You can download the Project Documentation here:
You can download my Self Evaluation here:
You can view my final artefact here:
(this is 80mb, beware of log download if you have a slow connection, or even if you have a fast one for that matter)
This idea believe it or not came to me in a dream! (boring dreams eh?)
I have ‘built’ a home made interactive, tilt / pressure sensitive screen. All I used was my normal Wacom tablet (Intuos 3) and the mini projector borrowed from uni. It is extremely simple and crude. I strapped the projector to my tripod with cello-tape and mounted it above my Wacom tablet which was on the floor. I used a dumb bell to counter the weight of the projector on the tripod.
Wacom have their own screen tablet with their Cintiq range, however these are very expensive. This is in essence a cheap version of that product without any dissecting of valuable equipment.
Although this is a fairly interesting solution, there is a slight lag between the tablet and the screen. The biggest draw back though is that because the surface of the tablet is so smooth to avoid damage to the pen, you get quite severe glare from the projector above, a problem which would not be an issue in Wacom’s own Cintiq tablet.
I have created a video of the setup and a demo of me using the tablet:
InteractiveScreenDemo_LoH264.mov (H264, 360 x 288px, 12mb)
The end of the video shows a short clip of my anaglyph animation running on the wacom screen. A possible idea for my final project would be some sort of an interactive anaglyph programme running on this set up.
I have found a similar project to this. Some nutta has built a Wacom tablet screen by taking apart a tablet and a LCD screen and combining them together. This would probably work much better than my version, however taking apart all that equipment can be risky and expensive, my way avoids any of that risk.
Links:
DIY wacom screen at BongoFish.co.uk
The BongoFish screen in action (YouTube)
Wacom Cintiq
Wacom Europe
Etude Number
5
Basic Details
6ft, 70kg
Your name
Russell Etheridge
Your Pathway Combination
Digital Arts Specialist
The title of your etude
Animated Fractal Experiments
A short statement of intentions
I have always had an interest in fractals, the beautiful mathematically generated art and their striking similarity to the biological life that we find all over the planet. I have used various fractal generators over the years, even one that someone scripted in Visual Basic (it was actually really good!). I recently discovered Ultrafractal – Animation Edition that allows you to not only create fractal based on your own mathematical formulae, but also animate all the properties and render it to your computer. Thus as a fifth etude I plan to get a handle on the animation functions in this software.
Describe and depict what the actual concept of the etude is
The interesting thing about fractals is that although they are mostly displayed in as a 2D representation, they can be expanded to infinity. Due to this it can be argued that they have depth loosely classifying it as a 3D object. There have been 3D representations of the common fractal formulas but I haven’t found any particularly interesting attempts at it.
I believe that we find fractal images innately beautiful due to the fact that it closely resembles patterns found in nature. So by taking this concept and attempting to animate these beautiful images it will give a good platform for inspiring content in more conventional animations.
Documentation of Technical and Artistic Process
I have produced two separate animation experiments using Ultrafractal. They can be found in the following posts along with some blurb about how they were created:
References
All the research and links I have done during the creation of this etude can be found in the following post category:
How successful is the etude?
The main drawback while producing these animations was the fact that I only have a 30 day trial of the application. As a result, as I am sure you are aware of if you have viewed the videos, that the words ‘evaluation copy’ is strewn over any image you export from the application. This makes it impossible to use the images for anything apart from tests and experiments. Despite this problem I feel as though the tests were quite successful. I would love to get my hands on the full version of this software and implement some fractal animations into other kinds of animation I am producing. If I can it would be good to play around with adding parts of this to my final project.
Etude Number
4
Your name
Russell Etheridge
Your Pathway Combination
Digital Arts Specialist
The title of your etude
Sketch Up to Google Earth
A short statement of intentions
I have a keen interest in 3D applications and artistic implications of the technology. Due to the recent Sketch Up phenomenon, I wanted to see what all the hullabaloo was about and get to grips with the programme myself. Thus I decided to create my house in Sketch Up and upload it onto Google Earth.
