Our mission is to give everyone the ability to personalize their own media experience with total simplicity and limitless possibility. The main objective for this project is allowing users to customize the sequence of sheep generated and downloaded using the Electric Sheep screen saver, and combine these configured visualizations to a users selection of music. Unlike using a standard video editor, Pensive will allow the user to individually select the arrangement of sheep in a time line and create seamless transitions between them. If you have ever used Electric Sheep you will understand that the transitions are as beautiful and stunning as the sheep themselves. Loosing this feature in a standard video editor only allows the viewer to experience a piece of something truly amazing.

Being able to create a personal compilation of synchronized sheep opens the door to sharing these experiences with others. By combining music and video together into one single file, we hope to give the user a portable work of art that can be enjoyed on any device with a color screen. 

Open Source Applications

The main programs that we believe will benefit this project are listed bellow with summaries on how they might work together.

Electric Sheep

As stated above, this is the core of the project. We suggest you read Scott Draves white paper on how this program works both on and off the screen. By using the FLAM3 Genome, the program will be able to render customized sheep sequences that can then be paired with a users selection of music.

Qt

Creating a program that is versatile on every platform is key for user accessibility. The more people who use the program will not only create a vast array of art, it will also generate more and more sheep for a user to choose from.

FFmpeg

Being able to use any DRM-free audio file stays with the overall model of versatility. FFmpeg supports most every file known under the sun. Not only can it convert audio, but it compiles and converts video as well. This will be the main engine which will organize the users sheep and music into one, seamless movie file.

VLC Media Player

VLC will allow the user to preview a project during creation and enjoy it after completion.

Online hosting

Uploading to the web for sharing is a crucial part of Pensive, so choosing a host that broadcasts video as clear as possible is a must.

Vimeo

Vimeo seems to be the obvious choice, with its simple interface and HD capable streams. Side by side comparison with YouTube showed Vimeo to be more fluid and less grainy. Vimeo also has an open API, so building it into the project shouldn't be a problem

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Recomendation

To experience how Pensive will work, try this.

1. Download the Electric Sheep screen saver and allow it to download some sheep for a couple days
2. Create a playlist of your favorite songs
3. Play selected playlist
4. Run Electric Sheep
5. Enjoy!

After you have completed step 5, think of controlling which sheep played during the course of your playlist and being able to take that experience with you wherever you go. That is our vision of Pensive.

Conclusion

So that in a nutshell is what Pensive is all about. We are still in the beginning stages of development, and we hope that you will join us in sharing you ideas, opinions, and skills in making something truly universal. If you wish to see a simple presentation on Pensive please view the slide show below.  If you have any questions or ideas you would like to share, please let us know by using the comment section at the bottom of this page. Thanks!