Friday, June 26, 2009

Clowning Colladas!

The title of this post is WAY more fun than the post itself.

Basically, after a wasted day yesterday of about a million random ways of exporting failed clown collada files, I decided to get organized and log the results. Here's what I have so far, in between forum post reading and such.

Here is a log of what I've tried so far, mainly for my own use, but I figured I'd put it on here just so I remember where in time I went through this craptastic series of events.

CLOWN01.DAE
- exported from blender as collada 1.4 with following settings:
triangles
only export selection (clown.001 (mesh) and clown (lattice))
sample animation
disable physics
use relative paths
use uv image mats
- STILL image works in pv3d with the following 'output':
INFO: Papervision3D Public Beta 2.0 - Great White (December 3rd, 2008)

INFO: DisplayObject3D: clown_001
INFO: BitmapFileMaterial: Loading bitmap from 3d/littleclown_uv.jpg
INFO: DisplayObject3D: clown


CLOWN02.DAE
-exported from blender as FBX with following settings:
selected objects (clown.001 (mesh) and clown (lattice))
scale 10
rotx90
empty, camera, lamp, armature, mesh, modifiers
enable animation, optimize keyframes, all actions
- converted in Autodesk FBX Converter. Fbx to DAE
- does not work in pv3d. gives the following output instead:

INFO: Papervision3D Public Beta 2.0 - Great White (December 3rd, 2008)

INFO: DisplayObject3D: blend_root
INFO: DisplayObject3D: clown_001
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/buildObject()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseGeometry()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseNode()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseNode()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseScene()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/buildCollada()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/onComplete()
at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEventFunction()
at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEvent()
at flash.net::URLLoader/onComplete()



CLOWN03.DAE
- exported from blender same as CLOWN01 but selected "bake matriices" as well.
- loads weird in pv3d- pink outlines, still image floating. gives output:
INFO: Papervision3D Public Beta 2.0 - Great White (December 3rd, 2008)

INFO: DisplayObject3D: clown_001
INFO: BitmapFileMaterial: Loading bitmap from 3d/../littleclown_uv.jpg
INFO: DisplayObject3D: clown
*** Security Sandbox Violation ***
Connection to file:///Macintosh%20HD/Users/leanne/Desktop/pv3d/3d/../littleclown_uv.jpg halted - not permitted from file:///Macintosh%20HD/Users/leanne/Desktop/pv3d/pv3d.swf
ERROR: BitmapFileMaterial: Unable to load file 3d/../littleclown_uv.jpg
ERROR: Collada failed to load material



CLOWN04.DAE
_NOTICED: lattice had unlinked from clown in clown03-- trying again with them linked this time.

Viewed video on Vertex Cache/ "baking" animation to mesh: http://vimeo.com/2261907

CLOWN05:
- Used above video to bake animation onto mesh (as a matter of speaking).
-exported as DAE 1.4 with
triangles
only export selection (clownex)
bake matrices
sample animation
disable physics
use relative paths
use uv image mats
- exported as a pink, tiny clown... couldn't tell if it was animated or not because it was too small. here is the flash output:
INFO: Papervision3D Public Beta 2.0 - Great White (December 3rd, 2008)

INFO: DisplayObject3D: clownex
INFO: BitmapFileMaterial: Loading bitmap from 3d/../littleclown_uv.jpg
*** Security Sandbox Violation ***
Connection to file:///Macintosh%20HD/Users/leanne/Desktop/pv3d/3d/../littleclown_uv.jpg halted - not permitted from file:///Macintosh%20HD/Users/leanne/Desktop/pv3d/pv3d.swf
ERROR: BitmapFileMaterial: Unable to load file 3d/../littleclown_uv.jpg
ERROR: Collada failed to load material

CLOWN06:
-noticed that baking matrices results in a pink clown that is unable to use the UV image. attempted DAE 1.4 with same as above but turned bake matrices off.
-also resized the clown in blender.
-didn't make much of a difference. still pink outlines... i think i needed to "texture face" and turn that on.

CLOWN07:
-back to attempt fbx conversion.
-converted quads to triangles
- settings: selected objects, mesh and modifiers selected, enable animation, all actions.

