Pressure Project 1: Circles
Posted: January 30, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »I approached this assignment without a specific goal in mind, focusing on actors that had caught my interest during our initial exposure to the software, such as the Movie Player, Shimmer, and Wave Generator. My aim was to experiment with these actors and explore the various variables I could manipulate. That served as my starting point.
Additionally, I considered actors recommended for experimentation, like the Shape actor and Video In Watcher. Before delving into the patch, I sought visual inspiration by looking at how designers and artists utilized patterns in their work and how they went about animating them. The images I explored influenced my creative process.
After gathering inspiration, I experimented with the Shapes tool and the Wave Generator to create and animate patterns in Isadora. Upon completing my first scene, I searched for a video to use with the Movie Player actor, choosing one supplied by a classmate featuring water and bubbles. To maintain engagement, I aimed for playing with the different perceptions of circles—moving from repetitive motion to free-flowing, organic visuals, and interactive movement.
While interactivity wasn’t a requirement, I implemented the Mouse In Watcher to grant users control over variables like shape dimensions, sound volume, and Shimmer effects intensity. The Movie In Watcher, paired with the Dots effect, facilitated circle movement using light, shadows, and colors captured from the camera input.
See screen recording below (does not include sound 🙁 ).
One aspect I wanted to incorporate was computer vision, intending for movement captured by the Video In Watcher to influence the music volume. Although I couldn’t achieve this before the presentation, I learned how to make it work afterward.
I’m pleased that viewers stayed engaged with the patch, and achieving interesting transitions was a success. A classmate even mentioned enjoying the evolution of circles from spacious and mobile to tight and grid-like in the final scene, a detail I hadn’t initially considered but found satisfying upon reflection.
While I don’t regret adding interactivity, my future goal is to master using actors to autonomously manipulate variables for a more self-generated patch, aligning with the requirements of the assignment.