Post 7: New Ideas

   I spent a good while today surfing the Net for interesting 3D videos. mapping, etc... And I did find several interesting and inspiring ideas.
    The most exciting is probably the series of 4 videos made for Sony as part of the "Great Films Fill Rooms" advertising campaign for the X-Box:
           Part1         Part 2        Part 3      Making Of

   It's a collaboration between two extremely creative British Studios,  MARSHMALLOW LASER FEAST , and 
THE FOUND COLLECTIVE. 
    These guys are incredible, and collaborated on several other inspiring and "Beyond State of the Art" projects, like  "Mc Laren vs Aerodynamics".

    Other fascinating projects involving light by the Found Collective were LISTEN WATCH, PLAY, also for Sony Entertainment(using a gazillion fluorescent tubes, and dozens of monitors):

 and SHAKIRA'S CONCERT VISUALS:

    Another great clip I ran across was a 3D introduction to Michael Jackson's Thriller song for his stage show, where he is actually playing most of the ghouls... 

    Even though I am not so crazy about the result, I was also very interested and inspired by the concept of this Gloria 3D Music Video. A similar "room"(use 3D glasses) could be recessed into the facade of Alys, with hopefully better visual and sound(the song is really pretty awful...):

Post 6: Various Failed Tests

    The 3D effect I got by using a pair of stereo cameras in After Effects placed at a location straight above the center of the projected image is reasonably effective, but the problem is that the images have to be slanted at a roughly 45 degrees angle to be seen by the vertical cameras:

So the space they move in is not a true square x,y,z 3D space, the z axis is slanted, and that makes it impossible to visualize what the spectator will see while working within After Effects. The two camera views have to be rendered, assembled as an Anaglyph, and viewed at an angle from the narrow end on a horizontal monitor with cardboard glasses in order to know what the spectator will see:

          This makes it very slow to work because of the necessary back and forth adjustments.

    Also, "not quite 3d objects" created in Photoshop 5 (like the globe) look fine, but true 3D objects like the  cube cannot be used because their perspective ends up wrong, the cameras and the spectator being in different locations and viewing at a different angle:

     I tried to use the stereo rig built in After Effects CC so I could visualize the final anaglyph directly in AE as I worked, but it is set up in a horizontal format, and the anaglyph I need has to be in a vertical format, so I ended up with a cropped partial image:

    I tried to place the cameras at the spectator location, and got a great 3D  effect:

    I suppose I could project from that angle, and get a more or less oblong and rectangular image on the ground, but the projector would be behind the spectators, so they would cast a shadow, and I doubt the depth of field would be enough to get the image in focus front to back. Not to mention the light fall off front to back and the parallax concerns. 
   To project from above, I have to distort the images both in perspective and anamorphically into a rectangular vertical 1920x1080 format . The final anaglyph looks 3D alright, but the ground appears slanted down(you need to look at this image with the glasses and the monitor laid down flat):

   So, unless I get a new better idea, looks like I am pretty much stuck with my original imperfect hybrid slanted flat object perspective... Even if I could easily make 3D objects with Leonar3do, I couldn't use them in a ground projection. Bummer!

Post 5: Leonardo, Hope for Easy 3D?

    I discovered an interesting new gizmo a couple of days ago, one that gives me hope for an easier way to work in 3D. But It doesn't seem to be quite yet available for sale. 
    It's called Leonar3do. Looks like it makes it possible to skip learning Maya or Cinema 4D, and manipulate a 3D blob into something just by pulling and pushing at it with the weird BIRD input device:

    The demos are quite amazing, and I would love to play with it. There is no price list out yet, but I heard talk of about $500 for the hardware and drivers. Then they have several levels of Software depending on needs, and a Home Edition is supposed to be available soon. Can't wait!

