VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank
In episode 19 of the Visual Cast podcast, host Alon Hammer welcomes Alex T-man, also known as Psybernautics, a master developer and generative magician who creates unique visuals using GLSL and shaders. Alex discusses his background as a computer engineer and how he discovered generative design through shaders, combining his passions for psychedelic art, music, and computer programming. He shares his experience with learning to write shaders, the challenges he faced, and his journey into the visual scene, specifically focusing on his interest in developing shaders and performing as a VJ. Alex also touches on the balance between understanding and appreciation in both art and technology, and raises concerns about cybersecurity regulations and the issue of email phishing. Throughout the conversation, Alex showcases his generative and interactive visuals, making it the longest set the hosts have done.
00:00:00 In this section of the Visual Cast podcast, host Alon Hammer welcomes viewers to episode 19 featuring Alex T-man, also known as Cybernautics. Alex is a master developer and generative magician who creates wildly unique and iconic visuals using GLSL and shaders. He has performed with major electronic music acts and played at festivals across the US. In the episode, Alex showcases a heated real-time generative audio-visual set with banging music, followed by a demonstration of how he makes his visuals in GLSL within Synesthesia. The conversation between Alex and Alon is filled with interesting and informative information, making it the longest set they've done. Alex discusses his background as a computer engineer and how he discovered generative design through shaders, combining his passions for psychedelic art, music, and computer programming.
00:05:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man", the speaker, Alex T-man, discusses the benefits and potential drawbacks of his computer addiction, specifically in the context of generative design. He acknowledges the negative effects of long hours spent staring at a screen, but also shares how his work in generative art inspires him even outside of his computer time, leading to trippy experiences in everyday life. Alex also shares his background, growing up in New Orleans and developing an interest in art at a young age, despite not coming from an artistic family. He eventually pursued video game design and development in college, which led him to his current work in generative design and shaders.
00:10:00 In this section of the YouTube video "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man discusses his introduction to generative design and visual effects. He mentions that he was exposed to generative design much later in life, after being discouraged from taking graphics classes in college. Instead, he focused on building an interactive art site using JavaScript and CSS. However, it was when he saw Sasia's dynamic flame visuals that he was blown away and wanted to create similar effects. He attributes his discovery of this field to a combination of influences, including concerts and his friendship with Matt. When asked about the catalyst for his interest in interactive design and video games, Alex explains that he initially took video game design as a requirement but was more interested in creating user-interactive things. He finds fulfillment in bringing people's ideas to life and creating things that provide real-world benefits.
00:15:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man shares his journey from problem-solving in engineering to creating interactive art. He recalls the rewarding experience of creating a cyberdelic playground app, which was a simple interactive project that gained attention from festival-goers. The catalyst for his shift towards art was the fun and positive response he received from others. Before this, he was deeply involved in web application development and used CSS to create graphics in a rudimentary way. However, his access to a computer limited his ability to explore graphics until he was introduced to the book of shaders, which provided valuable documentation for writing shaders and helped him understand the data flow in parallel programming.
00:20:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man discusses his experience with graphics programming, specifically using OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL). He explains how GLSL works by coloring individual pixels in parallel, with each pixel not aware of the others' colors. T-man admits that in the beginning, he approached GLSL as if it were magic, focusing on the end result rather than the underlying math. He also mentions the shift in thinking required for graphics programming compared to traditional computer science. T-man acknowledges the differences between GLSL and other programming languages, such as its parallel processing on the GPU and its older origins. Despite the advent of more advanced rendering techniques, GLSL remains relevant due to its ability to create beautiful, complex visuals with minimal code. T-man is fascinated by the versatility and speed of shaders and is working on adapting Shader toys for use in Touch Designer.
00:25:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker discusses his experience with learning to write shaders and the challenges he faced. He mentions that he found it difficult to understand the syntax of Python compared to OpenGL, which he found more forgiving. The speaker explains that he was inspired to learn ray marching and started by studying examples in the book of shaders. He then began modifying shaders by Shane on Shader Toy to learn the logic behind them. The speaker also talks about how he was able to connect the nodes in Touch Designer, which he describes as functions, to create complex visual effects. The catalyst for his learning was to create 3D graphics for live performances, and he eventually learned multi-pass shading, which opened up new possibilities for creating intricate and visually stunning effects.
00:30:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker shares an experience of creating a script on Shader Toy and selling it to Cesia, only to discover that someone else had already bought it. He then discusses the concept of multipass, which he finds familiar despite its differences from traditional computer science thinking. Multipass refers to a technique where multiple stages or passes are applied to an image or data, each building upon the previous one. The speaker explains that this concept is similar to traditional programming paradigms but notes that when working with GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language), the computer doesn't inherently understand shapes like circles; instead, it processes functions and math equations. This difference in thinking about rendering and shapes is what makes GLSL unique compared to traditional ways of rendering.
