DSDN 112: Creation of the Wristband

Some of the photos I took while I was making the actual wristband.

It's made out of a pair of tights for the wristband part, spray painted acrylic (which I sprayed on the inside as it gave it a more glossy look), and old piece of plastic from a laptop motherboard for the small 'slider' on the top

Final wristband:

DSDN 112: All the sound!

The song I have chosen to use for my video is “Euritmix Sux My Dix” It has an erm.... interesting name, but it suits my video well.

Listen to it here.

I found it on the Free Music Archive, and it is free to for non-commercial use, as long as it is credited.

DSDN 112: 3D Interface!

Here is the animation of the menu, which rotates in 3D and fades away. Luckily one of my friends knew how to do this and helped me out with it!

DSDN 112: Video Draft

Here is a rough cut of my video, I still need to take some footage out and do fancy editing effects and such, and add in voice over/sound effects.

DSDN 112: Filming!

An unedited clip from the film.

So I filmed all of my footage on Saturday, luckily the weather held out. I wasn't able to get any shots in McLaurin as it was locked, so I had to change my story a little (I had originally planned to have the futuristic student going into a lecture theatre in McLaurin, but now he just walks into a random room)

DSDN 142: Sketches, Better Late Than Never!

Here are some of my original sketches for my star collecting idea.

DSDN 142: Mouse size

I tried to increase the size of the cursor/mouse depending on the amount of stars following it, but it didn't go so well. As soon as you start up the application, the mouse grows in size, and continues f=growing until it fills the screen. I will need to put a limit on the mouse size in order to fix this to stop infinite growth, but this will mean that after a certain amount of stars have been collected, no more will be, unless I can work out a way to decrease the size of the mouse as stars are let go.

DSDN 142: Walls.

I have managed to put two 'walls' in my application to stop the stars from leaving the area, but the stars are now getting stuck running along those walls, which causes some issues. I also need to bring in walls along the other two sides, to stop the stars from escaping from there.

http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/75749

DSDN 142: Stars Added.

In this version of the code I have added stars to the application, and made them much more responsive to the mouse. They can also now be flung across the screen, but I need to find a way to stop them from going outside of the screen limits.

http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/75747

DSDN 142: Stars!

As my original idea was about collecting stars, I will change the orbs to stars. This is an image of the star I will use. 

It is just a simple star shape that I messed around with in Photoshop, but I think it will look effective in my interactive application, and will get the star collecting idea across clearly.

(The background of the image is transparent, but the blog theme makes it blue)

DSDN 142:Code Update

Here is a newer version of my code, which involves 'tails' added to all of the circles, as well as a reaction the orbs have to the mouse.

http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/75743

DSDN 104: Layout

This is the layout I am planning on using in my final render. I have chosen it as it looks like the models are taking flight: A theme I was going for as my narrative involves the movement patterns of a butterfly wing while it is in flight.

DSDN 142: Updates and Tests

Here is my initial test of using arrays to create the moving 'Stars':

http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/75332

I then changed it so the starts only move vertically, as it seems more like stars falling.

http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/75334

DSDN 104: Glass Texture Test

A texture test I did with a glass texture:

I really like this texture, as it give a fragile feel to it, which is also present in a butterfly wing.

DSDN 112: Video Ideas!

So I came up with a list of ideas for my video:

• Making everything futuristic, with a student finding their way from one campus to the other, with futuristic surroundings.
• Documentary style.
• Student avoiding Space Invaders as they try to get to class.
• Invisible Ninjas
• Chase sequence
• Student travels back from the future accidentally, and has to find their way back to the future using the wristband.
• Student has to find their way to campus after using Apple Maps, and getting lost.

I then narrowed that down to three options:

• Making everything futuristic, with a student finding their way from one campus to the other, with futuristic surroundings.
• Documentary style. (too boring)
• Student avoiding Space Invaders as they try to get to class. (unrelated)
• Invisible Ninjas (unrelated)
• Chase sequence
• Student travels back from the future accidentally, and has to find their way back to the future using the wristband.
• Student has to find their way to campus after using Apple Maps, and getting lost. (unrelated)

The idea of making things look futuristic would be really interesting, but unrealistic given the time frame I  have to work with.

So that leaves two options: The chase, or the time travelling student.

I have chosen to do the time travelling student idea, as it will be more interesting to work with.

DSDN 104:Material & Lighting Tests

My 3 tests with different materials and lighting:

 The combination of the gradient material and the lighting coming up from underneath, which highlight the way the gradient falls.

 Lighting underneath the individual wings. Again, could be brighter to be more effective.

The lighter back wings and darker front wings, combined with the butterfly wing pattern texture.

DSDN 104: Matrial Testing

Three of my material tests:

 My first test: Didn't work out as I had hoped it would. I used a pattern I found online of a monarch butterfly wing under a microscope, but the image just ened up blurring and looking wrong. I will definitely not be using this material on my final model.

This one uses a gradient material, with Monarch butterfly colours (one of my precedents). I will play around with the colours in this, and the amount of each colour.

Another gradient, but with the etching coloured differently, to highlight them.

DSDN 104: Lighting Tests

Her are some of the lighting test I did:

This test had a light coming up from underneath the model to try and emphasize the etching and undersides of the wings.

This test involed a bright light highlighting the lower/back wings, and casting a shadow on the front wing. The grey colour of the model makes it difficult to see the lighting effects. 

In this test the lights were underneath each individual wing. I think iit would look more effective if the lights were slightly brighter

I will do some more lighting tests with my model coloured, as the grey makes it more difficult to see the lighting effects.

DSDN 104: Final Model Iterations

These are the iteration I did to get to my final model.

DSDN 142: Code Updates

The code I presented at the Interim was focusing on the size change of the mouse, and involved the mouse growing and shrinking.



The code I have at the moment, has the size changing ball, as well as a starry background.