A few weeks ago I stumbled across a program called
VVVV developed by
meso and was instantly hooked when i found out the capabilities of what this program could do. V4 is commonly referred to as a multipurpose took kit for real time video synthesis which can do much much more. In essence V4 allows you to take one type of data, maybe an infrared camera, manipulate that data and output it however you like, maybe by playing sounds, turning on lights, moving objects, anything you like. As a stand alone program V4, when programed right can create some stunning visuals for VJ'ing or installations which can be manipulated in real time and react to the music or environment, a superb master of this craft is
Sanch who has some great examples and videos on his website.
Initially when you see VVVV, (or V4 which is allot easier to say) you would be forgiven for saying out loud, "What the F**K", is it is not really intuitive at first, but with a bit of time (be prepeared to put the effort in here) it all begins to make beautiful sense.
After doing allot of "playing" and checking out the different patches (In V4 they're called patches, not programs) i decided i wanted to create a patch which would allow me to warp video which would allow me to project a square image onto a curved surface and then correct the image so the would be uniform again. Just in case you didn't know, when you project onto any surface which isn't flat such as a column, the image becomes warped due to the fact that the further the projected light has to travel before hitting the projection surface the larger area it will cover. This means that if you were to project onto a column the part of the image closer to the projector (the middle) would appear "pinched" and the outside of the image would appear splayed. By stretching and squeezing the image at certain pints you can "re-correct" this deformation so you get a nice even image wrapped around one half of a column.
Below is a few screen shots of the patch i used, this is a very early version, the new one includes multiple video switching and some nice keyboard shortcuts which would be handy if you were using this in a live situation.
This is a shot of the basic patch with the inspector and a render (the preview monitor open)
Above is an example of a warped video for projecting onto a vertically linear concave surface, by pinching the center of the image, when it is projected onto a curved surface where the center is a longer distance from the projector than the outsides, the center of the image will be "stretched" due to the distance, creating a uniform image.
Here is a rough example of how you would warp an image if you were projecting directly onto a corner surface such as a four sided pillar, this would create two uniform squares on two sides of the pillar using only one projector.
Once I get some photos of this in action i will post some corresponding examples of this technique in action. Currently i am working on a new type of protocol for mapping, video/images to a custom built LED wall. If you use V4 and would like to chat please get in contact.
If you enjoyed this post please feel free to buy me a gingerbread late! mmmm!
