Exploring Video Synthesis: Full Guide
Long before the digital age, video artists and experimental filmmakers were already synthesizing mind-bending visuals by manipulating raw video signals themselves. Video synthesis encompasses a range of analog techniques that generate and modulate video waveforms to produce abstract animations, kaleidoscopic effects, and otherwise impossible-to-capture imagery.
The Origins
This practice dates back to the earliest days of broadcast television in the 1960s-70s, when pioneers at places like CBS and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory began experimenting with modulating the pathways of cathode ray tube displays.
By creating custom analog circuitry that could add or multiply video signals together in infinite recursive ways, these video savants were able to coax previously unseen psychedelic outputs onto the screen.
Early Innovators
The Scanimate
The Scanimate analog computer system, developed by the American animation studio Computer Image Corporation in the late 1960s, allowed artists to generate animations by adjusting electronic variables like sine waves, patterns, and colors over time. This enabled aesthetically striking sequences for TV shows like Sesame Street.
Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik is considered the seminal pioneer of video synthesis as an art form in its own right. Using specialized analog circuitry and modified television sets, Paik produced his first video art installation pieces in the 1960s, demonstrating how tweaking electrical signals could profoundly transform moving imagery.
Other early innovators included the Vasulkas, Gary Hill, and academic investigators at MIT and the Sandin Image Processor project.
The Analog Video Synthesizer
While architectures vary, a traditional analog video synthesizer relies on a video signal generator that produces a base video canvas (oscilloscope patterns, colorfields, shapes, etc). This signal then gets modulated by circuits like:
- Video Oscillators – Modulating brightness, colors, shapes
- Video Mixers/Multipliers – Combining multiple video signals
- Video Filters – Applying effects like blur, pixelation, etc.
- ️ Video Modulators – Adding audio signals to rhythmically distort
These modules can be patched into feedback loops, creating hypnotic abstract visuals. Popular models included the Rutt-Etra, Sandin IP and Videopac 4.
The Postmodern Revival
While eclipsed by digital tech in the 80s/90s, video synthesis has undergone a renaissance recently in arts/music. Contemporary software like Lumen and hardware like the LZX Vidéo reimagine analog circuits, keeping this unique art form future-bound.
