Visual Alchemy is a 4-week ONLINE course for creating expressive and interactive visuals for live performance. Students will learn how to curate and mix live video streams, and manipulate the pixels in real-time, using their own custom-made performance-ready instruments, crafted using the Processing programming language.

This class is held online hosted by Tenlegs.com. Please find the registration link on the bottom of this page.

You need to have internet connection to watch videos and engage in the forums.

Video lectures will be released once a week, to be watched on the students own time. Students are not required to be available for any particular time, as long as they are able to keep up with the new material each week.

The course will cover various methods for modulating digital video signals in real-time, including mixing, masking, cutting and rearranging, color manipulation using filters, tints, and pixel modulators, creative playback interfaces, triggers and control signals. The course will also cover additional relevant topics, including MIDI and OSC communication, audioreactivity, and interactivity via peripherals and control interfaces.

The course is designed for those who wish to create live visual programs with a high degree of control, customization, and originality, for which existing high-level VJing software such as Resolume / VDMX is lacking. It is aimed at both intermediate and complete beginners to programming, and includes supplementary materials for those who have no prior programming experience. We will be programming using the Processing language.

At the end of this course, you will have your own performance-ready set of software for producing compelling live visuals!

Week 1: Intro to Processing and programming, basic graphics, variables and data, interactivity, animation and frame loops

Week 2: Manipulating images, filters and pixel modulators, alpha masks, tint and transparency, cut and paste rearrangement

Week 3: Movie playback methods, scratching, blending and mixing, green screens and masks, video filters, audioreactivity

Week 4: Control via user interfaces, parameters and triggers, input devices, and communication via OSC and MIDI, shaders.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Gene Kogan is an artist and programmer who writes free software for the performing arts. His work focuses on the application of emerging technologies as tools for creative expression and inquiry across a variety of contexts, including live music, theatre, and dance. His work can be seen at genekogan.com.