Post 4:Trying to make it better

   Now that I know I can get real 3D depth to the ground projection, I want to make it better and more exciting. Several things can be improved.
   First, the "collapsed ground" can be more interesting and more realistic, not just a cutout in the ground, but have thickness around the edges with dirt showing, roots hanging, etc... I was on my daily walk this morning in an industrial neighborhood, and found a grungy run down section of asphalt I liked a lot:

To have better detail for a bird's eye view, I shot 3 rows of 6 details holding the camera high above my head. I straightened the perspective and put all those together in the computer to make a detailed bird's eye view of the section of asphalt I called ROAD X that I will import in After Effects to replace the cobblestones:

I then proceeded to cut out the hole for the collapsed road:

   To create a realistic animation of the road falling in, I will have to create a number of frames starting with with a small hole getting bigger and bigger, and pieces of asphalt falling down the hole in 3D, ideally built in 3D and rotating in x,y,z space. It will take time, but I can probably do that. It is easy enough to create simple shapes(boxes, balls, cylinders, flat angular slabs, etc...) and apply the kind of weathered textures I like to them.
   It is much harder to make a realistic frog or dog in 3D. Most of the models I have seen are rather crude and unrealistic. It is certainly possible to create extremely realistic ones, as "Ratatouille" and other animated movies have shown, I just don't have either the skill, the time, nor the team of hundreds of computer geek/artists to do it for me... Bummer!
    So I will have to use a mix of 3D and 2D objects moving in 3D space.

Post 3: Testing the 3D Ground Projection Concept

   I assembled from a texture a bird's eye view of a cobblestone street. I then cut out an irregular opening in it making it look like it fell in. I found a great sepia image of an underground railway tunnel, and imported them all in AfterEffects, as well as my usual bulldog, green snake, green frogs and wax cat. Making things work in 3D was easy, but getting it to work as a 3D anaglyph was a little trickier... After fiddling with the position in space and the angle of the images, it began to look pretty good.
  I added the image of a locomotive on the rails, a coupe of bats(one flying way above the street surface, the other way below in the underground tunnel, it got even better. 
   I am working sideways in After Effects, so to make it work, I had to create my own 3D stereo rig:

    To create the 3D effect, the images of the various objects have to be at about a 30 degrees angle to the horizontal plane of the street, and have to be  stretched anamorphically so the final view from the spectator standpoint is more or less correct. The projected images are distorted.

   To test the 3D effect, I had to render the left and right eye image separately in After Effects, and then put them together as an Anaglyph in Photo Stereo Maker. To see it, you will need red/cyan anaglyph glasses, put your monitor flat on the table, and look at it at a roughly 30 degrees angle:

Post 2: GENERAL IDEAS

     We had a meeting with Jessica, Adam and Randy the other day to brainstorm about the project, review what could be improved, and discuss new ideas and concepts.
    We considered and rejected the idea of moving the main projection surface to face the street. But we retained the idea of expanding the Festival area to include the portion of 10th avenue facing the Alys Stevens Center, since the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts will be opened by then and will be a wonderful backdrop and potential projection surface. This would require asking the city to close the street to traffic and turn off more street lights. That would also expand the Festival Area considerably. 
   We also floated the idea of renting the Red Cross dome for projection and silent disco. 
  I proposed doing as much of the show as possible in 3D, which has not been done yet as far as I know for architectural projection.
   I also proposed a ground projection inspired by a show done in Belgium called "Fiere Margriet". This show was in 2D and gave a great illusion of depth. I would like to push it even further and do it in 3D. I suppose it really could be done anywhere on the grounds of the Festival if we either use a light colored concrete area, or lay down a piece of fabric and set up my 5K projector on a tall pole directly above the middle of one of the long sides, as long as we somehow restrain the viewing public to one narrow end of the rectangle:

  I have done a very preliminary tentative layout on a Google Map:

Post 1: GOING AHEAD WITH LUX SOMNIA 2014

       I have been working on ideas since the beginning   of summer not knowing whether there would be a 2014 edition of Light Dreams. Most of the ideas where presented on a blog called SCAENA LUMINARIA: STAGE LIGHTS .

  The main idea I developed was to bring the "BIG SHOW" indoors, for various reasons I explain in the blog, and create a Stage Show with a set, front and rear projection, EL wire and LED costumes, etc...
  I have also been working on 3D video with a small 3D camcorder, and the possibility to do Architectural Projection in 3D. This research was documented on a dedicated blog called VIDEO-3D, and showed we would likely have to use with Anaglyph 3D.
  Since the decision was made that the Show would instead retain the same outdoors format next year, I am starting this new blog dedicated to the development of ideas and the production of LUX SOMNIA:LIGHT DREAMS 2014.