PP1: Experiments in Synchromism

In this first plunge into Isadora, my main goal was to get to know the program through experiments in seeing. Using ‘synchronism’ as a guide (an art movement that draws analogies between color and music), I focused on orchestrating colors and the pacing between shapes. 

In the first scene, there are three elements at play: the pink transformer emerging from the depths, a green pulsing square sponge, and a blurry animated layer that gently envelops the two. [CG mentioned that the shapes had an organic feel, this may have something to do with the way they ‘breathe.’] The pacing of each shape was an important part of this scene, as a response to the prompt’s challenge of 20 seconds. I felt that if I could let the viewer watch the emerging pink transformer with anticipation, they would get the idea that you have to ‘wait and see’ rather than assume the loop will continue. In the programming, there was a wave generator altering color (+alpha), scale, and facets.

In the second scene, which was meant to be a continuation of the play of pacing, I encountered some technical difficulties (which Alex helped to resolve!) I wanted to create a prism where each square undulated at a subtly different speed so that they would influence the color of the next layer. You would ideally see all the layers in an unending loop, it sounded like a harp in my head. This worked for a good while until I created a new scene and then everything synched to one pulse, erasing the careful layering I had done earlier. Having spent so much time on that, I felt quite frustrated and gave up. The programming for this section comprised of a multitude of squares using wave generator influencing color + alpha. I placed each square so they would overlap with three vertically and three horizontally. Next time, I’ll make the squares very small rather than overlap so they act like pixels.

To be continued.

Conclusion: I learned a lot! I love the suggestion of the class to arrive at a place of clarity. Perhaps, another shape could emerge that is an amalgamation of the prism. I also really enjoyed seeing everyone’s interpretation of the prompts and was particularly impressed by the imaginative storytelling in every project. Kudos!

Pressure Project 1: Square Race

My idea for this project came about when I was considering how to create a drama that held viewers’ attention for at least 30 seconds. So I thought, why not create a race?

When the “Go!” button in the control panel is pressed, the race starts!

5 squares of differing colors race against each other, and the result varies every time the race is run. By far the most involved part of the project was the creation of the algorithm that propels each square. In the end, I settled on this:

The heart of the algorithm is just a straightforward ramp envelope. The square is simply moved slowly across the screen over the course of 30 seconds. The random, back-and-forth movement of the squares comes from the addition of random numbers to the envelope. I used a smoother on the random values to make the random movement of the square smooth rather than jumpy. A comparator is used to determine if the square is at any point the winner — if the horizontal position of the square (equal to the envelope output plus the random output from the smoother) is at any point greater than or equal to 49, the comparator’s condition is met, and it triggers a jump actor that changes the scene to the “victory screen” for the corresponding color (just some text):

While the outcome of the race is in fact random and changes every time, in truth, due to the nature of the algorithm, the first 29 seconds or so of the race don’t impact the result whatsoever. This is because the random number generator that determines the current random displacement of the square does not take into account the previous random displacement of the square. This also means that the race will always be perceived as “neck and neck” and “anyone’s race to win” until the final second, further escalating the drama of the situation. I think this gives the race appropriate casino machine vibes — an elaborate, meaningless show to create anticipation for an outcome that is actually only determined in a brief moment.

One thing I didn’t get around to adding were audio effects and music. I wanted to add a starting gun noise that played when “Go!” was pressed, some anticipation-building music that played during the race, and a victory fanfare for each square. If I were to do this again, I would definitely add these things.

Reflection on PP1

One of my goals for this project was to create an automatic transformation that keeps changing its shape randomly. So, my agenda was how to build a loop circuit which never repeat the same motion.

Firstly, I made some looping structures; Wave actor automatically loops so it was useful. Envelope actor has the ending point, but I found that if I connect end trigger to start trigger, it forms a loop circuit. Then, I can put Trigger Delay or the other Envelope actor to make the loop more complex.

