Further experimentation with Data Moshing.
Data Mosh 3 from Richard Almond on Vimeo.
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I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, after first seeing the Evident Utensil Video, but have just recently found the time to experiment. ‘Data Moshing’ is basically warping video so that during each cut, the pixels from one scene sort of blend into the movement of the next scene. Fairly hard to describe really, best to take a look for yourself. How it all works is through the way videos are compressed. There are two types of frame in a compressed video, one records the pixels of that particular piece of the video (‘P’ frame), and the other records the movement (‘I’ frame). Generally each new cut scene in a video generates a new ‘I’ frame, as usually most of the pixels between scenes will be different. However, if you remove those ‘I’ frames, the transition between scenes blends into a sort of digital mayhem.
Here is my very first effort at Data Moshing. Thought I’d keep it topical.
Britain’s Got Moshed from Richard Almond on Vimeo.
My first attempt at Data Moshing. Thought I’d keep it topical…
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Well after eventually catching up on the units I was behind with, it’s now full steam ahead on the thesis project. I had a very helpful crit a few weeks back with Joel Gethin Lewis, and from the discussion it became apparent that Twitter could be used to develop the automated, internet-based dimension of the project. I understand from Joel that the Twitter API is fairly intuitive, allowing reasonably straightforward development of plug-in type thingies. Of course for someone like myself with very little coding experience this may not be entirely the case, but I’ll give it a go nonetheless.
I will also be looking at Ruby, “A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.” (like the sound of that!) as a way of coding the piece of software I have in mind.
Just to recap on a previous post, the idea is to be able to take data (video, audio, image, text) from a number of users over the web, and digitally decay this in some way. The results would be incorporated into a live feed as part of a physical projection installation. What is even more interesting is that Twitter throws up the possibility of a two-way communication between the user and the system. Users may ‘Twit’ data which is decayed and sent back to them. It may become an amalgamation, a miss-match between their own data and another users. What if the returned data could then be re-twitted, over and over again?
I am now reminded again of a precedent I came across in the early days of this project, fuba_recorder (see earlier post). It describes itself as “I am a robot for generating abstract-images of Japanese TV programs requested by my followers”. I really would love to know if the process of finding the images and mashing them together into those beautiful montages is actually automated, or if there is a bloke sitting on Google/Photoshop. I’ll presume it’s the former thought until I’m told otherwise.
In this case, although essentially the process is no different to any other computer process (where a user inputs a series of commands and the computer generates the result), with the fuba_recorder there seems to be something unique and far more poetic than what is generally expected from a computer. I am captivated by the thought of this ‘robot’ scouring through Google Images, looking for a screenshot of a certain character that has been requested by its commander.
Anyway, there is a lot to learn in a little time so I must get on!
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Well the Flash animation is finally finished, take a look here – Glimpses of the Spectacular
Below is a recording of the animation.
Glimpses of the Spectacular from Richard Almond on Vimeo.
Recording of the final Flash animation.
http://blog.rafolio.co.uk
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PLAN
DETAIL SECTIONS
LONG SECTION
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I’ve added a little texture and detail to the initial drawings. Hopefully these further demonstrate the intended atmosphere generated by the installation.
PLAN
ELEVATION
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The installation comprises an elevated viewing platform, pentagonal in plan, with projections of the 5 main timeline images located on screens along the perimeter edges. The screens are positioned over head height and their top edges are angled inward at 45 degrees. The space will be enclosed around its perimeter, with the projection screens acting like an angled ceiling. This, and the long journey to the installation via a stair represent the studio space and in particular the stairwell. Users feel confined and even oppressed beneath the screens which represent the looming rooflights. In its physical incarnation, the navigational aspect of the main images will not be required, since the user will be free to move between screens as they desire. The triggered animations, however need more thought. The screens will be hung on counter-weighted pulley systems similar to those found above theatre stages. Certain actions by the user will trigger the movement of the main screens, allowing glimpses of those special images which are located on screens behind the main screens. The counter weight system means that these special images, the ‘glimpses of the spectacular’ are only visible briefly, and the method to trigger these images depends on the screen that is being viewed.
