Since doing the circuit bending course where I built the Honkatron I have desired to try some video circuit bending. There is lots less circuit bent video stuff around than there’s audio, and so i reckon it might be simpler to behave that sticks out. Bending video circuits is a reasonably much more demanding than audio circuits. You need to preserve the dwelling from the video signal quite carefully otherwise displays can’t process it correctly and will not create a picture.
For around per month I went mad on eBay buying any cheap and fascinating searching old video mixers. Classic in-demand mixers such as the Panasonic WJ-MX12 are costly. Simpler models (particularly individuals without the opportunity to sync multiple inputs) could be got quite cheap though. Frequently the shipping is more expensive compared to item. Obviously on eBay there’s always somebody who’s going to sell something for way over it’s worth, if you fancy buying something yourself watch the costs and do not be pressed directly into buying too rapidly.
To learn more about my technical method of video circuit bending then check this out blog publish.
With a lot of mixers available you’re ready to start doing a bit of circuit bending.
It was the 2nd GSE mixer I bent. I’d a lot fun with the first (see below) which i was resolute to test another. They are not simple to find within the United kingdom so an Austrian guy solved the problem purchase one off German eBay. I had been expecting a clone from the one I already had (in the end it looked identical) however when it showed up I came across it had been another mixer with various functions housed within the same situation! The VEP-2 appears like an expense-reduced form of the AVEP-2S. Gone are the flamboyant Phillips video ICs and RGB processing. Rather we’ve much easier (mostly discreet) circuits focusing on the composite video signal.
With this stage my Camlink Vision 400 was beginning to get hard to rely on and so i made the decision to clone probably the most interesting functions around the VEP-2. With no big ICs by in onto it needed careful tracing to sort out the way the circuit operated where the important thing components were. After lots of heartache (and rereading lots of analog transistor design notes) I created some interesting bends together with a mega colour boost along with a colour inversion.
Decoding all of the analog design chose to make this a lengthy build with a deadline to satisfy I began to hurry the ultimate construction. This result in a nasty moment – once the unit was almost complete I swapped my normal bench power for any “wall wart” adapter without examining the polarity. Disaster! I’d just connected reverse-power to the whole circuit. Nothing appeared to operate anymore. At that time I almost threw in the towel, however i observed using the bench power with that it came no current which appeared odd. With further study I discovered just one PCB trace close to the power connector had melted and saved all of those other circuit from certain dying. Exactly what a massive relief which was!
Scores around the doorways:
Unmodified: 6/10
Bending potential: 7/10
The WJ-AVE5 is among the classic selection of video mixers produced by Pansonic. Still lots around, but sometimes get rather silly prices on eBay. Very simple to interrupt discover careful – not really a bending platform for that faint hearted. Being naturally careful I acquired something manual from manuals-in-pdf.com before beginning focus on mine. The service manual is not super informative about device parameters but comes with full circuit diagrams.
The AVE5 sits in the finish of my video mixing chain. It produces clean sync signals and for that reason is nice they are driving the ultimate output. Additionally, it provides nice clean fades so great to begin and finish shows.
The AVE5’s circuit relies around a set of identical chips that drive the A and B busses. I began work using tips from Karl Klomp. His approach would be to connect pins in the resistors right-hands side from the primary chips to ground along with other signals. It really works well, however i thought it was simpler to choose-in the same signals in the pads place in for unused memory chips. I made the decision simply to bend the B-bus to depart the A-bus clean for normal operation.
Along with some poking within the manual I found some interesting bends of my very own too. On IC 224 (the lengthy DIL IC underneath the B-bus primary processor) you are able to get signals that drive the wipe-effects and also the title-keying. They are both really exiciting for me personally as ruining keying effects is a factor I enjoy do.
Another factor I learnt in the service manual (that is hardly pointed out within the user documentation) would be that the mixer will sync it’s output towards the “Ext Camera” signal should you provide one. This is actually helpful to extract the important thingOrclean signals. I disconnected the termination resistor about this input and so i could passively split an indication directly into it without altering the amount.
To create the signals the front I made use of 2mm sockets. The lengthy leads screw up the standard operation a little although not too badly.
The ultimate creation is really a monster! In a great way obviously.
Scores around the doorways:
Unmodified: 8/10
Bending potential: 9/10
WJ-AVE5 circuit bent wiring on B-bus
WJ-AVE5 close-up wiring to unused memory pads
CamLink Vision 400
It was my first attempt for circuit bending a mixer. The mixer itself is an extremely horrible factor – anyone who attempted for doing things to edit their VHS tapes wasn’t likely to such as the results greatly. Its simple circuits and economical-as-chips construction helps make the video output dodgy as you would expect. From the purpose of look at someone attempting to perform a circuit bend climax disadvantages all of a sudden become pluses as possible find all sorts of interesting features.