Here’s an example of a looping part.

The next task was to insert some randomness. Random actor was one of the solutions, for sure. But I also used the differences between frequencies to make transitions seems random (it’s not actually random as different pitches make a long period loop, but it behaves like random on our eyes at least).

Here’s example; I used three Wave actors to change RGB values. As each frequency is different, the whole color transition seems random.

I found some actors to adjust values. For example, to make a star shaped polygon (an offset regular polygon) whose facets randomly change, I had to convert values generated by Random actor into integer even numbers. I used Float to Integer actor to get integer numbers and connect it to Calculator actor which multiplies it by 2 to make even numbers.

Throughout those process, I slowly realized that what Isadora’s chart of actors actually represents is definitely coding; accepting triggers, convert input values into outputs, and send values or signals to the next lines.

Also, it reminded me of building an electric circuit; make a loop of multiple signals by connecting modules.

For me, rather than a final output on Stage monitor (I’m certainly satisfied with it for sure), the realization of this sense (Isadora is coding/circuit building) was the biggest achievement.

Pressure Project 1: Sunrise

For Pressure Project 1, I created a short scene of a moon setting that transitioned into a sunrise using Isadora.

Step 1: The Idea

Coming up with an idea for this project was probably one of the hardest parts for me because I did not have any ideas when I first sat down to work, but after a few minutes of playing around in Isadora, I started to come up with ideas.

Step 2: Iteration

My first idea started with colored rectangles that I wanted to have change colors over time, so I started working on rectangle placement. While working, I got another idea that excited me more than the one I was working on and scrapped the original concept. This new idea was going to play with negative space and would be entirely in black and white. I spent a lot of time working on trying to make the very first scene look the way I wanted, with a half black, half white circle on an opposing black and white background, but the split color circle ate up way too much time and I didn’t end up getting it to work the way I was hoping. From the ashes of the circle rose another idea: a sunset.

Step 3: Sun and Moon

In the time that I had left with this project, I started by making one of the circles yellow with an orange outline and deleted the extra one. Then I started to play with the position of the sun in the sky, making sure the action was not happening too fast, as sunrise is a naturally slower transition. Next, I used the Envelope Generator++ and Color Maker RGBA actors to make the color of the sky change from black to a pink-orange, making sure that this was happening in sync with the change in position of the sun. To add another element to my project, I created a new scene with a light yellow circle on a black background that would be a moon. I made the action of the moon going down slightly slower than that of the sunrise and I also added a TT Polka Dot GLSL Shader actor in an attempt to give the look of stars, though I did not end up having time to adjust this very much.

Step 4: Timing

Figuring out the timing of everything in this project took a lot of time. Coordinating the sun rising with the background color change, making sure the action wasn’t happening too slow or too fast, coordinating this with the timing of the mood falling, then adjusting the transition between the two scenes was more of a challenge than expected. If one of my elements was off by a couple seconds, then something looked off, so I spent what time I had left adjusting timing on several actors. I finished off the project by adding a button to start the show, as I forgot how to make it loop, but I did remember how to quickly program a start button.

Isadora File & Screen Capture

Reflection

I feel like this pressure project overall was a good introduction to both Isadora and the idea of a pressure project. While I did choose to mostly use actors we had already discussed in class, I do think there was enough time to play around with unfamiliar actors as well. Most of my time was spent on playing with Isadora and working on ideas that came before this one, but I don’t consider that to have been a waste of my time. To me, this time spent on elements that did not end up in my final project was spent equally as well because the final product is just an iteration of my previous ideas. I would have liked to do a little more, but I am happy with my project overall.

