~half-dozen ramp options and keyer. You can do some things with audio rate oscillators, especially analog oscillators with hard sync, but you can’t get up to horizontal frequencies with most oscillators intended for audio.

The Vidiot’s UI design I think also invites a more experimental approach – “LZX Vidiot” and “NTSC/PAL” is all the text there is anywhere on the unit. This probably encourages patching that yields a bit more chaotic results. It certainly took me a lot of hours of careful patching and scouring the manual, and eventually A/B comparison with some Cadet patches, to come to grips with what the device was really even doing. There’s also a noise generator onboard, and it also really shines in a camera feedback workflow, which, like… if you wind up getting any LZX gear, I implore you: explore camera feedback.

Dewb · 2019-08-22T01:01:56.486Z

Echoing what @csboling said above, if you want to do an isolated Turrell-like shape, the ramp generators in Cortex will suit you better than the oscillators in the Vidiot, which are great for patterns but trickier for single cycle centered symmetric shapes. Despite your minimalist goals, you may not be satisfied with either alone, and might end up wanting to add something for ramp processing like Shapechanger or Navigator (or Memory Palace) to expand your shape repertoire. But you’ll be able to go a long way with the ramps, keying, color mixing and input processing in Cortex.

zuliani · 2019-08-22T06:57:25.334Z

Thank you, everyone, for such insightful responses! @csboling, that’s the exact spot in the video I was referring to, though, the more I think of it, the more I could do such simple geometric overlays using Flash or something else software-based – and maybe what I want is something a little more messy. And, as you put it, maybe what’s best for my first video synth is something that encourages me to play around, experiment, generate some chaos, and, y’know, learn. Plus I have seem some things done on the Vidiot that are more or less exactly what I had in mind – particularly bits of this video – and if this example is some very masterful wrangling of the Vidiot, then there’s something to aim for, right?

@Dewb –– good point. Maybe the question is to figure out which would be a good starting point, since I could easily swap my Vidiot for a Visual Cortex or what have you later on?

I very much want to make blurry, hazy video paintings; they don’t necessarily have to stand still, or necessarily be symmetrical. Some kind of dancing, breathing “aura” is what I’m after. I think what it is, is that I want to be able to simplify at least one of the variables at play (i.e., it’s a moving pattern but it’s just moving in one direction, not a hundred at once) and control the mess a little bit.

Right now I’m leaning towards Vidiot, with the sense that it would be a great intro to video synthesis, and that it would give me more variables to play with right off the beginning – I would rather not get sucked immediately into a video version of audio modular synth G.A.S., and could see the Visual Cortex being very dangerous in that regard.

Hovercraft · 2019-08-22T10:11:31.366Z

I started out with the 3TrinsRGB, then to the Vidiot and a V4–finally to a full LZX system. Strongly recommend starting with the Vidiot, because it’s a full self-contained system. The VC is designed as the cornerstone for a system of modules. There’s no problem creating beautiful subtlety with the Vidiot, but it’ll give you a far wider range of imagery than a lone VC.

Dewb · 2019-08-22T17:22:03.393Z

zuliani:

I would rather not get sucked immediately into a video version of audio modular synth G.A.S., and could see the Visual Cortex being very dangerous in that regard.

Yup, this is a very real risk.

Vidiot + V4 might be a good self contained playground for you. You might be able to use the keying and wipes in the V4 to make up for the lack of ramps.

robotboot · 2019-08-22T18:51:57.525Z

I own both a Vidiot and a Visual Cortex. If i had to pick just one I would go for the Vidiot. I don’t think you can do all that much with just a visual cortex and if your using a computer to generate signal to feed into it there are some other computer ways to go…lumens, Vsynth… Visual Cortex is great when you have other video modules and more of an investment. Unless you planning on growing your system i would go vidiot over Visual Cortex. Visual Cortex is more of a video mixer and ramp generator. you need other stuff to modulate and change shapes. I would also throw memory palace in the mix of stuff. you could use it completely on its own or use it for feedback and video input.
couple videos i made with only the vidiot:

video i made with full on LZX more shape based:

wednesdayayay · 2019-08-22T20:03:34.486Z

I have a vidiot that I’m currently trying to find a buyer for that is posted on the LZX facebook page! (nicholepichon)

between the two for starting out you get more bang for you buck with the vidiot but the cortex is fantastic when you are ready to start outputting via component

