v002 Rutt Etra 2.0.1
I’m Bill Etra and this is the Mac version of the Rutt/Etra Video Synthesizer.
In 1970, I spent a year with my partner Steve Rutt building a video synthesizer that let me have complete plasticity with the raster, (which will disappear in february when analogue television broadcasts cease). After two years of very hard work, we had built the Rutt/Etra video synthesizer. I was sure after some work with Bill Hearn on the Videolab (at the Electronic Associates of Berkeley) to colorize the Rutt/Etra’s black and white signal, that I would be finished and have the tool I wanted. It’s now forty years later and, thanks to Anton Marini and others who are kind enough to assist and do all the hard work, we have the beginnings of what I had dreamt of.
The dream was to create a compositional tool that would allow you to prepare visuals like a composer composes music. I called it then and I call it now “the visual piano”, because with the piano the composer can compose an entire symphony and be sure of what it will sound like. It was my belief then and it is my belief now after 40 years of working towards this, that this will bring about a great change and great upwelling of creative work once it is accomplished. This software is one step closer to that since, once we’re on the computer, things can be developed and repeated reliably.
I now live on disability and we no longer have corporate budgets working on this development. I would like to spend the rest of my existence working on the project that I thought I would finish in 1972. if you find this software useful, please make a donation in whatever amount you feel is appropriate.
– Bill Etra, October 26th, 2008, in a Starbucks on Broadway in Chinatown
v002 Rutt/Etra attempts to emulate the Rutt/Etra raster-based analog synthesizer.
The original Rutt/Etra machine was one of the first voltage-controlled video special effects systems and video synthesizers. The Rutt/Etra is named after Steve Rutt and Bill Etra, the two engineers and artists who designed the machine. Bill Etra, Nam June Paik, Woody and Steina Vasulka, and many other artists composed visual art with the Rutt/Etra in the blossoming video art movement of the early 1970s.
The Rutt Etra fundamentally “understood” video signals, and allowed the patching of different video sync rate oscillators to control, offset and famously “z-displace” the resulting video, an effect most memorably demonstrated in the work of the Vasulkas. The Rutt/Etra is capable of much more, however.
v002 Rutt/Etra is an attempt to capture some of the beauty of the original hardware. It’s almost impossible to emulate an entire Rutt/Etra, as modern graphics and computer systems make fundamentally different assumptions from analog video systems. This plugin is a work in progress, and we will try our best to make it as faithful as possible to the original while exploring new creative possibilities.
I’ve been honored to meet and work with Bill Etra in making sure this recreation somewhat faithful to the original. Thanks for your help, Bill!
v002 Rutt/Etra is Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) compatible, are 32 and 64 bit clean, and are backwards compatible with 10.5 on Intel and Power PC Macs. This means they work anywhere you can use Quartz Composer technology, in VJ apps like VDMX, in the latest Quartz Composer Editor and anywhere else.
v002 Rutt Etra works best with our fast and deep Blur, found here.