Describe and depict what the actual concept of the etude is
The connection between Sketch Up, one of the most user friendly and efficient 3D modellers and Google Earth, a fantastic real time 3D version of Earth is a stroke of genius. It presents the possibility that one day everyone will have free access to a complete real time 3D version of our planet. When computers become powerful enough you could simply go on holiday in Google Earth rather than having all the hassle of booking flights and packing bags! Well maybe not that extreme but it certainly makes navigating easier. Imagine driving with a GPS device running something similar to Google Earth which contains highly detailed 3D data of all the landscapes and buildings which at that instant are passing by your window in real life.
My intention is to add to this burgeoning technology and create my own house for people to see in Google Earth. It will be useful for people trying to find my house who have never been there before to know what to expect before they arrive. In the process of doing this I will have learnt how to model and texture simple objects in Sketch Up and get to grips with the connectivity to Google Earth.
Documentation of Technical and Artistic Process
The most useful button in Sketch Up when creating a model for Google Earth is the ‘Get Current View’ button. It basically takes a screen shot of your current view in Google Earth and imports it to the 0, 0, 0 coordinates in Sketch Up ready for you to start building on top. It even imports terrain data. This can been seen in the screen shots of the finished textured house below.
To test out the modeling in Sketch Up I decided to build my whole house using only one object. And to my surprise it was particularly easy! Below is a screen shot of the finished model before I added any materials. (click on the image to enlarge)
I decided that to keep the model simple and easy to run on other computers I would take photos of all the sides of my house and texture the model with real images of such things as windows rather than modelling everything. Below are a couple of screen shots of the finished model with all the textures. (click on the images to enlarge)
A sunny day is not the best conditions to take photos for textures as you get really harsh shadows that may not match up to the light source in your scene. I do, however, think the overall effect is quite successful.
A screen shot of the finished model in Google Earth can be found in the following post:
N.B. I don’t particularly want to give out my address on the internet, but if you had the 3DWarehouse connection .kmz open in Google Earth you would be able to find it if you knew where it was.
References
You can find all the related research and links in the following post category:
How successful is the etude?
I think this etude was pretty successful. Although fairly straight forward, I did learn the basic ins and outs of modelling in Sketch Up and also got to grips with the Google Earth connectivity. The final model, although not millimetre accurate, is a pretty close representation of my house. If I get some spare time I think I will rebuild the house, re-texture it and create the front and back gardens. Up to now personal houses aren’t automatically coming with Google Earth so you don’t really have a limit to the complexity, so when I get round to it I may as well make it pretty detailed for the entertainment of friends and family.
Etude Number
3
Your name
Russell Etheridge
Your Pathway Combination
Digital Arts Specialist
The title of your etude
Analgyph Animation Test
A short statement of intentions
I want to see how Red / Blue 3D Glasses Anaglyph techniques will apply to different kinds of motion in an animation. The idea is to create a short series of interesting motion experiments and see what kinds of motion and shapes are most effective when viewed as an anaglyph. I intend to create this animation in 3D Studio Max using the Vray renderer which I am quite familiar with in conjunction with the recently acquired Xidmary plugin that allows adjustable dual perspective rendering.
Conceptualisation of the work
Leading up to the production of this etude I started off exploring the various methods involved in producing anaglyphs. Although I had a fairly good idea of the process of combining two images from different perspectives in Photoshop to achieve the anaglyph effect, it was still useful to look at a tutorial which would give me more detail into the reasons behind each step. The tutorial I found here (How to Make an Anaglyph with Photoshop) was particularly useful. Following the tutorial I produced various anaglyphs by taking two photos with my digital camera from different views in and around my house. You can find the best of these experiments in my post here (Anaglyphs).
After a lot of hunting around and forum discussions into compatibility issues I found the Xidmary plugin for 3D Studio Max. This plugin allows you to simultaneously control two cameras in 3DSMax of which you have full control over their distance apart and rotation (scale and focal distance respectively when applied to anaglyphs). The plugin allows you to render the 3DSMax scene from each eye separately, it is then up to you to combine them together in an image editor such as Photoshop to achieve the anaglyph effect. Following the acquisition of this plugin I produced a couple of stills to test the plugin. You can find the stills I made in these posts (Max 8 Stereo Image Renderer, Another 3Dsmax Anaglyph)
After these tests I wanted to create an anaglyph of an object in motion that also looked pretty realistic, so I produced the following image which can be found in this post (Another analgyph test).
