Author: deptfordtv

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TV Hacking II

In the week of the 2nd of June the Bitnik media collective visited Deptford.TV at Deckspace and the second TV Hacking session was held together with people from the Hacklab, PureDyne, OpenStreetMap and Boundless projects.

We discussed the editing and publishing systems of Deptford.TV. The decision is to design a memory stick on which all the production software is installed so that every contributor can use any computer connected to the internet.

Therfor the Dynebolic system using Cinelerra is ideal. For the distribution bitinik wants to release the copyfight as an installer towards march next year. Hopefully by the next Node.London session (if there will be one) Deptford.TV can present the system flow running from production to distribution on FLOSS systems.

For Deptford X in November Deptford.TV plans to hold mini DIY soldering TV transmitter workshops on the concept & idea of the hut project, see similar project on radio transmitters presented at Briklane in the same week, from the hut project website:

Dispersed Radio Network / FM Transmitter Workshops

On the 1st of June 2006, from a location on Brick Lane, The Hut Project made the first in an ongoing series of public radio broadcasts, beginning the first leg of our Dispersed Radio Network project. Over a four-day period, our broadcast, covering a 2-mile radius, invited listeners to come to a micro-FM transmitter workshop. We have mappped the location of every transmitter that was built during this first workshop event, and will be asking everyone who built a transmitter with us to take part in a simultaneous broadcast in the next month. Our broadcasts will now be spreading out across London, the UK and wherever we else we get to, as and when the opportunity arises, allowing participants to construct their own micro-radio transmitters, and broadcast their own programmes to their homes, buildings, and streets. At intermittent periods, as we request that all those whio have taken part in our project take part in simultaneous broadcasts, we will be creating, momentarily, a dispersed micro-radio network. We will soon be publishing the map of transmitter locations on this site, and we’ll announce the times of any broadcasts by the network. An archive of all the material broadcast by the network will be stored here as and when it develops.

for the metadata editing we will try out the meta data hootenany, what a name! quoted from metadata hootenany:

Metadata Hootenanny

This is a page about my latest piece of clever software: Metadata Hootenanny.

What Is It? It’s a viewer/editor for all the spiffy metadata you can put into QuickTime movies. You know how you can view, edit and sort by your mp3s’ ID3 metadata in iTunes? Well, a similar metadata system exists for all your QuickTime movies, too, but until now the only way to access it was through the horrid interface of QuickTime Pro Player (You can see certain metadata items in QT’s Info window, and add them in the Movie Properties window under Annotations).

Metadata Hootenanny lets you access this information more easily (and for free!). You can make a playlist of all the videos in your collection with a certain director or writer. You can search your videos for a certain performer, or a keyword in the description. Of course, you have to add all this information to your movies yourself…which is a breeze with Metadata Hootenanny.

Why Would I Ever Want To Have Metadata in My Movies? Ok, ok. Most people probably don’t care about movie metadata yet. The best use I see for this program is for people (like me) who have large collections of TV shows or music videos, somewhat short movies that might conceivably be played back-to-back, or collected into small lists based on subordinate criteria, as might be stored in QuickTime movies’ metadata tags (like writer, director, author, album, etc).

What Kind of Metadata Are We Talking About Here? The Program supports all the Annotations that Quicktime uses (Album, Artist, Author, Comment, etc). Custom categories can be used as well, if they are four characters long and starting with ‘©‘, like “©CMT.” You can type a © in MacOS with option-g. In Addition, there are (mostly) read-only properties about the movies, like video/audio formats, file size, and movie length. Finally, it lets you add or edit Chapter Tracks, which are a cool little feature of the QuickTime container format that is seldom used. They’re like little bookmarks in the movie with a popup-menu that lets you jump between them. In QuickTime Pro, in order to make a chapter track, you have to create a text file formatted in a certain way, with timepoints you must type out by hand, then import it to QuickTime, add it to your movie, un-enable it, and set it as a chapter track.