Changelog:
2.0.1:
- Reduced overall memory GPU memory usage
- Fix performance regression due to alpha expansion on GPU. Now using more optimal data formats
2.0:
- Support for 10.6 Snow Leopard and Quartz Composer 4.0. 32 and 64 bit Intel
- Backwards compatible with 10.5 and Quartz Composer 3.0, Intel & PPC
- Greatly simplified setup to get started using the Rutt Etra
- Provide alternate rendering methods (points, square mesh & triangle mesh)
- Support for Lighting macro patch and normal generation for proper lighting highlights
- Control over normal smoothness for extra lighting dynamics control
- Support for GLSL macro patch, with proper supplied texture coordinates
- Support for Render in Image macro patch
- Much improved render pipeline and bug fixes to rendering code and removal of some image artifacts
- Improved resolution controls (control number of X and Y vertices)
- Improved Extrude control and behavior
- Removed semi redundant scale and position inputs (use the 3D Transformation macro patch)
- Lower memory usage
1.0:
- Initial Release
October 31st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
[…] If you find this plugin, or any other plugins here useful, please donate any amount you feel appropriate. The proceeds will go to helping Bill Etra continue to pursue his lifes work. Check out the Rutt Etra plugin page for the free download and more information from Bill. […]
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
[…] Download the new v002 Rutt/Etra synth from 002.vade.info […]
November 6th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
[…] I now live on disability and we no longer have corporate budgets working on this development. I would like to spend the rest of my existence working on the project that I thought I would finish in 1972. if you find this software useful, please make a donation in whatever amount you feel is appropriate.” […]
November 15th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
[…] http://002.vade.info/?page_id=19 I’m Bill Etra and this is the Mac version of the Rutt/Etra Video Synthesizer. In 1970, I spent a year with my partner Steve Rutt building a video synthesizer that let me have complete plasticity with the raster, which, incidentally, will disappear in February when analogue television broadcasts cease. After two years of very hard work, we had built the Rutt/Etra video synthesizer. I was sure that after some work with Bill Hearn to colorize the Rutt/Etra’s black and white signal using the Videolab, I would be finished and have the tool I wanted. It’s now forty years later and, thanks to Anton Marini and others who are kind enough to assist and do all the hard work, we have the beginnings of what I had dreamt of. The dream was to create a compositional tool that would allow you to prepare visuals like a composer composes music. I called it then and I call it now “the visual piano”, because with the piano the composer can compose an entire symphony and be sure of what it will sound like. It was my belief then and it is my belief now after 40 years of working towards this, that this will bring about a great change and great upwelling of creative work once it is accomplished. This software is one step closer to that since, once we’re on the computer, things can be developed and repeated reliably. I now live on disability and we no longer have corporate budgets to support this development. I would like to spend the rest of my existence working on the project that I thought I would finish in 1972. If you find this software useful, please make a donation in whatever amount you feel is appropriate. – Bill Etra, October 26th, 2008 Posted by jonsatrom Filed in Uncategorized […]
December 9th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
[…] http://002.vade.info/?page_id=19 […]
March 16th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
[…] The neat thing with the program is the ability it has to replicate strange and interesting video effects that you could only find in more expensive programs (Quartz Composer is free so there’s no cost worry). There are also tons of plug-ins for the program that you can find online that are essentially pre-made programs meant to recreate different effects. Here’s a video made with the Rutt Etra plug-in for Quartz: […]
July 10th, 2009 at 12:38 am
[…] As I was also experimenting with a Rutt Ettra simulation in Quartz Composer at the time I thought it would be appropriate experiment with the Z-Depth and zooming abilities to create depth in the compositions. […]
September 24th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
[…] Im very pleased to release the second version of the v002 Rutt Etra emulator for Quartz Composer. The new version sports some very nice new features that take advantage of the fact emulation is done using OpenGL, opening up some new aesthetic possibilities. 2.0 introduces new rendering modes (not just scan lines any more), much improved work flow and setup, support for Lighting, GLSL and Render in Image macro patches, bug fixes and performance improvements. […]
October 6th, 2009 at 11:27 am
[…] Por otro lado, Vade ha desarrollado un plugin para VDMX y Quartz Composer (solo para plataforma Mac) con la ayuda del propio Bill Etra. […]
November 6th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Hi there!
It’s not a million $
But sent you a donation today via PayPal!
Thanks again for a v. cool plugin!
Andrew
November 21st, 2009 at 7:39 pm
This new version is unbelievable. The original was great vade, but the extras you have added is amazing.
Thanks so much
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:59 pm
[…] v002 Rutt Etra 2.0.1 is out, which gives a non-trivial performance increase over 2.0. Integrated graphics users will see a performance increase, but users with dedicated GPUs should see a larger increase in performance due to support of optimal floating point formats. […]