Technical issues

The last few days I have been trying to create my next projection mapping experiment. I had an idea to create a short advert based on converse trainers. The idea comes from the fact that converse will let you design your own trainers on their website. I thought I could put a variety of design on a single trainer within a thirty second period as though it was an advert for tv. I had began to map out a few parts of the trainer and decided to check how this projected onto the trainer and to see how it matched up with sizes etc. The image produced did not match the real trainer, this has created a problem for me as the map doesn't fit correctly. I have realised that I must use projecting software to correct this issue and have now looked a a few versions.
Free demo versions such as vpt7 and mad mapper are the most accessible. Vpt7 threw up instant issues in that it wouldn't seem to upload any of my own videos. Madmapper took a little time to work out, I still cannot work out hoe to use multiple videos in the same shot. However this software could be used for the trainer projection as I can play around with the images and even warp them if need be. The main issue with Madmapper is that it is for Mac only, I have aMac at home but I don't have a cable which allows me to connect it directly to the projector. This is something I have now ordered and will continue with when it arrives.
The other week I went and spent a few hours with the team who are doing the projection mapping project for BMW as part of professional project. I wanted to see how they used the software Resolume and how this worked using two projectors. This was very interesting and the team were very helpful in showing me how they set up and in their discussions about creating the animations.
The image below show the problems with mapping the trainer, I am glad I checked at this point as it has allowed me to order the necessary parts required for me to continue.

Experiment No 3

My previous experiments have taught me things about both mapping and animation. For this third experiment I wanted to look at the projecting side of things. What could I project onto/through?
I wanted to see if I could carry out live projections, my initial idea was to create art using alcohol inks. These inks mix themselves and are interesting to watch. I tried this using a perspex box with the projector placed underneath with the light facing my ceiling. With an acetone sheet on top which I dropped the inks onto. This never worked out as expected and appeared blurry.
I had an idea to use a kaleidoscope but never had one so I made a short animation from my alcohol ink images to create something like a kaleidoscope. I wanted to use this on a mirror and also through smoke. I realised that this experiment was more about surfaces etc than animation so I found royalty free stock videos to use for this experiment.
The mirror seemed to give more depth to the images projected onto it although this is not so visible in the final video. Also good to see that it is possible to project onto multiple surfaces with one projection. Also seen how certain images react to corners, i.e. wall/ceiling junction.
The smoke was made by simply putting lit cigarettes in a bowl inside the perspex box. This went really well with some interesting results. This worked best when the first cigarette was lit as the smoke was more distinctive in shape and form. This could be something I could use again in future, not sure exactly what for but I will remember doing it. There are videos on vimeo showing the components and also a final video. The links are below.

https://vimeo.com/122996976

https://vimeo.com/123292649

Video blogs for Components of experiments No 1 and No 2

I have realised that writing a blog doesn't really explain many parts of my experiments. This has made me decide to also create vlogs for each of the experiments. These will hopefully show more of what has been involved in each of the video, where my ideas came from and should add a bit more depth to what I write about in my blog. The first of these video blogs can be seen on the links below and detail the two experiments so far. In future I think I may add these to each of the finished video but I will just need to wait and see with file sizes etc.

https://vimeo.com/122831620

https://vimeo.com/122833910

experiment No 2

This experiment began with a thought about the clock in my kitchen. My initial thoughts were to use the cogs within the clock to show it working, then I felt that this seemed to obvious. I began thinking about what time is, to me time is an illusion, it is something man has created. So this made me want to try an optical illusion on the clock face. This is done in the form of a dots moving in a circular motion although they only really move in straight lines between two points. For this experiment I also wanted to try some new stuff in after effects and just see where it went really. Big Ben tied in with the time concept although the rest is probably more to do with the circular motion. This piece of work is not something I am entirely happy with although I did learn a great deal about working within after effects. I found that it seemed to work better exporting each element as separate films then composed together again to create the final piece. This also turned into more of an animation than a mapping project, this is something I must consider for my next experiment as I want to concentrate more on the mapping and projecting side of things. The link for the video is shown below.

https://vimeo.com/122136229

Experiment No 1

Been a while! Was waiting several weeks to get money and order the projector and video camera required to carry out this project. Done my first experiment about 10 days ago, titled fire and water. The idea came about when I was looking at the fireplace in my living room and wondered if I could make it appear as if flames were coming from it.
This then lead me to think of fire's opposite water and wondered if I could use both elements in the same projection. Something then came to me that both could potentially come from clouds in the form of rain and lightning could cause fire.
I used royalty free stock footage of clouds and the old style timer at the beginning, the rest of the effects were all created using After Effects. The water, fire and lightning were created using particle effects and I used a photo of the fireplace to help create masks on each of the effects. There are some issues with the final piece, mainly concerning timings with music, the pace of the whole piece is rather slow. There are some small areas which have not mapped correctly but overall I am pleased with this experiment especially as it was the first. The reason I have left it so long between the creating and blogging was just to see what comments I received on Behance which have been positive. The link below shows the final piece.

https://vimeo.com/120308343