[HN Gopher] Vvvv - A hybrid visual/textual development environment
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       Vvvv - A hybrid visual/textual development environment
        
       Author : loa_in_
       Score  : 82 points
       Date   : 2024-02-22 16:16 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (vvvv.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (vvvv.org)
        
       | panzi wrote:
       | Not to be confused with VVVVV and VVVVVV, apparently.
        
         | tlhunter wrote:
         | With the appropriatly named domain:
         | https://thelettervsixtim.es/
        
         | lylejantzi3rd wrote:
         | or VVV. https://varyingvagrantvagrants.org/
        
         | fishpen0 wrote:
         | Shooting yourself in the foot with marketing and branding on
         | day one is a "made by engineers" tale as old as time.
        
         | drivers99 wrote:
         | VVVVVV (6 V's) is a fun game (I've played it before, and it has
         | "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on steam). VVVVV (5 V's)
         | appears to also be a game on Steam with mixed reviews, maybe
         | looking for customers confusing it with the other game?
        
           | bobbylarrybobby wrote:
           | No surprise that VVVVV gets worse ratings, it has 1/6 less of
           | what makes the game fun
        
         | bj-rn wrote:
         | https://vvvv.org/documentation/meaningofvvvv
        
       | nickthegreek wrote:
       | Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11842176
       | 
       | Vvvv - a live-programming environment for easy prototyping and
       | development (June 5, 2016 -- 187 points, 36 comments)
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Thanks! Macroexpanded:
         | 
         |  _Vvvv - A Multipurpose Toolkit_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22013162 - Jan 2020 (1
         | comment)
         | 
         |  _Vvvv - a live-programming environment for easy prototyping
         | and development_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11842176 - June 2016 (36
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Vvvv: A hybrid visual /textual live-programming environment
         | for easy prototyping_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9179648 - March 2015 (3
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Celebrity birthday wishes to vvvv 's 10th anniversary_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4972179 - Dec 2012 (1
         | comment)
         | 
         |  _VVVV.js - the VVVV language ported to JavaScript_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2813713 - July 2011 (10
         | comments)
        
           | bj-rn wrote:
           | One more: Vvvv gamma 5.0 - a visual programming environment
           | for .Net - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35633832 -
           | April 2023
        
           | tebjan wrote:
           | And: FUSE an open source library for visually programming on
           | the GPU (thefuselab.io) -
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28500012 Sept 2021
        
       | slingnow wrote:
       | The landing page is as opaque as the name. I _think_ this might
       | be something cool, but I have absolutely no idea what it is based
       | on the landing page and the included video.
        
         | corysama wrote:
         | You have to click to enable the video on the page, but it shows
         | the outputs of the program: real-time 3D audio-visual art
         | installations.
        
         | bj-rn wrote:
         | Check https://visualprogramming.net instead. There are two
         | versions of vvvv the old one called "beta" and the newer one
         | (complete rewrite) called "gamma". vvvv.org is more focused on
         | the old version.
        
           | araes wrote:
           | Looking at the page, it seems like there's nothing other than
           | art installations in the Showcase.
           | https://visualprogramming.net/#Showcase Is there something
           | about the software the predisposes it being used only for art
           | installations? Or just the community it attracts? It "looks"
           | capable.
           | 
           | It seems weird that out of all the showcases, there's not
           | anything like normal industry projects. No games, no movies,
           | no television shows. Lots of museum displays, AI scultures,
           | art walls.
           | 
           | Take Blender instead https://www.blender.org/features/ and
           | its almost entirely "industry production pipeline" and "award
           | winning shorts and films". Or Maya, which is pretty much
           | nothing other than "used in Hogwarts, used in Avengers, used
           | in Dune." Notably, not very many art walls or digi-scultures.
           | 
           | Usually its a chicken and egg thing, like nobody uses it,
           | because nobody famous has used it yet, except vvvv looks like
           | it has plenty of users.
        
             | bj-rn wrote:
             | > Or just the community it attracts?
             | 
             | The way it works seems to appeal to "artists" /
             | "creatives". It's pretty simple to get a visual output fast
             | and the always running (hot-reload) aspect makes it easy to
             | iterate on things, tweak some parameter (size, speed,
             | color) and directly see the outcome.
             | 
             | > normal industry projects
             | 
             | It's used quite a lot in the context of trade fairs, not
             | only for touchscreen exhibits but also stage shows. Nice
             | example: https://nsynk.de/work/mercedes-iaa15
             | 
             | There are also totally different kinds of projects/uses,
             | they are just not that well documented. For example I know
             | of a guy that programmed a feeding robot for a fish farm
             | using vvvv.
             | 
             | > nobody famous
             | 
             | There is at least one "famous" user :)
             | 
             | https://refikanadol.com
             | 
             | If you have further questions feel free to join their
             | matrix chat:
             | 
             | https://matrix.to/#/#vvvv:matrix.org
        
               | araes wrote:
               | Thanks for the answers, explanation, and invite. It looks
               | like interesting software, and live update does seem like
               | a nice feature. I guess I'm just surprised that does not
               | appeal to the WebGl, javascript, and online community all
               | that much, since that's one of the main perks of those is
               | quick feedback without compiling. Tweak, load the page.
               | 
               | Had not heard of Anadol (not much involvement in the pro
               | art community), yet working with the sphere in Vegas
               | probably means at least fairly well known.
        