00:35:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man discusses his journey into the visual scene, specifically focusing on his interest in developing shaders and performing as a VJ. He mentions that his friends' involvement in the SL (Second Life) scene and attending festivals were catalysts for his involvement. Alex expresses his enjoyment of the audio reactivity and the sense of community in the scene, leading him to spend multiple festival seasons performing at various events. He also mentions his love for creating trippy visuals and the challenge of pushing the bounds of what he can achieve with shaders. Additionally, he discusses the importance of saving his work in text files using Touch Designer and the potential for losing his progress when exploring generative art.
00:40:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man", Alex T-man discusses his approach to saving different versions of his projects, particularly in the context of creating shaders in Unreal Engine. He mentions that he saves multiple versions, but rarely goes back to them. Instead, the act of saving serves as a mental reminder that he's about to make changes. He also emphasizes the importance of version control systems like GitHub for saving and organizing projects. Additionally, Alex shares his curiosity about how other artists create their work and the value of understanding the process behind the final product. He draws an analogy from his experience in film school, where he gained a deeper appreciation for movies after learning the production process.
00:45:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker, Alex T-man, discusses his experience with creating art using shaders and the feeling of being both fascinated and overwhelmed by the complexity of the work. He mentions that sometimes he feels burned out and unable to fully appreciate the art because he understands the intricacies of how it's made. Alex also talks about the sense of wonder and discovery he experiences when looking at other artists' work, despite not fully understanding how they achieved certain effects. He touches on the idea that security, even in his cybersecurity career, is an illusion and that there is always a risk of being hacked or breached. Overall, the conversation revolves around the balance between understanding and appreciation in both art and technology.
00:50:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker discusses the issue of email phishing and the massive scale of such scams. He shares his personal experience of receiving numerous phishing emails daily and the futility of trying to block them all. He mentions that the scammers are using automated systems and the sheer volume of emails they send increases their chances of success. The speaker also refers to a podcast episode about a billion-dollar Co relief fraud scheme in which hackers used a numbers game to trick people into giving them access to their systems. He emphasizes that even a single employee with the right permissions can compromise an entire system, making it crucial for organizations to prioritize software security and conduct regular penetration tests.
00:55:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker discusses the role of government in cybersecurity regulations. He explains that government standards for cybersecurity are important for federal contractors, as they are required to follow these guidelines due to the involvement of national security. However, the speaker raises concerns that these regulations might not be purely protective, but rather a way for the government to exert control or even throw someone under the bus. He uses the example of financial information and how it might not be beneficial for the government if it gets compromised. The speaker then shifts the conversation to debugging, expressing his appreciation for debugging tools and considering it essential for developers and designers to identify and fix errors in their code.
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VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank
In episode 19 of the Visual Cast podcast, host Alon Hammer welcomes Alex T-man, also known as Psybernautics, a master developer and generative magician who creates unique visuals using GLSL and shaders. Alex discusses his background as a computer engineer and how he discovered generative design through shaders, combining his passions for psychedelic art, music, and computer programming. He shares his experience with learning to write shaders, the challenges he faced, and his journey into the visual scene, specifically focusing on his interest in developing shaders and performing as a VJ. Alex also touches on the balance between understanding and appreciation in both art and technology, and raises concerns about cybersecurity regulations and the issue of email phishing. Throughout the conversation, Alex showcases his generative and interactive visuals, making it the longest set the hosts have done.
00:00:00 In this section of the Visual Cast podcast, host Alon Hammer welcomes viewers to episode 19 featuring Alex T-man, also known as Cybernautics. Alex is a master developer and generative magician who creates wildly unique and iconic visuals using GLSL and shaders. He has performed with major electronic music acts and played at festivals across the US. In the episode, Alex showcases a heated real-time generative audio-visual set with banging music, followed by a demonstration of how he makes his visuals in GLSL within Synesthesia. The conversation between Alex and Alon is filled with interesting and informative information, making it the longest set they've done. Alex discusses his background as a computer engineer and how he discovered generative design through shaders, combining his passions for psychedelic art, music, and computer programming.
00:05:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man", the speaker, Alex T-man, discusses the benefits and potential drawbacks of his computer addiction, specifically in the context of generative design. He acknowledges the negative effects of long hours spent staring at a screen, but also shares how his work in generative art inspires him even outside of his computer time, leading to trippy experiences in everyday life. Alex also shares his background, growing up in New Orleans and developing an interest in art at a young age, despite not coming from an artistic family. He eventually pursued video game design and development in college, which led him to his current work in generative design and shaders.
00:10:00 In this section of the YouTube video "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man discusses his introduction to generative design and visual effects. He mentions that he was exposed to generative design much later in life, after being discouraged from taking graphics classes in college. Instead, he focused on building an interactive art site using JavaScript and CSS. However, it was when he saw Sasia's dynamic flame visuals that he was blown away and wanted to create similar effects. He attributes his discovery of this field to a combination of influences, including concerts and his friendship with Matt. When asked about the catalyst for his interest in interactive design and video games, Alex explains that he initially took video game design as a requirement but was more interested in creating user-interactive things. He finds fulfillment in bringing people's ideas to life and creating things that provide real-world benefits.