Same freaking problem as before:
INFO: Papervision3D Public Beta 2.0 - Great White (December 3rd, 2008)

INFO: DisplayObject3D: blend_root
INFO: DisplayObject3D: clownex
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/buildObject()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseGeometry()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseNode()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseNode()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/parseScene()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/buildCollada()
at org.papervision3d.objects.parsers::Collada/onComplete()
at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEventFunction()
at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEvent()
at flash.net::URLLoader/onComplete()

CLOWN08:
made a new scene, deleted everything but the clown.
-exported current animation, same exact error output as clown07.

So what now? I also attempted exporting a series of obj files to import into Maya, but it crashed the computer... I think it made 160 OBJs, 1 per frame. That wouldn't have really worked I don't think...

I need to vent a little: This is day 3 of the same old problem. I am pretty stuck, and starting to get worried. It was my plan to have all of this completed by July 8, and at this rate... it is really not looking as if that will happen. I really don't want to give up on this, because there HAS to be a way to get an animation out of blender and into Papervision, but there is too much information on the internet that skirts the issue of what I need. Or if I read something I don't think will be helpful at all, and then realize it might be, it takes forever to find it again. Furthermore, if so many people on the internet are having this problem, why aren't developers working on it? And if they solved it, nice of them to tell anyone about it. I really want to do another search on this, but I can't stomach reading all the other posts I've read a hundred times over again.

Well venting's really not doing me a lot of good at the moment and I am a little angry to be writing an academic paper. I guess it's onto the fun part. I need a fun, rewarding task for the time being... Interface design?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Blender Fail.

To catch y'all up: Currently working on exporting animation from Blender in the format (.dae) that Papervision3D (the flash file that scripts the AR) supports. Here is a video of what that animation should look like:



So far, I've gotten Little Clown to export, as a still frame, from Blender in Collada 1.4 (.dae) format, but Collada does not support animation of modifiers. I thought I could get away with exporting him, animated, as a .fbx file and then converting in AutoDesk Converter to .dae. No such luck as of yet, though.

I think what I need to do is apply a "shape key" animation for each shape change, which is so frustrating, but luckily not excrutiatingly difficult or tedious-- I already did it for the lattice (the modifier that makes the balloon move).

Incertitude is the crux of digital media, and the aspect of it that most tests whether or not one really wants to be doing it. Once I make it though this, it'll reaffirm my capacity to continue in this field.

But until then, I want to throw Blender out a window. I would say throw myself out, but I have other things to live for. Blender does not.

Monday, June 22, 2009

But... what is it?

So I've been writing all these posts with all these ideas for what I'm putting into the project. But what the heck, exactly, is my project overall?

The Digital Calder Project has gone through various stages and versions-- from performance art to installation, but the one I have settled on is an interactive exhibit in conjunction with a Flash website, with emphasis on 3-D modeling/animation and Augmented Reality.

Here is a sketch of the project layout (imagine the center of the Atrium):

Red: All of the items used in the Augmented Reality Calder's Circus
Yellow: Computer screens.
Blue: Multimedia, non-digital.

Here is some background on what all these pieces are and why I have chosen to do them.

Circus:
Background: For many years, particularly in the late 20's and early 30's, Calder put on performances of his circus for other artists, friends, and family members. There were several acts, from 12 to 30 per show-- resulting in a length varying from 15 minutes to up to 2 hours.
Motivation: An article depicting the troubles of preserving these pieces gave me a problem to solve. My goal here, by using AR, is to imbue a similar sense of unpredictability that came with watching a presentation of the circus. Users will experience both viewing and performing the circus, without the use of literal fabrications or imitations of the original items or performer.
What I've done: 3-D models of 3 acts, working toward 5 acts. These are animated and linked to AR tags to allow user interaction with and guidance of the performance. Users will follow instructions to act as Calder, and see their actions result in an unpredictable performance.

Buck:
Background: Calder is well-known for his sculptures made of found objects. One such item, Chock, is made of Chock-Full-O'-Beans coffee cans.
Motivation: Where there's computers, there's coffee. And it's usually in a paper cup. My goal is to use Calder's design sensibilities, but place them in the digital age. Most people no longer make their coffee at home, but they do go through loads of Starbucks cups. Starbucks is very much an emblem of the computer age, gaining its popularity in the same years of PCs and laptops. I think if Calder lived today, he would have created Buck, instead of Chock.
What I've done/will do: Use Starbucks paraphernalia to create Chock's grandson, Buck. They have a striking resemblance in stature.

