memeLAB Fly The Flag Of Freedom Through Open Source

“Here’s to freedom!” That’s a celebratory battle cry recently seen from memeLab in one of their tweets, which links to an article about five features offered on Android but restricted on iOS 5, Apple’s operating system). It seems that “freedom” could be one of the Brazilian multimedia collective’s favorite words. In addition to a multitude of web and video projects, they also work on creating free open source software and are crusaders promoting the idea of free video encoding through the Open Video Alliance. They’re also currently developing experimental software for video mapping, and have created a plug-in to allow streaming video in WordPress.

The production company, which is just over a year old, creates tools for interactive installations, scenery projections, video mapping, and a series of web solutions—always using the largest possible number of free tools. During this year’s Virada Cultural in Sao Paulo, they exhibited a large-scale projection at SESC Belenzinho that used Photolink, a custom system created to collect and display photos. The audience was able to download photos via USB, Bluetooth, or memory cards through totems located around the venue, which were then resized and displayed using 20 different projectors, covering an area of about 300sq meters in front of the venue.

We talked with VJ Pixel, the 29-year-old managing partner of memeLab, who became a VJ when he was studying computer science. Today he’s an assiduous researcher of free technology, and below he explains his views on the importance of free video and software, and how he and his team are working to defend digital freedom.

Free Video
Free video isn’t a very tight concept. Some people believe that free video is one that is licensed via free [copyright] licenses, and others argue that it should be all made with free software. If you have to define it, it’s a video produced with the intention of being free to circulate and be re-appropriated.

Free Software
We believe that videos don’t need to be produced with very expensive tools, but they require technical knowledge, including a paradigm shift. When you shift from the world of proprietary software to one of free software, you feel you lose some possibilities. But in fact, there is more flexibility to perform functions within this software. For example, in 2004 I was using Gephex in Linux to edit videos and I really wanted to use a video game joystick to control the software. I sent an email to Gephex’s mailing list, and the next day they had a version that met my demands. With proprietary software, you do not have this informal relationship.

We also help develop Lives, a video editing software in real-time, and it works in the studio as well. Its main developer is Gabriel “Salsaman” Finch, an Englishman who lives in Brazil. We’re also part of the Open Video Alliance, a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to the creation and promotion of technologies, policies, and practices in free online video, and are responsible for several actions in Brazil.