Project 2: Shoe Mapping; Ysatis Muniz

Concept:

For my projection, I went for a rock vibe. Shoe ads usually have an upbeat vibe and make you kind of excited, so I wanted to go for the same vibe, except with a bit of an edge. 

Process:

First I watched the MadMapper videos and put extra focus on the masking ones and lines with the bezier function. I also watched a video based on scenes and cues. After I watched these videos, I set up a brown bed sheet on my desk since I had nothing black that was big enough. I held it up with some thumbtacks and I picked my black high-top converse to use for the project. I set the shoe in the middle of the desk and then I set up my projector on the tripod.

 I opened MadMapper and had trouble trying to figure out how to connect my output to my projector. Once I got it connected, I projected a grid onto my shoe to figure out where/how close to place my projector. Once I had that figured out, I started mapping onto my shoe with masks. I created different layers which consisted of my main outline of the shoe, the bottom white part of the shoe, the circle of the converse logo, the outline of this circle, the star inside of it, the outline of this star, the two circles in the middle of the shoe near the bottom, and the lines where we can see where the shoe is sewn. I made these masks with line, the ellipse mask, and the quad mask. I also used mesh warping to conform to the shoe. After I made the masks, I had to decide which song I wanted to do my project with because I couldn't start doing a design/cue before I knew what kind of song I was associating it with. I decided to go with a more rock, upbeat type of song because that's the kind of vibe that I get from converse. I then proceeded to go through my "hype emo songs" playlist (...yup no ragrets) and was in between A Match Into Water by Pierce The Veil and Kick Me by Sleeping With Sirens. I ended up going for the latter. I then proceeded to do my cues. After I finished my cues, I decided to manually control the timing of the cues. So, before recording I decided to practice a couple of times to make sure that I got the timing right. After I finished practicing, I tried recording it on my computer, but the quality wasn't that great and you couldn't really see one of my cues. So, I tired recording with my phone, which yielded better results. However, I only have one tripod, and that was being used for the projector. Therefore, I had to hand record it, which is why the shoe was kind of moving in the video. 

Interpretation:

I wanted to make my cues go along with the song/beats, so I did a few different cues. Since thecover art for the song has a red background (and I kind of associate red with rock) I wanted to include red in my compositions. 

I also tried to do cues where there was a lot of movement because the song is pretty upbeat. For my first cue, it was only melody/the beginning of the sound so I wanted to make it calm yet suspenseful, so I did the siren movement on the shoe. It also reminded me of those old counting down transitions where the number is in the middle of the circle and then in a circular motion a clock-like hand wipes off the number and continues to the next number.

 Anyways, I thought that this motion was perfect for the beginning of the song and composition. For every hard beat (I don't know how else to describe it) I wanted to do a static cue, so I only did solid colors. For a large portion of the composition, I had a voice effect that reminds me of the music video "Do I Wanna Know?" by the Artic Monkeys. 

They're considered rock, so I wanted to do the same thing on the shoe. I also connect this voice effect to loudness, so I thought that this was perfect for the song. For one of my cues, it has flashing motions. I included this cue in the part of the song where the drums, guitar, and singing come together harshly. I included flashing at this part because it feels like adrenaline and it reminds me of being in a concert where everything is overstimulating. The following cue I also related it to being in a concert, because I included a kind of light beam that you usually see at a concert.

 For the next cue, I also included a lot of movement and a bit of flashing to keep that concert feel. For the rest of my composition I reuse the cues that I have already done. I used the beginning cue as my last cue because the song slowed down a little and therefore is more calm, and it was also the end of the chorus. Overall, I wanted my projection to give off a sort of concert feel to it.

Akhil Mulukutla Project 1

Concepts: For this project, I went down to a nearby high school, Heritage High School and took pictures of the walls that would render well and had enough detail to learn to mask. The walls are tall and have certain details such as doors and windows that made it a bit tricky. Some of the compositions are extreme while others were a bit more subtle. I let the natural colors of the wall peek through in order to make it more realistic.

