Created by Anton Marini aka vade, v002 Rutt/Etra plugin brings emulation of the classic Rutt Etra raster based analog video synthesizer to Quartz Composer.

The original Rutt/Etra machine was one of the first voltage-controlled video special effects systems and video synthesizers named after Steve Rutt and Bill Etra who designed it.

The Rutt Etra machine allowed the patching of different video sync rate oscillators to control, offset and famously “z-displace” the resulting video, an effect most memorably demonstrated in the work of the Vasulkas. (see video at the bottom of this post)

v002 Rutt/Etra plugin is an attempt to capture some of the beauty of the original hardware. vade notes it’s almost impossible to emulate an entire Rutt/Etra, as modern graphics and computer systems make fundamentally different assumptions from analog video systems. This plugin for is work in progress in attempt to make it as faithful as possible to the original but still exploring new possibilities.

The plugin comes with handy collection of example patches taking you through the basics to more complex examples. Note that to use you will need Mac OS X 10.6 (Quartz Composer 4.0) or 10.5 (Quartz Composer 3.0) with Apple Developer Tools installed (for Quartz Composer editor).

Plugin Page for Download + More Info + More examples here.

Anton Marini aka vade is a Video Artist and a Freelance Video Engineer / IT Consultant. To find out more, visit vade.info