But, what does Jitter DO?
Hi-
I'm a longtime Ableton user that is considering jumping into the Max/MSP/Jitter pool because of the advent of MaxForLive. My general question is whether Jitter is a tool worth looking at. I sometimes do solo gigs where i play a bunch of instruments and use some pre-prepared loops, etc. Right now, i do nothing with video at all, and i'm not a video artist. But, i wonder if the idea is worth considering and if "now" might be the time to do that.
Anyways, i am attempting to figure out what are "typical" uses and applications for Jitter. For example, can i play a video clip i've recorded on a camera previously and mulch it in different ways? If so, what kinds of ways? Maybe i'm googling the wrong places (i don't care about the possibilities of jit.windows...... yet), but i'm having trouble coming up with a simple, basic, layman's description of what Jitter DOES and what are its strengths from a layman's perspective.
I'm a computer programmer by trade, but i tend to want to focus on 'music' rather than 'programming', but i'm not averse to a technical challenge. If anyone could give me the straight dope, or point me at a few links that clearly explains exactly what people do with Jitter, i'd really appreciate it!
cheers,
jim.
More then an image manipulation tool, jitter could be viewed as a set of objects for matrix calculations for data that is represented as such (of which images happen to be one). I never work with video (although I use jitter sometimes to record some screen activity with jit.desktop). Recently I used the linear algebra objects to solve higher degree equations. Also there is a link between audio and jitter that I find interesting. Another use is representation of data in a three dimensional fashion. These are just a few uses. Like max and msp there is not a typical functionality but a wide range of possibilities.
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johan
Johan, thank you. But, you answer makes my point. When i try and envision what this tool can do "a set of objects for matrix calculation for data that is represented as such" doesn't mean alot to me. Does that make sense? I'm probably REALLY interested in the end result of what all that does, but i don't know what it is.
What are some actual basic descriptions of what you can do with images (or video, if applicable) when you say:
1. a set of objects for matrix calculation for data that is represented as such
or
2. Using linear algebra to solve higher degree equations.
I'm interested, when you say that you can represent data in 3-D fashion. Can you give (or point me to) descriptions of what that would look like to a viewer? I do realize that there are lots of possibilities, and i'm just trying to wrap my head around a few of them to decide if i want to buy Jitter.
thanx so much!
jim.
just read this:
...and ignore the fact that it references 'video' sometimes.
i use jitter all the time, could not imagine organising and storing any kind of data without it, but i have not a piece of video knowledge / creativity in my brain. i use it for data and audio. you want it. but if you are new to the whole max world, there would be no harm in holding off getting it for a year say as your learn stuff.
EDIT: my reply was really not very helpful, sorry.
P.S. - when you say "Can you give (or point me to) descriptions of what that would look like to a viewer?" you are really asking if the meaning of life really is "42". IE, impossible. Just search for examples of others' work?...
The meaning of life is "42"? I SHOULDA known. : ) Thanx for your reply, i think you are right, i just need to start watching a bunch of examples, it appears. Again, if anyone has any links for something that embodies what YOU think is cool about what Jitter can do, i appreciate a URL.
I've been following Cycling 74 products for a few years, and i think a 'weakness' in the marketing of the platform is that the description of what the various tools do (or can do) is "vague". In ways, that is 'intriguing' and in other ways 'frustrating', like now, when i'm trying to figure out if its more economical in the long run to buy the Max/Msp/Jitter package (since i'm gonna buy it anyways....or so people tell me) and give myself the discount on Max For Live.
I've been guilty of buying software before where i had all the best intentions of digging into the programming details, but when push comes to shove and the clock is ticking, i'm more interested in the 'art' and the 'expression' than the 'programming'. Its a hard balance to strike in a busy life....
thanx for any input!
cheers,
jim.
a ton of video effects, camera grab, motion tracking, OpenGL support, audio visualizations, statistics, general-purpose calculations on matrices of data... really really fast calculations, that you can instantly visualize. It's an amazing tool, and if you know some OpenGL, you'll never come up for air.
All those and lots more, embedded into Max, which has far too many programming niceties to mention. But some of my favorites include presets, list manipulations, object customization, window control, file I/O... you want to save a file? "write". read one in? "read". Most things end up being ridiculously easy :)
hey jim. As it has already been pointed out a lot jitter is great. youcan do a lot with it. If find this not very advanced but really cool(because it's what i do with jitter..): http://www.vimeo.com/6886892
By the way I found out really late that there is a Jitter examples folder within the Max/Msp folder wich isn't linked from the "examples overview" page in the extras menu.
THere's a lot of cool and advanced stuff!
Hi Jim.
I learnt Jitter to do things like this.
All the best
Jamie
nice work! pretty interested in that fader video patch, do you have any more info on it (particularly how you did the fader partitioning and tracking?)
Hi the_man361
Thanks! I use jit.scissors to partition the screen and use cv.jit objects to perform the tracking.
All the best
Jamie