Week 2 and Project Progress

The music visualizer has made great progress this past week. I have successfully identified, obtained, and thoroughly tested an animation software capable of what I need in order to make this project work. Magic Music Visuals, unlike Adobe which I was originally going to use, is completely reactive to live audio input, and able to create incredible visuals from a single note. This change in software also gives me the opportunity to rethink the project’s visuals. Originally, under the impression I’d have to animate it myself, I imagined simply a black screen with each note creating a differently colored ripple effect. Now, with everything this software is capable of, I am able o now instead to think much more outside the box. This includes different shapes, shading and shadow effects, movement, coloring, all with at least one hundred adjustable parameters.

After finding the software, I began testing it with just the built in microphone on my laptop. I was pleased with the scenes and animations I was creating, but I needed a more sensitive audio input. The obvious next step was to rent out a USB microphone. The test was a success as well. The next step as far as testing is to connect the software to a MIDI keyboard to judge its responsiveness for participating audience members.

Finally, I have now mapped out my work for the rest of this project through the middle of April. I have planned my workload and weekly tasks so that the project itself will be completed with a week or two to spare, to allow for any needed troubleshooting and/or logistical issues. My work for the coming week involves sketching all desired animations for the project, as well as fully creating the first two, while also beginning to ask around and advertise in order to find a musician to perform at the showcase.