March 14, 2011 | Posted in Reactive | No Comments.
This is an audio reactive visualizer that is based on a previous experiment about representing audio through sections of a worm’s body. The goal was to get the worm to look similar to black glass. The large worm’s body is divided into 11 sections that represent the FFT analysis data. When the corresponding group of frequencies surpasses a certain threshold, that section of the worm becomes lighter in color, the surrounding rings become lighter, the radius of that section becomes larger and particles are emitted from the surrounding rings. Once the particles have been emitted, they fade, change color and become larger over time, while reacting to large changes in the beat. The large worm explores the empty space. On large beat hits, it will hurry forward and if a major song change is detected, may even do a choreographed move, like a spiral or zig-zag. The large worm is followed by many smaller, simpler worms that flock along its body. They change color and repel from the worm body on large beats hits. The light scattering effect in the background reacts to the audio, becoming more prominent on louder beats and it also changes color over time or due to dramatic changes in the audio. Audio – Running Thoughts by Deerhoof
These images are generated by evaluating and interpreting the 1997 music video “Mo Money Mo Problems” from the first disc of the Notorious B.I.G. album, Life After Death. The algorithm detects edges in the image and attempts to trace motion from frame to frame, using the initial frame as their starting point. The output is rendered as a vector image, the curves represent the motion. The points represent the pixels detected in the edge, their size determined by the distance from their previous location, the further, the larger the circle. The color and location of the points are determined by the corresponding pixel in that frame. The bright colored track suits worn by Puff Daddy and Mase in the dark backgrounds make for good tracking and nice color combinations. The only imagery added manually is the background color. You can check out some more renders in the Mo Money Mo Problems photoset on flickr.
Puff Daddy Dancing with Mase in the black tunnel.
Much of the detail in the above image is lost. So here is a detail.
I was also able to print this render out at 24″ x 36″ on photo paper on a large format printer. I am intrigued by the zoomed in close up and may get that printed as well.
Using some sample FFT code by Zach Lieberman, I put together this audio visualizer in Open Frameworks. The over all volume of the piece breaks apart the square and pulls it back in when it is low. Wu Tang Clan ain’t nothin to fuck wit.
