Post 15: 3D within 3D?

   The problem at this stage with the ground projection is that my objects look flat within the 3D space. I sure would like them to look 3D, without using full 3D software. It may actually be possible, so I tried using some of my Red/Cyan Phantograms in After Effects. It does work, but a lot of distortion has to be applied to make the 3D effect look realistic, and to have the objects appear like they stand on the ground. For some reason, it is easier to make them look like they are below ground level. The bigger the object, the more difficult.

   Next test was to use different left and right images in the separate left and right camera final renderings of the sequence in After Effects.

Post 14: Monitors Setup

  I couldn't keep the projector and the 4 sheets of tile board out because of the rain, so I am testing as best as I can with my big 30" Apple monitor laid flat on boxes next to me, for which I made a black foam core hood:

Post 13: Full Scale Ground Projection Test

   I finally did a full size ground projection test last night. 
 The original small scale test in the driveway had shown that the texture of the concrete destroyed the 3D effect, so I bought 4 sheets of 4'x8' white tile board, de glossed them, and gave them a coat of 1-2-3 Primer(it's supposed to stick to everything, but unlike Kilz, it's water base, so you don't get high on fumes...). I laid them down flat on the courtyard ground with a slight overlap, so the joints would not be visible.
  I mounted the projector on a 10 ft pole sitting on a concrete ledge 9ft above, so it ended up about 20 ft above the ground:

    Since I was using the wide angle adapter, it turned out almost too high, and I had to zoom into fit the image to the 8ftx 16ft "ground screen". I will use a shorter pole next time, which will make things easier...
    I had a selection of images made especially to test the 3D Ground Projection Concept, with an underground space underneath the "street" level, and also objects on the ground and flying above the ground. 
  The results were satisfying, but showed just how tricky it is to create the illusion, working so to speak "in the dark" in After Effects (distorting the images and moving them in space with a 30 to 45 degrees backward slant), and having to render the Left and Right images and combining them in an Anaglyph to actually see the final 3D image from the spectator vantage point. Also, at this point, I am using mostly 2D objects which appear as cutouts. The challenge will be to replace them with either real modeled full 3D objects(very difficult), or at least use 3D pictures of objects(more feasible). I am actually starting to shoot a collection of those.
   There is definitely a sweet spot in the middle. When one moves sideways, the objects slant sideways, when one is too close, the objects slant back, when one is too far, the objects slant forward. The height of the viewer also affects the perspective: taller viewers see objects taller and see more depth.
    This means the viewing space will have to be clearly marked, and the rest roped off. The actual public would ideally be limited to about 6 spectators at a time, the shorter ones up front, the taller ones behind.
   That means that "the Show" has to be short,  around 3 minutes, and repeat in a loop with may be a 30 seconds blank countdown in between for the spectators to move out and others in place.

   I also tested some Phantograms which I did several years ago. More about those in my dedicated blog:
           ANAGLYPHS and PHANTOGRAMS
   They were quite effective, and that was actually the first time I saw them on that scale. 

   There could possibly be two Shows playing alternately:
    1. "The Virtual Sink Hole", with the street caving in revealing the underground, and stuff flying in and out.
    2.  "Ghost Phantasms", with objects or people appearing to stand above the ground, even float in the air. Obviously, I would create images "a little less challenging" for the Alys Stephens public...

Post 12: Something Interesting

     I ran across this image of an interactive game "hallway" installation that looked real nice:

   Not sure how it works, but I love the setup. Unfortunately, that would take 8 projectors and a Pandora box to connect them... I guess it's not for this year...

Post 11: Large Scale Water Projection

   Another thing I have been working on is a larger spraying frame for next years water projection. I would like to use a 5K projector, which should be able to cover an area about 10 ft x 18 ft. I also want the frame to be free standing, more rigid, and vertical so it can be seen from the distance.
   I am using as a base a 10 ft PVC 1" pipe with two horizontal T's and four 2ft flat "legs":

    Three of the ends are capped, the fourth is fitted with a garden hose connector. The two vertical T's are fitted with 3/4" PVC pipe with a slip connector so the direction of the spray can be adjusted:

   The nozzles are 90 degree fan screwed into holes drilled 18 to 24" apart in the side of the PVC pipes and tapped 8-32:

    Two 1/2" beige 10 ft PVC pipes are screweed at the top of the 3/4" vertical pipes, curved inward to meet at the top of the arch and are connected with a slip joint.
   I set up the sprayer for a test in my back patio. It is actually more flimsy than I expected once put together because of the height,  and will require some kind of metal support to be solid enough to stand in the middle of the street. In the meantime, I supported it with a few sticks tying it to the house. It ended up 10 ft wide and almost 18 ft tall:

    I tested the spray, and it seems OK, but I won't be able to tell till I test it tonight. The light wall and the door right behind are going to interfere with the projection,  so I need to get a black drop cloth to hang on the wall. 
    Well, even with the black drop cloth behind, it didn't work at all...I could see a dim image on the black backdrop, but couldn't get the water spray to catch it. Bummer... I suppose I need to project from the back side, with empty space behind and in front. I will set up the sprayer in another spot where I can test that Monday.