I could not find any documentation with this mixer online, and so i tracked probably the most interesting areas of the circuit by hands. The bends are mainly really quite simple (you reached start somewhere. ). “Super boost” switches were put into the primary controls giving really exaggerated output. Plenty of suggests extract or insert interesting signals were introduced to phono sockets around the front panel. Internal control trimmers were also introduced to exterior controls. Lastly the opportunity to gate the signal from exterior sources was added.
The ultimate outcome is very good for any first attempt. Primary concern is it’s sync is not very robust. Should you push the results way too hard the sync will get lost and also the output will blank around the monitor.
Scores around the doorways:
Unmodified: 4/10 (generous)
Bending potential: 6/10
Camlink Vision 400
Circuit bent Camlink Vision 400
I purchased this processor since it looked intriguing and it’d a joystick. Just how can anybody ‘t be drawn to a relevant video mixer having a joystick? It is a pretty obscure product from the defunct Germany company and there’s without any information around which i may find. It’s interesting since it pushes in the the boundaries of pre-digital equipment. There’s a load of wipe patterns which are all produced by complicated plans of analogue function generators and comparators. It will contain an 8 bit microcontroller, but so far as I will tell this really is only there to manage the part selector buttons.
Overall it is going with a crazy lengths to do its functions. Plenty of big special purpose Phillips video chips. Another odd feature from the device is it has more hands-mods on its circuit board than any production equipment I’ve ever seen. It would have been a nightmare to fabricate and support – no real surprise that the organization that managed to get is not around anymore.
The good thing is that these complicate circuits causes it to be very bendable. I spent several weeks tracing a few of the primary circuits and finding methods to change them. Just about everything I checked out appeared to ask changes.
Brining all the new changes together needed me to include another box to be able to give enough space for the mods and controls. This contains among the two original circuit boards in addition to my very own circuits. The initial situation provides the other board and it is linked with a single ribbon-cable umbilical that was utilized in the initial design. The ultimate version has 23 new switches, 18 containers and 33 connectors added. Phew – that’s lots of wiring! This enables the artist to create crazy modifications towards the wipe patterns and extract or insert all sorts of intermediate signals.
One of the things that actually works very well is the opportunity to swap the color channels around in order to insert an indication on only one colour funnel and keep others set because the original.
This mixer regenerates the sync pulses internally rather of just passing them through such as the CamLink box does. What this means is its a lot more loving toward extreme bending without destroying the sync around the output picture. Should you turn everything as much as “11” although it can continue to overload the circuits.
I possibly could most likely spend a lot more days squeezing all of the possible bends using this box, but eventually I made the decision the time had come to maneuver on.
The recording here is as recorded live and unedited. Used to do place the patches in first though. The recording sources come from the 2 cameras you can observe within the photo around the right. The results are in the the GSE AVEP-2S box aside from the titles that are from your unmodified Camlink Vision 500 titler. The background music (combined with permission) may be the in the excellent Krautpop Air by Minke. Was online, however the quality was poor. Far better on Vimeo (but slower to load).
Scores around the doorways:
Unmodified: 6/10
Bending potential: 8/10
GSE AVEP-2S circuit bent control unit
Expansion box for added connectors and controls
Wiring for expansion box
GSE AVEP-2S with cameras for recording
Lower The Bar isn’t where I ought to be, but the this project. Unlike the prior projects Lower The Bar is made in the ground-up. It will need exterior support in the circuit bent video generators to become helpful though. The work was inpired through the VS001 . I needed to behave similar having a composite signal (what my mixers focus on) as opposed to the VGA utilized in the initial project. Within the finish I made use of the opportunity to separate the sync and insert video that originated from the GSC bending described above.
Lower The Bar can also add vertical or horizontal bars towards the video. These may then be modulated by inputs like seem or indeed the recording signal itself. There’s two identical generators because both versions is simply produced from two CMOS monostables and 2 comparitors. It proves that video circuits needn’t be complicated to work.
As you can tell there’s much more space within the box. I intend to make use of this to include more processors and effects. The goal would be to move perfectly into a patchable, modular video synth atmosphere.
The recording below ended with the boxes above and Lower The Bar. You can observe the Lower The Bar effects most clearly for the finish when you are getting the sliding bar effects within the video. It had been recorded in a circuit bending workshop operated by Stu ASMO Cruz at South Hill Park in Bracknell United kingdom.
Lower The Bar controls
Lower The Bar interior
Cyclepong has become within the Novelty Automation arcade in Holborn, London.
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Lian-Li V35x Backplate bending video
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