Describe and depict what the actual concept of the etude is
The purpose of this etude is to experiment into what types of shape and motion are most effective when viewed as an anaglyph. This etude will be a useful insight to my larger project where I may carry on with an anaglyph or similar experience for the audience.
I think the use of anaglyph technology has perhaps been overlooked as a serious medium due to it’s poor colour definition, it’s slight strain or discomfort on the eyes and the fact that you have to wear specially made glasses that, lets face it, are something everyone owns but no one can remember where they are. However it is always a novelty and will appeal to most people if they have access to the glasses.
As a 3D Hybrid I see this study as a hybrid between old and new technology. When the anaglyph technology was invented the only way to utilise it was to use two cameras shooting on two rolls of film simultaneously. However, with the advent of computer generated 3d imagery the technology has a chance to be created very easily by someone with minimal knowledge of most 3D applications.
With this study I hope to produce an interesting 3D experience for the audience that will enjoy the fluid motion and realism of the 3D effect and also appreciate the technical process behind it.
Documentation of Technical and Artistic Process
You can see the final video and a description of the process in the following post:
3D Anaglyph Animation
Technical Analysis
During this etude I have vastly increased my knowledge of creating anaglyphs. I now know the requirements of the scene set up that will make the 3D effect see as though it is behind the viewing surface (the computer screen) and also what makes it seem to pop out. I have also discovered that textured or highly detailed objects add to the 3D effect much more than flat featureless objects.
Extremes in closeness and distance don’t work particularly well if viewed for long periods. For example at the end of my animation when the particles are flying around it is difficult to focus on the close ones without straining your eyes. However it is very effective when the final particle whizzes past your head. The shorter the amount of time that the object is really close the better.
References
Below is a link to all the research I have done into anaglyphs and the process of creating them:
Anaglyphs
How successful is the etude?
I think overall the test has been quite successful. It could have been more interesting in points and I think it will benefit from some sound effects, but as a small test into animated anaglyphs it has provided me with great insight. In this animation there were a lot of blank surfaces and I used the same bland lighting throughout. For a future animated anaglyph I would use more textures, particularly bump mapped surfaces and produce a variety of lighting environments.
Etude Number
2
Your name
Russell Etheridge
Your Pathway Combination
Digital Arts Specialist
The title of your etude
Binaural Test
A short statement of intentions
I want to see if I can create my own binaural recording. Although it may not be possible to re-create the method in which Hugo Zuccarelli records Holophonic interference patterns of sound, it may be possible to create some kind of 3D spacial audio experience.
Conceptualisation of the work
When conceptualising this etude, the first thing I noted was that any difference between the two recording devices would ruin any 3D effect created. At first I envisioned using two identical microphones spaced equal distance apart as human ears, however it proved to be very difficult (or expensive) to organise two mics at the same time. Reaching this barrier I started thinking of alternative routes to my goal. I knew that any speaker can act as a microphone, so I thought why can’t I use a pair of ear phones as two identical microphones? I then realised that most mic inputs are mono and if you plug a pair of earphones into a mic input you only receive a signal from the left ear piece.
After a bit of brainstorming with my audio expert friend we realised that a couple of years ago we both purchased identical headphones. Below is a sketch of how I imagined the recording device to work.
Put simply, both left channels of the headphones are strapped to a balloon blown up to roughly the same size as a human head. The balloon will be strapped to a crutch for support, and a microphone stand will hold up the crutch
Describe and depict what the actual concept of the etude is.
The purpose of this etude is to discover how easy it is to record a relatively good binaural experience. It is also to discover whether the patented version of holophonic sound invented by Hugo Zuccarelli is simply binaural sound with a few bells and whistles. By creating a successful binaural recording with two sets of headphones will prove that such an elaborate process like holophonic is unnecessary.