My way is much easier, trust me, plus if you have a problem or better yet a suggestion, I will be happy to fix it for you. And in case you feel nostalgic for the QTPlayer way, Metadata Hootenanny exports chapter lists to the QuickTime text format, ready for import.

That’s Fine, But What Else Does It Do? I’m glad you asked. In addition to adding metadata and chapters, you can also add DVD-style interactive menus, using QT’s wired sprites. Menu buttons can have images from image files or from the movie itself, and have rollover and on-click pictures as well. Button actions include going to a certain chapter, enabling audio or text (subtitle) tracks, and stepping forward or backward.

Other features include integrated www lookup with IMDB.com, EPGuides.com, TVTome.com and BlockBuster.com, and reading of chapter times directly from the DVD drive or from other movie files. Also movie playback features like fullscreen and rate control.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK, although little risk is really involved. The program never even tries to write to the original files (unless of course you choose the unrecommended “save-in-place” option from the save-as window); it only creates new files [NOTE: an unexpected “feature” of the QuickTime API had lead to version 1.0 modifying input files when chapters are added. It is fixed in the “unstable beta” version] I don’t know what it would do if you ran out of hard drive space, though….

Download
unstable beta (check out the version notes and latest beta changes in News + History)
source code (I have a sourceforge project but apparently I’m not competent to use their cvs, so if someone who is wants to upload the source let me know and I’ll add you as a dev on the project)
Here is the source code of what I’m working on for the next version. It has some interesting new stuff, and just about everything is broken in some way. Since I don’t anticipate having much time to fix it, I encourage you to mess around with it in any way you like.

Please email me with any bugs you find and I will fix them toute suite. You can also receive prompt technical support by visiting the 3ivx forums.

Here’s a little picture of it

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Utrophia playing on the minesweeper

On the 22th of April Utropia had a gig on the pirate boat. Helen McCookerybook wrote:

Utrophia CD Launch

I went to the launch of the third Utrophia Compilation last night- on an old minesweeper parked in Deptford. Squeezed through the railings, sneaked through the car park, got shouted at by a man with a red face. Saw Hamilton Yarns and Dan Geeson play acoustic sets, drank pink wine and ate chocolate cake, it was a lovely sunny evening on deck, saw a tiny wader bird with huge feet that made giant footprints, and taking 2 hours to get there on the glorious Northern Line didn’t even make me stressed… Later went on to the Utrophia studios and yakked away to lots of friendly people, held a poor girl’s head while she threw up, heard more music. The compilation’s really good, there are about 32 tracks, and I have a track on it called ‘London’. I thought they were going to use another one called ‘The Word is Goodbye’ that I’d been going to ask the Mad Professor to remix, but they didn’t so I’ll put that version on Myspace whether or not it gets remixed. All the bands and artists on the CDs have played the venues that Utrophia puts things on at, and they are all very unusual. It costs £7 and you can get it if you email info@utrophia.netSATURDAY 22 APRIL 2006
BOAT:
5pm – we’re starting the night on a boat on the creek up the road. here there will be hamilton yarns and dan geesin playing, this will be incredible and due to the size of the boat you’ll have to get in touch with us about coming down we’ll tell you all the details

UTROPHIA PROJECT SPACE:
back down at the utrophia project space there’ll be fs_ion, serafina steer and sam and then shimmie rivers and and canals. we’ll be watching dan geesin’s films along with marching band and pillow fight club films and this will all be going on until people become bored with being awake dancing and listening to music.

for more information contact: info@utrophia.net
http://www.utrophia.net

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Mindsweeper Boat: Symphony of Deptford (25th of March)

All the PD patches can be downloaded here. The PD patches are written by Emanuel Andel (aka nrsz) and are licensed under the GPL3. Emanuel’s patches use the cyclone library, make sure that you have it installed on your system.

