14
Exploratory Exercises
One of the techniques new video synth
owners wish to explore is audio
visualization: using music and sound to
change the synthesized pattern.
Vidiot’s audio envelope follower has
been designed specifically for this
purpose. The audio source can come
from anywhere: line outputs from a
mixer at the gig you’re doing visuals for,
from a music synthesizer, or even the
microphone on the same camcorder
you’re using as an external video
source! Patching the audio envelope
out to the Horizontal CV input will give
dynamic results, but don’t stop
experimenting.
Audio Visualization
Have you ever pointed a video camera
at the image of itself on a video
display? The image feeds back on itself,
creating tracing, trails, and recursion.
There are entire universes to explore
inside this relationship once you start
modifying the image as it passes
through the feedback loop, and this role
is one that Vidiot excels at.
How to do it? Connect a camera to
your video input, connect a display to
your video output, and point the
camera at the display. If you’re having
trouble getting feedback started, try
turning the Negative effects on and
using the key generators. This is a great
jump start to feedback.
The way Vidiot’s signal path works, you
can use two displays to isolate your
feedback to just the Luma Processor.
The Colorizer processes the results of
the feedback loop for a final output.
This relationship is illustrated on page
4. This works especially well if you use
a vintage black & white television to
display the feedback image.
Video Feedback
OPTION #1: Camcorder A/V Cable
To Video Input
To Audio
Input
OPTION #2: Stereo TRS Mini Cable
To Audio Input
Line Level
Audio Source