Mobile:
Background: Perhaps his greatest contribution to the art world, and unmistakably Calder's, is the mobile. He often used primary colors of painted, cut aluminum sheets. However, when metal was hard to come by, he used found objects for his mobiles. These were often named by what they contained, or what they represented to Calder. Several of them were called 'Universes.'
Motivation: With the idea of the digital universe close in mind, along with the obvious homonym of mobile phone, what better a found object piece than a mobile of mobiles? Just thinking about explaining the levels of this makes my head explode every time. Essentially, it mirrors his use of found objects. It mirrors his signature piece, the mobile. It reflects an idea of the digital universe as interconnected yet mobile, non-static, and always in precarious balance.
What I've done/will do: In the style of one of Calder's mobile Universes, use mobile phones as the weights, connected by wires.

Barack:
Background: Calder once said, "I think best in wire." He was truly gifted in creating likenesses of faces of friends, as well as prominent figures, in wire. He could work it into a shape as fast as some people can sketch. Some of these pieces include Josephine Baker, a jazz star of his time; Romulus and Remus, a mythological tale; and Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States during Calder's most prolific wire-sculpture years.
Motivation: I am not much in wire, but the more I work on my skills in 3D modeling, the more adept I become at forming curves into recognizable shapes. What I liked most about seeing Calder's wire sculptures in person was the way they look at different angles, and postulating how they might have been shaped. 3D software and animation allows the finished piece to show a sort of construction/deconstruction...
What I've done/will do: Create President Obama's head in Blender. Animate it so that the path of the curve starts in a blank space, then traces along itself to reveal the finished piece.

Website:
Background:
Calder did not live to see the internet. He didn't make a website or think about how to share his work mobile-y.
Motivation: All of this hard work, why not share it with the world? Really though, here is my overall goal for the finished project: put forth a projection of how thinking about art in a digital sense can renew it, and help preserve it, without imitating, faking, or mocking it. It can give viewers a new appreciation of it, see it from a different angle. It does not try to bring the dead to life, but brings the living to a separate level of thinking about art. The Digital Calder Project would not be the end-all for this sort of endeavor, but a new beginning to unlock old doors of artists gone by.
What I've done/will do: Create an interface that matches Calder's style: early-mid 20th Century modern, primary-colors, found-objects, and surrealist tendencies. Upload images and videos of Barack, Buck, and Mobile, along with their (final draft!) background/motivations. Create separate interface for Calder's Circus-- upload AR script/webcam interaction and instructions. Link to videos of the originals on Whitney museum website. Provide printouts of the AR tags, and let the user play from miles away.

I hope this helps anyone who has undertaken reading all this understand what I'm working on and why I'm doing it.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Little Clown


Aw look at him with his balloon nose. The balloon has a lattice around it to deflate/inflate, caused by Calder blowing into the horn at the bottom of the foot.

Will post animation shortly, I hope!

UPDATE: I have apparently forgotten how to animate using lattices. Expect animation tomorrow while I try to figure this out in the meantime!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Fanni has a face!

Watching the Calder videos with Mike today, I had a revelation: Fanni has a face. And a bellybutton. I have now constructed her front view, complete with texturing.


I had another revelation, too. Augmented Reality. Woop woop. While I continue texturing and creating animation loops for these guys, Mike's going to look into FLAR-- Flash Augmented Reality Toolkit.

For a minute there I was convinced the abbreviation was FART because of the T in toolkit. I corrected my thoughts but still felt the need to share that, in non-augmented reality, it is the true abbreviation.

More tomorrow. Sleep now.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

ELEPHANNNNT.


This is elephant.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Interfacing

Hey hey. As Martin pointed out, there has been a dearth of posts the past couple weeks, but this is not to say I haven't been working. Believe it or not, amongst the week of hardcore wedding planning and then sitting across from "Madmouth Mez," my new BFF, on the train to London, I did get some stuff done.

I have been reading Calder's autobiography, which is an enjoyable book. He is so amusing with his recollections of runny eggs and his sister's tendency to be weepy. Most of the useful quotations, though, I find I have already read in other books. Nonetheless, I am glad to be hearing it [reading it?] straight from the horse's mouth.

I created two [very] rough Blender models so far of Fanni the Belly Dancer and Elephant. They need some cleaning up and texturing before I animate them, but here they are in all their angular, gray glory. Actually, the elephant's not looking that bad!






















I also created the first page of the Circus interface, which I am actually very proud of. The lettering of "Calder's Circus" is modeled after this image, a wire sculpture made by Calder. I created it using the pen tool, and animated by shape tweening each letter. The animation can be seen here, and below is a screen shot.