Multimedia Installation rt Quick Start Guide
Donald Schwartz
I am confident that in your most private moments, when you’re not considering
your sexual attractiveness, pondering the Hobbesian question or agonizing over
who is going to win the Final Four, you’re going to want to wrap your head around
what it would take for you to create a multimedia art installation. What will
follow is a primer to help you find your own answers to the problems inherent
in creating an artwork run by a computer. �
So what, as an inquiring mind with an insatiable appetite for minutiae, can
I give you to help you along the way to the art gallery? I’ll stick to a term
popular in the technology world: benchmarks. My benchmark for multimedia achievement
is that you come away with an idea of how you can think your way through all
the technical elements (audio, video, programming, buying the computer, and
some non-technical items such as budgeting, scheduling, educating yourself and
even managing your expectations for creating multimedia art). I don’t want to
sound mawkish or spiritual, but I’m talking about self-empowerment. �
I want YOU to be able to figure out what’s working and what is not. Sure there
are a lot of consultants, production facilities and academic institutions that
are ready and eager to relieve you of your money, but afterwards where will
you be? You’re still going to have to manage this thing and to pay for some
of it. We’re talking problem solving here using the tough love, learn-by-doing
method. �
One more thing: if you’re techno phobic; if you exhibit tendencies to rant
at your computer with futile questions as to why it just doesn’t work, you may
have issues with our computer-centric approach. You’re going to be first in
line to ask: why bother with a computer? I’ll get to it. �
The successful writing maxim has always been write about what you know. And
like Bo Jackson knows or knew, I know the multimedia art installation piece
called My Perfect Body, which is our object lesson. But now let’s flash back
from the installation’s opening in January 2002, at the D.U.M.B.O. Art Center
in Brooklyn, New York (MPB was featured in AnXious, a show curated by Helen
Varola) to December 1999. It’s a simpler time. We see two people: an installation
artist named Jennifer Woolcock Schwartz and me, her faithful companion/husband
Donald, innocently musing on what it would take to make Jennifer’s latest installation
idea real. When we pictured it, My Perfect Body sounded incredibly simple. Jennifer
intended the installation to be a humorous and self-deprecating take on the
female psyche and the idea of beauty in the new millennium. Need a picture?
Go to www.absolutely-fashionable.com and click on My Perfect Body. �
Before you are four mannequins—Harmony Hardbody, Susie Spandex, Ashley Abs
and Gym Bunny—back-dropped by the trappings of a local gym, each with a facemask
fashioned from the artist’s face. The four work out in front of fun house mirrors
taking instruction from an exercise video—created by the artist, a three tool
player (producing, directing and editing)—in which three hard bodied females
made it look easy. After each exercise routine, the video freezes allowing the
mannequins to obsess about their body parts—exaggerated in the mirrors’ concave
and convex surfaces—and have a verbal go at each other. A spotlight over each
of their heads goes on when they talk and off when they stop. Then the workout
video starts again. �
So what’s the big deal? Start and stop a twelve-minute video; spit out bits
of dialogue, narration and music to five different speakers; turn on and off
individual lighting instruments. Let me put three words in your ear: precision,
timing and repeatability. That’s the ticket. �
Why A Computer? Surely There Must Be Another Way But SOMETHING had to command,
on schedule, all the repeatable multimedia functions without anyone’s assistance.
(After all, the artwork was destined for a gallery and must be run by whoever
is sitting at the front desk—he or she is probably not a closet techie.) And
remember, all conversation among the mannequins was motivated by what goes on
in the exercise video playing on the television monitor. The image froze prior
to the verbal jousting that went on among the four mannequins and resumed playing
when they stoppedbemoaning their physical inadequacies. Jennifer wanted the
audience’s attention to be directed to the mannequin that was speaking by use
of individual firing speakers and spotlights fading up and down in time with
the speaker. So lets count up the multimedia elements that had to stick to a
infinitely repeatable timeline: the video playback; four speakers carrying four
audio channels dedicated to the mannequins; two speakers carrying the video’s
audio, music and exercise instructor’s voice; and four spotlights. A walk in
the park, right?� �
I’m sure you’re thinking there must be another approach to integrating on
a precise schedule video, lighting and multi-channel audio cues. Perhaps a less
technical solution might have accomplished the artist’s objectives. I accept
that there are many ways to skin a cat. But I can’t think of any other way to
keep all the elements in sync and on schedule other than a computer that gets
neither bored nor distracted by repetition. We saw it then the same as we see
it now as requiring a master control (in 1999 I was only dimly aware of what
is called show control and in any case we could not have afforded it). Let me
be perfectly clear: all manual start and stop alternatives would eventually
fall out of sync as milliseconds of timing errors in audio or video output increased
with repetition, creating a confusing jumble instead of a well ordered, linear
story line. The end game required a limited number of simple steps for the person
at the gallery’s reception desk to master in order to turn the show on and off.
