Freshers

This was to be my first experience of Freshers. I turned up at Chelsea Uni Parade Ground at 5.30pm and it was totally deserted, with lots of huge completely empty marquees. I asked the security guy where the Freshers event was. All down the pub? Yes he said. “Not so fresh now”. He ho. Perhaps next year when I am not so fresh either!

Lots happening this week.

Lecture on Action Research

Jonathan gave a really thought provoking lecture on action research espousing critical refection. I didn’t get it before, but I do now. It’s much better when it is explained clearly in plain English and when the audience is engaged in thinking and responding about it.

Meeting to discuss implementing my study proposal

I had another meeting with Matt Edwards. He showed me around the Digital Media Centre and I leant him some of my toys to play with. The Occipital Structure Sensor – a scanner attached to the iPad mini, and a Leap Motion device. He later helped immensely by solving a problem I anticipated would arise later when I show the drawn 3D life model using a projector and the leap motion. I only want to see the model not all the icons etc around it when you view the model in C4D. The answer from Matt was:

“I’ve been looking into how you’d display your 3d model in an exhibition scenario. Quite straightforward really…You export the file out of C4D, ready to use in Sketchfab which is a 3D render viewer, the file will be hosted on their website. Then you can embed that file on your own website or Behance, which can be displayed in it’s entirety, very easily, and controlled with your LEAP motion sensor. See tutorial http://blog.sketchfab.com/post/51326826537/how-to-upload-from-c4d-to-sketchfab”.

Now that’s great Tech support! Thank you Matt.

Getting a ready made 3d animated model for me to paint

First of all its not easy. There are few ready made animations around particularly to suit my purpose and in C4D format. But I found one on Turbosquid. Sadly its in Maya. So I enlisted the help of Turbosquid (who want to sell it to me) who converted it to C4D for me but her hair does not stay attached to the 3D model. So she’s bald in C4D! Then I contacted my tutor on the 2 day one to one I attended recently, Matt O’Neill. He kindly offered to solve this problem for me. So soon I will have the starting point for painting a 3D animation in 3D in C4D/Bodypaint3D with my Intuos Pro Large Graphics tablet. So far I haven’t even used Bodypaint or the graphics tablet so this will be a baptism of fire! Here is the animation which I propose to paint:

Making a sculpture using the Laser Cutter

Matt also put me in touch with the gatekeepers of the Laser cutter. Here’s a shortened version of what I sent Gillian Duffy and Neil Moonshine at the 3D Resource Centre in Wilson Road describing my project with the aim of meeting them to discuss it (and to get them excited about it). I included some pics which I have shown in my previous blogs so I won’t bore you with them again. I hope to get a response soon as this will be my first use of Camberwell’s making facilities and I can’t wait to start.

“I plan to produce a large sculpture formed of slices of MDF. I will be outputting a file from Autocad 123D MAKE and would be grateful if you could tell me what format this file needs to be in for your laser cutter. Firstly I would trial the process with a few pieces of MDF using a ready made 3D model just to check that I am going about it in the right way. Then I would make a smaller version of the final work also using a ready made 3D model. Finally I would want to make a 50-80cm tall model from a live scan using the process described below. A trial run in 123D MAKE of a ready made 3D model 50cm tall suggested that it would take 47 small sheets of MDF 1cm thick with 313 parts. For a larger model or less thick MDF (say 8mm) it would take more. I have never used a laser cutter before so have no idea what this involves but it sounds like it could take some time.

Step 1. Pose a ready made 3D model from Daz3D Market Place online and POSER software.
Step 2. Export this to 123D MAKE to produce the input to a laser cutter. This will be angled slices through the model.
Step 3 Use the laser cutter to make the head only as a trial run assuming the model was 50-80cm tall
Step 4 User the laser cutter to make another trial run of the whole model at say 30cm tall
Step 5 Make a scan of the live life model using the structure sensor I already have (I have lent it to Matt for this week if you are interested)
Step 6 Use the laser cutter to make the head of the live model at 80cm tall using 1cm slices of MDF
Step 7 Assuming step 6 is successful continue to use the laser cutter to make the rest of the parts for the entire model
Step 8 Assemble the model which would be similar to the photo below
Step 9 I then intend to paint the model with light (projection mapping) with sound. Please see clip of what this looks like (but on a model of a paper tiger). In my video the colours will change.
Step 10 Check this installation out in a UAL (hopefully Camberwell) location where the projection mapping starts after 2 minutes on a rolling cycle”

Projection Mapping

Tomorrow I attend a Skype tutorial from Alex May on ‘Painting with Light’. Here is the prep he asked us to do tomorrow morning:

1. Please test your Skype setup- I’ll be online 15-30 minutes before the workshop is due to start and will begin to add everyone during that time so we can all check our audio/video is working. Before this, if you could do a Skype test call to make sure your sound and microphone are working correctly, that’d be great! If possible, can you use headphones rather than speakers to reduce the possibility of feedback.

2. Install Painting With Light – Make sure you have installed the software before the workshop starts so we can get going as promptly as possible. I’d recommend using the very latest 1.5 version, which has some great new features that you will like! Download from: http://www.bigfug.com/blog/painting-with-light-1-5-1160-beta/

3. Use a projector, if you have one. Painting With Light is designed to be used with a video projector, and the tools will make more sense if you follow along with a projector attached.However, don’t worry if you don’t have one available – this won’t stop you being able to use the software.

4. Collect a few objects to use – As video mapping is all about projecting onto objects rather than flat walls, you’re going to need some things to project onto! Cardboard boxes and wood blocks are quick and easy but try lots of different shapes and materials. Not everything will be a good projection surface (dark and/or shiny surfaces in particular) but this is all about experimentation with the medium so use whatever you fancy!

5. Video footage – I’ll prepare a small archive of video clips for everyone to use during the workshop, but if you want to use your own images and video, or download things from the Internet (the newest version even supports animated GIF’s!) then please do. The only guideline you need to worry about at this point is making sure the resolution isn’t too big (not the size of the file, rather the number of pixels wide/tall it is). Even photos and videos taken on your phone might be thousands of pixels wide/tall so you might need to scale them down in Photoshop (for images) or something like Handbrake (for video).You can read more about the specific requirements in the Painting With Light manual, available at: http://www.bigfug.com/manuals/painting-with-light/

I will be using a few cardboard boxes and a statue of Buddha from my garden, together with my digital art projector. I will let you know how I get on.

Getting ready for scanning and painting the life model

I have now discussed and agreed with my life model Vanessa that she will also provide the voice of the model to go with my oversize painting of her in the Michel Canetti style. Scanning and painting is set to begin in the Cheyne Drawing Studio on 30 October. I can’t wait to get started.

Well its been a busy week including trips to Chelsea and Camberwell libraries to get some books on Art Practice as Research as a ‘light read’ during my week in Spain in a couple of weeks time.

I think I need a rest! So off to supper now with my wife to a local Italian restaurant.