my first pure Data success!!!!

I have managed to use Pure Data and get it to do something that I need it to do!!  That is….. play video!  I followed some tutorials on the net and managed to create a video player by making this patch.

 

I know this sounds like a bit of an anti-climax but after all the problems I’ve been encountering when trying to understand coding, scripting etc, and my non-existent knowledge of everything programming related it feels good to actually get a result.  Morale is up again!!

One thing down, just another ‘God knows how many’ to go………    

 

Installation idea number 3…….

This is the same as installation idea number 2, yet instead of using an ultrasonic sensor, it uses pressure pads instead to ‘feel’ the presence of the viewer an slow down or speed up the video accordingly.        

I’ve had a look at FXscript in Final Cut Pro but it seems that this application is best suited to creating new filters and transitions and not manipulating video (well, not in the way that I intend to anyway) I’m getting dragged down and down into a coding nightmare!!

Every program I have looked at thus far is just not suitable for this project. I know I have very little knowledge of this but I can get an idea of whether a program is going to be able to do what I need to do pretty quickly (by looking at the manuals, playing around with a few functions and seeing how other people have used the application with example on the net and so forth) 

With that all in mind (and my mind becoming quite disheartened with this whole affair) I am going to tackle the beast that is Pure Data.  I know this application can do what I need it to do and people tell me that when you get into it is not all that scary.  

So, here we go……..  

 

installation idea number 2…….

This idea revolves around using an ultrasonic sensor to judge the position of viewer in relation to the projection, and depending on this distance, either slow down or speed up the projection accordingly.

From what I understand an ultrasonic sensor works by transmitting a short burst of ultrasonic sound towards a target which then reflects the sound back to the sensor, it measures the time it takes for the echo to return to the sensor and computes the distance between it and the target.

I would intend to build a frame to house the sensor and a v-shaped construction that complemented the sensors field of vision.  This way the viewer, when within the installation would not be able to stand outside the sensors field of vision therefore always affecting the visuals.  

The housing for the sensor would act as a barrier between the viewer and the projection ensuring that the closest point the viewer could reach would still be an acceptable distance from which to view the work.

                                                                

The image below is a birds-eye view of the installation.  It aims to give a rough idea what speed the projection would play back at when the viewer is standing in one the four zones.

                                                               

 To use the ultrasonic sensor I would have to use an Arduino running alongside another application that I have yet to decide upon.  Tim suggested checking out FXscript in Final Cut Pro and there is obviously the program Pure Data.

 This is all so rough at the moment, and also very confusing for me as I have never taken on anything quite like this before, but I hope as my knowledge grows, and I work out exactly how to achieve this I will be able to write more fluently in my blog about what it is exactly that I am doing.  As it stands I feel like I’m just waving my hands around in the dark hoping to bash into something that I can get my little brain around and use successfully.  Its getting tough now……… and time is of the essence.