Harmony is a a Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

-based software for creating high-definition music videos with 2D and 3D animations. The application was developed by Digital Chaotics, a company based in San Jose, California

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

 and established in 2010 by Ken and Leanna Scott.

History

During a March 1, 2011 interview published by The LIST magazine, Ken explained how he initially got into music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 and digital entertainment. According to Scott:
“I came at it from both the art and the technology side. … I built one of the first digital audio synthesizers as an undergrad project back in 1979. It was a short jump from there to creating visuals with computers, too.”

Taking inspiration from Fantasia

Fantasia

Fantasia may refer to:*Fantasia , a traditional equestrian performance practiced in North africa*Show tango, also called Fantasia, a more theatrical and exaggerated form of Argentine tango*1224 Fantasia, an asteroid...

 – which Scott calls, “The greatest music video of all time” – he began writing software code for Harmony in late 2009, finishing the project in mid-2010. However, Scott has also said that the idea for Harmony began much earlier:

I read a book in 1978 called Digital Harmony, by John H Whitney, Sr. (Interestingly, he was the father of the president of Digital Productions

.) He said that there was a kind of visual art based on motion, and proposed theories about the underlying mathematical structure of visual harmony. So there's the book, combined with my desire to create art with computers-add a taste or two of things commonly used by college students during the 70's - and lots of Pink Floyd. Add it all up, and the seeds for Harmony were planted. My friends in school and at Floating Point Systems listened to me ranting about "making music videos with computers" incessantly. I'm sure it was both maddening and fascinating to see.

Features

Harmony runs on Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

. Currently, Digital Chaotics does not offer a Mac

MAC

-Aviation:* Martin's Air Charter, now Martinair* Mean Aerodynamic Chord* Merchant aircraft carrier, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands.* Metropolitan Airports Commission, the operator of airports in the Minneapolis-St...

 or Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 platform for the software. However, Harmony can be run on these platforms through 3rd party applications like Parallels Desktop for Mac

Parallels Desktop for Mac

Parallels Desktop for Mac by Parallels, Inc., is software providing hardware virtualization for Macintosh computers with Intel processors.-Overview:Parallels, Inc...

, or through Apple Inc.'s own BootCamp.

Harmony 2

On November 1, 2011, Digital Chaotics released the 2.0 version of the Harmony software. Unlike the original version, the second release featured three product levels: Harmony 2 Express, Harmony 2 Pro, and Harmony 2 Extreme. The "Express" version was positioned as an entry-level, free release to allow users a chance to "test-drive" the software. The "Pro" version currently retails at $197, while the "Extreme" is priced at $397. These two versions, aimed more towards VJ

VJ

A video jockey is an announcer who introduces and plays videos on commercial music television such as the United States' MTV, VH1, Fuse TV, non-commercial TVU, Canada's MuchMusic, and Asia's Channel V...

 and Dome

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

theater usage, featured additional software capability and features such as higher resolution, more video formating options, and more camera angles.