       | _neil wrote:
       | As an example, if you're familiar with Refik Anadol, he/they use
       | vvvv for many of their works.
       | 
       | https://refikanadol.com/works/melting-memories/
        
       | nomadtwin wrote:
       | I found www.cables.gl to be much more intuitive for node-based
       | visual experiments (no install and collab mode)
        
         | nomadtwin wrote:
         | https://cables.gl
        
       | monetus wrote:
       | Vvvv is a real, proper windows creative coding toolkit. More
       | arcane than Max or touch designer, imo, but every bit suitable
       | for entertainment industry jobs.
       | 
       | It has been years since I used it, windows 7 actually, but their
       | community had an old school "irc with angry sages" feel.
        
       | g129774 wrote:
       | there was a period in computer arts around 2008 or so (edit,
       | bjorn's comment prompted a reflection, it might've been earlier
       | than that, let's call it "early 2000s"), that went away like many
       | things with pervasive computerization. vvvv including it's naming
       | and otherwise opaqueness is a product of that period. it was
       | represented by groups like TOPLAP and dorkbot, and it was kind of
       | marriage of technologists and artists, back when such a marriage
       | would've still been self-conscious. stylistically it was a lot of
       | algorithmic generation, live coding, and noise, people liked to
       | use puredata, and vvvv, and other such projects to produce sharp
       | jittery zigzaging lines on a projector screen at get togethers in
       | brooklyn. a kind of deliberate, practiced obscurantism was part
       | of aesthetic, you weren't supposed to keep your PD patches
       | organized. there was a particular typographic convention
       | associated with projects of that time, involving a lot of
       | deliberate but arbitrary additions of punctuation marks,
       | -/////lower case letters, repeating letters00xxx. terms like
       | psychogeorgaphy were involved, there was of course an {esoteric}}
       | component to it. downstream the movement took chiptunes
       | mainstream, and produce early minimal house. some of the
       | conventions remain in the digital arts, and video production
       | circles.
       | 
       | so if you think vvvv is not propertly marketed, maybe will
       | benefit from a mission statement, then it's not for you.
        
         | bj-rn wrote:
         | > there was a period in computer arts around 2008 [...] vvvv
         | including it's naming and otherwise opaqueness is a product of
         | that period
         | 
         | actually vvvv is about 10 years older.
        
           | g129774 wrote:
           | the dates are vague, while the point remains, because trying
           | to remember things clearer i did livecoding at toplap in
           | brooklyn 2004-2005, and i wasn't a pioneer. but also i'm
           | talking artistic trends, something could've happened prior to
           | it becoming part of bigger whole, but then evolved as part of
           | the whole that it itself has brought about.
        
           | g129774 wrote:
           | but you're one of the meso guys, it would've been interesting
           | to hear your opinions on what i said, outside the quible
           | about dates. in my recollection vvvv leaned heavily into the
           | aesthetic conventions around toplap at the time, and you must
           | recall what i'm talking about judging by dates on your
           | project page.
        
             | bj-rn wrote:
             | I started out at meso (~2005) and I worked for them for
             | quite some time but I am not really one of the meso guys.
             | tbh I landed there by chance at the recommendation of a
             | friend while looking for a place to write my diploma
             | thesis. at that time I had no idea whatsoever what they
             | were doing and no relation at all to "digital arts" or
             | "generative design".
        
         | necrotic_comp wrote:
         | This aesthetic is of its time but is really import - I went to
         | the share@open air parties in ~2003 or so, continuing to visit
         | periodically through their run at Santo's Party House. I didn't
         | know anything at the time, and the overwhelming obscurantism
         | was part of the appeal.
         | 
         | I have a lot of feelings about this movement, and I'm happy
         | that I was a part of it. It's driven my feelings about music
         | and art in general, and I've spent a ton of my time since then
         | trying to figure out how to make things that put music first
         | while still containing the cold stochasticity of this time.
         | 
         | I found a great set of pictures on Flickr from ~2007-2008:
         | https://www.flickr.com/photos/oblaat/with/3062581867
        
         | enqk wrote:
         | antiorp
        
         | joemi wrote:
         | I might be misinterpreting the aesthetic you're talking about,
         | but I think it was similar to (and probably directly inspired
         | by) the graphic design that The Designers Republic was doing in
         | the 90's (think the Wipeout videogame). Their aesthetic spread
         | pretty rapidly at the time.
        
