Found on Azahara Cerezo´s Blog:

The location of the Tagtool’s brush modifies the sequencer built in Pd through the OSC protocol.

We have spent days working on Ars Paragone, a multidisciplinary show will take place on 14 August at the “Foundation Cuixart de Palafrugell”.

We prepared a combination of digital graffiti and generative music using open source software (Tagtool and Pure Data), which leads to a different result each time.

There’s a new Nodekit version available (0.7.6.2). This release is mainly about supporting the Arduino Uno.

Features added:

* Created a Tagtool FTDI patch for Arduinos with the FTDI chip – you can find it in the “patches” directory of the Nodekit user documents. How to install your FTDI drivers can be found here on the Arduino site.

Changes and bug fixes:

* Nodekit´s “Open” function now redirects directly to the patches directory. Here you can find the Serial, MIDI and FTDI patch, depending which driver you are using.

* Arduino – We did some connection tests with all Arduino boards we have including NG, Diecimila, Duemilanove and Uno. Older boards (NG, Diecimila, Duemilanove) showed usual system handshake troubles – using both FTDI or serial driver. If the nodekit doesn´t recognize your Arduino, just re-upload your .pde patch.
We didn´t experience these issues using the latest Arduino Uno board. We can definitely recommend this board.

Tagtool patch changes:

* Rearranged all nodes of the nodekit – all important nodes and comments are now placed on the left side of the patch to give a better overview.

Release notes

Version 0.7.6.1

Features added:

• Space bar scrolling: While pressing the space bar, click and hold
  the left mouse button in an empty area in the patch. You can now move
  the mouse and scroll your way through the patch. Works like the “hand
  tool” in various graphics applications.
• Automatic tablet mapping: The display is automatically fitted to the
  current tablet and screen resolutions, so that you can always draw on
  the entire screen.
• New screenshot mechanism: Screenshots are now always the size of the
  display screen. The currently drawn shape (which hasn’t been released
  yet) is also included in the screenshot. The star-shaped drawing
  cursor can be included if you wish. The screenshots are also already
  anti-aliased.
• Image loading: Press left + 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the gamepad to load an
  image into the scene. The default directory they are loaded from is
  called “Images” and is located in your Nodekit installation directory. You need to enable Image loading with a drop-down menu in the Tagtool patch (look for the comment box).
• Added Tagtool MIDI patch – you can find it in the “save” directory of the Nodekit installation.
• The antialiasing level can now be configured with the following command line option:
  -antialiasing:LEVEL

Changes and bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug that moved nodes 20 pixels to the bottom-right every
  time a patch was saved
• Changed the Arduino drivers (now using the D2XX drivers). This fixes
  communication problems which happened occasionally. The Arduino node
  button state now is true when you press the release button, and false
  otherwise.
• Changed the amount of configurable MIDI devices
• Comparator node now outputs boolean values
• Arduino node has been renamed “TagtoolController” and has drop-down
  menu for switching between 5-slider and 6-slider Tagtools
• Using a new installer and changed the install location of the patch files. They are now found in MyDocuments\Nodekit\patches. This should fix install issues on Windows Vista and Windows 7 that prevented Nodekit from starting properly.

Tagtool patch changes:

• Replaced the old camera node set-up with the new TagtoolCamera node
• Replaced the old screenshot node set-up with the new Screenshot node
• Added the image loading node set-up
• Removed the negation of the arduino button state
• Corrected a comment in the MIDI patch

Dima Berzon has demoed Tagtooling in stereoscopic 3D with drawings by Frances Sander. This was achieved in post production, by compositing several flat layers of Tagtool painting into a 3D world. To view the clip in 3D, you need red and cyan colored glasses like this:

Frances writes about the process on their blog Drawinglive News:

For this experiment Dima asked me to do a set of three Tagtool drawings. In the first session I was to draw only the background. Then, against a green screen ‘background’ I drew only what was to appear in the middle ground. (I found this quite difficult, trying to remember my previous drawing so that I could make the middle ground look convincing when the three sessions were put together). In the third session, again against the green background, I drew only the foreground elements of the composition.

I watched a high resolution version of the clip on a large TV set, and I found the spacial effect very convincing. This definitely shows the potential of eventual 3D features for the Tagtool software.

If you don’t have the 3D glasses ready, here’s the mono version of the clip:

Thanks go out to Gernot Greindl for the good work.

Release Notes Version 0.7.5

Features added:

• Patch comments: Right click on an empty space in the patch area and select “Create Comment…” in order to add a comment box to the patch
• Logfile output: You can redirect the console messages to a logfile by adding the commandline option -logfile:filename (when omitting the filename, the log will be called “logfile.txt”)

Changes and bug fixes:

• SmoothMotion acceleration value now ranges from 0 to 1
• Color picker now works and has OK/Cancel buttons
• Fixed a color conversion bug in the color picker
• Fixed tablet output recording and movement of tags after loading a session
• Fixed a bug that caused strange deformations of tags when using the latest Wacom driver in Windows 7
• Added drop-down menu to the “Pen Select” and “Screenshot 2″ node

Tagtool patch changes:

• Added comments and reordered the nodes so the ones that are most likely to be edited are in the top left

Sure enough, a few days later we got an email, complete with images, from Fred Paulino of Belo Horizonte, shedding some light on the mysterious chameleon Tagtool.

