360° Saturdays
Collaborating with artists in the design & construction of portable, affordable
Collaborating with artists in the design & construction of portable, affordable
Click on "The Woman In The Window" to view Bill Perry's 1974 360° photo of Trinity Square Park.
Or, click on this text to see the steps from 12 original photos into one flat panorama.
It was only after blending the image in 2017 that I noticed a woman watching me from one of the windows. Bringing attention to her presence, her body language, gives the photo a human touch it otherwise lacks, hence the title "The Woman In The Window".
My photo caused a minor sensation, mostly amongst people who think 360° photography was invented yesterday. That may be, but taking overlapping photos of everything surrounding a camera on a stationary tripod is as old as cameras, even though 360° presentations were inconceivable, except in carnival show cycloramas.
At least one media art critic wondered if mine was the first 360° photo taken in Canada, or the world. This motivated me to do some research, with two goals:
Look for sets of photos in archives that I could blend into equirectangular images for 360° projections. So far I have 6 original blends, including my own photo.
Look for others who have created 360° images out of archival photos. They are few & far between. The most spectacular examples are five 360° images created by 360°cities founder Jeffrey Martin called "Hiroshima After the Atomic Bomb", blended from 8" by 10' negatives of everything surrounding five cameras on tripods, taken by US Army photographers a few months after the bomb.
From Maker Space in January, 2020 to artist in residence in 2022.
None of this self funded progress would've been possible without the generous support of CSV over the last couple of years, especially my main contact, Greg Woodbury.
This started as a CSV Maker Space project in 2020. It has been a part time, mostly weekend endeavor, as the cylinder was being designed, built and tested. In 2021 CSV extended artist in residence privileges to me, along with a generous credit on the rental of projectors, related equipment and the space required for testing purposes.
Adding the 360° VPC to the inventory of mobile equipment available to members of CSV and TSV was part of the plan from the start.
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360° Video Projection Cylinder Test Notes
Date: January 16, 2020, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Charles Street Video gallery at TMAC
Test by: Ilze (Kavi) Briede & Bill Perry
Objective:
To test the feasibility of building a 360° VPC that is portable, easy to store, assemble and affordable to artists and art organizations.
Thanks to Charles St. Maker Space Program and Kavi's projection mapping skills, we simulated a 16” ft diameter, 50 ft circumference, 360° video projection screen with 4 overhead projectors, by using two projectors and 1/4 of the curved screen, 45°, 8’ high, 12.5’ wide. If the two projectors could be in focus across the curve and blended at the edges, it would mean that CSV's set of 4 Optoma 1080HDR video projectors could fill and be blended across 360°.
The answer was yes.
We paused our research, while we tried to find a way to finance a metal (erector set type) video projection cylinder (VPC). Est. weight: about 500 lbs. Est cost: about $6K.
Process
The test
There were four tests
Two used a single projector to assess the focusing a 2D image onto a curved screen from a distance of 7’ to 8’, a height of 8’ AND 10’. The focus on the curved screen was deemed acceptable.
Two tests used two projectors to test blending the images on the 1/4 screen, from a distance of 8’, a height of 8’ AND 10’. A seamless blend between the edges of images was acceptable
Contrary to the illustrations, the image in the lower left is our only option, using CSV's set of 4 Optoma projectors. Note: these illustrations imagines an 8' high screen on the ground or raised 2' above ground. Our's is a 6' high screen, which adds a bit of headroom in the centre of the cylnder.
The biggest challenge during tests of the lattice frame was finding an empty space large enough to set it up. On July 20, 2020 we were able to do tests over a weekend at the Holy Name Church on Danforth.
This was the first time the lattice was stretched out into a circle. Pieces I thought were needed to make the frame stable were discarded. I underestimated the strength of the lattice.
Once it is stretched into a circle, and all the bolts are tightened, it can be one free standing circle or two free standing arcs.
During CSV's relocation from TMAC to 76 Geary, I had to look elsewhere to set up the cylinder for testing and fine tuning. The Church of the Holy Trinity offered to rent one of their community rooms for a steeply discounted price. But, by October of 2021, CSV was ready to let me use there space.