       | jamal-kumar wrote:
       | I remember this crashing alot. TouchDesigner kind of ate its
       | lunch but vvvv is still active - vvvv kind of keeps you locked
       | into writing shit in .NET/C# but if that's your bag go for it
        
       | remram wrote:
       | This seems like it might be relevant to my job, but I can't find
       | out what it is exactly.
       | 
       | Is it actually a renderer?
        
         | bj-rn wrote:
         | I mentioned this aleady further down but check out:
         | https://visualprogramming.net
         | 
         | It does a better job at explaining things.
        
         | jbl0ndie wrote:
         | It's a node-based visual framework, I guess. Around 2006 I
         | worked on a project using VVVV to create sound reactive,
         | generative visuals that tracked a pop singer as he moved on an
         | LED stage. The visuals were displayed on the stage.
         | 
         | We had it hooked up to MIDI, time code, video, motion tracking
         | and DMX lighting. Pretty impressive for the time, now I think
         | about it.
        
           | remram wrote:
           | But what is a "visual framework"? The frontpage mentions
           | everything from AR/VR to network streams to modeling... what
           | does one do with this?
        
             | bj-rn wrote:
             | It's a visual programming environment for .net (the current
             | stable versions is based on .net6 while newer previews use
             | .net8). Visual in the sense that programs are represented
             | as node graphs.[1] You can basically do what ever you could
             | with C#. Using the VL.Fuse[2] library you can also visually
             | program on the GPU. If stuff is missing you can reference
             | just about any nuget package or add functionality using C#
             | (CPU) [3] or HLSL (GPU)[4].
             | 
             | [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Node_graph_architecture
             | 
             | [2]https://github.com/TheFuseLab/VL.Fuse
             | 
             | [3]https://thegraybook.vvvv.org/reference/extending/overvie
             | w.ht...
             | 
             | [4]https://thegraybook.vvvv.org/reference/libraries/3d/shad
             | ers....
        
               | jbl0ndie wrote:
               | That's a way better explanation.
        
             | jbl0ndie wrote:
             | I didn't explain it well but I think that's the point, one
             | could do all kinds of visual or audio things, it's one of
             | many multitools for audo-visual media creation. Often these
             | projects need to combine multiple technologies to reach
             | their goals. Often deadlines and expectations are
             | ludicrous. Being able to sketch, prototype visually and
             | build the finished project in the same tool is useful.
             | Forget Figma it takes too long.
             | 
             | If you have a project that needs lights, video, lasers,
             | sound, motion, cameras, exotic sensors etc and speed of
             | creation is maybe more important than long-term stability,
             | something like this might allow you to sketch your way to a
             | solution significantly faster. The real code is always
             | underneath, but it's kind of like having some kind of flow
             | diagram, sketch tool, visual debugger and IDE.
             | 
             | The creative coding 'scene' (at least when I felt part of
             | it) is loosely divided between patcher tools and
             | traditional code-based tooling. vvvv is a patcher, like
             | Max/MSP, PureData and Touchdesigner. You connect function
             | blocks together to do stuff, you can see the data flow
             | between and see the visuals they create. Like creating
             | shaders at a high level of abstraction, I guess.
             | 
             | More code-based languages and frameworks include:
             | 
             | [1] openFrameworks https://openframeworks.cc/ C++
             | 
             | [2] Processing https://processing.org/ Java or JavaScript
             | 
             | [3] Nannou https://nannou.cc/ Rust
        
       | gareth_untether wrote:
       | I used 4v professionally for a number of years. Probably would to
       | be using it if the devvvvs focused on more platforms than just
       | Windows.
       | 
       | The best part of 4v is the community and the node festival. Lots
       | of amazing techno artists.
        
         | jbl0ndie wrote:
         | Back in the early 2000s there was such poor support from non-
         | Windows for high powered graphics cards, it's no wonder vvvv
         | never moved to other platforms. I worked at a Mac/Linux art
         | studio in that time and we had to keep buying Windows boxes
         | just to run the video artworks we produced.
         | 
         | The hours we wasted trying to lock them down.
        
       | chaosprint wrote:
       | I heard about vvvv in my first year of studying in this industry.
       | And kyma for sound design.
       | 
       | But I later discovered that the more mainstream ones are puredata
       | and its commercial version max/msp. for sound design I also use:
       | supercollider and csound.
       | 
       | After some years, I felt that I still preferred text-based
       | interaction while I need some even simpler live coding or
       | prototyping tool. so I made https://glicol.org/.
       | 
       | for visuals, I would recommend:
       | 
       | https://hydra.ojack.xyz/
       | 
       | and
       | 
       | https://nannou.cc/
       | 
       | Note that these are not replaceable for each other, you can look
       | at them all
        
         | fragmede wrote:
         | Glicol is awesome! I really like the non-linear edit/run loop
         | you've created.
        
       | doctorhandshake wrote:
       | Similar - my Swiss Army knife in this department - TouchDesigner:
       | https://derivative.ca
        
       | danielvaughn wrote:
       | This site may have been hugged to death, it's a dead link for me.
        
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