 

Techniques: I used quads for most of the flat surfaces in the pictures. Beyond that, I masked any doors, windows, or external detail. I also used mesh warping to conform the quads to the walls. Because I used my Iphone camera the pictures all had a slight fish-eye effect that I did my best to correct. All other tools used include opacity, color and scale to get it as neat as possible

 

Interpretations: For my inspiration, I used science fiction and fantasy examples. One that might be noticeable is the wall shifting composition with the two doors. I really like the scene from Harry Potter where the wall shifts away and noticed that the technique is used in many other films. My version has the wall dripping much like a hologram or rubber material making it seem more whimsical. The same technique is used in the wall with windows on it but with a different design. The first composition is the one I put a different spin on, mainly to see if the program worked with angles. I set quads on both sides of the building to see if they would work together as one, and to my surprise they worked perfectly. I applied multiple effects to this composition to get a scope of how I can layer these effects.

 

Ari Aronoff: Project 01 Backdrop Mapping

        Concept: For this project, I decided to create an idea I had while ago: moving posters *wow*. Personally, I am a big fan of anime as I have several anime posters in my room. There's a word commonly used in associated with anime, "Sakuga" (作画) which translates to "drawing pictures", but is more colloquially used to describe high quality animation. So, for this project, I took some sakuga moments from my favorite animes and mapped them onto posters in my room with some flashy backgrounds.

        Techniques: Since this was the first project and my first time mapping something, and I procrastinate, I decided to keep it simple this time around. The composition contained 3 main quads, two for the walls and one for the poster. On the quads that mapped the wall, I had to spend some time meticulously masking out my computer and desk area as it was not part of the projection. As for the poster, I used a quad to cover up an existing poster on the wall then mapped sakuga footage onto the quad. I also feathered the edges of them to try and get them to blend better with their respective background.

        Interpretation: 

            Comp 1 - Neon Genesis Evangelion: Neon Genesis has been one of my favorite shows since the very first time I watched it. The scene I used is from the very last episodes where Shinji, the protagonist, has the realization that the world isn't as depressing as he thought it was (or something like that, this version of the ending sucks). During this final sequence he disassociates into the clouds and transforms...from cel animation to pencil animation. While most people hated the penciled frames of the final episode, I enjoyed the small details of the artistry. So, for this composition I tried to create the same cloudy and floaty feel the show did while having the sakuga animation as a poster.

            Comp 2 - Devilman Crybaby: Stylistically, Devilman is easily my favorite anime. Made by my favorite director, Masaaki Yuasa, this netflix original took anime into a whole new direction. The clip I used is from the opening sequence of the show, which on first watch I did not like as it only grew on me recently. I decided on this clip because of the symmetry it had between the two walls I used. 

            Comp 3 - Jujustu Kaisen: Currently my favorite on going show, Jujustu Kaisen brings style and animation onto a whole other level for modern anime. This scene is particular I screamed out loud when I watched it for the first time because the triple kick animation was just that good. The background I tried my hardest to match the main color scheme of the clip to the one of the madmapper video presets.

NUNO SERGIO - PROJECT 1

Concept: For this assignment, I chose to come up with three different designs that I would personally like in my room. Each composition includes a design dedicated to 3 of my favorite characters from the anime, Naruto.

 

 

Techniques: The techniques that were used on this project were all pretty straight forward. I did basic masking for the door, television and the prism on the corner. I also had to mesh warp the quad on the prism because it was a bit uneven. The prism wasn’t necessarily triangle nor was it a perfect square and needed tweaking. Most of the rest of my process included editing bits of mp4 files and manipulating the colors of these files by messing around with the FX tab and blend modes. I also added lines to the siding of my room and corner prism to define the edges better. 

 

Interpretation:

 

Composition #1: This composition is of one of the many villains in the series, Itachi Uchiha. For this composition, I went with a red monochromatic palette to symbolize the dark person he appears to be in the show. This color palette and the black outlines I made on the crows also were my attempt to recreate one of his jutsu he uses while in battle called, Tsukuyomi.

