User:Sebastian Cimpean/gradproject/strobo

exp.01 // 2012.02.09 // 5:35 pm // strobo effect

proof of concept

initial intention
The initial intention of this test was to observe the effects of a projected luminous object against a stroboscopic background (flickering between white and black). Secondarily, from visualization tests conducted in Cinema4D, I became interested in observing the effect the relationship between the shadow and object can create. From the visualization test, I noticed that the stroboscopic background can affect the way we perceive the shadow, more specifically, it appeared to move with a latency compared to the object creating it.

inputs [projected materials]
A series of videos of a pyramid and it’s shadow were created. In each video the relationship between the pyramid and it’s shadow is different, varying from a static shadow to a synchronized and desynchronized shadow. Additionally, different textures were used for the pyramid to test it’s “luminosity” when projected in contrast to the stroboscopic background, these textures included, highly luminous, matte and reflective.

modifiers
Modifiers for this test were not necessarily needed, as the goal was to see the relationship between the luminous object and stroboscopic background when projected. This being said, the speed of the videos was affected therefore changing the frame-rate of the video - especially when working with the feed of the stroboscopic source video.
Additionally, simple mapping techniques were used in order to display multiple videos on the same screen while placing them in specific parts of the screen. (scaling/position)
Potentially, the blur effect can have an use in this section.

output [screen(s)]
For this test, a flat, two dimensional surface was primarily used. Part of the test was conducted using an additional two-dimensional screen that was positioned in front of the original surface to add physical depth. This secondary screen was also tested as a moving screen.

back end
VDMX - a VJing software - was used to project, map and apply any changes other changes to the video.
The back of videos was generated using Cinema4D and AfterEffects.

conclusion
While the test proved the initial intuition not very effective, new things were discovered. The reason why the effect was not effective is because the relationship between the shadow and the object needs to be more drastically visualized (the shadow needs to go evidently out of sync). Furthermore, this effect does start to have an impact when the video is programmed to emphasize the change, ie: a movie with the shadow moving in sync, followed by a movie where the shadow stops, seamlessly joined. The transition has the most effect. This could also extend with the use of stroboscopic to flicker between different video files, in sync with the stroboscopic background, ie: the stroboscopic effect should be used as a transitional effect, as it overpowers the content, and its hard to see the change. One of the new discoveries is related to perspective, and more precisely, forced perspective. When the pyramids were arranged in a forced perspective, walking around the screen created parallax, meaning that the brain creates the space that is actually absent. This technique will be investigated further. Going back to the forced depth, where an additional screen was placed in front of the original screen, what is interesting is that when you walk around the space, the forced perspective moves the object in the foreground screen either in front, or actually behind the foreground object in the original screen. Moving the screen emphasizes this effect further.