While CSV was still moving, in I was able to set up the cylinder for a short time, in the back, complete with screen. This was the first setup of the complete frame and screens.
I'm trying prep the VPC so that it can be routinely set up by one person in the shortest time possible. The ideal cylinder size at CSV is up to 16', with one entry, allowing egress from the front to the back of CSV between the cylinder and the west wall OR 18' with egress through two openings in the cylinder.
Aside from standardizing the VPC set up, my priority is building a box for all the pieces. I'll provide some sketches this week.
Disassembling and assembling the lattice, along with moving it around, is time consuming. Half the frame and screen takes one person about 1 hour to set up, more if you want to maximize the smoothness of the screen, which is not necessary for these short Saturday tests.
. . . two halves were turned into easy to carry pieces, with the aid of two 3' lathe, making each half rigid and easy for one person to carry. Standing on end, storage floor space is minor.
Turns out there is no need for a box for the VPC. Two horizontal slats make each lattice half rigid. easy to store and carry. Storing/renting the two halves separately means members who only want one curved 30" screen aren't forced to take two.
To the right is a photo of two halves of the lattice, ready to store, using horizontal slats to tighten/flatten the lattice. This is the complete VPC frame.
I hope to store the screens in separate cardboard tubes, much smaller than the bulky tube we are currently using. I'm sourcing tubes.
More good news for portability. Instead of tubes I've rolled each screen onto an 8' piece of wood trim and made cloth bags for each one. The photo on the left is the complete VPC, lattice and screen - very easy to carry.
They are attached to the stick with blue clips (with handles removed) and rolled up. Standing off the floor on the stick makes it easier for a single person to unroll and attach the screen to the lattice. I'm also hoping the roll will press out some of the creases.
This reduces the storage footprint of the whole VPC to smaller than I expected, without the storage box. Two lattices, two screens on a pole and a bag of bits and pieces = 2 sq ft?
I also purchased 10" X 100" of cheap, thin plastic. This allows me to cover the floor while handling the 30 ft screens.
As for the smoothness of the screen, I've attached a photo, and inline, showing the current smoothness. This is 30' ft of screen.
After setting up, I fidgitted with the tension between clips and took this photo. This is sufficient for practice. With a second person to help, I believe it could be much smoother.
Now, when I arrive on Saturday mornings at 7, I can set up the above (180°) before 8. That would allow a few hours to resume testing two projectors with MadMapper, etc. Using the entire 360° cylinder would require a duplicate Macbook Pro, which you have. The whole screen would only be set up for demos or exhibitions.
HERE is the link you asked for regarding MappingMatter.com. I'm not sure it can render the interior of CSV. It uses .obj 3D files, normally of the exterior of a building. I'm not sure about interiors. When it comes to digitally mapping the interior of CSV, floor to ceiling, I don't know enough about it to say if Mapping Matter is your best choice.
Mapping Matter provides monthly licenses. I asked and they renewed my trial membership. Mapping Matter comes out of Montreal. There might be an advantage to that.
Attached is a 15 second timelapse of the setup routine for one half (180°) of the 360° VPC.
It takes about one hour to set up half of the 360°VPC, with a diameter of 18 ft., the max allowable in your space.
With the screen rolled onto a stick, it is easy for one person to unroll the screen while hanging it, without the screen touching the floor.
Ensuring that the screen is straight/level across the top helps with smoothness. Unlike the rest of the VPC, smoothness relies on precision which requires a lot of fidgeting. With more time it can be smoother, e.g. for an installation lasting longer than a few hours.
To the left is a 16 second timelapse of Saturday's 70 minute setup of 1/2 the larger 18' diameter screen and two ceiling mounted projectors.
Above, is a photo of 1/2 of my 360° test photo on 1/2 the 360° screen, crudely mapped and blended, using MadMapper.
This is progress, but, I'm going to need 5 projectors for any cylinder with a diameter greater than 15 ft. The only way to a bigger circumference is shorter throw projectors.
Projector Bulbs
It is hard to notice in the above photo but there is an obvious difference in the brightness between the two projectors. Dr. Google says it is because of differences in the ages of the bulbs.
