Stage Two of Special Study is almost Complete!

The aims of Stage Two of the Special Study was 'to instruct the turntable when to rotate, how much to rotate and when to stop.'

I have achieved this by instructing the turntable to rotate to a certain co-ordination, stop and play an animation that has been set for that co-ordination.

Now all that is left is to take the turntable to the location and make a fixed place for it in the centre of the room where the animations will be projected onto the walls at the set co-ordinations.

Loading Animations into Processing

Below is the screenshot of the code that is used to load a video in Processing.

This image below shows the animation once you have clicked on the (>) icon in Processing.

The above coding is to add a video into Processing. However, I want the animations to load when the turntable has reached to a specific co-ordination.

To begin with, I moved my .mov files of the animations into the 'data' folder where my processing code is saved. See screenshot below.

The screenshot below is of the code I used to load my animations at specific co-ordinations. The code has been highlighted:

The highlighted code is basically stating 4 specific co-ordinations, 0, 50, 20 & 60. Underneath that, I have the file names of the animations that I want to be played at the co-ordinations stated.

This screenshot shows the code that tells Processing to play the video once the turntable has stopped at the specific co-ordinations selected.

Laser & Light Sensor attached to Turntable

As a back-up I have added a laser and light sensor to the turntable just incase the turntable decides to take over the co-ordinations. This happens as the coding starts to play up sometimes.

Therefore in order to avoid this problem, I have attached a laser in one of the corners of bottom boards of the turntable and attached a light sensor in the same corner but of the top board.

The photograph below shows how the turntable looks:

This photograph is of the strip-board and the Arduino board with the wiring of the resistor and sensor in place:

This is the code used in Arduino to set the laser and light sensor to work:

void loop(){

digitalWrite(15,HIGH);

digitalWrite(13,HIGH);

The coding above is telling the Arduino to turn on the laser and power the light resistor.

if(analogRead(0)>700){

coords=0;

}

The above coding basically states that when the light resistor is triggered, set the current co-ordinates to 0.

Printing & Rotating to Specific Co-Ordinations

With the following codes, I have instructed Arduino to print the co-ordinations of the turntable rotations.

This is a screenshot of the coding for adding co-ordinations.

In Arduino (left box in screenshot), under the forward rotation code, the following code is added:

coords=coords+1;

Serial.println(coords);

And under the backwards rotation code, the following code is added:

coords=coords-1;

Serial.println(coords);

The 'Serial.println(coords);' is basically telling Arduino to print the co-ordinations of the rotation steps.

Now that Arduino is printing the co-ordinations. Processing will now tell Arduino to instruct the turntable to rotate to certain co-ordinations with the following code:

for(int lop=0;lop

rect(10+(lop*20),20,10,10);

The above code is basically telling Processing to draw a rectangle for each stated co-ordination. These will appear on the top left hand side of the Processing Run screen. See screenshot image at bottom of this code.

This next bit of coding is mouse control for each co-ordination stated. It is telling Arduino that when the mouse clicks one of the rectangles instruct the turntable to go to that specific co-ordination and stop.

if(mousePressed==false){

cansend=1;

}

if(mousePressed==true && cansend==1){

println("got click");

if((mouseY>20 && mouseY<30)>10+(lop*20) && mouseX<20+(lop*20))){

cansend=0;

clickedval=lop;

println("in range");

myport.write(coordinates[lop]);

println("c="+coordinates[lop]);

playing=0;

}

}

Addition code that has been added is the 'println' code. There are three in the above code:

println("got click");

println("in range");

println("c="+coordinates[lop]);

The first one is printed when clicked on the rectangle.

The second one is printing 'in range' when clicking on the rectangle.

The third one is printing 'c' and also the co-ordinations that have been clicked.

The 'println' is placed in the bottom left hand side of the Arduino program. See screenshot image below.

So far, I have got the turntable to rotate forwards and backwards, printing the co-ordinations and also telling the turntable to rotate to a specific co-ordination and stop.

