Alejandro Sorin’s HeavyM Masterclass
TL;DR
Visual artist Alejandro Sorin recently hosted a hybrid video mapping course in Uruguay. Supported by HeavyM’s educational licenses, the 12-class program combined online sessions with hands-on workshops, empowering a diverse group of students to master professional workflows, experiment with NDI, and bring their creative visions to life.
Empowering the Next Generation of Video Mappers
Video mapping is an incredible medium for artistic expression, but mastering it requires both the right guidance and accessible, powerful tools. Recently, visual artist and educator Alejandro Sorin hosted a comprehensive video mapping course in Uruguay, leveraging HeavyM to bring his students’ creative visions to light.
To balance remote accessibility with hands-on practice, the masterclass featured a mix of online sessions and in-person workshops. By keeping the group intimate—just six students ranging from visual artists to performing arts professionals—Alejandro ensured highly personalized feedback. Equipped with HeavyM educational licenses, the cohort was able to bypass demo limitations and dive straight into professional workflows.
Instant Creativity and the Power of Shapes
Instead of getting bogged down by complicated setups, Alejandro’s students focused entirely on their artistic expression. According to Alejandro, the cohort was most impressed by how quickly they could start mapping immediately after opening the software. Compared to other projection mapping software, the intuitive use of shapes makes HeavyM particularly versatile and fast, allowing for spontaneous creation without complex prior configurations.
This immediate accessibility led to standout projects. The curriculum was designed to take students from learning technical features to applying them creatively. After mastering HeavyM’s timeline and cues, the students were given an assignment that yielded surprising results.
“It was great to see them go from learning a technical feature to actually using it creatively and developing their own audiovisual pieces,” Alejandro shared.
Designing Workflows and Overcoming Challenges
Rather than strictly focusing on individual software features, the main goal of Alejandro’s course was to share a complete, practical methodology for creating video mapping projects. The class explored advanced video mapping techniques, different types of controllers, and professional workflows using technologies like NDI and Syphon. By understanding these ecosystems, the students learned how to make live light performances much more flexible and reliable.
Equipped with HeavyM educational licenses, the students were able to bypass the limitations of demo versions, allowing them to save their progress, present without watermarks, and fully immerse themselves in the HeavyM environment.
While the course experienced a few technical hurdles during the early online classes, these were successfully resolved thanks to the swift assistance of the HeavyM technical support team.
Collaborative Projections, NDI, and Mate
The absolute turning point of the masterclass came during the two in-person sessions in Montevideo. These workshops provided the perfect space to experiment with different setups and ask complex questions face-to-face. They also led to a highly memorable collaborative jam session.
For one of the classes, Alejandro designed a unique technical setup: using a single projector to cover an entire stage filled with different objects, he routed all of his students’ computers through NDI to his own computer, which acted as a central hub. This allowed everyone to work on the stage objects simultaneously!
As their mappings began to overlap, the students naturally started interacting with each other’s projections. The technical exercise quickly turned into a spontaneous and fun creative playground, with students sharing visual jokes on stage—all while drinking plenty of traditional Uruguayan mate, of course. These sessions successfully built a strong, lasting sense of community among the students.
A Bright Future for Video Mapping
The results speak for themselves. Alejandro noted how motivated, engaged, and eager to experiment his students were, with many showing remarkable creativity and technical ability.
As Alejandro reflects in his feedback video, this experience confirmed a rapidly growing interest in video mapping, especially among artists in the visual and performing arts.
At HeavyM, we strongly believe in the enormous potential of this medium, and we are incredibly proud to support the next generation of visual artists. We can’t wait to see the boundary-pushing projects these students will go on to create!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What did the students learn in this video mapping course?
The main goal of the course was to share a practical methodology for creating projects from beginning to end. Students explored various video mapping techniques, different types of controllers, and professional workflows using technologies like NDI and Syphon.
How does HeavyM support educational programs and workshops?
HeavyM proudly supports educators and students by providing temporary educational licenses for the duration of their workshops. This empowers students to fully engage with the software, save their projects, and learn without the limitations of a standard demo version.
How can I request HeavyM educational licenses for my course?
Educators can request temporary licenses by reaching out directly to the HeavyM team. In exchange for equipping your classroom with full licenses, we establish a simple partnership condition: we usually ask for a review on our Facebook page, some photos of your workshop in action, and a brief video testimonial to share with our creative community!
Is HeavyM suitable for beginners with no prior experience?
Absolutely. In Alejandro’s course, students came from very different backgrounds, and some were simply curious about projection mapping as a new creative tool. Thanks to an intuitive interface and proper guidance, they quickly developed their own ideas and applied them to their artistic projects.