Outwash
A series of projections created to convey a sense of calm as they breath with the shape.
Produced by: Joshua Windsor
Introduction
My aim with this project was to further develop existing skills and understanding of OpenFrameworks rather than explore a narrative or thematic content. I wanted to create projections that worked harmoniously with the group shape and in doing so I feel a narrative of sorts has developed around the work. The swelling of shapes from dark to light, the movement of the lines suggests breathing and to me makes the shape feel alive.
Concept and background research
I chose these shapes because I felt they had a lot of potential with multiple planes and angles to play with. It was important to me the animations felt natural to the shape. As I said previously, there wasn’t a preordained concept, but I feel one has fallen into place.
Technical
The projection was made using C++ and the OpenFrameworks library with the ofxPiMapper addon to map the programs written. My project consists of three FBOs which each play for just under a minute and fade as they transition. This aspect I really wish I could have improved however I do feel good progress was made in lots of other areas. I made use of Vectors, Arrays, for loops, statements, variables etc and now feel I have a good understanding of these fundamentals. The first scene with the shapes fading from light to dark was made using Sine and steps in the timing to animate them out of sync. The second uses vectors to dictate the width, position, speed and colour to create dynamic lines. FBO 3 uses vectors to store the points of each triangle and then uses loops to adds points.
Future development
There is a great deal that could be done to develop this project further. My next step would be to make the transition more elaborate and play around with timings to create a more dynamic experience for the viewer. To keep the piece Monochromatic was a stylistic decision but I would have also liked to spend more time using colour. I also would focus on learning more about Mesh in OpenFrameworks and see how it could be possible to warp and mould them around the shape.
Self evaluation
I personally found this work challenging, over the Christmas period I spent a lot of time going over the previous lectures and additional resources provided. These are extensive and were of great benefit to me when making sure I understood the fundamentals we had covered up to that point.
My goal for this project was to create attractive projections that complimented the shape being projected onto. Although the projections I’ve made are simple I feel that they do work well on the shape. My understanding of OpenFrameworks developed massively by working on one project for such a long time and trying out a range of ideas along the way. I was really pleased with the outcome within the exhibition space.
Overall, I am proud of the work I produced however my biggest disappointment is the quality of the video. Due to a problem with my camera I lost the footage of my piece and had to use videos recorded by my girlfriend. It’s lucky she had them, but It was absolutely devastating that my footage hadn’t saved properly.
References
OpenFrameworks Documentation: https://openframeworks.cc/documentation/
In Class Examples: Sine and Cosine example projects.
Related Example: https://junkiyoshi.com/insta20180102/
