Post 21: MORE NEW TOYS: MAKEY MAKEY AND ARDUINO

   Well, in my never-ending quest for new ways to control a computer and a projected image, this is one I have wanted to investigate since last year. So I ordered a Makey Makey touch controller:

  It connects to the computer via USB, and to conductive objects with alligator clips.
  People have used it to make fun stuff like "banana pianos":

and other things as shown in this video:
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkPt9MYqDW0
  But most of the stuff I found on Google is rather geeky and shoddily made, except for this "apple marimba":

and the 3D "musical drawing in the video above:

   I do like the idea of using graphite on paper as a touch trigger, and made a little experiment with a rough drawing that plays 'Twinkle Little Star" when you run your finger along the bottom "keys":

  Besides the 6 keys on the front that I used, the Makey Makey has 6 more connections in the back pre programmed for letters W,A,S,D,F and G, so it offers a total of 12 touch inputs.    I could make an instrument or graphite drawing playing a tune with 12 notes.

  Now if I could figure out how to also make LED lights turn on and off, I would be in business! That should be easy…

   Well, not so easy actually. The Makey Makey talks to the computer allright  but to turn lights on and off, the computer has to talk to the lights, and to do that, I will need an electronic interface called an Arduino:

  I am going to have to learn to program the Arduino to do what I want using the PROCESSING language and the Arduino software. 

  So I went ahead and ordered an Arduino Kit from Amazon, which on top of the Arduino Uno, includes a breadboard, a manual, and all king of gadgets to connect to it:

   I would really love to see a "music and light making contraption" at Light Dreams. It could be a big drawing that plays tunes and lights up when you run your finger on it, or stepping stones that play music and light up when you walk, or a fruit xylophone that projects matching images, or a set of lighted balloons under a conductive ceiling...

Post 20: USING THE KINECT

  I bought a Kinect a year ago, and had not managed so far to find software that could recognize joints and move an image with body movements. That would allow a person to control a puppet with Animata, make music with Ableton Live, play the Pacman or any other game Mike comes up with, or map an image to moving dancers.
  Well, I went on the quest again, and came to the conclusion I would have to learn to write some code, and that the easiest one to learn was PROCESSING, which was developed specifically for Artists. I ordered a manual and also a book about the Kinect called "Making Things See".
  In the meantime, I kept searching, and finally found a Blog that offered a practical clear tutorial: "The Blog by GLEN MCPHERSON" 
   It had a link to a great little app written by Ryan Challinor called SYNAPSE. It is available free for Mac or Windows, and allows joint recognition with the Kinect. You stand in front of the Kinect and wait till you get this:

   In order to do something with this, you need a Mac and Apple's Developer Application X-CODE  with QUARTZ COMPOSER. In order for Synapse to communicate with Quartz Composer, you also need a little app called quartz_passthrough that is part of the Quartz Composer example project+plugins on the Synapse web site. 

   Glen McPherson then walks you through the steps of using Quartz Composer:

to control an image on the screen by moving your hand up and down and around in front of the Kinect. Voila!

   It worked great the first time around, but now I am having problems getting it to work again.I keep getting a "port error" message. What the hell is a port? Something else to figure out!

Post 19: MADMAPPER, ANOTHER WAY TO MAP THE STAGE

   The problem with single image mapping is that for everything to be perfectly lined up , the projector position relative to the stage is critical, and there is hardly any possibilities of adjustment. So I tried another route using MadMapper mapping software, which allows precise mapping of different images or videos on different surfaces.
 First, I used the same single image :

  Then, I created a 1920x1080 image with 2 separate rectangular areas corresponding to the walls and the floor of the stage using two different graphic patterns:

  Then, I created a 1920x1080 image with 3 images:

   Finally, I created a 1920x1080 image with 4 different images:

   Then, I imported the images into Resolume Avenue VJ Software:

and used the built in Syphon Plugin to serve it to MadMapper software, which allowed me to precisely map each image to the corresponding wall or floor:

   Of course, I could be using videos instead of still images.

Post 18: CORNER PROJECTION TEST

   I was rather impressed with a Mapping done on a huge corner set by Nike:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzkwZfi2wew
so I built a white cardboard model corner set to play with. 
 I used my grid again to map it:

and created some sets I projected and photographed, both graphic:

 and realistic:

I photographed the results projected on the corner model stage:

    There are definitely interesting possibilities, but the floor area is much reduced compared to the previous stage setup, and it would require a bigger projector to implement. Nike must have used several projectors.

Post 17: A MODEL TEST STAGE

   In order to get ready for the workshop and test some ideas, I bought some white presentation boards from Office Depot, and made a cardboard test stage with a floor, a back wall, and slanted side walls.

   I mounted the projector upside down on an 8ft pole, angled it down to hit my "stage", and leveled it sideways. By trial and error, I ended up with this odd shaped stage on which the projected image looked good, with accented perspective:

   I projected a grid on it and marked the edges of each wall, so I could map different images to the back wall, the floor, and each side wall:

   First, I tested a set made of solid bright colors:

   When projected on the model stage with santos standing in as dancers, it lined up well, and looked good. If the "dancers" are placed front stage, they take on the color of the red floor, and contrast nicely with the blue back wall color:

       Next, I designed some stage sets with contrasting color stripes, and the results suggest some interesting possibilities:

      I also used photographic images to make realistic sets. 

   The room with graffiti could have a window panel cut out and recessed so a dancer could enter the stage through it. There could be partially open doors in the side walls.

  Hashima Island makes an interesting set with a bright green lawn:

   A room with weathered red siding and tin signs could have cracked door and windows people can slide through:

    I tried a surrealistic Steampunk clock room. The gears and clock hands would of course be animated to turn and the candles flicker:

    One could also build a virtual outdoor seaside set for "Pina Water Dance":

or a Mandala Set:

  Possibilities are endless, and that is with a single projector. Of course, fixed props can be set on the stage and mapped too. 

  

Post 16: A RECYCLED CONCEPT

    My friend Mary Foshee and I have have been brainstorming about combining projection and dance, possibly for Light Dreams, but also thinking of a potential independent Stage Show somewhere else. 
  Rather than starting yet a new blog, this blog seems as good a place as any to develop and post our ideas.
  We took the projector into the dance studio the other day, and played with projected patterns on a white leotard. I shot some basic video of some of our tests with my little camera, which isn't very good, but nevertheless shows what we tried:
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI_Kkb-ylqM
  With Chrismas right around the corner, it will be early January before we work on it again. I have yet to meet her friend Amanda Miller, a Dancer and Choreographer whom she holds in high regard, and hope she will be interested in joining us in our Video/Dance explorations.
  Also, Mary, Randy and I have registered for the "Live Performance and Video Technology" Workshop with Bridgman-Packer taking place mid January as a part of the Alabama Dance Festival. They have been for years at the forefront of meshing video and dance in very creative ways, and I am sure we will greatly benefit from sharing in their experience.

Post 15: "SCAENA LUMINARIA" IDEA POSTPONED...

  Well, the decision was made to keep Light Dreams all outside the same as last year, and that may be next year if everything is right I would get to do something inside…

  That puts an effective stop on this blog for the moment, and I am starting a new blog about the preparation of "Light Dreams 2013":

                 http://luxsomnia2014.blogspot.com

   I will hopefully come back to this next year...