PP1: Good Morning, Boredom

Below is a recording of my “finalized” Pressure Project 1 output:

The Creation

I originally had the idea for a DVD-like screensaver creation about an hour into my work on a completely different idea. I hadn’t fallen in love with it, but had sank a decent amount of time in it. It involved hexagons of various sizes popping up into view, revealing a picture I had taken underneath. While trying to move one of the hexagons across the screen, it shot in a diagonal all the way into the top right corner. I instantly felt a dopamine hit since it reminded me of watching the DVD screensaver as a kid and waiting for it to hit a corner. I immediately switched course and started working on getting a square to bounce around the screen in a way where it wouldn’t immediately hit the corner.

Above is a screenshot of the user actor for the shape acting as the DVD logo itself. By using the triangle wave in the wave generator, I was able to make the square “bounce.” It took me some time to figure out how to keep the square changing color only at the moments where it hit the sides, and I still don’t think that part works every time. I used the HSBA Color Maker actor to help randomize the color each time.

While I knew I could probably hold 30 seconds of the audience’s attention (or at least my own attention) with just the screensaver, I thought it would be interesting to subvert expectations by adding another square. I also wanted to incorporate randomness somehow, so I made the other squares move around and change color randomly.

Above is a picture of scene 6, where all of the boxes appear and start moving around the screen. After playing with the “meat” of it for probably around 4-5 hours, I added the beginning and ending. I ended up picking Singin’ in the Rain for the movie framing device since it’s seen as a classic–everyone knows “Good Morning”–and I liked the idea of having a song being paused in the middle. It also helped add the feeling of nostalgia I was going for since it’s an older movie. Below is a video of my Isadora screen while the action played.

The Performance

After six hours of working on a project, I tend to get stuck in the role of creator and have a hard time seeing things from an outside perspective. I’ll admit that I worked on the whole things in two sittings (which was not a great idea in retrospect). By the time I was “done,” I was so immersed in my work that I had no idea if it even made sense anymore. This wasn’t a great feeling, but in a way, it made the experience of watching the class during the performance much more rewarding. I suddenly was able to see the piece in a new light, especially since people were so vocal with their reactions.

CG’s point about the first square going on the hero’s journey resonated with my original thought; once I’d created the other squares, I realized that I had made a main character and edited the rest of the project to reflect that. What Arvcuken said about it being a “series of interruptions” also stuck out to me. I had a hard time summarizing the piece, but that was an eloquent and accurate way to put it.

Finally, the class’ guttural reaction to the first time the screensaver showed up was awesome to watch as the creator of the piece. While I was hoping for more of a lighthearted response, it was in a way rewarding to see the sudden frustration everyone felt knowing that the box would take a while to hit the corner. Even though it wasn’t a positive feeling, I enjoyed getting to see such a large reaction over what I had made. I also apologize for making something so frustrating–once I saw it I couldn’t pass it up.

Bump: Tamryn McDermott “Collective Play”

I am bumping Tamryn’s project: “Collective Play.” I appreciate that she included feedback from her peers and how she might incorporate the feedback later. The feedback also provides additional documentation of people’s experience of the project beyond video and photo.

Bump: “Cycle 3: Puzzlr Final” by Juan Torres Brenes LaRoche

This project really captured my interests as its bridge between digital programing and physical action (puzzle game) is what I want to pursuit in my creation.

The article describes the author’s struggles and achievements in designing and building puzzle units which had to contains electric components while it works as puzzle plates.

As I work on building robots or machines in my art, I could understand how it was difficult to make it functional both physically and electrically (and aesthetically!).

The author’s idea and realization of synching the physical puzzling action at a player’s hands and the reflected image on a monitor is fascinating because it beautifully bridges the relationship between the body of a player and a digitally designed system.

Bump: Cycle III – Bar: Mapped by Alec Reynolds

This project is fascinating to me because of its ability to take an ordinary experience like going to a bar and elevate it into more of a unique and interactive experience. Usually, venues are mostly background settings, but in this project, the venue becomes its own character. In Alec’s post he mentioned how the end product wasn’t what he initially envisioned, but I still found the video to be interesting.

Link: https://dems.asc.ohio-state.edu/?p=3384