Projector Mounts
Are the current 4-point projector mounts for each suitable for the Optoma 3-point scheme? The holes currently being used are are not for mounting. This may void any warranty you have left, they are only for the leveling nubs.
Ideally the mounts should swivel, tilt and lock into stable position.
While we try to figure out the ceiling mounts, I'm going to try working with the projectors on the floor.
Here is all the Optoma mounts on Amazone
I'm still toying with the idea of mounting all four projectors on one plywood base, as illustrated below:
July 14 Note: Turns out, mounting 4 projectors in the centre would require shorter throw projectors than the Optoma 1080s. The currently available projectors need to be placed above the rim of the cylinder, hung from the ceiling or on 8' projector stands or somehow affixed to the lattice frame.
An instructive Share Tech 360° Saturday, attended by Greg, Simone, Ric and Kavi. Half the 360° screen was set up with 3 projectors but the focus was on Simone's scheduled demo of the Brightsign media players and the unscheduled demo of Touchdesigner.
Thanks to Simone, each Brightsign media player is now numbered to correspond with three SD cards. Simone added a file to each card to make it easy to auto launch any .mp4 file, if you give the file the right name. Ideally, Simone's Brightsign quick guide can be added to each box.
Each media player runs one projector and CSV has 3 of them. My 360° still image needs at least 4 media players for 4 projectors. Each player costs $500. But, II can use 2 old $400 macs with 2 HDMI outputs to do what four $500 Brightsign media players do.
For my 360° projection mapping on a curved service, Simone suggested Touchdesigner. She did an ad lib demo of TD, projecting images on three visible sides of a white plinth. TD looks promising. It will be the focus of the next 360° Saturday, June 11The free version is fixed at a resolution of 1280x1280. This is sufficient for small venues. Higher res comes with a premium.
I heart Share Tech. We gathered for Simone's demo of the Brightsign media players and unexpectedly got a Touchdesigner demo as well.
Nina Beveridge and Wendy Edwards came by to check things out. Nina, Wendy and I were 3 of 5 founding directors of Toronto Community Videotex, incorporated in 1983. The other two were Geoffrey Shea and Paul Petro. Consequently, it was more of a social visit that ended over lunch.
However, I did test TouchDesigner.
Half of the 360° frame was set up with a 15' diameter. One 30' screen was hung. For the sake of a few hours, I don't pay much attention to the smoothness of the screen. For the same reason, the projectors are on the floor, not hanging from the ceiling.
Straight off, I hit the 1280X1280 res limit of free TouchDesigner. My image is 28000/2600, i.e. 3200/2600 per projector. (Thank you, Toronto Archives, for scanning my 4"x5" negatives at 600dpi.) I reduced the res of the images enough to open them with TD.
Within a 15' diameter cylinder, TouchDesigner's low res versions of my images should be sufficient. They exceed 2K projectors. But, I hope to project my 1974 360° photo on a much larger 360° screen. That would require paying TD's high res premium.
CSV already has a license to MadMapper for members and there are no limits to resolution.
I'm looking forward to June 25, when Samay will demo Minimad with MadMapper.
This was a milestone 360° Saturday, We have proof of concept:
Thanks to Samay Arcentales for her tremendous help and mad MadMapper skills, and artists on previous Saturdays, notably Simone Jones, Kavi, and Rick, for sharing their expertise, in the CSV "Share Tech" way.
360° Saturdays Is now changing from a weekly to a monthly event. I'll send out a notice for the next event.
We confirmed that CSV's 4 Optoma projectors can fill a 360° screen up to 15' in diameter, affording a 47' circumference cylinder. The projectors need to be placed above the screen shooting across the cylinder. This will create viewer shadows that can only be solved with shorter throw projectors.
The first booking will use the 360°. VPCylinder as a VPArc.
Not everyone wants a cylinder. Some artists prefer an arc, such as Ian Chalmers. Ian, and I set up the one section of the lattice as a 24' curve. Greg Woodbury joined us to test the 4K Optoma ZH506T on a 22' curved screen.