We proudly present a new brazilian Tagtool by Graffiti Research Lab Brasil and Gambiologia Project. It was developed from your original project but we made several customizations …
Hope you like it and keep in touch!

While GRL and its international spin-offs like GRL.BR are well known, I’d never heard of the term Gambiologia. Looking at the explanation on their homepage, and with the help of online translation, I learned that

Gambiologia is a work of construction of electronics with accent anthropophagy. Through recycling equipment, brings a new meaning for the technological context, to assume a position of creative recontextualization of materials normally regarded as scrap.

The charming robot phrasing aside, here was another word I didn’t know – anthropophagy. Here goes the dictionary:

an⋅thro⋅poph⋅a⋅gy /ˌænθrəˈpɒfədʒi/
–noun
the eating of human flesh; cannibalism.

Techno-Cannibalism. Nice one. A broken VHS eats some wires, knobs and LEDs, slaps some stickers on, and becomes a Tagtool. The Tagtool gets eaten by a lawnmower, who downloads Google Earth and we’re set for some obscene golf course graffiti to entertain our lurking invaders from space. For sure, Gambiology has been added to my vocabulary.

But back to Fred’s email and the Tagtool he built, together with Lucas Mafra. He explained that they used RGB LEDs, color-changing lamps that follow the hue of the brush, and blink red when the pushbutton is pressed. On top of that they turned the Mini into a power- and USB hub device – anybody who has set up a session with a Mini and struggled with connecting all the wires will approve.

True to the game, they also posted pictures of the construction process, schematics and the Arduino code that controls the LEDs.

We’ll surely try this out with one of our Tagtools, and I hope others will, too. To wrap things up in the right spirit, here’s some more robo-poetic, auto-translated Gambiological philosophy –

Gambiologia is a proto-science that begins to be important at the time of processing. Unlike the other sciences, the gambiologia happens as a TAZ, an impermanence that the need arises and disappears in the conclusion. The gambiarra is open to experimentation in the veins of the hacker spirit. The DIY is essential; Mastering the world without the need to report.

The Gambiarra Style – Photo: Daniel Mansur | Model: Wally

Tagtool Think Tank 09 is a social gathering of coders, artists and enthusiasts, hosted by OMA International. The aim is to discuss and kick-start development of a new open-source platform for live-performance drawing and animation, based on the experiences out of the Tagtool project.

The three days from April 24th to 26th will comprise presentations, discussions, performances and a Tagtool Next Generation workshop (age 12-18).

Confirmed speakers are Jaromil from dyne.org, Joreg from the VVVV group and Rob Bateman from NaturalMotion Oxford.

Also there will be an Open Mic session where people can talk about their use of the Tagtool or related projects in short, informal presentations.

In the evenings, performances by proficient Tagtool artists and musicians will showcase the artistic use of the technology. There will be a performance of the latest and greatest incarnation of Hilti’s Odyssey of Oddities featuring Philip Zoubek, Christian Reiner, Maki & iink, plus special guests Matl Koch, Karl Ritter, Keramik and Tohyto.

Attendance is free, and free dormitory accommodation can be arranged by writing to thinktank@tagtool.org.

Schedule

Friday, April 24th

14:00 – Presentation: Project Zeichenspiel (OMA International)
16:00 – Rob Bateman (NaturalMotion)
18:00 – Open Mic Presentations
20:00 – Tagtool Open Session, Party

Saturday, April 25th

14:00 – Joreg VVVV
16:00 – Jaromil
18:00 – Discussion: Open Source Drawing and Animation for Live Performance
21:00 – Performance – „Hilti’s Odyssey of Oddities“
Afterwards – Ginyu Force DJs

Sunday, April 26th

Brunching, Chilling, Coding, Scheming
17:00 – Tagtool Next Generation Workshop by Markus Schatz (Age 12-18)
Evening: Tagtool Outdoor Session, hitting an industrial building in the vicinity

Location

Kunstwerkstatt Tulln
Albrechtsgasse 18 | 3430 Tulln

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Tagtool Think Tank 09 is supported by
OMA International, Strukt and Come On – Land Niederösterreich.

We’re pleased to announce a new version of the Tagtool software.

Previously we’ve been referring to it as the Tagtool Kit. We’ve decided to disassociate its name from the Tagtool, to emphasize that it is in fact a versatile toolkit for interactive graphics, rather than a specialized program. The Tagtool is just its most prominent application to date.

So let’s call it…

What’s new in Version 0.7.0:

• A new look
• Easier installation/removal
• New nodes
• Some major under-the-hood improvements

Further Progress:

• The Animator can now fade out individual or all tags with the gamepad.
• OSC functionality is progressing well (Listener and Sender nodes are working, only bundles still need to be implemented)
• And a few smaller bug fixes.