vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky

Hey all,
I've been socked with a new project building machines to listen to ghosts (honest!), and after doing a couple vj sets in San Juan at the end of May, I decided I should code up another Pocket VBLANK (the M1) for those who'd like one of my sets with out the leering and beer drinking that comes with it.

The new circuit is based on glitching of a circa 1977 : RCA studio II/Cosmac emulation I' wrote exclusively for doing chip visuals last year. It's half the size of the old one, uses panel mount audio and power (so you easily can mount this one in a cassette case or game cartridge or something), and has about 18x the material as the last one. I also figured out 2 internal video channels at once, though one is used up for the glitching most of the time.


Here's a demo: http://youtu.be/E1XsLRrQc3Y

And the blog for it: http://www.straytechnologies.com/a-new- … se-the-m1/

The initial fundraising set has sold out. There will be 12 more of these available after the end of June for $80. I can code a custom logo to be glitched into the mix for $15 extra.

And thanks to F0XYr4bB!T for letting me use the awesome tune: Nostalgic sex. I coded a lot to this one!

Last edited by vblank (Jun 22, 2013 7:08 pm)

9-Heart
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Awesome to see a return of the vblank! PM'd.

defPREMIUM
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hey super cool!
a note on the opening post: i think you meant to link to http://vblank.straytechnologies.com/hardware/ or something but you linked to the youtube vid twice.. just thought i'd let you know!

vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky

Blog link Fixed... Thanks!

katsumbhong
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Taichung, Taiwan

Will this be limited run?

vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky
katsumbhong wrote:

Will this be limited run?

This kit is actually a modification of the MIDIo kit that converts midi to ANSI art characters. As it's a hardware mod, I won't sell the kit version, and I'm really just using it to raise money to develop the next kit.

So, the hardware will not be a limited run, but this particular modification and software combo will be less than 20 units total including customs. Obviously, anyone getting custom logos will have a unique version. I usually change-up the audio processing algorithms on those a bit to fit the artwork, and no artwork has been re-used.

an0va
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oh my. PM'd.

Domu
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West Yorks, UK

dammn ntsc only? no chance whatsoever of a PAL unit?

or like maybe I can get hold of a projector or something that can deal with NTSC aswell. Video not really my specialty. Looks sick though, I was teetering on buying the original many times

9-Heart
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I think most Projectors xan handle both, also a NTSC > PAL Converter should work. I guess.

vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky

Folks on a game console collector forum I visit use these:
http://www.ambery.com/nttopalvisyc.html
and they're cheaper on eBay and other places.

Obviously I've not tested it, but it's known to work on old consoles.

Sadly PAL is not a trivial code change for video programmers. We literally have to time every line of pixels against a master frequency, and squeeze the rest of the program in between the lines. (that space is called a "VBLANK" in coding by-the-way!).

As the timing is different for NTSC, PAL and SECAM, that means a microsecond will destroy alignment, color or sometime not even show a picture at all.
Note the dents in my forehead next time you see me at a show.

BR1GHT PR1MATE
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BOSTON

I thought forum PM was dropped a while back...

email address?

vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky

My PM box seems to be working, but email's easier:
wil [at]  straytechnologies [dot] com
is my primary.

soultron
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Wilmington,NC

SHIZ. I dig so much.

vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky

First run sold out and will ship on Monday. I'll do 12 more in a couple weeks when parts come in again.

Thanks everyone for helping me raise funds for the next synth project! I'll keep you posted when it comes to life.

9-Heart
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Arrived one day after my gig in Koblenz :I
Well, i just used the Original VBlank.

Anyway finished the case today, works like a charm.
But i would suggest to put a mixer between, since the audio from a DMG itself might be to low on softer tunes.

vblank
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Central Pennsyltucky

That case is AWESOME!! It looks like there's still a roll of paper in there! Glad you're up and running!

Yep, I'd also recommend a mixer. I tested heavily with a splitter on a pro-mod and my micro, and both ran at full volume, but soft songs will drop beats and such (That green LED tells you when the volume is too low). Honestly, running through a mixer gives you direct volume control, which allows you to tweak the visuals a bit on the fly.

I got a couple emails and I did get the parts in for the last set of these, so there are some available again.