Isadora Video Tutorials

A few video tutorials for folks who’d like to try working with Isadora - a simple node-based video processing software. It can be used for everything from projection mapping, generative graphics, to interactive installations.

The list below are videos I’ve been developing for my teaching (any feedback welcome) - but I really recommend checking out the Troikatronix Youtube channel for loads more (and in more depth)

BASICS / GENERAL INTERFACE

LIVE CAMERA

LIVE VIDEO NETWORKS

VIDEO COMPOSITING / MIXING

Generative Graphics

Control Panels

Camera Tracking

Audio

5 Likes

Thanks for posting these. I’d never heard of Isadora and it seems like a super powerful tool, but more importantly, accessible for someone new to all this video art stuff (as I am)

you’re welcome, and thankyou - for me it’s a great app for teaching as it’s so accessible for students, regardless of their background / experience. I hope you enjoy it!

1 Like

any tutorials out there on making audio reactive patches in Isadora? Or integrating seperate audio tracks with isadora?

ah good question - I need to do some on that subject!

I made a little demo patch that you can download here (zip file - 62 mb)

You can use a Sound Level Watcher, or use the frequency bands from a Movie Player:

  1. double click on the ‘eye’ icon at top of movie player
  2. this gives you a settings menu
  3. check the Freq Bands box, clock OK / close
  4. set the Movie Player ‘optimize’ option to ‘interactive’
  5. choose number of bands

There is also an old Troikatronix video tutorial here that looks at the Sound Level Watcher

awesome! thanks for this. I’ve just been playing around with the free demo version, but this may push me over the edge to shell out some dough :slight_smile:

the nice thing is the subscription option they have now - you can rent it for a month or even just a week, so it’s ideal for starting out or working on particular projects.

1 Like

Frequency box trick is the bees knees! THANKS AGAIN!

1 Like

heh heh :slight_smile: glad you’re having fun. I recommend the scaling values tutorial to get a handle on the levels you’re producing and what you plug them into.

yes. i was totally lost looking for an “attenuator” or “attenuverter” actor akin to scaling CV in the modular synth world until I watched that tutorial…

1 Like

that is another world to me - it’s good to know there is a word for it!

1 Like

Just added some Camera Tracking video tutorials using the Difference actor - a super simple method for using movement (less / more) to affect visuals / sound. pt1 | pt2:

thanks for the new vids!

Question re: sound recording. I set up a scene where I was mixing a few video sources, and then using a music mp3 with its frequency bands controlling a bunch of parameters on the video mix.

I recorded the stage output, assuming that the sound from the mp3 would be recorded. However, the stage output .mov file that created had recorded just the video output without the sound. Is there a setting our other actor that needs to be activated so that the stage ouput recording includes the audio playing in the scene?

unfortunately it doesn’t record the sound. There may be some work-arounds judging by posts on the forum. I’ll look into it more this week. My instinct is to use something like Loopback audio or Syphon if using a mac (is Spout the PC equivalent?). Perhaps use Quicktime to record the screen and then send Loopback audio to it. The Capture Camera to Disk actor may be a part of the puzzle also as that does record sound coming into izzy.

  1. old post - Primer: Recording Audio
  2. old post - capture camera to disk

got it. i’ll dig around with a workaround. i got into izzy mostly to create visuals to go along with my modular synth music. maybe the easiest solution for me is to record a video feed of my modular sessions into OBS, and I can record high quality USB audio from my audio mixer into OBS at the same time.

I’ll then have a movie+audio to use in izzy to eperiment with.

1 Like

@Smeech even though it seems to be just you and I having this discussion, figured I’d update with a workaround to recording live video input and live audio at the same time with Izzy. Tried a quick trial of recording Izzy’s video output and live USB audio together via syphon recorder. As a proof of concept it works. Sadly my 2013 13" macbook is vastly underpowered for this. Especially since I was also running live video into Izzy at the same time. heres a short youtube clip of the crude results. the video and audio are both of me using my modular synth setup.
Setup is as follows:
-Ipad as USB camera
-Isadora video watcher taking video input with some FX then to projector.
-Isadora Stage 1 sent to syphon recorder
-Soundcraft mixer stereo audio out into Behringer USB audio interface into laptop
-Loopback app on Mac taking the USB audio in and sending it to the syphon recorder to record the “syncd” audio and visuals.

1 Like

this is great - good to know there is at least a useable workaround! well done on investigating it and figuring it out. :slight_smile:

Further explorations with Video/Audio input and Izzy. Until I update my computer hardware, processing live video is too much for my laptop. So, currently the best workflow I’ve found is to record the video/audio via OBS as a “raw” take. Afterwards, I bring in the OBS movie into isadora and do all the processing after the fact. Syphon recorder records the Isadora stage visual output, and isadora audio (coming from the movie) is sent to the syphon recorder audio input via Loopback app.

The tunes are nothing special; modular synth sequence played on a Bugbrand 4U synth

1 Like