Upcoming Workshops:

About the Workshop: The Artsy Games Incubator is a writer's-circle style group that helps creators without programming skills make videogames. We'll meet on Tuesdays for six weeks, mostly to review and discuss the assignments you'll do at home, and by the end of it you should have a game. We'll be helping and inspiring each other along the way.

Prerequisites: No coding experience required. If you can use Photoshop, you can use the tools we'll be using.

What to bring: Most of the work will be done at home, so you will need to have access to a computer. Working on Windows will give you more choice in terms of tools, but you will be able to work with Mac if you prefer. You will need a USB key to bring the files you're working on.

About the instructor: Jim Munroe (b. 1972) is a 'pop culture provocateur' according to the Austin Chronicle. He started No Media Kings in 2000 to explore indie media production in movie, graphic novel, and game forms. As well as running the Artsy Games Incubator he's a founding board member of the Hand Eye Society, a videogame culture coalition in Toronto. See www.nomediakings.org/about for more info.

Links:

Manifesto: http://nomediakings.org/artsygames/about
Games we've made: http://nomediakings.org/artsygames/games
Assignments we'll do: http://nomediakings.org/artsygames/assignments

See what your game could become:

TORONTRON comes to InterAccess!

Additionally, two of the games featured on the TORONTRON were developed through the Artsy Games Incubator!

For more information on TORONTRON go to: http://interaccess.org/exhibitions/future.php.

CMS For Artists

Date: Thursday, June 10, 7-10PM
Cost: $45 for members; $60 for non-members
Instructor: Stephen McLeod

What is a CMS: A CMS or Content Management System is a bit of software that you can use to make it easier to build and maintain a website. There are many CMS systems out such as Indexhibit, WordPress, ProFolio, Joomla, Textpattern, SilverStripe, and many others. Each of these systems has strengths and weaknesses; this course will be an introduction to a few that are well suited to making artist sites.

About the Workshop: The workshop will teach you the basics about putting a website together using a CMS. This is not a programming course. Though we will talk about HTML and various other programming concepts, no previous knowledge is necessary. The focus of the course will be on introducing different CMS software and explaining when to use one system over another. We will also go over basic web design concepts and terminology and run through the process of installing and using a CMS. The goal is to help artists who can't afford, or don't want to pay for someone else to design a site for them but don't know where to start on their own.

Prerequisites: The only prerequisite is that you are willing to learn. Previous experience with HTML would be useful, but is not necessary.

What to Bring With You: You will probably want to bring a notebook. If you have a laptop, then bring it with you.

About the Instructor: Stephen McLeod is a Toronto based artist and musician. He has been working professionally as a freelance web designer/developer for the past several years, building sites using a variety of CMS software. You can view his site at http://www.stephenmmcleod.com.

Dates: This workshop has been postponed. Please contact Alex Snukal for more information.
Cost: $150 for members; $175 for non-members
Instructor: Rob Cruickshank

About the Workshop: This workshop is for artists with no previous experience in electronics, or those who've had some, but need a refresher. We'll cover the basics of electricity, starting with Ohm's Law, and work our way up to building simple digital circuits with CMOS chips, transistors and LEDs. We'll also discuss how to interface these circuits with the "real world" of motors, sensors, and other devices. Math will be kept to a minimum, but we will approach things from the point of designing circuits, rather than simply building "cookbook" circuits. This workshop is a valuable prerequisite for anyone wishing to work with microcontollers, such as the PIC series or the popular Arduino.

Prerequisites:No previous experience is required.

What to bring: Bring a pencil and notebook, a ruler for making drawings, and a calculator. A scientific calculator is best, but any one will do (even the one in your phone!) We have minimized the math as much as possible, but a certain amount is essential. If you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, you'll do fine. We'll be using a lot of metric prefixes, like milli, kilo, and mega- we'll review these, but it will help to be familiar beforehand. Parts and tools are supplied, and you'll be able to take your parts home with you, but you may want to consider purchasing a small "breadboard" if you don't own one. A small one, which sells for about 5 dollars is fine, although a larger one is better. (breadboards are supplied if you don't want to get one just yet) If you own your own multimeter, feel free to bring that too. (digital multimeters only please!) If you're wondering what a "breadboard" or a "multimeter" are, relax, that means you've signed up for the right workshop!

