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Aaron Lieb02 . 19 . 09Feature Descriptions

This document outlines the core functionalities of the ProZeuxis system, organized intodifferent categories that directly relate each feature to a physical aspects of live performance; Space,Movement, Dynamics, Rhythm, Pitch, and Mood. Each group of features will be listed in a prioritizedorder. The first item in each group represents a necessary feature, or “core functionality”, while eachsubsequent feature may be categorized as “would be nice to have.” This list of features can be seen asthe larger picture of what the final system would be capable of, even if everything listed here can not beimplemented within the scope of thesis execution. By describing each feature individually, I am alsooutlining the overall system architecture as modular components. These components can then be moreeasily understood as they pertain to their counterparts in the more technical data model.

Space

Composition Projection

–

The primary feature of this system is the capability of projectingcomposited visuals toward the performance area, while also presenting the user witha completely different set of user interface (UI) graphics. Running visual elements forboth of these purposes within one application would be problematic in the area of performance. A more efficient way to implement both the table UI and the projectedcomposition would be to run each as separate client applications. In this design, aProZeuxis server application would act a liaison by providing a common protocol forcommunication between the two. Each of these components be defined andabbreviated as:

Console Client

(CC)

- Runs the UI for the VJ performer- Sends and receives messages with a ProZeuxisServer application via socket communication

Presentation Client

(PC)

- Processes a visual composition based onmessages from the ProZeuxis Server- Processes the composition using these messagesand a predefined Visual Bank (VB) of images,movie clips, and procedural effects

- Sends the final composition to a dedicatedprojector

ProZeuxis Server

(PS)

- Sends messages between the CC and PC via aspecified socket- Acts as a data adapter for incoming camera andaudio feeds- The PS will be able to analyze these inputs andsend the results as a simple message to allclients listening on the appropriate socket

This client-server architecture will allow the system to better process visualsthrough a dedicated Presentation Client. This design will allow the clients to run onseparate machines, allowing for a variety of possible configurations. For a setupwhere the PC and CC are running on independent machines, it will be the PSapplication's task to make sure that each client has a copy of the same Visual Bankelements. A master copy of this Visual Bank, or (VB), containing the images, clips,and procedural effects will be located on the same machines as the PS. As a userconnects to the PS, via an instance of the CC, they will have the ability to access theserver's file system and load up the desired VB elements that they wish to use forthat performance. The server will then make sure that both the CC and PC machines(if not the same) have a copy of the VB data. This transaction should occur before aperformance begins. By prepping the system in this way, the clients can sendmessages to one another describing how to manipulate this media without having tosend the media itself.For the prototype system that will be developed for the first testperformance, these three components will most likely reside on the same physicalmachine. However, nothing will be lost in terms of development time to design thesystem in this way. The system will still be able to perform more efficiently than if allthree components were running concurrently in the same bloated application.The following, are five possible implementations of the architecture as itsupports the functionality of “Composition Projection” via one or more instances of thePresentation Client. Each example becomes more complex, but also more capable interms of allowing the PC to processes incoming messages and generate visuals.