Synth by Steve Belovarich: A Contemporary Rutt/Etra

Browser based video synthesizer which emulates the classic Rutt/Etra raster manipulation effects using Google Chrome and a webcam via prosthetic knowledge:

Synth is a modern day Rutt Etra. After getting to use a Wobbulator at the Experimental Television Center, I became fascinated with the ethos behind Nam June Paik’s work. I wanted to make something that was accessible for everyone, like how Paik’s performances were accessible to anyone watching PBS. I don’t see any sense in trying to reproduce the original aesthetic of the analog synthesizer in an Internet Browser.

Screen-Shot-2013-09-25-at-9.23.42-PM-1024x560

Screen-Shot-2013-09-25-at-9.24.25-PM-1024x559

Synth is referential of the Analog synthesizers, but technically it it much different. Synth distorts 3D geometries with a live video feed and then amplifies that distortion with audio. The current release is an alpha build of the project and over the next year Synth will gain more features as I continue to develop it. Anyone with Google Chrome and a webcam on a desktop computer can use this synthesizer. Synth is free and licensed under GNU.

More information can be found here and if you’re using Google Chrome, you can try it out for yourself here.


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



1 Comment

  1. I began working with Steve Rutt and Bill Etra’s video synthesizer around 1978 at the Center for Media Study @ SUNY / Buffalo. This synth produces great great raster manipulation effects like the RE, but I was not able to see much connection between the original, patch-programmable RE and this tool. Here’s a picture of an RE http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2129/2212832926_a2f32a9613.jpg It basically was a highly resolution 5" TV monitor that allowed you to modulate the X and Y deflection with other signals. The topographic effect comes from modulating the usually orderly horizontal scan with the actual video (brightness) signal. Brighter things create peaks, Dimmer things create troughs, and so on.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.