Kheone · 2019-08-22T22:45:47.939Z

Here is the info about the yoga event we did:

Lay Your Body Down

PlySpace Gallery | Muncie, Indiana
Thursday, May 30, 2019

Daniel Chamberlin and Mark Perretta will join PlySpace Artist-in-Residence Karl Erickson for Lay Your Body Down: May 2019. This installment in the monthly Drone Yoga series combines Yin yoga and meditation with an immersive audio-visual experience including long-form keyboard and tape loop improvisations from Perretta and video projections from Erickson.

And some pictures:

image3264×2448 731 KB

image3264×2448 754 KB

I was using a vidiot and an 0-coast to do the visuals (not a batumi, I forgot!).

Video feedback makes it fun.

zuliani · 2019-08-22T23:08:08.507Z

Wow, this is just incredible. Exactly what I was imagining wanting to do! Thank you so much for sharing. This definitely convinces me.

zuliani · 2019-08-22T23:09:14.964Z

Thank you @robotboot! That makes complete sense. Vidiot it is

These videos are so, so cool. I love the range of tones and textures! Makes me very excited to start!

wednesdayayay · 2019-08-23T10:09:40.503Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WDFvg7iamA this is just a vidiot two cameras and two projectors

robotboot · 2019-08-23T18:24:23.086Z

video feedback and camera feedback are great additions to making videos with a modest set up.

zuliani · 2019-08-23T18:31:53.792Z

Wow. It’s incredible how much you get out of that! What cameras are you using? I suppose I could look for some thrift-store camcorders…

chailight · 2019-08-24T02:31:55.506Z

Hey @Hovercraft - I feel like I’m on a similar path. Did you manage to integrate the 3Trins with your LZX gear?

I have a 3TrinsRGB and an Oscillatorscope and a few other bits and pieces. Have been tossing up whether to dive deeper into LZX territory, even if just to build a compact mixer for the gear I already have but I wonder if just a V4 or even just some additional capture devices with a laptop (I use Lumen and VDMX a fair bit) would be sufficient.

I find it hard to understand whether LZX gear is plays well with gear from outside it’s ecosystem and I’ve not had a chance to try out the LZX stuff anywhere to understand how it might fit into my workflow.

michael_matos · 2019-08-24T03:10:27.757Z

The 3trins pairs well with the v4. If you are using lumen you can send video out from lumen via a conversion box into the 3trins, process, then out to the v4 for your final mixing and effects. You can build an expansion to send it’s signal into the lzx system or if you get a cortex or vidiot you can send that in a sync the system to that signal.

wednesdayayay · 2019-08-24T11:57:20.153Z

one was a standard thrift store vhs I believe and one was a cannon t2i (could be any camera though)

the dual projector dual camera feedback setup is pretty magical without any LZX gear but throw in a feedback processor like vidiot and you can go wild

t3h · 2019-10-03T07:04:02.965Z

wednesdayayay:

the dual projector dual camera feedback setup is pretty magical without any LZX gear

I’m experimenting with similar technique (2 projectors, 1 camera and a computer) and it looks lush. My aim is to work with different textures and movements of the artefacts: from big islands to small bird-eye like groups. There is not too much information available about the good resolution and connection to use. Any suggestions on this regard? I would guess the better resolution of high-end projectors (used for home cinema systems etc) will improve the fluidity of the artefacts and ‘feedback islands’.

wednesdayayay · 2019-10-03T09:53:22.238Z

I mean more resolution may not be bad but honestly I am just using what I’ve got available I haven’t bought or sought out and projectors since way before I started with video synthesis

improving the feedback quality all comes down to your ambient light, camera settings (focusing, white balance etc.) and angle of camera to screen

if you throw in some flashlight/laser pointer or some source of light it can be be very fun to play with in this setup too

making sure to mess around with the orientation (flipping the image around via the OSD) of the projectors (I may have mentioned that earlier) if key to this technique