As it turned out there were only four steps. Step One: turn on the TV. Step
Two: turn on the stereo receivers. Step Three: turn on the computer. Step Four:
click on the My Perfect Body icon to start the show. Easy enough. But it took
two years to get there. And some real legal tender. �
Money Is Boring To Talk About But It’s Necessary
This project was self-funded. Under my own version of GAAP (Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles), equipment and software that had a dual use—our web development
business and the installation—was factored in as a percentage of the budget.
Our totally unrealistic programming cost estimate—once we were confronted with
the truth that off-the-shelf software wasn’t going to perform the integrated
timing operations required—is also in there like the sauce. Of course, there
were also a number of non-technical, but very significant dollar items, the
kind of stuff that shows up in the eight-point print under any special offer.
This includes gym equipment, masks of Jennifer’s face, eyeballs, lighting and
van rentals, custom construction of the mirrors, lighting mounts, speaker and
amp purchases, monitor mount and wiring, customized computer cart, steadicam
camera operator and assistant, on-screen and voice over talent and construction
labor costs. Our personal time, labor and aggravation: priceless. Our final
fare was $14,000.
Why A Quick Start Guide?
I considered a number of different ways of laying out in abbreviated form
the project basics: giving you a clue as to what you need to know about creating
multimedia installation art. I discarded the online FAQs (frequently asked questions
by whom?) and knowledge bases designed to keep you from talking to a warm body.
In its place I have reinvented the quick start guide, which I call The Essential
Quick Start Guide: my own condensed version of how to get things done. As a
project deconstruction it’s a real broad stroke, but you can view it as a first
coat of paint on a canvas. I have used letters of the alphabet to introduce
the topics, presented in priority order (not in alphabetical order), because
that’s how I remember things. Feel free to replace the letters with numbers
if that is what lights your bulb. BTW (by the way), condensed means one second
before the big bang so it’s equivalent to the size of a baseball. �
The Essential Quick Start Guide �
“A” is for Application: Many of the most important decisions you are
going to make will be based upon what you need to have happen, for example,
stop and start the video, and then what software application exists (or doesn’t)
that can assist you in facilitating that action. �
What you’re doing with the hardware or software is THE QUESTION that anybody
who is trying to help you do something or sell you something should ask. Next
to how many dead presidents you have available for it, it will give you a clue
if the person you’re talking has your best interests in mind. �
“V “is For Visualization: You may be verbally challenged, but you know
a good picture when you see one so put everything you want to do into a diagram(s).
By taking where everything goes outside of your head you enable yourself, and
everybody else, to see just how confused you really are. �
There is a bevy of hardware and software decisions you must make in deciding
what it takes to get a computer to communicate with a peripheral (meaning any
kind of output and input device including audio breakout boxes, dimmer boxes
for lighting, video monitor(s), speakers, etc.) or to get video and audio onto
the hard drives. (Your choices here are hair curling. How do you acquire, compress
and capture audio and video? See also “C” is for Compression.) �
Still don’t get it? Think of what you have to do when you are self-installing
your new home theater or more appropriately your new printer, scanner, etc.
SCSI connector with “X” number of pins out to SCSI port on computer box in—doesn’t
match? Why is the question you must answer. But it doesn’t have to be SCSI,
it could just as well be USB (Universal Serial Bus), Fire wire; it doesn’t matter;
the problems you must solve are always the same. If it doesn’t lineup, you at
least know you have to find out what you have to do make it work if it can.
