IĞll try to answer some of your questions directly
1) re creating new movement and libraries
Lifeforms was developed specifically so that you could
create new movement. Any movement you create can be
stored in a Library. So both of these options are possible.
Once the sequences or phrases are stored they can be reused,
shared, deconstructed, or reconstructed as you wish. Libraries are
for convenience, since much dance language is based on particular
vocabulary and since choreographers are often interested in
developing a vocabulary even if it is for used in a single piece.
2) sound files
The Macintosh version of Life Forms enables you to play sound
files from an audio CD, or to play QuickTime sound files along
with the movement that you are creating.
The Windows 95 version doesnt have this feature yet, but will soon
The SGI version also has a feature for MIDI connectivity
3) Chance Operations
Chance is not built in, but is used as a manual technique that can
be imposed as you create the movement in Life Forms.
for example, Merce Cuuningham would use 3 coins and toss them to create
I Ching hexagram combinations which he then mapped to certain
movement responses. For example, tossing a value of 1 to 10
would mean move the torso, tossing a value of 11 to 20 would
mean move the head and right arm, etc
4) can chance be refined to include transitional movement if one
desired?
Any shape created in Life Forms automatically creates transitional
movement when you select the Play button, which automatically
smooths the movement between defined shapes (keyframes)
best,
Thecla