Expectations for week 7 Sharing

Post 40

Happiness Level: 4

I'm feeling the pressure.

Logistics and Microphone Debugging

Post 39

Happiness levels: 8

Tutor(s) present: Jazmi, Yee Siang, Jam!

Okay first up, the logistics.

Jazmi and I discovered that there was a leak at the wall from my graphics and suggested that I should vignette it out so the hard edges would be gone and there isn't gonna look like an error.

Other than that, the outcomes were pretty good, I suspended my polystyrene ball with a piece of fishing string and clasped the two halves together with the roll of fishing string in between to hold it up from within. Discovered that if I wanted to project on two sides of the ball I needed 3m+ of space.

That would be difficult since there are going to be about 30+ projects in the same area.

Should I compromise with just one side of the ball? :(

Discovered that the ball should be slightly higher than eye level so the users won't be able to see the shadowed top of the ball. Overall logistics looks pretty good and the user would be standing behind the projector to interact with it. 

Ill disguise the table and projector into my glove compartment holder & table (which I would also hide my computers and what not under it) and wrap it around with white board so it looks super clean and white and professional looking,

So happy everything works amazing.

Microphone Debugging

Jam came to the rescue!

My microphone got fixed and apparently I was uploading unnecessary scripts which hindered it to work. I also had to fix the baud rate so it matches the baud rate of my accelerator code. Everything is moving along swiftly. 

I just have to turn the strings to numbers with Parse and put them altogether, separate the game into three parts and upload the videos separately and I'm done with the coding! I'll have to focus on the wifi module next. (oh god)

And sewing. =(

Things to do next:

- Finish up the motion graphics for the two songs

- Code up the game

- Debug Wifi

Ball and things

Post 38

Happiness level: 6

Personal progress

As for unity, David has coached me own how to create and link my scenes in UNITY. To call the scenes I would have to use 0 or 1, I think it's way better, you couldn't get the name wrong by typo.

I have also purchased my project ball. It's diameter is about 50cm, it's a bit small but it's alright since the users are going to be standing really near it and the projector wouldn't be so far. I have a limited space only. It's crazy expensive, RM175.

As of for now I have spent RM720 on materials. So expensive. But if you look at it from an agency point of view, it's actually a pretty cheap project. Many projects reach thousands of ringgit. Yeah, I'm comforting myself.

Tutor(s) present: Yee Siang

Yee Siang lent me this microphone from college which worked perfectly. The problem with my previous microphone was that it was too sensitive to sound. Excuse my badly manicured finger.

Stage Design & Glove Design

Post 37

Happiness level: 6

Tutor(s) present: Jazmi

Stage Design

After showing Jazmi my previous post on the motion graphics, we concluded to use different platforms instead of using just a one dimensional screen. Most of my references and tutorials are spherical as well. I proposed a few stage sketches but concluded that I could use a polystyrene sphere instead to suit my motion graphic benchmarks.

He told me that I should be careful of the shadow casts if I were to pick my polygonal stage design.

I would cut a small section in the sphere and place the DJ in it. To avoid shadow casts, I will place a small mirror to reflect the DJ into the cut out hole.

I have also concluded to suspend the sphere in mid-air.

I am considering to rent another projector so that my project could be viewed in 360 Degrees.

Glove Design

As for the glove, it is decided and preferred that it took a look of a cuff instead of a whole glove wear up to the palms.

Motion Graphics Tutorials

Post 36

Happiness level: 5

Light Tech Circles
https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/playlist/motion_design/advanced_spin_fx/


Shockwaves
https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/playlist/motion_design/shockwaves/
During mid experience.

The ring
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/the_ring/
http://chchcheckit.com/downloads/particle-ring-audio-reaction/ (he actually uploads the sources files for freeee which is AWESOME)

Audio Animation
https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/playlist/motion_design/audio_to_animation/
Idle Mode.