And this applies with a bit of imagination to more abstract, incorporeal elements
like software. What works with what operating system version. (See Also: “D”
is for Drivers.) �
One MPB solution: make a flow chart. Turning on and off the lighting required
programming languages to communicate with a protocol and hardware to connect
to hardware: Lingo (programming language) to C++ (programming language) to DMX
512 (protocol). Hardware: parallel port connector to XLR connector to Edison
plug. We diagrammed the whole thing. �
B” is for Budget: �Make one even if you’re not good with numbers. You
need to assign a dollar value to all aspects of the project even if you believe
you can get the product or service for free or you believe you can barter for
what you need. In far too many cases you will miscalculate due to a combination
of ignorance and innocence. Be confident that everything, particularly on the
hardware side, will cost you more than you expected. This, among other things,
results from obsolescence (see: “o” is for obsolescence) and software driver
availability (see: “D” is for drivers). �
Figure on paying something for a service, even if it is only a token. This
will increase your chances that people will show up or deliver something. The
caveat here is that you have to reign in your expectations in a number of areas
including whether they will meet your deadlines and/or complete the required
work as specified. �
Need an example? We estimated $1,500 for programming not based on anything
in the real world other than that was what we could afford to pay. Duh. A more
realistic cost for a programmer who knew the programming languages we ultimately
needed, C++ and Lingo would have been $600/day. As you can expect while we did
get an amazing piece of software, called an engine, that was customized to run
much of My Perfect Body, it did not run everything. The lighting component was
not completed in time for the installation’s opening. The estimated, real world
completion cost for three weeks of programming necessary to complete it? $9,000.
�
“M” is for Making Do � Creating multimedia with limited funds is all
about, whenever possible, making do with what’s out there. This might include
open source programming code—our show control software engine was in part created
from open source code developed by Derek Chung; or the use of a commonly available
computer video display board with a TV output so that the My Perfect Body workout
video displayed on a standard television set instead of on a computer monitor.
Somehow artists’ use was not factored into the equation by ASUS, the video board’s
manufacturer: go figure. I was alerted to this fact when we encountered some
problems with the card, which was designed for “gamers”. (You’re going to hear
a lot of talk concerning products designed for other people so get used to it.)
Our problem, vibrating reds, of course had nothing to do with our off-label
use: it was the version of the drivers we used. Oddly enough the older version
worked better for us than the most current. There is a lesson here also. (See:
“D” is for Drivers.) �
Buying computer parts in this fashion is an off-the-shelf strategy that I’m
sure NASA would endorse with few reservations. (I’m recalling what happened
to the previous multimillion-dollar spacecraft that crashed into the Martian
surface because it could not compute the difference between the metric measurement
system and ours. Oops.) �
The audio output of our soundcard/breakout box was not able to drive our speakers
without amplification because it was line level (+4dbu or -10dBV: see also “T”
is for Tech Talk). Inquisitive thinkers will want to know what the make-do solution
is for amplifying five individual (mono), line level audio channels. Remember
that we had four channels of audio directed to the mannequins and one for the
workout video and original music. Our make-do to amplify five channels was to
use three $99 Technics home stereo amplifiers. No, the solution wasn’t perfect
as two mannequins each had to share the same volume control, but by using the
balance control on the amplifiers we were able to somewhat tailor the sound
to the gallery space. Full disclosure: this idea came from our programmer, Joshua
Spahn. (See also: “V” is for Visualization.) �
“L” is for You Can Look It Up Casey Stengel, former manager of the helpless
‘62 Mets and formerly of the dynastic Yankees used to say to reinforce his declarations,“You
can look it up.” Well that’s partially true when it comes to finding out what
you need to know about the component parts of your multimedia installation art
project. After all, you have your topic area newsgroups (http://groups.google.com)
and software and hardware manufacturer forums (i.e. www.adobe.com/support/forums/main.html).
BTW (by the way), Adobe has very readable primers connected to many of its products
on its web site. But if you’re like me, you need to hear it, and you value face
time. To fulfill your personal face time quotient, there are software user groups
(i.e. New York Macromedia Users Group @ www.nymug.org). We met our programmer
at one of NYMUG’s monthly presentations. �
You can’t be afraid of asking questions that may reveal your ignorance. Putting
yourself in the student role improves your chances of getting what you need
to know before it costs you—it may cost you anyway, but then at least you can
claim circumstances beyond your control. �
The only caveat with this inescapable, low-budget approach is that you have
to be cautious not to cross the brain-picking line, which varies from person
to person. � �
“T” is for Tech Talk �If you have wondered about exposing your suppressed
inner geek and you’re considering creating multimedia installation art, now
is the time to let him or her come out of the closet. My low-budget multimedia
creation catechism dictates that you cannot bargain for a service that you need
if you are not empathetic. This is demonstrated by your use of the language,
including appropriate acronyms particular to the concerns of the technical person
to whom you are talking. A programmer, for example, considers his or her code
a thing of beauty and majesty, equivalent to your feeling for color and proportion.
Mixing up words like application, plug-in and engine may indicate to programmers
a lack of R E S P E C T for what they’re doing. �
“O” is for Obsolescence One place you’re sure to encounter the small
“o” is in selecting the right parts to go into a computer box. This includes
determining if the minimums, i.e. processor speed, RAM (random access memory)
are going to be enough to cover you during the project’s protracted development.