Post 10: Using the Underground Space for the Ground Projection

   In my last Ground projection Test, I used a slanted 2D image of an underground metro tunnel, and it kinda worked. But I want to try to use a real 3D underground space. The problem is that it has to be somehow slanted and distorted to be seen by the camera and rendered properly as an Anaglyph from the spectator oblique point of view.
  So I created an underground floor, added 3 columns, a dragonfly, another green frog , work signs, a compass, a coke bottle(antique), "the eye", and a wooden ladder. I had to fiddle back and forth between camera view, and Anaglyph view from an oblique angle on a flat monitor, adjusting angles, size, position, and amount of anamorphic distortion until the image looked convincing enough from the "sweet spot". This actually is the biggest problem with this kind of 3D anamorphic illusion, it can only be made perfect from one spot. Moving forward, backward or sideways alters the perspective and the illusion. 
   This is what I have now(version 9). Click for full size image, and to see it properly, wear anaglyph glasses, lay your monitor down, and look at a low angle:

     All I have left to do now is make everything move and fly around!

    But first, I want to do a full size ground projection test to determine the best position for the spectators, and choose the "sweet spot". I am afraid actual concrete is going to be too dark, too textured, and too uneven to get a bright sharp image. So I want to lay on the ground 4 sheets of masonite painted flat white. The seams can be taped with white gaffers tape. The projector will have to be way up in the air, unless I can figure out how to use a wide angle adaptor...

   Well, it works! I just stuck the wide angle adaptor for my canon G12:

in front of the projector lens, and boom, the image on the screen gets almost twice as big, with no noticeable loss of sharpness. All I have left to do is a figure out a way to hold it in place(besides duct tape...).

     That's done too, with just a few screws and two pieces of aluminum:

Post 9: Modifying the Existing Subterranian Space for Better 3D

    My first attempt was to replace the brick slices by black and white striped slices from a checkerboard pattern, but the columns came out looking 36 sided, not perfectly round.
    So I used a picture from the house downtown I did the PTTR Projection on, cut out the four top columns and used them to build a simple square column in After Effects. I found a concrete texture I repeated over and over to match the existing floor size, and placed it in the existing AE composition, as well as side walls:

   I made the Anaglyph, which looked a little washed out, so I darkened it and increased contrast and saturation with curves. It looks much better than the brick space with 3D glasses:

Post 8: Creating 3D Round Red Brick Columns in 3D Space in After Effects

   So far, in After Effects 3D space,  I have only created cubes, drawers, angular stages and square columns, which I used in both the PTTR and the Alys Stephens Architectural Mapping Shows.
   I have create textured spheres(like planets) in Photoshop CS5 and used them in After Effects CS5, and that kinda works. But but they lose their 3D quality in AE 3D space and become flat objects as far as stereoscopic 3D viewing with 2 cameras is concerned.
   CS6 and CC got rid of that function, but CC introduced a 3D plugin that included a lite version of Maxxon Cinema 4D. I was excited at first and thought my problems were solved... I have been struggling in the last few weeks to create cylinders, spheres and other non rectangular objects in Cinema 4D, and hate the software. It is the most counter intuitive interface I have ever worked with, and when I finally figured out how to make simple 3D shapes, I realized that these actually didn't appear as a full 3D layer in After Effects 3D space either, so my efforts were pretty much a waste. That was a huge disappointment. All Cinema 4D is good for really is extruded titles and 3D shapes working on their own. Back to square one!
    So I decided to forget Cinema 4D, and just try to use After Effects to create cylinders and spheres.
    I chose a weathered brick texture:

   I cut it up in 36 narrow strips, and assembled them in a circle in After Effects  3D space(x,y,z) rotating them in 10 degrees increments. It worked, and looked like a real brick column:

   So I created a very long underground room with a very large brick floor, walls, an arched ceiling made the same way of 30 long slices, and a sewer trough. I duplicated the columns in two rows. Finally, I made a brick sphere by stacking disks(basically one brick high columns) made of 36, 30 and 20 slices and top and bottom disks cut from the pattern. The disks were rotated so there would be no noticeable repeat pattern :

   I added lights and cameras, and a street sign. I am  a little puzzled by the fact that the scene takes for ever to render at full resolution, when the Activity Monitor doesn't show the processors doing much... But then again, it's an awful lots of slices and planes in a brick textured space over 15 000 pixels deep... 
   Anyhow, I was well pleased with the result for a first try, though it looks a little too much like a "virtual" video game space:

   Keep in mind that, even though the camera window is only 1920 x 1080 pixels, this is in fact a huge fully three dimensional space built within After Effect, about 2000 pixels high, 4000 pixels wide, and 17,000 pixels deep, with two receding rows of 24 columns casting shadows, an arched ceiling, and a complex brick ball.
   Stuff can be placed and moved, and the camera moved and rotated within this space. Here is another camera angle:

   OK, now how does that big 3D sewer space look in stereoscopic 3D Anaglyph with the Red/Cyan glasses? I created a 3D rig in After Effect, but for some stupid reason only Adobe knows, the only Anaglyph options available are Red/Blue, and Red/Green, which don't exist in the real world, the choice of glasses being Red/Cyan, Magenta/Green, or Blue/Amber...
   No problem, mister dummy Adobe, I will create my very own 3D rig. Anyhow, all said and done, the result looks pretty good:

    But the color is toned down because the bricks are of a reddish orange color, which is not a very good choice for Red/Cyan Anaglyph. Neutrals, yellows, purples and bright greens work best.