About the instructor: Robert Cruickshank, an IA board member and our resident genius, is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist. His works in various media including electronic and robotic installations, sound art, electroacoustic music, and photography have been exhibited in Toronto, and internationally. As a long-term member of InterAccess, he has participated in many collaborative projects, such as the shows Space Probe and SenseBus, and the Art Interface Device project. He is currently a member of I/O Media, an InterAccess-based electronic audio/visual improvisational group. He has developed a number of workshops at InterAccess, providing artists with an opportunity to learn electronics, and has assisted numerous artists with the technological challenges of realizing their works.

Date: Thursday, June 17, 7-10PM
Cost: $45 for members; $60 for non-members
Instructor: Michael Trommer

What is Ableton?: Ableton is a software music program that allows you to create multi-track audio compositions; where it differs from other DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations, such as Apple's Logic and Garageband, Digidesign ProTools, Cubase, etc.) is in its ability to manipulate audio in a tactile, intuitive and creative way.

About the Workshop: The workshop will introduce you to Ableton's basic functions in both clip and arrangement mode, teach you how to record your own audio clips, use Ableton's built-in effects and MIDI instruments, as well as introduce learners to the creative possibilities offered by clip manipulation.

Prerequisites: This course is aimed at beginners as well as students who are seeking a more comprehensive knowledge of Ableton's creative possibilities.

What to Bring With You: You will need a laptop computer with sound input/output as well as a working version of Ableton Live (demo version is OK).

About the Instructor: Michael Trommer is a Toronto based producer and sound artist who has recorded for such labels as Transmat, Wave, Ultra-red, and/OAR, Audiobulb, Truffle, Stasisfield, Interchill, Monocromatica, Serein, Thinner and con-v. As a live act, he has performed with Berlin's raster-noton collective as well as for Montréal's MUTEK and Detroit's Movement festivals, among many others. His sound art work has been heard internationally, including exhibitions such as Australia's 'Liquid Architecture', Kunsthalle Schirn's 'from 0 to 1 and back again', Sao Paolo's FILE festival and Köln's SoundLAB.

Dates: Saturday, June 19 and Sunday, June 20, 1-5PM both days.
Cost: $80 for members, $100 for non-members
Instructor: Frank Tsonis

What is Processing?: Processing is a simplified computer programming language ideal for artists and designers. Its free to use and runs on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.

About the Workshop This workshop is designed for people with little or no programming experience. So if you want to learn how to make interactive graphics, animations or fun software sign up for this workshop.

During this 2 day workshop you will learn the fundamentals of programming in a fun and playful manner:

• How to create graphics using basic shapes (points, lines, rectangles, circles, curves)
• How to create small animations using basic shapes.
• Loading images (.jpg files) and displaying them on screen.
• Loading fonts and displaying text on screen.
• Displaying text, images and shapes to create an multimedia image.
• How to use mouse and keyboard input to add interaction to your artwork.
• Art Work that use Processing (examples, resources, questions)

What to Bring With You: If you have a laptop, download processing and bring it to the workshop. If you do not have access to a laptop, please contact Alex Snukal (alex.snukal at this domain) in advance of the workshop to arrange for a computer to use.

References:

• Processing Website: http://processing.org
• Download: http://processing.org/download/index.html
• Check out the Exhibition section of artists who have used processing: http://processing.org/exhibition

About the Instructor: Frank Tsonis is an interactive media artist/researcher currently living in Toronto. He is a graduate of Concordia University's Computation Arts (BFA) program. In the past, he has worked as a researcher for Jason Lewis at OBX Labs and has conducted technical support for various Toronto based artists. He has taught several workshops at InterAccess in the last 2 years. His most recent project "Well Then, Once More" is an interactive audiovisual installation exploring the perennial nature of nihilism. Frank will begin an Interdisciplinary Masters in Art, Media and Design at OCAD this fall. His work is located at: http://vimeo.com/8355879>http://vimeo.com/8355879 (Well Then, Once More) and http://forerunner.finearts.yorku.ca/~ftsonis.

Date: Thursday, June 24, 7-10PM.
Cost: $45 for members, $60 for non-members
Instructor: Stephen McLeod

What is Monome: A monome is a grid of buttons and lights that you can plug into your computer and control things with. On its own it does nothing - it is a blank slate. But once you connect it to a computer it can become most anything you can imagine (within the limitations of a grid of buttons and lights). A few examples include sequencing beats or notes, slicing samples, playing strange scales, acting as a controller for an installation, mashing up videos and of course Pong.

References:

• http://monome.org/
• http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=app for monome applications
• http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=media:videos
• http://www.vimeo.com/295006

About the Workshop: The workshop will begin you on the path of monome programming. It will introduce some of the programming languages that are popular with monome users, providing concrete example applications written in each language. You will learn how to set up monome emulation on your laptop and/or iPhone/Pod/Pad as well as how Open Sound Control relates to monome programming. Finally, the class will write a simple monome program together.

Prerequisites:The workshop is open to anyone with a laptop, some patience, and a fascination with button grid controllers. It would be best if you are already familiar with programming and have some experience writing code but if not, enthusiasm and dedication can make up for that somewhat.

What to Bring With You: At the bare minimum you should have a laptop (Mac/Windows is best) with max/msp or puredata installed (see below). If you have a monome or an arduinome or iPhone/Pod/Pad you should bring it.

You can also bring in any of the various monome compatible devices - Livid Ohm and Block, Akai APC, Novation Launchpad, Bliptronic (blipnome). I won't be able to help you get started but if you can figure out how to get emulation working any of those should work fine.

References:

• http://cycling74.com/downloads/ for max/msp install the 30 day demo
• http://puredata.info/downloads for pure data

About the Instructor: Stephen McLeod is a Toronto based artist and musician. He is one of the founders of the Toronto version of Hand Made Music. His art practice focuses on sound interaction and performance. Stephen has built a monome from a kit and is in the process of building an arduinome. He is a contributor to the open source monome program 'pages' and is working on a collection of max for live patches that address musical looping and live performance.

Note: Please let us know if you are interested in the course but your max/msp demo has run out of time. If enough people are interested but can't use max, a different language will be taught.

Make interactive-generative-video-audio-installation-art (using Pure Data)!

Date: Saturday, June 26, 2-5PM
Cost: $45 for members, $60 for non-members
Instructor: Dafydd Hughes

What is PD?: Pure Data is a graphical media programming language, similar in use to the well-known programs Max/MSP and Quartz Composer, but it's free, open source, and so much cooler.

Pure Data allows artists to interact with the real world through live camera feeds, audio, video, motion sensors and other sources, or create synthesizers and video mixers. Graphical programming is most commonly used in immersive and interactive installations as well as live video mixing/VJ events.

About the Workshop: This workshop will lead you through learning Pure Data (Pd), a powerful tool for making video art, interactive installations, audio art, and pretty much anything you can think of. The content of this workshop will be from day one of our famous three-day Pure Data workshops, the best Pd workshop on the planet.

Prerequisites: No experience necessary, only the will to make awesome things.

What to bring: Please bring a laptop with Pure Data installed. Pd is available at http://puredata.info/downloads. Please make sure you download the pd-extended package for your computer. If you need help getting things running, please arrive half an hour early and we can help.If you do not have access to a laptop, please contact Alex Snukal (alex.snukal at this domain) in advance of the workshop to arrange for a computer to use.

About the instructor: Dafydd Hughes is a musician, an artist, a programmer and an educator. He has performed and recorded with some of Canada's most notable artists, including Feist, Esthero and Jacksoul. He is active in Canada's jazz, pop and experimental music scenes through solo work and many collaborations. Dafydd is a member of faculty at Sheridan College and is pursuing a degree in the Ryerson University Documentary Media MFA program.

As a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto's InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, he teaches workshops and spends time exploring the interface between technology and the creative impulse, which generally involves taking things apart and finding himself unable to put them back together. His work can be found at: http://fancydavid.com

Date: Thursday, July 8, 7-10PM
Cost: $45 members, $60 non-members
Instructor: Frank Tsonis and Dafydd Hughes

Have you ever wanted to get two computers to make art together? Use your iPhone to control your robot army? Turn video into sound? Create an art installation in two physical locations? Then Open Sound Control is for you.

Open Sound Control (OSC) is a communication protocol for sending data over networks and/or between software. It isn't just for audio applications (don't let the name fool you).

About the Workshop: Attending this workshop you will learn the following:

• Open Sound Control theory, but in a fun way
• How to get two (or more) computers talking to each other using Max/MSP, Pure Data and Processing.
• How to communicate between different software packages (interactive graphics in Processing, real time audio in Pd), even on different computers.
• How to talk between Processing and PD (Interactive Graphics in Processing, Real Time Audio in PD)
• Getting away from your computer: using your iPhone or iPad (if that’s really a thing) or other device to talk to software.

What to Bring With You: If you have a laptop, download Open Sound Contol (LINK) and bring it to the workshop. If you do not have access to a laptop, please contact Alex Snukal (alex.snukal at this domain) in advance of the workshop to arrange for a computer to use.

About the Instructors: Frank Tsonis is an interactive media artist/researcher currently living in Toronto. He is a graduate of Concordia University's Computation Arts (BFA) program. In the past, he has worked as a researcher for Jason Lewis at OBX Labs and has conducted technical support for various Toronto based artists. He has taught several workshops at InterAccess in the last 2 years. His most recent project "Well Then, Once More" is an interactive audiovisual installation exploring the perennial nature of nihilism. Frank will begin an Interdisciplinary Masters in Art, Media and Design at OCAD this fall. His work is located at: http://vimeo.com/8355879>http://vimeo.com/8355879 (Well Then, Once More) and http://forerunner.finearts.yorku.ca/~ftsonis.

Dafydd Hughes is a musician, an artist, a programmer and an educator. He has performed and recorded with some of Canada's most notable artists, including Feist, Esthero and Jacksoul. He is active in Canada's jazz, pop and experimental music scenes through solo work and many collaborations. Dafydd is a member of faculty at Sheridan College and is pursuing a degree in the Ryerson University Documentary Media MFA program.

As a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto's InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, he teaches workshops and spends time exploring the interface between technology and the creative impulse, which generally involves taking things apart and finding himself unable to put them back together. His work can be found at: http://fancydavid.com

Date: Saturday, July 10, 2-5PM
Cost: $45 for members, $60 for non-members
Instructor: Dafydd Hughes

About the workshop: Are you bored with stock sounds, but every time you work up the courage to turn a knob your sonic world collapses? We can help you with that. This workshop will walk you through the basics of analog (aka subtractive) synthesis, and after a few short hours you'll be ready to throw out your factory presets and start making your own fat, awesome, Phoenix-alicious synth sounds from scratch.

Prerequisites: No experience or knowledge necessary. We'll be using free software in the workshop, so you can take home everything you've done.

It's worth pointing out that this is a beginner workshop, and that we'll be covering only subtractive synthesis.

What to bring with you: Please bring a laptop. We'll be using Pure Data, available at http://puredata.info/downloads. Please make sure you download the pd-extended package for your computer. If you need help getting things running, please arrive half an hour early and we can help.

Please note: If you do not have access to a laptop, please contact Alex Snukal (alex.snukal at this domain) in advance of the workshop to arrange for a computer to use.

If you have a synth (hardware or software) you'd like to use, by all means bring it along.

About the instructor: Dafydd Hughes is a musician, an artist, a programmer and an educator. He has performed and recorded with some of Canada's most notable artists, including Feist, Esthero and Jacksoul. He is active in Canada's jazz, pop and experimental music scenes through solo work and many collaborations. Dafydd is a member of faculty at Sheridan College and is pursuing a degree in the Ryerson University Documentary Media MFA program.

As a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto's InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, he teaches workshops and spends time exploring the interface between technology and the creative impulse, which generally involves taking things apart and finding himself unable to put them back together. His work can be found at: http://fancydavid.com

Date: Thursday, July 15, 7-10PM
Cost: $45 members, $60 non-members
Instructor:Stan Krzyzanowski

Back by popular demand, OCAD's own Stan Krzyzanowski shows us great and simple animation techniques such as stop-action and time-lapse, using images from digital cameras, scanners and screen captures.

About the workshop: In this workshop Stan will be showing you how he makes the stop-motion and time-lapse animations, of the kind that you can see at http://webspace.ocad.ca/~interval/ and at http://www.ocadstan.ca/.

After a brief overview of how Stan approaches animation showing examples of his time-lapse and stop-motion techniques, he will demonstrate and describe ways in which you can collect or generate images for animation using still digital cameras and computer screen captures. Stan will then show how these images can be assembled into video using a few processing methods.

Stan will be demonstrating using Canon PowerShot G5 and SD850 IS cameras, and my MacBook Pro running OSX 10.5.8. The software he'll use includes Flash MX, Photoshop CS3, Quicktime Pro, Snapz Pro X, Quickie, BBedit, Toast Titanium and FileDeamon. He will also show how he uses the Canon Hacker's Development Kit (CHDK), which allows an open-source camera software hack to be installed on some Canon point-and-shoot cameras. The hack greatly enhances the ability of these cameras.

This is the third time that Stan will be giving this workshop at InterAccess and he will accommodate both new and return participants. Participants will be encouraged to contribute with any tips and tricks they've developed.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this workshop. The methods used and demonstrated involve simple techniques that can combine in various and complex ways according your skill and interest. Time and facilities don't allow for completed projects in one evening but we'll try to have fun and make some trial clips.

While you don't need to know any of the following to benefit from the evening,it is assumed that you have some familiarity with computer basics, particularly as they apply to file and directory structures, simple digital photography and the elements of digital image resolution. You should also know a bit about using still digital cameras, about camera controls (shutter speed, exposure levels, manual control vs. automatic, etc.) and about downloading images to a computer.

What to bring: To participate you will need to bring your laptop or come with a laptop-carrying friend and you can work together. If you bring your camera don't forget to bring your download cables too. Stan will be demonstrating how he uses various ways of acquiring images and he'll be using various applications to process and publish these to video (see more details below). You may already have some or all of the stuff he's using, or you may have different but similar hard/software and we'll try to help you make videos with what you have. Some of software used has a free trial period and can be downloaded and installed on your machine in advance of the workshop (see links below). Or you may want to just open a beer, sit back and watch.

Bio: Stan Krzyzanowski teaches at the Ontario College of Art & Design and is a Toronto based artist working in various media including sculpture, installation, video, electronics, and photography. His interests revolve around time-based work and process and frequently does this through the documentation of what's ordinary and mundane. For more info: http://webspace.ocad.ca/~interval/ and http://www.ocadstan.ca/

References/Links to learn more: The following is a list of software from instructor Stan that he find helpful in making his animations:

Mac OS X 10.5.8
I use the Finder on my Mac quite a bit for this work (do you know a quick way to select every 7th file in a folder of 2000 files?) and the screen capture function is fantastic - I use it quite a bit.

Flash
http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/
I use Flash MX to assemble and publish the animations, although I really only use it in a very basic and simplistic way - it does what I need it to do. An older version of Flash, if you can get one, may be cheaper (or free!?) and will work just fine for doing what I'm going to show you. (Note: Adobe Flash CS3 prevents me from doing some of my favorite tricks, so I still use Macromedia Flash MX, which is no longer available)

Photoshop
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/
If you can afford it, Photoshop is invaluable for making adjustments to image files. I make frequent use of the "actions" tool for a batch image cropping, among other things. I use the most basic tools, so an older version will work just fine.

QuickTime Pro
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/
While not as versatile as Flash, QuickTime Pro is inexpensive (around $30.00), quick and very powerful. It can be used for animation assembly and publishing and it's easy to use. (Note: This is an upgrade key that you can buy that will enable the extra features in your QuickTime Player)

Snapz Pro X
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/
Snapz Pro X allows you to effortlessly record anything on your screen, saving it as a QuickTime® movie or screenshot that can be e-mailed, put up on the web, or passed around however you want." This is a great program and I use it a lot.

Toast 10 Titanium
http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/titanium/overview.html
Toast will burn DVD disks for you and the new version (Toast 10 Titanium) will allow you to burn a Blu-ray Disc.

Toast Canon Hacker's Development Kit (CHDK)
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
CHDK is a free open-source firmware enhancement that operates on a number of Canon Cameras, which gets loaded into your camera's memory upon bootup (either manually or automatically). It provides additional functionality beyond that currently provided by the native camera firmware.

BBedit
http://www.barebones.com/
Shareware/Freeware. BBedit is a text editor that I use for editing HTML code when making adjustments for loading Flash files on web pages. There are several other text editors out there that you can use (including TextEdit on your Mac). Barebones used to offer a lite version for free, but now provides TextWrangler for free instead.

Quickie Web Albums
http://www.lajdesignsw.com/home.html
Shareware. This is a great tool for quickly batch re-sizing JPEG files. It saves me hours and hours.

FileDeamon 2.5
http://www.tucows.com/ - search for "FileDeamon"
Shareware. This is a super little file manipulation tool that I find invaluable for batch renaming / renumbering files that includes renumbering in reverse order. I'm not sure how I would be able to do some of the things I do without this helpful little program.

Safari and Firefox
http://www.apple.com/safari/
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Freeware. Some of the Flash animations I assemble perform differently on different browsers. These are the two that I work with most often.

Date: Thursday, August 12, 7-10 p.m.
Cost: OMG NEW SPECIAL PRICE!! $19.99
Instructors: David McCallum, Angella Mackey

Pong-playing dresses? Clothes that take pictures? Bike jackets that know when you're stopping?

About the Workshop: If you're interested in electronics and textiles, but don't know where to start, then this workshop is for you. You'll get an overview of the latest inventions and artistic projects out there and resources to help you create your own. There will be electro-textile thingies for you to play with, as well as a little intro to the Lilypad Arduino. No electronics or sewing experience required.

More info to come!

Date: Thursday, August 19, 7-10 p.m.
Cost: $45 for members, $60 for non-members + $50 in materials fees (includes LilyPad and some goodies). Materials fee subject to change by about $10 depending on supply
Instructors: David McCallum and Angella Mackey

The LilyPad is a version of the famous Arduino microcontroller designed to be sewn into clothing. That's right, !***sewn***!. How cool is that? The LilyPad has all the functionality of a regular Arduino, with the added bonus of being perfectly designed to integrate into clothing, allowing you to create wearable and e-textile projects.

We'll lead you through the basics of Arduino programming and some tips and tricks for soft electronics interfaces.

More info to come!

Date: Thursday, August 26, 7-10pm
Cost: $45 for members; $60 for non-members
Instructor: David McCallum

What is Arduino?: Arduino is a microcontroller, similar to BASIC Stamp and PIC that is designed to control physical computing projects. It can sense the outside world through switches and sensors. It can also control displays, LEDs, lights, motors or just anything you can dream up. The Arduino can communicate with others devices and computers over MIDI, RS-232, USB and ethernet (internet) channels- and it can interface to programs like PureData (Pd), Max/MSP and Flash. It is endlessly versatile.

More info to come!