Your safe bet is to conclude that the minimums probably won’t work for long,
so think what the manufacturers call “recommended.” Unfortunately, this is not
a sure thing either because the “minimum” and “recommended” requirements are
constantly changing based in part on the capabilities of the operating system.
�
Microsoft provides a roadmap for obsolescence on its web site. If you go to www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycleconsumer.mspx you can look to see how much time you have left before your current operating system goes off the available for purchase radar. I must underscore that everything flows from the OS and
what’s in it and what’s not—particularly drivers (See: “D” is for Drivers).
The resulting backwards compatibility of anything you buy will always be an
issue for the artist who can’t afford to junk everything when a tectonic shift
takes place with the release of a new operating system. Coming your way is the
next major adjustment, the really Big One, which will start with the operating
system: the shift from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. �
The technology timeline and how you accommodate yourself to its changing minimum
and recommended requirements is really the staple of science fiction: in this
case linear time travel with everything going forward and precious little going
backwards. �
Still holding feelings of anger and resentment? Can’t accept it? Here’s a Q
& A I had with Chris P (as he prefers to be known). You may have to find your
own Chris P who helped me to the point of acceptance using soothing, if for
me, somewhat obfuscating language (See: “T” is for Tech Talk) when I was having
a bad time understanding why I had to let go of the Windows NT operating system
and embrace Windows 2000 so we could use the appropriate version of Microsoft’s
Direct X. We required Direct X 8 capabilities for our multimedia show control
engine. For attribution purposes Microsoft honored Chris with a MSP (Most Valued
Professional) designation. Chris has 14 years of programming experience and
inhabits the Microsoft Developers online forum. One more thing to remember—he’s
mine I found him. �
Me: “Why, if Windows 2000 is built on NT technology, does the Direct X version
stop with 3 on NT?” �
Chris P: “At the time Direct X was a retrofit to the operating system, which
was a performance issue without low-level operating systemsupport. Starting
with Windows 2000 the low level of OS (operating system) integration was much
higher, hence performance was better.” �
Got it? Chris continued: “As well I believe Microsoft was trying to give users
motivation to move to the new operating system, which was better in many ways.”(See
also: “L” is for You Can Look It Up) �
So I suggest you think of getting just ahead of the obsolescence curve as
something you enjoy as a leisure activity. Why? Because it may come to pass
that being a technology seer may look like child’s play when compared with your
role as your own parts and software integrator for a project that has special
needs (i.e. turning lights on and off on a timeline schedule). � Let me reassure
you that a number of the parts as well as the software you will depend upon
have not been tested together nor have they been designed with you, the artist,
in mind. The experience of resolving these incompatibilities will mentally transport
you to another place. (See “V” is for Visualization.) �
“D” is for Drivers: Webopedia (www.webopedia.com) an online dictionary
explains that “most devices, whether peripheral or not, require a program called
a device driver that acts as a translator, converting general commands from
an application into specific commands that the device understands.” �
When Volkswagen claimed in its ads that it was looking for drivers (or did
VW say it wanted drivers?), I’m sure they were talking about the kind of people
who like to control their cars. Unfortunately, should you decide to tackle multimedia
creation using a PC you too will be looking for drivers, but of a very different
kind. And unlike Volkswagen’s people, you won’t be in control of the drivers’
use (read support) or how long they last and with what operating systems or
software and hardware that are compatible, even if you desire it. (See also:
“o” is for obsolescence.) �
One quick example is our first sound card and breakout box made by Gadget
Labs. The purpose of this card (installed in the computer) and the external
breakout box with the 8 stereo output pairs was to provide four separate channels
of audio, one for each mannequin and one for the workout video displayed on
the monitor. The cost of the Gadget audio package was $500. We were betting
that the drivers compatible with our Windows 2000 operating system would be
completed when we needed them. Wrong! Gadget went out of business so we had
to sell it at $250 loss and then buy another one made by Midiman also at $500.
Also, I was not aware that a separate mixer to control levels on both the input
and output side was required in order for the thing to work so we had to plunk
down another $200. (See also: “B” is for Budget). But after all, who knew? �
�
“C” is for Compression: � A lot of advertising copy writers are having
a lot of fun playing with the size does matter question in their advertising
campaigns. Putting aside the sexual innuendo, in the computer world of bits
and bytes, size really does matter, but glorification in this world leans to
the smaller the better instead of the larger. And we had some big ones (file
size): the Abs segment alone of the My Perfect Body instructional workout video
was 80 megabytes and ran a mere 19 & � seconds. The total file size of the
workout video including all eight workout segments was 911 megabytes with a
total running time of 12 minutes. (FYI: Mega equals one million.) �
We just didn’t know what we were doing and whether making the files sizes smaller
by compressing them would create problems with pixelation or color shifts. We
were uninformed, all right ignorant, and for that we take full responsibility
(yawn: everybody’s taking responsibility but there are no consequences). Jennifer,
the artist, selected the default choices in the software as they popped up.