My next step is to load an animation at the specific co-ordination when the turntable has stopped.

Rotation code - Forwards & Backwards

This image below is a screenshot of forward rotation code used to instruct the turntable to rotate forward.

The numbers 2, 3, 4 & 5 are the numbers of the pins used on the Arduino that connect to the stepping motor. As I have 4 relays, which equals to 4 steps of the rotation.

Copy of Coding + Explaining:

The image below is a screenshot of the backwards rotation code:

As you can see that the code is very similar to forwards code. However, this time the numbers are typed backwards, i.e. 5, 4, 3, 2. This code instructs the turntable how to rotate backwards when instructed to do so.

Stage Two of Special Study

Stage Two of my Special Study is based on the coding which instructs the turntable when to rotate and when to stop. It will also include loading videos of the animations and instructing them to played at certain co-ordinations.

Development Grass Detail

I have also added detail to the grass so you can tell its in the foreground.

This is how the spring wall looks with the details on the grass and the tree.

The photograph doesn't show what it actually looks like but the wall does look much better.

I will also add a set of daffodils to symbolise spring as I won't be adding colour.

Development of Cutouts

I have decided to add detail to the cutouts by using the marker pen rather than adding more cutouts.

This is a photograph of the tree on the spring wall:

The tree looks much better compared to the colour one I did previously. This also looks better than being totally plain. Therefore, I am happy with the outcome.

This is a close up photograph of the detail on the tree.

I used a thick and thin black marker pen and also used a charcoal to add the shade.

This is a photograph of the bottom right-hand side of the tree.

Although, this looks well it is time-consuming. It took me approximately 5 hours to add the details to the tree.

Wall Development Idea

As the colour painting idea didn't work as well as I wanted it too, I now have to come up with another way to add detail.

Here is a cutout of grass which I will be using as an experiment:

Using a black marker pen, I started to draw lines to add detail to the grass:

By looking at the above photograph, I have managed to achieve the detail effect I was after. However, I'm not sure whether it would look good all around the room.

Here is another detail cutout experiment I did but of a miniature tree:

Rather than having just the tree as a solid cutout, I decided to cut into the tree to make the details. However, this I'm not sure whether this works as well as the first experiment.

Combination Idea:

With this experiment, I used a combination of both detail cutouts and the black marker details.

Now I have to decide which would look better for the whole walls.

Further Research

I have done further research into the urban artist Swoon, who is an influence for the wallpaper cutouts I have done for each season. Since the colour painting was a disaster, I researched further to see what the possibilities are for the cutouts.

There are two ways in which I can adapt a style to my cutouts:

1) Urban Artist Swoon technique:

The above image is a paper cutout combined with additional paper with colour and detail. The cutout appears to be a large orb of light emanating from a young woman. The girl's eyes are innocent and tender, nervous and unsure, looking up from her traditional quincinera attire symbolising her recent initiation into womanhood and an age of coming.

(information researched from google)

Here is a close up of the detailed area:

As I have large cutouts, I can use this technique and add detail and colour to some of the areas. Rather than doing the whole wall, just having a section on each wall will add a focus point to the walls and I would not need to add colour to the rest.

2) Slash - Pencil Under the Knife:

Slash is an exhibition to artists who do more than put pencil to paper. The show displayed at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York features a range of new work by using paper.

These two are the most that appeal to my project.

The one of the right is by Andreas Kock's site-specific explosion of black paper, 2009 and the one of the left is Eddy by Mia Pearlman, 2008.

With this technique I can layer more cutouts and add them to the ones already on the walls and create a 3D effect.

Stage One of Special Study is Complete!

The hand-built turntable is a Success! Over the Easter break, I tested the turntable to see if it was still working successfully and every time I tested it, it was working GREAT! Which was a relief.

