Friday, 20 July 2012
Processing Pretty Pictures
Using 'Processing' has really made me appreciate taking COMP102. Pondy, we salute you. After learning the basics of drawing shapes and revising the use of variables we drew a processed image of a simple sketched shape we did on paper...
...and then were free to have a play...
...yeah.
One-One Won One Race, and DSDN112
I swear half the fun of these posts is coming up with the titles. Today's studio explored the sense through interaction with various objects. The objects I chose were cola jelly for taste, washing powder for smell, a paper-clip container for sound, a Rubik's cube for sight, and an off-cut of foam for touch.
The reason I chose cola jelly is because it is incredibly synthetic. Everything about it is artificial and deceptive of it being a food item; it's appearance as small crystals, it's translucent brown colour, even it's flavour is based on a synthetic beverage. Food is something natural whereas jelly is completely man-made.
I used washing powder for smell because it has a potent chemical smell, yet the smell is supposed to be appealing. This is a confusing sensation when compared to something like the smell of paint, which is harshly chemical and by no means pleasant. Smell is an incredibly strong memory trigger, so the basic smell of washing powder is similar to soap, therefore inspiring memories of cleanliness within people using it. This aids the product in alert users of its function. A similar point was raised in the group about how smell can indicate what something is for where sight or touch fails, an example being the comparison of moisturiser and hair gel; both of which were white creams yet the moisturiser had a softer scent and the hair gel had an appealing sweet scent, as it was designed to attract people.
I used the paper-clip holder for my sound because it's smooth texture and curved form and misleading to the rattle that it makes when shaken. The idea of the senses misleading others was a common occurance amongst the items brought; the 'rttlesnakes', a pair of smooth magnetic stones, made a high pitched and rapid clicking when thrown together.
I chose my Rubik's cube for sight as it holds both visual order and chaos. When is is solved or arranged into coherent patterns it is ordered, when it is jumbled it is chaotic. As established earlier sight is relatively easy to mislead on its own.
Finally, the reason i chose the off-cut of foam was because of the diversity o sensations it produced from touch. It had both smooth and rough faces and sharp, crisp edges and broken, jagged ones. The density of the foam varied too, making it harder and softer at points. These are all sensations directly related to handling the object, however, and some more interesting variations of 'touch' came up. The texture of food was one such variation, as was a tool used to massage pressure points on a person's head. These showed that touch is more than just interaction with your hands, it can be a full kinetic experience.
I used washing powder for smell because it has a potent chemical smell, yet the smell is supposed to be appealing. This is a confusing sensation when compared to something like the smell of paint, which is harshly chemical and by no means pleasant. Smell is an incredibly strong memory trigger, so the basic smell of washing powder is similar to soap, therefore inspiring memories of cleanliness within people using it. This aids the product in alert users of its function. A similar point was raised in the group about how smell can indicate what something is for where sight or touch fails, an example being the comparison of moisturiser and hair gel; both of which were white creams yet the moisturiser had a softer scent and the hair gel had an appealing sweet scent, as it was designed to attract people.
I used the paper-clip holder for my sound because it's smooth texture and curved form and misleading to the rattle that it makes when shaken. The idea of the senses misleading others was a common occurance amongst the items brought; the 'rttlesnakes', a pair of smooth magnetic stones, made a high pitched and rapid clicking when thrown together.
I chose my Rubik's cube for sight as it holds both visual order and chaos. When is is solved or arranged into coherent patterns it is ordered, when it is jumbled it is chaotic. As established earlier sight is relatively easy to mislead on its own.
Finally, the reason i chose the off-cut of foam was because of the diversity o sensations it produced from touch. It had both smooth and rough faces and sharp, crisp edges and broken, jagged ones. The density of the foam varied too, making it harder and softer at points. These are all sensations directly related to handling the object, however, and some more interesting variations of 'touch' came up. The texture of food was one such variation, as was a tool used to massage pressure points on a person's head. These showed that touch is more than just interaction with your hands, it can be a full kinetic experience.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Open Processing and Pretty Pictures
I could spend hours just looking at these images so I was thankful when my battery for my laptop fizzled out and I was left to get on with my life. But not before I saved my favourites!
The simplicity of this one is what makes it so effective. I might even go so far as to say that the cross-lines following the mouse are unnecessary for the circles' effect which is exciting enough on its own. Once again, there is very little information about the applet. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm looking in the right place...
We also tried a drawing exercise where each person wrote down a list of instructions to draw an object they had with them. The instructions were then passed on and the recipient had to draw what the instructions said. I found that as I was writing my instructions were more of a stream of thought as to what I noticed about my object (a black pen) first rather than a planned sequence of stages. This meant that the drawing I received afterwards, although it was obviously a pen, it had small inaccuracies which could have been fixed by more coherent instructions. The list I received to draw from was clearer in that the instructions were broken down into simple and uncomplicated steps, making them far easier to follow.