Apparently the default selections were “ok” because no one complained about
it. In fact one installation viewer thought the workout video was store bought.
�
But you may need the space on your computer’s hard drive. So how do you begin
to decide what works best for you? When does the amount of compression you use
become apparent? �
For my answers I spoke to Mark Schubin, a freelance technical consultant who
breaks the process of getting the video onto the computer’s hard drive into
at least three steps: first is the sampling; second is the quantizing; third
is compression. (Artists using a digital video (DV) camera can skip a couple
of steps. Our original video was shot on a Betacam, which is an analog system
so steps one and two were applicable.) Other than how much you can spend, there
are quality tradeoffs in all the approaches. You’re going to have to surrender
something such as color or detail to get the file sizes smaller. That’s the
easy part so now let’s get technical. �
Compression, Schubin said, is about removing “every part of the digital signal
that is not going to be noticed.” This is called “redundancy,” he said. Furthermore,
“if you remove perfectly just the redundant stuff, that is called lossless compression.”
All the different compression schemes called CODECs (short for compressor/decompressor;
see: “T” is for Tech Talk) use this redundant approach to varying degrees of
success. Yet, Schubin continued, “sometimes even removing all the redundancy
is not quite enough so you try to remove stuff that is not terribly objectionable.”
What makes one CODEC more effective than the other? For Mr. Schubin it’s how
effective they play their eye/brain games which may include “removing fine diagonal
detail because that is something that is not terribly noticeable.” Or, “you
might remove more information when there is a camera cut because our visual
systems don’t notice fast motion,” he concluded. Clear? Clearer? �
Don’t give up on me now. I’m detecting some eye glaze on your part. Here’s
briefly our step by step to screen.
1)���� Captured and compressed the Betacam’s analog video selecting a 3 to
1 sampling and the MPEG 32 Codec compression scheme.
2)���� Imported the video into Adobe Premiere, our editing software, as AVI
files (Short for Audio Video Interleave. AVI is a Windows operating system file.
If you were using a MAC you would import the video as QuickTime files.) ��
3)� Edited and exported in AVI format for playback from our computer’s hard
drive. �
“W” is for Workaround � Anyone who tells you (the artist) that there is only
one way to do anything should be avoided. If you fall into the trap of believing
it, you will never even start your project and may end up catatonic. Remember
there is always a work-around—I’m not claiming that it is going to work as well,
or work at all. Besides, if you wait until you have all the elements of your
masterpiece in place including real money, and all the best professional equipment,
and primo talent and you are unwilling to shoot your scene unless it’s golden
hour at Big Sur, you’ll never create anything definitive. None other than Merce
Cunningham shared this truth with me. The proof occurred some years ago when
my then two-person video production company became part of his workaround for
videotaping a piece called Deli Commedia that aired nationally on Great Performances.
Deli Commedia was short on funds so we provided the video equipment and technical
expertise. � You’re going to hear a lot from people—real and self-described
experts from whom you are trying to extract information for free—that if you
don’t buy this part or follow this approach, purgatory will be the least of
your concerns (See Also: “M” is for Making Do and “L” is of You Can Look It
Up). Personally, I found it fascinating, the passion that one person could have
for a particular brand, of say, a computer box. No kidding. In my first dealings
with a custom computer builder prior to this project, I was informed that if
I didn’t buy a computer box made by PC Power and Cooling, he wouldn’t build
the computer nor guarantee his work. It’s a great box for sure, but if it comes
between allocating money for a better monitor with a higher resolution and refresh
rate, my suggestion is to go for the monitor and avoid the eyestrain. �
Applying What You’ve Learned To Real Life � I know what you thinking:
“What do I need to know all this stuff for? How is some arcane compression scheme
going to help me pay the rent on my studio?” There is evidence in the fictitious
world of movies that if you read everything you may be capable of extraordinary
feats like unwitting the CIA as Robert Redford’s, Joe Turner demonstrated in
Three Days of the Condor. Hear this: you never know when your life might hang
on knowing that C++ is a programming language and not a super strong dosage
of vitamin “C.” � � �
