Notch Showcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this special episode, Kat and Jake sit down with the Founder and Lead Developer of Notch, Matt Swoboda, to learn what's been happening for the past two years or so of Notch 1.0 development, and we also learn what Kat has been up to!

Join us as we journey through the evolution of Notch and discover what the next major version of Notch has in store!

Episode credits:

Researched and interviewed/hosted by: Kat Kemsley and Jake Triola

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post-production, additional editing, and mastering by Bent Stamnes

Episode cover background image by Arminas Kazlauskas

Episode links:

Sign up for the beta

Luke Halls Studio

The Notch official Discord server

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode, we sit down with the Founder and Lead Developer of Notch, Matt Swoboda, to learn how his game development and creative coding experience evolved into a real-time motion graphics package used by exceptional artists on the biggest live shows in the world.

Join us as we journey through the evolution of Notch and discover what the next major version of Notch has in store!

This is is the last episode of this season of the Notch Showcast; we hope you have enjoyed it and we'll be back in a few months with season 5, see you then!

Episode credits:

Researched, edited, and interviewed/hosted by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post-production, additional editing, and mastering by: Tor Øines

Episode cover background images and animation are development R&D creatives by Matt Swoboda

Episode links:

The Notch Blog

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brett Bolton is a freelance audiovisual artist from Las Vegas, Nevada. He’s well known for his work on some of the largest tours on earth, but he still manages to make time to explore personal projects.

In this episode, we talk about Potential Energy, which premiered at LDI’s SPLNTR event in 2019. This interactive installation invites participants to break open the walls around them and allow the creative energy to flow. Brett used a clever combination of Notch, TouchDesigner and Ableton Live to create this amazing interactive piece.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From industry veterans Silent Partners Studio, we're joined by Art Director Claudine Boulanger and 3D animator Patrick Gosky who share how they created the virtual main stage for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.

The VMA’s was the first major awards show in the US to be broadcast since the COVID-19 pandemic and created some unique challenges for the team. Silent Partners found innovative ways to re-create the buzz of a live audience using a combination of a virtual stage powered by Notch, and several video compositing techniques. 

In this episode, we go deep on what it's like to create content for a huge show such as the VMAs, and in the process you learn how to optimise your virtual production projects like a boss. We're also joined by seasoned Notch artist Brett Bolton who also worked on the show, and Claudine and Patrick get to hear the audience reaction to their designs.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creative Producer Urs Nyffenegger has been surprising audiences in the live broadcast space for almost two decades. As an early adopter of virtual workflows, he’s had his fair share of challenges. With a vision to extend reality using real-time graphics, Urs has had to fight both perceptions and red tape in the broadcast industry to get to where he is today.

In this episode, he shares his approach to a range of virtual productions that encompass all of the “R’s”: AR, MR and XR. Shows discussed include the AIM Awards, Simply Divine and the Pakistani Super League..

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Educator and entrepreneur Elburz Sorkhabi wrote the first ever TouchDesigner book, a free and open publication, complete with video tutorials. When he’s not working on projects for clients, he’s running the Interactive Immersive HQ, a community platform for all things interactive and immersive. 

Last month, Elburz ran the Interactive Immersive challenge which invited designers from all over the world to create projects in front of a live stream audience and panel of judges - including our own founder Matt Swoboda.  

Interactive and audiovisual designer Ginger Leigh, also known by synthestruct, was one of the competition finalists. She wowed the judges in the integration challenge with her clever combination of Notch, TouchDesigner and Ableton Live.

In this episode, we talk to Elburz and Ginger about the future of real-time, what a powerful combination TouchDesigner and Notch is, and; as a little bonus; which member of the Notch team is described as "a gentleman and a scholar", tune in!.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Cover image is a composite of the Interactive & Immersive Championship logo, and the project "Disperse" by Synthestruct.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Motion graphics artist Tanner Thompson used his experience of live concert design to create a series of virtual productions for EDM artist NGHTMRE. With NGHTMRE’S US tour ‘Portal’ cut short, Tanner rolled with the punches and created an online experience inspired by the real-life tour. Tanners team at T2 Visuals were able to accomplish a high level of production with only a couple of people in the room.

The shows so far have used Kinect depth sensing cameras to teleport NGHTMRE to otherworldly stages created by Tanner and his team using Notch and Cinema4D. For the virtual Lollapalooza festival, T2 Visuals re-recreated the Chicago skyline using photogrammetry techniques rendered in Notch.

In this episode, we talk to Tanner about creating an otherworldly at-home festival experience in these strange times.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creative Director Kev Freeney and Notch Designer Dillon O’Sullivan welcomed the challenge of creating The Blizzards ‘Pound The Pavement’ music video during a national lockdown. After initial plans for a live-action music video were put on hold, they began exploring the possibilities of using the Perception Neuron motion capture suit for an offline workflow.

The Algorithm team developed a hybrid real-time/offline workflow to produce the video remotely and in a short amount of time. The result of this experimental workflow is an enchanting video which brought The Blizzards together during a time of isolation.

In this episode, we talk to Kev and Dillon about their background in animation and VJing, how their trip to the 2019 NotchCon opened their eyes to motion capture and the use of Notch, and where they think music videos are heading.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alter Ego is a generative video installation reflecting on the use of social media and the rise of artificial intelligence in our democracies. The artwork presents thousands of images uploaded in real-time by millions of Instagram users. Bespoke code sorts the images using popular hashtags, and Notch transforms these images into an organic web of particles which re-form as an AI-generated Instagram influencer. In this episode, artist Cadie Desbiens-Desmeules shares her design story.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IMAGINE is a nightly spectacle at Dubai's glamorous United Arab Emirates Festival City Mall. Created as the centerpiece of the Diwali festival of light celebration, IMAGINE features six water screen and over 70 projectors. Produced by Foraus, Video Producer Travis Poe joins us in this episode to share his design story and to talk about the ins and outs of creating magical shows.

Episode credits:

Interview and editing by: Kat Kemsley

Produced by: Bent Stamnes

Audio post production, additional music and mastering by: Arto Koivisto

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.