Blogs

[Workshop] Unity 3D for Artists post-thumb

I have given comprehensive Unity for Artists workshops in Berlin, London, Cape Town and Amsterdam. This workshop is aimed for non-programmers and artists to start using Unity as their tool for creating real-time interactive and generative visuals.

Description

Unity 3D for Artists is an intensive 4 day workshop is designed for visual artists to start creating interactive and generative visuals using the Unity Game Engine. Taught by experienced VJ and media artist Fader, in this intimate hands-on workshop you will learn to create real-time visual environments on your computer. At the completion you will have a good understanding of the Unity workflow, code environment, and basic knowledge of C# programming.

[Interview] B.O.B. International Magazine of Space Design post-thumb

I had the pleasure of giving an exclusive interview to the B.O.B. Interior Design Magazine in South Korea. In this interview I gave my insight into my stage design career and working process. You may click on this link to view the full interview PDF document.

Kim Sowon : Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

VJ Fader : My Korean name is Choi Moonbong, my artist name is VJ Fader, my friends call me James. My family background is Korean Chinese. Last time when I visited South Korea was in 2011 for an artist residency called Gachang in the country side of Daegu. I have been living and studying in Los Angeles since I was a teenager. About 4 years ago I moved to Berlin where I call home. I studied in Illustration major at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, USA. I was passionate about electronic music and had an interest in music videos and animation. After graduating in 2002 I started VJing at small clubs and parties. I’m also a self taught programmer and software developer working with Max/Msp/Jitter, Processing, TouchDesigner and Unity. In the past 5 years my professional career started involving stage designs.

Kim Sowon : What kind type of stages do you mainly work on?

VJ Fader : Most of my stage design work evolves around the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scene. Although the term EDM can be very broad covering countless dance music genre and subgenre including House, Techno, Drum and Bass, and even Trap. But for most people EDM refers to the top dance music charts. I recently discovered a dance music genre called Breakcore, a much harder faster version of Drum and Bass, pretty crazy music. One of my long term client has been the Intro Electronic Music Festival based in Beijing, where the mainstage focuses on Techno and Deep House music.

Kim Sowon : What attracts you the most to this eld?

VJ Fader : I can honestly say I grew up as a MTV generation. When I was a kid, I was very much into watching music videos. It was a time when people were still buying CDs and record companies would spend millions to produce one music video. For me, with most VJs, we are passionate about music. Some people joke and say ‘VJs are the failed DJs’. Music is personal, everyone listen to different types of music, but when you have thousands of people coming together dancing to the same music, that’s special. Even today most of the times when you go see a big name DJ standing in front of a large screen playing on a stage, that's not very inspiring. I wanted to design my own stages to incorporate video, lighting and effects to create a memorable visual impact through form. When I design a stage, I’m creating a multimedia installation.

[Review] ROLAND V-1HD Hardware Video Mixer post-thumb

Amazing Compact HD Video Mixer for VJs

2017 is almost over, it is fare to say our VJ industry is pretty small compared to, for example the DJ industry. This means there aren't a lot of dedicated hardware products and controllers specifically designed for us VJs, with the exception of Roland V-1HD video switcher mixer. I have owned the V-1HD since it was released Winter of 2015 (about 2 years ago). Here's my full review on this amazing compact HD video mixer for VJs.

The Design

The unit itself is very well built with aluminum top cover and solid plastic back. It fits in your pocket backpack or luggage super easy for traveling and taking it to your shows. The size of the unit is way smaller than most professional DJ mixers on the market today. Roland even has a dedicated soft carry bag for it now. You can also easily pick up any carry case made for NI Traktor Kontrol line of MIDI controllers which does the job. I have a BUBM case which is really nicely made, keep in mind the power adaptor does not fit in the same case.

Most of the input/output ports are on the back of the unit. There are 4 DHMI inputs, 1 preview and 1 master output, 1 USB port, 1 power port. There's a vent for a small fan where it makes some noise but not very noticeable. There's a small switch to switch your output from 720p/1080i/1080p. Additionally there are audio ports on the back and the side for controlling DHMI audio and mic input, I personally never use the audio part of this mixer. It is meant for situations like live broadcast, business presentations, theater and American churches.