This was the closing event of the Deptford.TV launch. www.ampersand.tv made a live music performance to the PD mix of www.nrsz.net – the whole session was recorded and will be re-edited & published on the site www.remixdeptford.tv – a site which will have the approach of using vj/dj technologies to remix the original deptford.tv database with programms such as pure data and available under https://puredyne.goto10.org/

the pirate boat was our base, a minesweeper…

on the minesweeper you will see and hear a sinphony remix of the http://deptford.tv database done by nsrz to the live soundz of ampersand.

On a forgotten side creek of the River Thames sits a derelict former minesweeper.

The Art Organisation, in association with its owners, have began the arduous task of regenerating this 158 feet long sea worthy vessel to a floating gallery, theatre and rehearsal space.

Members Gregory Scott-Gurner and Camden McDonald have recently been granted funding via UnLtd – the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs – to restore the timber hull and decking, and introduce a program of theatre workshops involving the local community. .

Posted on by deptfordtv research

Database documentary 17th & 18th of march 2006

At 6 o'clock in the morning, 17th of march, the draft of the database structure was finished – after a night session between london & zurich we can upload our files. So far we will upload the rough material and tag the clips with metadata.

people arriving for the workshop

1. Step was to digitize the tapes. And here we had a surprise with some of the tapes. If the date and time wasn't set on the camera we couldn't digitize with automatic start/stop detection, as date & time was the metadata written on the tape which allowed to distinguish between scenes. This is important as we save the clips as smallest possible units into the database, which is between when the camera operator pressed "start record" until the operator pressed "end record". Those tapes without date & time stamp had to be separated into clips manually.

The clips then get a specific filename: number-of-tape_part-of-tape_DTV-number-of-clip.mov (or .avi) example: 001_2_DTV- 3.mov

– number-of-tape: we numbered the tapes of each participant. This tapes will be archived at dek.spc.org – The idea behind this is that we can access the highest quality possible, if there is a wish for a higher resolution edit. . In our example it's the first tape.

– part-of-tape Often there are time-code breaks. Or the camera operator continued filming on a different project. It is important to log this, as after a time code break the time code starts counting from 0 again. In order to digitize from the right position the tape has to be manually forwarded or rewinded into the part of the tape (in our example if we would be at the beginning of the tape we would have to manually forward into the second part of the tape after the first time-code break).

– DTV stands for Deptford.TV

– number-of-clip.mov (or .avi) stands for the number of the clip, .mov is a quicktime container and .avi is used by premiere

2. Now the clips needed to be transcoded into the h.264 or in our case the open x.264 codec. On linux you can use ffmpeg for transcoding, on a Windows system videora or super and on a mac OS X system isquint. Though there is an issue with the openess of this codec as there is a patent pending. For further information see http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com. 

3. The clips are uploaded and tagged with meta-data. The tagging of meta-data allows the collaborators to read about the clips of others and to see if any of the clips might be interesting for other projects.

Following tags are attached to the clips:

– filename (see point 1)

– artist

– title of the project
– place / post code (which would allow a mapping of the rough material)
– original source
– description
– transcript (if it is a longer interview or longer clip)
– rating (still needs to be coded)

The rough material is released under the creative commons open content license with which collaborators can share there footage. The first results can be looked at http://watch.deptford.tv

The user-management is based on the wordpress software in which we use the blogging function to blog our videos – in the moment the database is a vlog and vodcast – soon also an ogg stream…

Posted on by deptfordtv research

Did you say Culture?