00:15:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man shares his journey from problem-solving in engineering to creating interactive art. He recalls the rewarding experience of creating a cyberdelic playground app, which was a simple interactive project that gained attention from festival-goers. The catalyst for his shift towards art was the fun and positive response he received from others. Before this, he was deeply involved in web application development and used CSS to create graphics in a rudimentary way. However, his access to a computer limited his ability to explore graphics until he was introduced to the book of shaders, which provided valuable documentation for writing shaders and helped him understand the data flow in parallel programming.
00:20:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man discusses his experience with graphics programming, specifically using OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL). He explains how GLSL works by coloring individual pixels in parallel, with each pixel not aware of the others' colors. T-man admits that in the beginning, he approached GLSL as if it were magic, focusing on the end result rather than the underlying math. He also mentions the shift in thinking required for graphics programming compared to traditional computer science. T-man acknowledges the differences between GLSL and other programming languages, such as its parallel processing on the GPU and its older origins. Despite the advent of more advanced rendering techniques, GLSL remains relevant due to its ability to create beautiful, complex visuals with minimal code. T-man is fascinated by the versatility and speed of shaders and is working on adapting Shader toys for use in Touch Designer.
00:25:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker discusses his experience with learning to write shaders and the challenges he faced. He mentions that he found it difficult to understand the syntax of Python compared to OpenGL, which he found more forgiving. The speaker explains that he was inspired to learn ray marching and started by studying examples in the book of shaders. He then began modifying shaders by Shane on Shader Toy to learn the logic behind them. The speaker also talks about how he was able to connect the nodes in Touch Designer, which he describes as functions, to create complex visual effects. The catalyst for his learning was to create 3D graphics for live performances, and he eventually learned multi-pass shading, which opened up new possibilities for creating intricate and visually stunning effects.
00:30:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker shares an experience of creating a script on Shader Toy and selling it to Cesia, only to discover that someone else had already bought it. He then discusses the concept of multipass, which he finds familiar despite its differences from traditional computer science thinking. Multipass refers to a technique where multiple stages or passes are applied to an image or data, each building upon the previous one. The speaker explains that this concept is similar to traditional programming paradigms but notes that when working with GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language), the computer doesn't inherently understand shapes like circles; instead, it processes functions and math equations. This difference in thinking about rendering and shapes is what makes GLSL unique compared to traditional ways of rendering.
00:35:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," Alex T-man discusses his journey into the visual scene, specifically focusing on his interest in developing shaders and performing as a VJ. He mentions that his friends' involvement in the SL (Second Life) scene and attending festivals were catalysts for his involvement. Alex expresses his enjoyment of the audio reactivity and the sense of community in the scene, leading him to spend multiple festival seasons performing at various events. He also mentions his love for creating trippy visuals and the challenge of pushing the bounds of what he can achieve with shaders. Additionally, he discusses the importance of saving his work in text files using Touch Designer and the potential for losing his progress when exploring generative art.
00:40:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man", Alex T-man discusses his approach to saving different versions of his projects, particularly in the context of creating shaders in Unreal Engine. He mentions that he saves multiple versions, but rarely goes back to them. Instead, the act of saving serves as a mental reminder that he's about to make changes. He also emphasizes the importance of version control systems like GitHub for saving and organizing projects. Additionally, Alex shares his curiosity about how other artists create their work and the value of understanding the process behind the final product. He draws an analogy from his experience in film school, where he gained a deeper appreciation for movies after learning the production process.
00:45:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker, Alex T-man, discusses his experience with creating art using shaders and the feeling of being both fascinated and overwhelmed by the complexity of the work. He mentions that sometimes he feels burned out and unable to fully appreciate the art because he understands the intricacies of how it's made. Alex also talks about the sense of wonder and discovery he experiences when looking at other artists' work, despite not fully understanding how they achieved certain effects. He touches on the idea that security, even in his cybersecurity career, is an illusion and that there is always a risk of being hacked or breached. Overall, the conversation revolves around the balance between understanding and appreciation in both art and technology.
00:50:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker discusses the issue of email phishing and the massive scale of such scams. He shares his personal experience of receiving numerous phishing emails daily and the futility of trying to block them all. He mentions that the scammers are using automated systems and the sheer volume of emails they send increases their chances of success. The speaker also refers to a podcast episode about a billion-dollar Co relief fraud scheme in which hackers used a numbers game to trick people into giving them access to their systems. He emphasizes that even a single employee with the right permissions can compromise an entire system, making it crucial for organizations to prioritize software security and conduct regular penetration tests.
00:55:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "VC | EP19 - Psybernautics/Alex T-man - GLSL my timbers, Walking the real-time & Generative Plank," the speaker discusses the role of government in cybersecurity regulations. He explains that government standards for cybersecurity are important for federal contractors, as they are required to follow these guidelines due to the involvement of national security. However, the speaker raises concerns that these regulations might not be purely protective, but rather a way for the government to exert control or even throw someone under the bus. He uses the example of financial information and how it might not be beneficial for the government if it gets compromised. The speaker then shifts the conversation to debugging, expressing his appreciation for debugging tools and considering it essential for developers and designers to identify and fix errors in their code.