Stream of light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-JG1n_Yeo8
Will use this for Idle mode.


Traingles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6JRQl2Dh5E&list=UUuwZ2IZ2pAy4ZOLEtmuApyQ
During mid experience.


Ring of particles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh6oA-MfsUM&list=UUuwZ2IZ2pAy4ZOLEtmuApyQ

The intro -starting page.


CC lens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmxP749LYYQ&index=4&list=PLRyoAtAq0XD2xOLEpU112wEQgsrcvzgpt
FIST PUMP text during mid experience.


Grids
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/the_grid/

Placement and Wiring Test & Testing out microphone

Post 35

Happiness level: -10

Personal Progress

I tested out the placements and the wiring at home the night before the Friday consultation, and tested the microphone in the morning. While testing out the wiring with fishing string, I discovered a couple of problems. It's a lucky thing I had experience with circular boards, I would know how to deal with overlapping wiring.

I took some notes on which port would be nearer to certain parts, which would also then effect the way I code my boards.

- accelerometer change from a0 to a1 for z

- rx tx need to be taped over to avoid interferance

- RGB bulb change to pin 5 6 7 rather than 9, 10 , 11

References

Barragán, H. (2014). ElectretMicrophone \ Learning \ Wiring. [online] Wiring. Available at: http://wiring.org.co/learning/basics/electretmicrophone.html [Accessed 20 Nov. 2014].

Instructables, (2014). The microphone and breakout board. [online] Available at: http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Wind-Instrument/step4/The-microphone-and-breakout-board/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2014].

Tutorial Session

Tutor(s) present: Yee Siang

I brought my woes and my microphone and did not get to solve it.
I could have burnt my microphone.

I keep getting values even though the board wasn't hooked up to the microphone.
And when I did, Yee Siang suggested that I poke through the holes with wire instead of using alligator clips because it couldn't reach deep enough the breakout board.

It worked for awhile, but the value changes with movement. It's almost like a touch sensor rather than a microphone.

I was utterly depressed and unmotivated when I couldn't get a 'supposedly easy' mechanism to work and took 4 hours to do it. Even connecting to arduino with the accelerometer was quicker. One of the reasons why I was devastated is because I worked with sound sensors/mics twice before and had amazing results. I even singed bits of conductive thread today. Sparks. Fire. If I had burned my microphone, I burnt 8USD, just like that. With no ROI.

Why am I failing at this now? I'm determined to get it to work. In the mean time these are my current to do lists for this project.

- Make game mechanism in UNITY: Put accelerometer and changescene scripts
- Get wifi module to work
- Get microphone to work
- Sketch stage for projection mapping
- Sketch wiring in Ai
- Sketch motion graphics

It's getting down to the wire, I better get some graphics in already too.

First Ideation Tutorial of the Final Sem

Post 34

Happiness level: 7

Tutor(s) present: Jazmi Jamal

I was very happy with this tutorial.

Today for this session I brought my second set of music and it is wayyy better and more hyped than the first one.

I brought my boards as well to show Jazmi the placements for the boards and how it would effect the user experience. I showed him and it looked so long! Like this.

There was the LiPower and the battery to think about as well, and I wanted to sew it on the forearm, underneath my arm and the boards. Jazmi suggested that I shouldn't since the thread is going to be so thin and easily breakable.

He suggested that I stack the Xbee board and the arduino board so it looks like some kind of watch mechanism and it didn't need to fill the whole arm. A cuff would be a good design with velcro so that users could take it off and put it on easily.

He gave me a boxing glove as reference. Haha! He said to make sure to put these boards in proper casings to avoid malfunctions and interference from the environmental factors. 

I should also get on with the wooband design and the stage design as well, cause right now all I have is the really basic stuff, like how I want the band to be purple/skin colored/black and such.

Here are some references he shared with me that I could think of, to give my stage more depth and dimension.

They are all slanting walls with projectors projecting the images unto them.