animation and code
This week’s assignment was to make a module so I made an animation sequence that begins and ends with the same frame: a simple circle.
If the sequence is repeated, it creates a seamless loop. Another module can also be created and it will follow this one seamlessly as long as it begins and ends with the circle frame.
http://www.vimeo.com/9210685A third thesis idea: Building a mechanical sculpture which creates a 3D animation when operated.
I have always been very interested in moving images, particularly animation. I studied traditional animation in college and became very fascinated with all types of stop-motion animation including claymation, pixilation, sand animation, etc. There is an extra dimension that is created when animating recognizable objects over drawings in that they come to life. It is enchanting to see something we can touch and feel start moving.
I love to teach and share my knowledge, and I want to share this fascination with everyone. I used to teach animation and cartooning in grade schools. When I started getting into computer programming, I always shared my code and built tools to show and help others build their projects. I strongly believe that you learn best by example, by seeing, touching, and experimenting with what you are trying to understand.
I also very much enjoy the process of designing and building an object. I had a great experience doing this last year with the Zoeprojectoscope, and I would like to do this again. It is very challenging for me to break away from the computer and to actually build something physical. This is the reason I came to ITP and working on this for my thesis will definitely help me develop this skill.
Combining these three interests resulted in this idea of building an interactive object demonstrating how animation works.
Inspiration
Toy Story 3D Zoetrope (via Adi Marom)
Burning Man Monkeys (via Karla Calderon)
We Got Time music video by David Wilson
Description
I would like to build a tabletop mechanical device which reveals an animation loop when cranked. The device would be a hybrid between a 3D zoetrope and a praxinoscope. I really like working with acrylic sheets so I would like to build the entire object using this material.
The mechanism would consist of two polygonal spools placed one above the other. A crank attached to both spools would be used to operate the device. The top spool will be made up of mirrored faces and the bottom spool will have the 3D animation “frames” installed on each face. In order to view the moving image, the participant will have to look at the reflection of the frames in the mirrored spool.
The animation loops can be swapped, so the same device can be used to create many different animations. I will build an abstract 3D animation and will also create a set of frames that can hold paper frames so that anyone can create their own drawn animation.
I made a quick draft of the vertical bars idea in Processing and concluded that the illusion is not extreme enough to create different patterns. The concept works, but the illusion is very subtle and I unfortunately don’t think my idea will work.
I have been reading The Intelligent Eye, another book by R.L. Gregory which focuses on stereoscopic vision and find the topic very interesting. Two new ideas came out of this:
My assignment for The Softness of Things was to make something polished, that looks like it could be sold in a store. The first thing I thought of was to use the laser cutter as it always yields professional looking results, and I decided to make a cube as it is a shape I like working with.
To keep it clean, I wanted the faces to connect without using any glue or anything messy so I made teeth around each shape so that they would intertwine. I then imported the shapes in a 3D modeling software to ensure that everything would fit properly.
I cut decorative designs on each face to make the object nicer looking. Each face is made up of a red layer covered by a clear layer. Each design is split into two parts, one for each layer. The opposing faces have the same design, but on alternate layers so as to complement each other. The inside of the cube is painted white to give an extra dimension to the object.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take the width of the laser into account and had to use some acrylic solvent to stick the faces together. This left some blotches on the faces so it is not as perfect as I would like it to be.
I want to explore optical illusions made through persistence of vision.
I worked on an ARG a few years ago where we tried to come up with visual puzzles for the players and became very interested in the subject matter. I still get together with some of the people I worked with and discuss different visual puzzle ideas that we find interesting. This research led me to Eye and Brain, a book on the psychology of vision by R.L. Gregory, to better understand how our perception works.
My idea is to build a device that reveals recognizable images or messages by combining mechanical motion and human vision. I think this would be very compelling because it is not just a machine that works standalone, but a system that requires a human to function.
I have been exploring an illusion consisting of alternating black and white vertical bars. The bars scroll from right to left for a while and stop abruptly. For the next few seconds, our eyes are still “following” this motion, so the bars appear to be moving from left to right (in the opposite direction). Instead of stopping the entire length of the bars, my idea is to only stop some horizontal sections of the set of bars and keep the rest going, so that more complex shapes get created. By carefully picking which sections stop and which keep scrolling, I would try to create simple recognizable shapes like letters.
I am not sure this idea would work as the illusion might not occur if there is still motion happening, since our eyes will still have a point of reference to follow. My next step is to create a quick Processing sketch to see if this would work or not.
Inspiration
Bit.Code by Julius Popp (via Adi Marom)
X by Y by Daniel Rozin
http://www.vimeo.com/9254014
A rough sketch where I am navigating in a 3D world using the iPhone as an interface. Tilting the phone moves the camera and dragging on the screen rotates it (similarly to how mouse look works in FPS games).
http://www.vimeo.com/8500936The communication with the iPhone is done through OSC using Mrmr on the phone and OscP5 on the laptop. The 3D environment was built with JOCode for Processing, an OpenGL framework I have been working on with Mark Napier. We are in the process of finalizing the library and it will be available within the next two weeks.
Documentation for the Big Screams presentation at the IAC last month is finally up on Vimeo.
http://www.vimeo.com/8487873Special thanks to Diego Rioja, Mustafa Bağdatlı, Nisma Zaman, and the rest of the video crew for the footage!
The ITP Winter Show is happening this Sunday and Monday, December 20-21. Camera Obscura: The Gates, a project I made with Sara Bremen, will be on display in the lobby.
ITP Winter Show 2009
Dec. 20 2-6pm and Dec. 21 5-9pm
@ 721 Broadway, 4th Fl
I finally got around to making a patch for the Monome today, Conway’s Game of Life mapped to sounds generated by cfxr. Built with Processing, coz that’s how I roll.
http://www.vimeo.com/8146567 http://www.vimeo.com/8146587