Cycling ’74 has released an update to the Cyclops video input-analysis system for the company’s Max/MSP graphical programming environment. The new release features compatibility with the Macintosh OS X operating system (in addition to continuing support for Mac OS 9), and adds compatibility with Jitter, Cycling ’74’s video/matrix/3-D graphics processing extensions to Max/MSP.
Cyclops, a Max/MSP object for multimedia development created for Code Artistry LLC by New York-based artist and programmer Eric Singer, is geared toward artists and performers who want to add video control to their work without investing in stand-alone hardware or software. The Cyclops object receives input from a QuickTime-compatible video input source—such as a video capture card, USB or FireWire video input—analyzes the video frames and outputs Max/MSP control messages based on the images. The user can specify areas of an input image to analyze and the type of analysis to perform. The Cyclops objects supports grayscale, threshold, difference (motion) or color analysis on the incoming video image. Its control output format allows for seamless integration of motion control and object tracking into the Max/MSP multimedia programming environment.
Version 1.1 of Cyclops includes the new jit.cyclops object, which integrates with Jitter’s matrix-based data-processing environment, providing the same analysis capabilities of Cyclops to Jitter users.
Cyclops 1.1 is distributed by Cycling ’74 and is currently available. List price is $99, with upgrades for registered users of Cyclops 1.0 available for $29. The Max4/MSP2 programming environment is available from Cycling ’74 for $495.
Demo versions, purchases and upgrades are available online at www.cycling74.com.
