[sdiy] Video-synth DIY ?

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Tuesday 28 June 2005 11:56 am, Metrophage wrote:
> Does/ has anybody here tinkered with making video synths or processors?
>
> I have been interested in video art for most of my life, but it has
> always been an elusive thing. The hardware was never widely produced.
> The classic works of the medium are not readily distributed for people
> to see. Years ago I got to see some analog video work from Nam June
> Paik, Ed Emshwiller, Dan Sandin, and others - these made a lasting
> impact on the ways I think about video.
>
> I am aware that video signals run faster, with the various components
> synchronized together. What I have read on the topic at
> AudioVisualizers and other sites is not terribly specific about
> implementation. A lot of the older systems (circa 1968-1974) appeared
> to be analog modular (audio) synths which had interfaces hacked into
> video scan modulators, ramp generators, etc. Lots of emphasis on
> oscillators being "phase locked", which I'd guess is like hard sync?
>
> Thinking ahead, since I will have a few panels together this year, I am
> wondering how I can interface these to video gear. My computers are not
> fast enough for most video stuff I have tried, and I am less inspired
> by the After Effects and Arkaos ways of doing things. NATO or Jitter
> would be fun, but are too expensive for me now, and I'd need a faster
> computer. So I am determined to learn more about video synth DIY. I
> currently have way too much stuff on my plate to fix, mod, and build -
> so I will start messing around with this stuff next year.
>
> I'd be more than psyched to hear of anybody's experiences with such
> things!
> CJ

That's an interesting subject...

I know of one guy who was into messing around with that kind of hardware.  He 
had some commercial effects gear,  and did homebrew a switcher,  but it 
wasn't synch'd and glitched every time you'd switch to a different source.  
He also said that much of what was done with the commercial stuff was very 
specialized,  with custom chips and very fussy manufacturing techniques.  
Overall that kinda put me off from wanting to mess with it.

This was a few years ago,  so maybe that's changed,  I don't know.  I do know 
that most of what I have here for computers isn't fast enough or capacious 
enough in terms of HD space to allow for even such stuff as video editing.