RFID + Ableton + Madmapper

filippa's picture

Hey!

I'm currently working on a school project at Hyper Island where we want to do video mapping trough Madmapper on a 3d wall and combine this with music from Ableton. Everything should be controlled by using RFID-tags in gloves. So when you put your glove on a RFID-reader a certain beat starts to play and certain visual effects start to show. When you put your glove on another RFID-reader the beat and visuals change.

Does anyone have tips on how to connect everything? Maybe through Quartz Composer?

I would really appreciate some help. THANK YOU!

/ Filippa

franz's picture
Re: RFID + Ableton + Madmapper

super easy ! :

RFID -> Arduino ->QC (via KnM Serial patch) then QC midi -> Ableton Live (using IACbus) and QCsyphon -> MadMapper

or, if you have MaxForLive:

RFID -> Arduino ->MaxForLive then Live midi (using IACbus) -> QC and QCsyphon -> MadMapper

If you don't like Arduino, you can use iCube instead, or the MakeController, or anything that doesn't use the FTDI serial driver, and sends Midi or OSC instead.

I hope this answers your question ! (send my regards to Hyper Island people)

3lab_VJ's picture
Re: RFID + Ableton + Madmapper

Ok, Franz was faster… and why doesn't make it me wonder ;-)

I just wrote this together yesterday, but didn't published it then.

The following infos and links should give you a good starting point for R&D. If you make use of touchatag, then you should have a working prototype within a day.

Late in 2009 Martin Kaltenbrunner (http://modin.yuri.at/) created a small, but handy tool called nfOSC. A simple utility that sends RFID-tag (http://www.touchatag.com) add & remove events via OSC. The application and the source are published at Google Project Hosting. There is also a sample application for PD, which is quite similar to what you are looking for.

Maybe i am wrong or missed something, but i think the infos and links will help you with development:

• send the touchatag (RFID-Tag) values to osculator with the help of nfOSC

App / Link: http://code.google.com/p/nfosc/

Video / Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nvc2MoG3v0

• then let osculator talk with ableton live (configure host & ports)

App / Link: http://www.osculator.net

Tutorial / Link: http://www.osculator.net/doc/tutorial:1:start

• fetch the output values from osculator within Quartz Composer with help of an OSC receiver (maybe make use of the better OSC Plugin by hexler.net - creator of TouchOSC and use the same configuration for the host & ports).

App / Link: http://www.hexler.net

OSC Plugin / Link: http://hexler.net/software/qcosc

Hope, that helps you… Look forward to see some results.

dnlmzw's picture
Re: RFID + Ableton + Madmapper

Thanks a lot for the help, I'm working in the same group and I have some questions. Have any of you tried the nfOSC?

I'm having some problems with it not detecting more sensors at once and not being able to start the server when the reader doesn't have a RFID near it.

My guess is that there is something you have to change in the this file: /etc/libccid_Info.plist if you are using the ACR122 which we are using. But i can't locate them.

I've made a forumpost here where i got some of my questions clarified. But we are really stuck where we are right now.

http://www.libnfc.org/community/post/2624/#p2624

filippa's picture
Re: RFID + Ableton + Madmapper

Hi Franz and thank you for your reply! I have another question that has to do with qc and MadMapper. We want to use the equalizer that we found on your blog, http://1024d.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/madmapper-tutorial-turn-a-building..., but we want to have three different equalizers in different color, side by side, triggered by different inputs in the same qc file. When I try to have three different eq in the same file only one of them works. Do you have any idea of what can be conflicting? Maybe there's another way of doing it?

Thank you :)

franz's picture
Re: RFID + Ableton + Madmapper

maybe place each EQ in a render in image patch, so you can position them as you wish in your comp.