Image 1 – the primary method of physical interaction between the user and the animation will be a series of pull cords, the use of which is reminiscent of operating blinds. The first image, like most others, has passive, non-triggered animation, but there are also aspects which will require human interaction. The shadow animations emanating from the lower window panes will be activated by a series of these pull cords.
Image 2/ Image 7 – there will be a section of the screen cut away which corresponds to the gap in the lower window panes. The user will be aware that there is something behind the screen and so move closer to the gap, from which they will be able to peer through to the next image, located on another screen behind the first. As the user moves forward towards the screen containing image 2, they will stand on a pressure sensor which will trigger the upward movement of the screen via the pulley system. This will reveal image 7, albeit only for a short time before the screen containing image 2 returns back to its original position, denying the user more than a glimpse.
Image 3 – both of the fluorescent light buttons will again be activated by pull cords, but image 3 requires a more complex, user-defined positioning method of interaction to control the smoke/stars effect. The device to achieve this effect will be a laser pointer embedded into a torch, which the user will pick up and point at the screen. Using a method similar to that used in the Laser Tagging project by Graffiti Research Lab, the user will be able to draw clouds or stars behind the glass, depending on whether the image is in day or night mode.
Image 4/Image 6 – a series of four pull cords will be connected to the slabs of snow which cover the central 4 rooflights. These cords will be looped, similar to those found on Venetian blinds, and the amount of snow seen on the glass will be directly related to the amount that the cords are pulled. When the user has pulled all 4 cords enough so that the glass is clear, the pulley system is triggered and the screen containing image 4 is lifter upwards, revealing image 6. Image 6 will be the opposite to the web-based version of the animation, and will initially be fully saturated. Drawn towards the vibrant colour, the user will be encouraged to move forward to explore the image in more detail, but as they move closer to the screen the image will become de-saturated, proximity sensors controlling the saturation based on the user’s distance from the screen. Again, the user is denied much more than a glimpse of this special image, and again after a short while the screen containing image 4 drops back into place.
Image 5/Image 8 – pull cords will trigger the opening and closing of the blinds within the animation, when fully closed, the screen containing image 5 will lift, temporarily revealing image 8.
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Proposal drawings of the physical incarnation of the animation.
PLAN
ELEVATION
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Now that the animation is beginning to come together, I felt it necessary to define a graphical style for any text, instructions, descriptions, etc. Below is the splash page for the animation, which will be embedded into a customized html page upon completion. The splash page contains a set of isolated greyscale window panes which again relate back to the Constructivist imagery, and the script typeface is in keeping with the poetical atmosphere of the piece.
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Half-way through this animation project, I went to the Tate Modern’s Rodchenko + Popova: Defining Constructivism exhibiton.
This deeply inspiring collection of paintings by Liubov Popova and media artwork by Alexandr Rodchenko is one of the best I’ve seen. The graphical style of Rodchenko seems the precursor to the software we use today. In his Photo-Montages, the physical layering of colour, images and type relate directly to the digital layering systems we now use in the likes of Photoshop and InDesign. The work, however, has an authentic hand-made charm that simply cannot be replicated with a computer. Posters from the early 1900’s were some of the very first non-western advertisements, and show clear differences in style, being heavily influenced by Russian Constructivism. The high-contrast greyscale images, used with powerful primary colours and the aggressive Russian alphabet condure up a sense of nostalgia even from those born decades after his death.
I couldn’t help but see similarities between the forms in Popova’s paintings and my photographs of the studio space. Popova’s paintings are incredibly architectural, and possess a strong sense of 3-dimensionality. The sharp, angular geometry reminded me of the looming rooflights in the studio, and being thoroughly roused by the exhibition, I felt I had to incorporate some of this inspiration into my work.
Throughout the process of constructing my Flash animation I was continously reminded of the Constructivism exhbition by the fortuitous imagery that occured. In particular, when creating masks to limit an animation to the area of a window – see the image below.
After a lot of consideration, I feel I’ve settled on a suitable method of integrating some of this Constructivist imagery into my animations. In briefly isolating the glass in greyscale from each scene during the transition to the next, I’ve achieved some of the intended aesthetic whilst further reinforcing the concept of the windows as the focus of each scene.
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