Hardware

[Andrea Odiorne]

Hi all,

I was just putting some feelers out there to see which hardware people
are going to be using for building (and which sites are offering them
at the lowest cost). Ultimately, I would like to build a rudimentary
video switcher/effects processor, but I am aiming for something much
simpler for this summer. I am definitely going to get an arduino
controller and would like to incorporate an LED. What add-ons are
others using?

Also, has anyone used Flash with arduino? I will probably start with
processing, but I already know a little bit of actionscript, so I
thought I might try to use it down the road.

Andrea

[Phil]

Hello Andrea.

I'm not doing much with it right now, but I've designed and built
simple video switchers and am well-versed in printed circuit board
layout.

If you have a verbal description or block diagram of what you want to
do, I might also be able to help with parts selection, etc.

For video switching or effects processing, I've seen people use a
fast microcontroller like an SX to do video titling; a good
multiplexer can enable you to do picture-in-picture and titling by
switching which inputs get passed to the output channel; and you can
use a video fader to mix channels as well. There's a chapter on the
development of a fader chip, well worth reading, in Jim Williams's
excellent anthology The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design: "One
Trip Down the IC Development Road." (The datasheet from Linear
Technology, for the LT1256, may be more to the point.) The next
chapter of Williams's book, on breadboarding, is similarly excellent,
and more directly applicable to making things for oneself.

Of course that's just the switching and presentation side of things.
Programming what goes into the video is something I haven't thought
about lately... I presume you're interested in something more fun than
basic chroma-keying. I've been interested in effects processing that
senses more complex features of its inputs, and generates more complex
transformations than simply chroma-keyed backgrounds for its outputs—
it seems like the possibilities are wide open. But you say you want
something rudimentary—and it is best to start simple.

Given the commitment some people on this group have made to Arduino,
it seems like a good idea to mediate control through that device, or
something similar. Microcontrollers do have the advantage of
separability from the bulky PC. I don't know if I will be working on
something like this soon, though—don't know if I will have the money
for an Arduino or hard drive space for another programming language
(viz., Processing) right now.

Phil