During the lecture we ran through an exercise that helped develop our understanding of parameter based code. The exercise involved acknowledging simple changes to a shape and applying those changes to a shape of our own. The following image is a crisper computer generated version of what I sketched in the lecture, applying changes in coordinates, duplication, scale, stroke, rotation and colour to a simplified hourglass shape;
The seemingly infinite possibilities of this applet is what intrigues me the most about this one. The addition of colour makes the patterns even more intriguing as they seem to follow their own potentially endless scheme.
This one blew my mind when I first saw it. The pattern, when broken down, is simple but the overall result is beautiful. The creator is a man of few words so whatever purpose this piece of work holds is unknown to me but it is enthralling nonetheless.
http://openprocessing.org/sketch/65460The simplicity of this one is what makes it so effective. I might even go so far as to say that the cross-lines following the mouse are unnecessary for the circles' effect which is exciting enough on its own. Once again, there is very little information about the applet. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm looking in the right place...
We also tried a drawing exercise where each person wrote down a list of instructions to draw an object they had with them. The instructions were then passed on and the recipient had to draw what the instructions said. I found that as I was writing my instructions were more of a stream of thought as to what I noticed about my object (a black pen) first rather than a planned sequence of stages. This meant that the drawing I received afterwards, although it was obviously a pen, it had small inaccuracies which could have been fixed by more coherent instructions. The list I received to draw from was clearer in that the instructions were broken down into simple and uncomplicated steps, making them far easier to follow.
During the lecture we ran through an exercise that helped develop our understanding of parameter based code. The exercise involved acknowledging simple changes to a shape and applying those changes to a shape of our own. The following image is a crisper computer generated version of what I sketched in the lecture, applying changes in coordinates, duplication, scale, stroke, rotation and colour to a simplified hourglass shape;
Breaking the Break
Back in Wellington after a long and eventful holiday, refreshed and revitalised and ready for some fresh meat from the delicious shank that is the BDI. Ahem.
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
The Clip
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| Group Brainstorm |
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| Individual Brainstorm |
Media Design is freedom. We are no longer held back by physical constraints. We design the worlds we want and immerse ourselves within them. This is the aspect of Media Design I wanted to capture in my-motion animation through the narrative. The character is taken through the most iconic forms of media where he entertains himself with what they have to offer. He sees his world as a source of entertainment, a form of expression and a means of communication. His journey is bracketed by the bitten apple and the apple core as an allusion to the company Apple Inc., which is one of the companies most involved in the media world.
But the world of Media Design represents is not perfect. It is still very young, however growing rapidly, and we are learning all the time but some aspects are still under development. A small reference is made to this in my animation by the appearance of spam advertising. Media Design is also very future-oriented and strictly 'first-world' but with such potential for development there is no telling where it will take us.
My first test animation using the stop motion technique. Frame rate is 10fps.
See earlier post for annotated and sketched storyboard.
And the final clip. Full credit to Philip Raivander for providing the music.
Media Design - a new way of seeing.
References:
Images:
Media Design - a new way of seeing.
References:
Images:
Music:
http://soundcloud.com/philipraivanderThursday, 14 June 2012
The Joint
I refrained from making a reference to 'passing the joint' in the title so instead you get a big dollop of political-correctness. What started off as a bunch of messy sketches and card is now a solid abstracted form of the neck/head. Enjoy.
Such sketches were making me consider taking up engineering.
Here are some conceptual models and a cheeky mock-up. The foam gets everywhere.
And, at last, the final. I really must thank Francis for putting up with my incompetence in the workshop. In the end, having made a count of mistakes, I abandoned the wood I'd bought for a piece of scrap timber I found in the waste bin. As they say; one man's junk is another man's abstraction. The drawing (or "the vellum" as it was referred to affectionately in my organiser for the past five weeks) is entirely pencil built up on pencil and I still don't know what sort of lead an 'F' is...
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Long Time, No Scene
It's been a wee while hasn't it. After a particularly eventful weekend left me on crutches and in need of an extension (and no, it had nothing to do with town), I haven't been able to produce a video for today's interim submission. It is the perfect opportunity to show what I have done so far. I was lucky enough to be allowed into the school's ergonomics lab to take photos as I was in need of a green-screen effect only to find out later that due to the lighting we used only half the photos were useable (you live and you learn I suppose). The ones I could salvage allowed for me to produce some excellent effects for the game and movie scenes. Also a massive thanks to Philip Raivander for allowing me to use his track "Background Music 1" in my clip. You can check out more of his work here at http://soundcloud.com/philipraivander.
Just a sneak preview from the start of my clip;
Our makeshift green-screen for the retaking of my photos.
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