The photograph below shows how the whole thing looks:

Below is a video of the turntable working successfully with the projector on top:

As you can see from the video that the turntable can hold the weight of the projector and is running smoothly.

Projector Test

This is a photograph that shows how the projection would look at the location:

The projector was placed in the middle of room and that photograph shows the maximum size of the projecting.

This means that I cannot animate anywhere else around the projector. But as I have built a turntable myself, I am able to project from left to right so the only areas I will not be able to project are the top and bottom. So when I add detail to the cutouts, I can focus more on these areas.

Colour Disaster

I started painting the cutouts on the spring wall. As I was about half way and I didn't like the look of it so stopped. I had thought that by adding colour, the cutouts would like better. However, the colour has degraded the whole piece.

Here are two photographs that back up my above statement.

As you can see that the photograph without colour looks much more bolder and better than the one with the colour. I simply just could not carry on painting, therefore I packed up and left.

When revisiting the location, I got the feeling that this is something that you can see in a Nursery and therefore does not work with what I am wanting to achieve. I want the piece to look Urban, rather than 'kiddish' therefore I have decided not to add colour and leave the cutouts as they are. But first, I have got to rip down the cutouts I have painted and make them again.

Colour Experiments

Before applying the paint to the walls, I first did a few colour experiments with the paints that I had purchased.

Here are a few photographs of the colour experiments:

Black:

Blue:

Brown:

Red:

Spring Green:

White:

Yellow:

By doing the colour experiments I can use them as colour templates when painting the walls. For example, if I would like a particular colour from any of the above photographs I can just look at the colour template and know what colours I used to re-create the same colour.

Winter Wall Complete

I have completed the last wall, Winter. The photograph below shows the complete wall.

The back wall on the right side of the photograph was also supposed to be part of winter. However, there is a hole in the floor and is quite dangerous. Whilst doing the Spring wall I did place that board over it, however it is still dangerous, therefore for health and safety reasons I choose not to use that wall.

These next set of photographs are of the other walls completed:

Spring:

Summer:

Autumn:

Now that I have completed the cutout process and am happy with the way it looks, I will start adding colour to it.

Summary of walls

So far, I have completed the Spring, Summer and Autumn walls. When I'm at the location and looking at the walls, you can tell that they are landscapes and can make out what they are, however I believe that colour is important to specify each wall differently and the colours will also emphasise the seasons.

For example:

>> Spring: greens and browns

>> Summer: bright green and strong blues

>> Autumn: oranges , brown and reds

>> Winter: white, faint green and blues.

So hopefully, once I have added colour to the wallpaper cutouts, the walls should look much better.

Autumn Wall Sketch & Progress

This is the sketch plan for the Autumn Wall. This wall has no windows or boxes, however it is a just a stud-wall therefore it has plasterboards on it rather than bricks like the rest of the walls.

For this wall, I decided to create a landscape view. The tree on the left is continued from the summer wall tree, however it will be an autumn tree instead.

The photograph below shows the top bit of the tree of the Autumn wall.

The photograph below is a close-up image of the river that will be on the Autumn wall. Rather than just having it blank, I decided to cut out streaks that would represent slight waves in the river.

This is how the Autumn wall looks at the moment. I still have to work on the top right side to complete the landscape look.

Summer Wall Sketch & Progress

This is a brief sketch of how the summer wall would look like. I don't have a lot of space on the wall to work with as there are two windows on the wall. But the idea for the summer wall is mainly based on the activities that are taken place during summer. These activities will be animated onto the wall at different loops. The activities will be rock-climbing, canoeing, sky-diving, camping, etc. Therefore in order for these activities to take place, I choose to create a waterfall landscape which would be a site to visit during summer.

This is what I have done so far for the summer wall. I still have some more to add to it. But this is generally what I have got completed so far.

I just need to add the waterfall and the rocks on either side and then this wall is complete.

This is a quick video preview of the summer wall under construction:

Once the wall is completed I will complete this video.