Me and the guys from Bureau BlauwGeel have been working together on their new website: http://www.bureaublauwgeel.nl
The CMS-based website uses video files to create a dynamic, living and breathing background.
Each menu item has a background image that slowly zooms in to keep that dynamic feel.
Although the background and interface always adjust to the size of [...]
For Motion Sickness‘ next VJ Gig, at Hoorspel Amsterdam, I want to mix live Twitter messages into our VJ set. I’ve already built several Twitter tools in Flash, and Modul8 (our favorite VJ tool) supports SWF files.
I started by experimenting with various animations you can apply to the Twitter messages. You can see a demo here: http://www.motionsickness.nl/tweejay/
When the SWF is used as a movie inside Modul8, you don’t want the audience to see the control panel. To solve this I built an external SWF controller. This way the audience won’t see the settings of the Twitter animation. The external controller is opened with the regular flash player, and connects to the flash animation inside Modul8 using a LocalConnection.
I discovered that a SWF inside Modul8 won’t connect to the internet, but this was solved by using the external controller to retrieve twitter messages, and then pass them on to Modul8. The only problem left is that images can’t be transferred this way, so Modul8 can’t use flash to retrieve images from the internet.
This screenshot shows the modul8 environment with the SWF Twitter layer on top of an image. You can see the external controller in it’s own window. (click image to enlarge).
UPDATE 1: the beta test of the tool is downloadable at http://www.eerkmans.nl/bestanden/tweejay_m8_beta.zip
UPDATE 2: Since the SWF movies do not play in a browser they need to be permitted to connect to the internet.
You can do this by opening the SWF files with adobe’s standalone flash player (right click > open with flash player). You will be presented with the following dialog box:
This popup appears when you open the SWF’s in adobe’s standalone SWF player.
Click ‘Settings’ and you will be taken to the security page. In this page, click ‘edit locations’ and then ‘add location’. Browse to the folder where your SWF’s are and add them.
The security settings for standalone flash movies.
If you don’t have the standalone flash player you can go to the settings screen directly.
Or you can download the flash player pack as a zip file here.
I will try to make this process less complicated, perhaps by exporting the controller as an adobe AIR app in the next version.
July 1st, 2009 at 03:02
very interesting! congratulations! please let me know when you have it available for d/l
September 19th, 2009 at 19:35
Good work. Looking forward to testing it out myself.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:13
UPDATE
I’ve made a test version available for download. Note that it’s not fully debugged yet, and not all filters/options are working.
Instructions: unzip the files. Open “tweejay_controller.swf” with the standalone adobe flash player, or you can even open the swf file in a browser.
The next step is to open modul8 and import “tweejay_player.swf” just like any other m8 movie.
If all goes well, you can now search for twitter messages in the controller, and the result will show up in modul8. Of course you have to place the player.swf in a M8 Channel before it shows anything.
Download the beta at http://www.eerkmans.nl/bestanden/tweejay_m8_beta.zip
September 23rd, 2009 at 19:05
hmm cant make it to work
do i need to login or something in controler ? i open it in opera then module8 and import player to module 8 run it in a layer i see blue scren with “type search term” but when i search in controler it says “twitter search failed…”
September 23rd, 2009 at 21:31
Can you try opening BOTH swf files in a browser window? See if the controller gets twitter results and sends them to the player.
If this works you can follow the updated instructions on security in the post above. It comes down to adding your SWF’s location on your computer to the list on this screen:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html
September 24th, 2009 at 09:31
hey nice work!
i tried out your beta and followed the steps for permitting internet access and all that stuff.
the controller works and finds results but the player always shows “type a search term” no matter if i open in flash player + modul8 or flash player + safari or both in safari.
maybe something wrong with the internal connection between the two. are there any settings that might influence that?
best,
haye
September 24th, 2009 at 09:40
ah. i did a restart and now it works!
sorry.
great tool!
i think i will use it at the election party of the german piratenpartei on sunday. i guess they are active twitterers and will be flashed by these possibilities.
hope you don’t mind
September 24th, 2009 at 18:23
thx for update with instructions its working now and i realy like it. will try to use it at sensation poland at vip stage hope ppl know how to use twitter
September 29th, 2009 at 01:51
How do you link this to your twitter account so that people can txt to your account.
September 29th, 2009 at 07:14
How do you link it to your particular twitter account, as in how do people know where to tweet.
September 29th, 2009 at 09:43
If you want to see all the replies people made to you, you can search for “@priscilla”.
October 4th, 2009 at 11:59
Hi Erik – Cool App. Been waiting forever for this one.
I can open both of your flash ups up and they player will display the tweets. But when I open up the player in Modul8, it says “type search term” so it does not work.
Restarted Modul8, still does not work??
I would love to use this for an event this week, so please let me know if you have any ideas?
Thanks, Tim
October 5th, 2009 at 11:26
Hi Tim, do the SWF files work when you don’t open them in a browser, just in the standalone flash player? If yes then maybe you should make sure you quit the flash player before reopening the SWF’s.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:09
Is it possible to have the text going very simply in a speed that we could arrange by ourself?
thanx
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:25
I’m working on a version 2.0. This version will have simpler animation (so that you can do your own animation in modul8 or resolume) and adjustable speed!
October 23rd, 2009 at 14:41
This is working great in Flashplayer, but Modul8 keeps saying:
Type a search form.
Also not working on two browser screens.
October 23rd, 2009 at 14:41
Reply on above message:
Type a search form = Type a search term
October 25th, 2009 at 10:26
Can anybody tell me exactly what files on my comp need permitting to connect to the internet? Im not too good with these sort of things.
Thanks
October 28th, 2009 at 03:59
Hello How can i make it auto refresh.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:09
Auto refresh is not yet built in, it will be in the next update!
October 30th, 2009 at 19:51
Cant get to stream to MOdul8, i only get a blue screen. What am I missing?? Thanks for the help!
December 10th, 2009 at 10:05
Hey man, i LOVE this modul!!! Any chance there’s an update for it yet? If there was somekind of simple bottom-top scrolling thing that would be awesome. Any way to make it not repeat messages?
December 10th, 2009 at 11:01
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks! There is an update, I will post it soon!
There’s no top-bottom scrolling yet, but that might come in a future version.
If you want a tool that just smoothly displays twitter messages without needing a VJ you might try http://www.twitterfountain.nl , open the site fullscreen (bottom right corner) and send the video to a beamer or use it as a video-in signal in modul8.
December 12th, 2009 at 06:07
Looks like you are a true specialist. Did ya study about the topic? lol
December 15th, 2009 at 05:06
I guess I’m gonna have to do some more research, but this was a pretty good place to start.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:57
this looks great! I can see the words on M8 but finding it difficult to control. can’t target the tweejay controller to my twitter account.
i am looking for a swf player to display the contents of a .txt file on my desktop
any ideas? i tried the sms to M8 module but it crashes when the .txt file is changed
January 18th, 2010 at 22:29
why is it some .swf files work in M8 and others don’t?
January 19th, 2010 at 11:41
Pete, a SWF inside M8 doesn’t have the same network / internet access privileges as a SWF outside M8. Therefore I built the “localConnection” SWF, which can grab data and send it to the SWF inside M8.
You should be able to access a text file directly though.
June 12th, 2010 at 13:27
Hey buddy, lovin your app for md8, but the animations need some work. You think you could flick me the .fla’s and I could have a play with it?
Cheers,
matt