I wrote a few new patches for Quartz Composer.

MIDI Global Output CC :: This patch, when triggered, outputs a MIDI Custom Controller message on a specified MIDI Channel to all MIDI outputs.

MIDI Global Input CC :: This patch observes a specified MIDI Custom Controller on a specified MIDI Channel, and outputs the Custom Controller Value and a Value-changed trigger. Unlike the “MIDI Controllers” patch that comes with Quartz Composer, this patch doesn’t require the user to manually select the “Observed MIDI Sources” individually for every controller/computer combination - so you’re free to take your composition to a different machine and/or controller and jam without needing to hack the composition.

String With File :: This patch reads a file into a string.

String With URL :: This patch retrieves a URL into a string.

Document Info :: This patch returns some information about the zeroth Cocoa NSDocument.

This release is out-of-date.
Please see the latest version.

Get them here: http://softpixel.com/~smokris/widgets/quartzComposer/kinemePlugins/

(digg this!)

In a famous blogpost from summer 2005, ClockSkew poked around inside Quartz Composer and discovered some fairly-complete-looking patches that aren’t available through the interface. ClockSkew also made a cool patch plugin that made these available through the interface. Unfortunately this plugin was written when Intel Macs didn’t exist, and it isn’t a Universal Binary.

Having myself somewhat of an obscurity-obsession, I decided to investigate how ClockSkew did this, and insodoing discovered a few new hidden patches.

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I was at the lab with Steve the other night.

I scantlandishly asked him, “Steve, how long do you think it would take to get kineme to the point that we could capture four streams of video, mix them in realtime, and output to QuickTime for mastering in DVD Studio Pro?”

He kurtruffishly launched into a brief coughing fit.

I continued by telling him that in about two weeks would be the annual Hilliard Davidson High School alumni choir concert, and that I intended to use it for this.

He hit me.

We planned out the new computer hardware we would need for kineme version 0.8.0.

We ordered it this morning.