When you say three dimensional, most people will imagine a 3d space or object with their minds eye. Your ears tend to be overlooked as a detector of 3D space, but they are very good at locating the position of a sound. The way ears do this is not entirely known, but its is amazing that even people with one ear can pin point the origin of a noise. I think this is a very useful area of study and extremely relevant to the 3D Hybrids module. I believe that if this technology becomes advanced enough we will eventually be able to do away with the ever increasing number of speakers in our living rooms and cinemas. Then in time to come, instead of Dolby releasing their new 255.1 speaker system we will have just two audio sources capable of replicating incredible 3D surround sound.
On completion I hope to give the audience of the sound file the same experice (or very similar) as what was happening in the room where the sound was being recorded. I am hoping the listener will be able to visualise the sound sources moving in the room around them.
Documentation of Technical and Artistic Process
After a bit of discussion the design of the recording device was changed to this:
Put simply, both left channels of the headphones were put on one headband, which was then put facing outwards on my head.
A few friends came round, armed with some noisy objects (a shaker, a bongo and a guitar) we were ready to record.
Below is the sound file we created, listen to it with headphones:
References
Documentation of references can be found in the following blog category:
Holophonic Sound Blog Category
How successful is the etude?
The audio created by the setup is better quality than I anticipated. It is possible to detect the position of the instruments but mainly when they are right next to the listeners ears. When the instruments are further away it becomes difficult to determine the direction. Also when we recorded the instruments they were moving vertically as well as horizontally, although in the recording it is not possible to tell when the instruments change in vertical position. With Hugo Zuccarelli’s matches holophonic test it is possible to tell exactly where the sound is coming from even if it is above or below you.
I would definitely like to look into this topic further and perhaps expand it into something more interesting than simple spacial audio tests. It would be great to combine this with my research into anaglyphs and create some kind of combined 3D visual and 3D audio experience.
Filed under: Etudes
Etude Number
1
Your name
Russell Etheridge
Your Pathway Combination
Digital Arts Specialist
The title of your etude
Poor Man’s Rapid Prototyping
A short statement of intentions
I want a cheap alternative to the expensive process of taking a 3D model and going to a professional service to print it out in 3D. As a result I came up with the known method of printing out slices of the 3D model onto card with a regular 2D printer and sticking the slices of card together, building the model.
Conceptualisation of the work
I wanted a more or less automatic process, the only interference I would apply is similar to a doing a jigsaw, just construction. Everything to do with the printing out of the 3D model would be produced by the computer, my part in the construction would not include trying to make it look like the original model, only following steps.
Describe and depict what the actual concept of the etude is.
The purpose of this etude is to test the cheap alternative of rapid prototyping against the more costly professional 3D printing services. As a hybrid, this etude brings an object that for all intents and purposes does not exist and forges it into a tangable, physical object that one can hold. This is a relevant test to my Double Project as it will give me the base to judge how to build the sets into which my animation will be projected. The target audience for this piece are, perhaps, 3D concept art students who can not afford to have their models professionally prototyped.
The virtual model I have chosen to use for this etude is a free ‘57 Chevy that I have adjusted and textured. I want the final print out to be as accurate as possible so that the audience will respond to it as though it were a miniature of the real thing. I would want spectators to respond to the model with appreciation that a car that once only existed as a string of 1’s and 0’s has been fully re-created in our own tactile 3D world. I want to give the impression that the distinction between virtual and reality is not simply black and white.
Documentation of Technical and Artistic Process
I have documented my process in two separate blog entries:
Poor Man’s notso-Rapid Prototyping – Part 1
Poor Man’s notso-Rapid Prototyping – Part 2
References
I have documented the references for this etude in the following blog category:
How successful is the etude?
Well the model is instantly recognisable as a car. It does resemble the original model, however the actual differences in the details are innumerable. This would not stand up as a professional prototype of a 3D conceptual model. It has however given me the experience to make a decision on how I will build my Double Project sets.
Perhaps the most positive result from this etude is that if I were to attempt this again I feel very confident that I will be able to produce something much more successful. I think the major changes to the process would be to split the model up into at least double the amount of segments and to use a better material, for example balsa wood cut with a hacksaw.
