Cycle 2 documentation
Posted: November 22, 2022 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Since Cycle 1, I used Cinema 4D to create the final 3D cloth models I’m going to use for the installation, setting up Kinect and Isadora working in the Motion Lab, experimenting with projection spots, learning how to project in the first place, and I’ve also been modifying the Isadora patch based on the Motion Lab environment. One of the main changes I made is to have 4 separate scenes every minute at least. A big part of this process was optimizing the models in 3DS Max since the program has a maximum number of polygon faces that can be exported and my original models were much bigger than that:
At the time of the Cycle 2 presentation, my visuals were still in progress since I am learning how to make materials in 3DS Max which is the program I have to use because that’s the only format Isadora supports. But my vision for all the materials is to be non-shiny, like the first two scenes
…which was also the feedback I got from the critique – scene number 2 was the most visually pleasing one, and I have to figure out how to edit the shiny materials on the other objects (scenes 3 and 4) this week.
During Cycle 2 I decided I want the projection to be on the main curtain at the front of the Motion Lab and I liked the scale of the projected models, but I need to remove the Kinect-colored skeletons from the background and have the background just be black.
The feedback from the critique also included experimenting further with introducing some more forms of movement to the cloth which I already tried but it was kind of laggy and patchy so I think once I learn how to control the skeleton numbers and output better I could use this to also expand the ways in which I can make the models move, and then I’ll experiment with having them move a little on the projection horizontally and vertically instead of just scaling along the Z-axis.
Next steps:
My main next step is to keep working on modifying the Isadora patch since it is really confusing to figure out which numbers are best to use based on the skeleton tracking outputs, I’m thinking I might switch back to using brightness/darkness inputs for some scenes since I liked how much more sensitive the cloth models were when I was using that. But I will first experiment with utilizing the skeleton data more efficiently. I am also going to polish the layout and materials of the 3rd and 4th scenes, and I think I’m happy with how the first and second scenes are looking, they just need some interaction refining. On Tuesday I am also going to work on setting up the Kinect to be much further from the computer, in front of the participants.
I am also going to render some animations I have of these same cloth models and try importing them into the Isadora patch in addition to the interactive models to see how that combination looks in the projections.