“Wer hat dem wird gegeben, wer nicht hat der nimmt’s sichs eben” (Brecht) As a member of the D-word community 1 I was involved in last years’ discussions about the ‘Democracy project’ 2, virtually on D-word, and physically at the IDFA Democracy pitching forum. I believe that Western Democracy is facing its biggest crisis around the issue of property and specifically intellectual property. The poorest of our planet survive through sharing, smuggling, squatting, stealing and hospitality. Their survival depends on gift-economies and cannot be sustained through the laws of the ownership society. New technologies offer a potential for new ways of production and distribution of knowledge and culture through archiving 3, file-sharing4 and time-shifting systems5. Nevertheless, existing corporate interests are using their political powers to protect an old business model that is under pressure from these new technologies, and that is propped up by electronic patents 6 and digital rights management. The Western economic model is unsustainable; there cannot be endless growth, endless profit, endless expansion. In order to sustain itself the ownership society needs to expand into new areas and is now colonising our common intellectual and cultural heritage. However this raises serious ethical issues: why would a poor HIV/AIDS patient have to pay for patents in order to receive medication? This colonisation of knowledge is threatening the very idea of Democracy. How can a democratic debate take place if knowledge is restricted to a small group of engineers and corporate interests? True democracy is based on free, informed debate, and supported by cultural exchange, diversity and education. In order for a democratic system to function knowledge has to be free. Therefore we have to move from the ownership society to a gift economy 7, from copyright to hospitality. Godard once said “Let’s not make a film about politics, let’s make a film politically”. Isn’t it time to look for new ways of production and distribution and, when it comes to the Democracy Project wouldn’t it be a brave act and at the same time a significant statement to allow for open online distribution of all material produced under its name? To copyleft 8 all films and media content and make it freely available for everybody to view, remix and redistribute? Adnan Hadzi

2 Comments Posted on by deptfordtv ideas, regeneration

brainstorming 4th march 2006, tv hacking workshop

– hong kong city
– all saints church
– seagar distillery
– boat community
– housing in deptford
– dlr joutney
– day times in deptford
– music docs
– headjam, lewisham way 117
– pain, lewisham way
– dirtypins
– known
– the kut
– punch judy
– lost club
– destillery – open arts plattform
– i love nx
– bubble gum
– lewisham way
– danny
– new cross inn
– rehersal studios, commercial
– rubbish fairys
– deptford highstreet
– hayles gallery
– degentrification?
– use your loaf – social center which has been squatted, free film nights
– pips estate
– redevelopment southwark, stratford, olympics
– infrastructure changing arround housing estates
– arts community
– how is housing changing?
– education
– public playgrounds
– what is the situation with the small shops?
– kranes / building sites
– control & space
– planing issues, planing documents
– abandonned vehicles
– historical review
– brainoff.com/worldkit/londonplanning
– back in the times of the docks
– stowage archive material
– archive material research for database
– borders of deptford, lewisham, greenwich?
– new cross, brockley, deptford?
– cruiseliner terminal
– charity studies
– laban dance center
– deptford creek
– betting shops
– conspiracy?
– visual representation, forms, methods?
– show a historical change in architecture and society
– languages?
– subcultures

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notes deptford.tv soap box presentation

notes from the media art soap box presentation (programme see bellow):

over the open season deptford.tv will launch. the bitnik.org media collective will code the rough structure of the database to experiment with.

deptford.tv is a database documentary around the deptford area and it’s regeneration process.

what do we understand with database documentary?

we’re assembling audio-visual content on the deptford.tv server, important to this assembly it the editing of metadata of each clip. under clip we understand the smallest “film” unit from start recording a sequence to end recording a sequence.

this metadata is accessible over a web-browser. the clips can be selected and downloaded to a local computer. on the local computer they can be edited and uploaded back to the deptford.tv server for publishing – together with the EDL (edit decision list) of each edit.

in the future this edl metadata of the edits will create a database sitting on top of the rough material and referring to versions of edits coming out of the deptford.tv database.

why regeneration?

in 2003 the laban dance center opened at deptford creek. herzog & de meuron are the architects – issues around the regeneration came up and students at goldsmiths college where discussing different perspectives of regeneration in different countries.

where i come from regeneration is called staedteplaning (city planing) and is not so immediate experienced as we saw it here in deptford.

if you’re interested in the development of the database and to see a work in progress show you can join us in the walk on the 24th of march or in the conference on the 25th of march, for details please see http://deptford.tv

Media Art Soap Box

02/03/2006, 18.30 – 20.30

What is ‘media art’? Who is doing it and why? An eclectic group of London artists and designers working with technology explain all with audiovisual presentations of their work in our Media Art Soapbox.