 

Composition #2: This composition is of Naruto’s sensei, Kakashi Hatake. The idea for this one was really simple. Along with the short animation of him on the main wall, I wanted to surround him with a lot of lightning. I felt it was only right since his overpowered move, the chidori, is also known as the “Lightning Blade.”

 

Composition #3: This composition is probably the most simple, but it is my favorite. It is dedicated to main protagonist, Naruto, and in my opinion, is the most aesthetically pleasing piece I am showcasing. The colors chosen are because of his orange clothing and the nine tailed fox, which lives within him.*Special thanks to my friend, Vanessa Sotelo for her letting me use her artwork :)

Samuel Estep: Projection 1 Background Mapping

 

Concept:

I enjoy wimmelbilders, which are a form of art showcasing large, highly detailed and complex scenes packed full of stuff (stuff like Where’s Waldo).  Originally, I imagined trying to turn everyday surfaces into theses sorts of packed scenes, however I realized that would take far too much time to complete.  My solution was to use a game called Factorio to generate the scene. Factorio is a logistics game all about managing resources, making sure they get where they need to, and most importantly, launching a satellite into space. 

Techniques:

In order to properly space out objects in the scene I had to measure the various features in the image I was working from and then map them out in-game.  Then, I used masks to help clean up anything out-of-place and let smaller objects appear in front of the projection.

Interpretation:

When I decided to use Factorio to create the scene I wanted to create a factory capable of producing both the parts needed to launch a rocket and every research pack in the game, while also stuffing it into the confines of the surface it was being projected on.  Creating a factory capable of launching a rocket isn’t very difficult.  Neither is creating a small factory capable of launching a rocket, or a handful of science packs.  However, combine both launching the rocket AND producing every science pack and I ran ou
t of space.

 

AJ Silverman: Projection 1 Background Mapping

Concept

    The backdrop is a photo I took on the UTD campus, under the main library entrance. The theme is sci-fi space station, which took heavy influence from the video game Sonic Adventure 2. I wanted to take advantage of projecting onto both the wall and the ceiling to create a more three-dimensional illusion. The stairs and their guard rails are projected onto clearly in order to avoid a hypothetical tripping hazard.

Technique

    The star animation was created in Processing, and utilizes a number of techniques to simulate movement through space, though the program itself is entirely two-dimensional. The program was recorded and exported as mp4 before being imported into MadMapper. The video is looped and reversed to create a seamless animation.

    The stairs and rails are lines. The steps are grouped so that they can be animated together, and the same goes for the middle rail.

Interpretation

    I wanted to capture the feelings I had when I was in middle school playing Sonic Adventure 2 on my GameCube. It had such a strange specific aesthetic I wanted to capture, which is what the first scene is focused on. The second scene aims to capture the feeling of floating through space without any attachments, formless and timeless. The third scene highlights the structure itself, bringing attention back to the physical realm and down from the stars. Ultimately, the future of technology is one big unknown. One day we may live in space, and it's fun to imagine what that would be like.

Cameron Steele: Projection 1 Backdrop Mapping

Concept:

For the entire span of this project, I wanted to explore audio-reactive surfaces. As, I hope to continue building on this idea, eventually building a procedural audio visualization system. This attempt was not very ambitious as I wanted to use the various layer types (Quad, Line, Masks) and become familiar with using them.

My location is the corner of the UTD Mall next to The Founders Building.

Technique:

I wanted to use very energetic music with a lot of diverse sounds, to do this I used clips from mixes from my friends over at Wakaan records and a colleague who makes 3d animations. I focused my time on seamlessly integrating video clips without the jarring way that making a video clip a surface normally entails. I played with the various Audio reactivity features and found that using treble as a variable made the most sense when syncing graphics to audio. With some tweaking, I was able to produce my final result.

Interpretation:

There is so much more I could have done, but I came away with a ton of knowledge on audio control and can't wait to apply it to other projects.