Projects range from the sublime to the seemingly ridiculous. Mull over the idea of growing spare organs for yourself in your pet, or consider the ‘architecture of ‘. There’s a huge variety of questions on and approaches to media art… What would it be like to experience colour in the same way as a TV screen operates? How does the basic geometry of the Earth change as we get closer to it in an aeroplane? Do scientists see things differently because of the way they are trained to look at the world? What if mobiles phones were instruments of torture inflicting pain every time we disturb others? And isn’t it time children’s stories were adapted to suit the computer age we’re living in?

Come and have your say in a series of mini workshops convened by art curators Andrew Chetty and Hannah Redler, art critic Piers Masterson and technologist Tom Quick.
Part of the NODE London season of media arts projects taking place in March 2006. www.nodel.org
speakers

Anthony Alexander – No Straight Lines in Nature
Artafterscience with Barbara Zanditon – Randomness and Certainty
Saul Williams – The Zeos Series
Tina Gonsalves – Feel
Adnan Hadzi – Deptford.TV
Crispin Jones – Social Mobiles
Marcus Kirsch – Urban Eyes
Georgia Chativasileiadi – Human Conducted Tele-vision Apparatus
Tom Corby/Gavin Baily – Cyclone.soc
Elio Caccavale – Utility Pets
James Larsson – Bedtime Stories for Very Young Geeks
Richard Woods – Introduction to Wattson

Respondents

Andrew Caleya Chetty – Curator, The Public
Piers Masterson – Development Manager, Free Form Arts
Tom Quick – co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Netemic

1 Comment Posted on by deptfordtv ideas, regeneration

perspective from the boating POV

parallel worlds boating community enclosed on themselves
architects and culture institutions inward facing

Narrative
The narrative collects a network of personal perspectives of the regeneration process taking place in the area of the Laban Centre and the neighboring water way and boating community on Deptford Creek. There is a fundamental structure of two parallel narratives taking place withing the same physical place, but rarely touching. A few individuals (promiscuous links in small world terminology) move between these narratives, resulting in an oddly intertwined clash of cultures, with classically one ousting the others.

The Mine Sweeper is a 150ft teak sea faring boat, built in the 1950’s to clear mines from the Suez canal. 12 were built. It is presently moored on the river bank facing the Laban centre, where it will have to move (in the near future), due to the development of the river bank by property developers as part of an ongoing regeneration process in the Deptford Creek area.

The London boat community is an eccentric space, populated by ex-squaters, enthusiasts and a wide variety of characters from diverse backgrounds. The narrative views the impact of the arrival of the Laban centre, and the forthcoming redevelopment of the area from the perspective of the boat community and the associated light businesses that will have to relocate as part of the process.

The river community in many ways represents the last bastion of free mobile cowboy-space in London. Most of the the historical dockyards in london have already been developed – squating is more or less a thing of the past.

Architectural Presence
The building of the Laban Centre is the first step in the redevelopment along the waterfront, and as such sets a permitted standard for future development.

Facade is designed in colaboration with an artist.

Building arguably fails to interact with its environment – sky and surrounding structures reflect in its facade, and a possible reaction to the existing neighbouring warehouses is the shed-like appearance and structure, whilst the moved earth that has been landscaped into auditorium hills surrounding the dance centre are reminiscent of the actual landing.

The clean detailing of the facade glass panels against the plastic coloured at the moment they touch ground is noted. One way access in/onto the site, mooring originally planned has not yet been realised (why?) and waterfront side of the site instead been decorated with a fence concisting of irregular heights in vertical stainless steel poles/tubes. the building adds slight colours reflecting on the creeks surface. Thats it and there is extension …….

The public presentation of the building development was in 2000/01.

Failed boat funding
group involved inexperienced in boats as well as engineering works. Taking out the boat to a yard structure, the project ran into unknown depth of finances due to underestimation of the time and crafts inolved to repair a wooden boat.