ECT-2210 Intro to VR Production ITS-6930 Graduate Independent Study (Fall 2021)

Course Description:

ECT-2210 introduces the processes, production, and emerging technologies within the fields of virtual, mixed, and augmented reality. Students examine the fundamentals of immersive and emerging media production within video, audio, and interactive design/animation. When taken as ITS-6930 Independent Study, it includes additional Independent study, supervised by faculty, raising it to a graduate level course.

3D 360 Video: My Commute to OU

This was one of my first projects using the Vuze+ 3D 360 VR video camera in my Fall 2021 VR production class. This video was used to try the Vuze+ under several conditions to see how the ambisonic sound performed and to see how the stitching software handled several conditions. It was also a good opportunity for me to get familiar with the workflow in Adobe Premiere for VR video, ambisonic sound, and the titling & effects available.The scene in the parking lot where my car was in the foreground and I was walking towards it seemed to have a good 3D effect when viewed in a HMD. The stitching worked fairly well except for driving scenes in the car, the passenger window was too close and suffered from parallax at the stitch between the front and right hand views with the window pillar extremely distorted. The picture was a little grainy but the fact that the output for the spherical stereoscopic video was limited to 4K was the culprit there.I like the form factor of the Vuze+, I think using the 8 cameras in a flat plane makes this design adaptable to be used as a sports camera that could be built into things like hockey and football helmets. I'd like to see what would happen if the components were upgraded to 4K and the output were upgraded to 8K with improved stitching software in a future iteration.

Instructor's comments:

"Greg, this is very compelling work. Your peers enjoyed the length of the video, the glimpse it gave into your daily life, the audio, some of the images, and the feeling of travel that the film imparted. Critiques focused on the things you already know: graininess of the images, bold stitchlines and parallax, and (sometimes) the length of the film.

Overall, you got a lot of 10s and some 7s and 8s. This is a wonderful idea for the project and was well-executed within the limits of the tech. Rock on!"

Sound Analysis Paper: "CSI: Vegas" pilot episode

Sound-Image Analysis Paper

(Worth 8 Points)

1) Choose an audiovisual work. This can be from VR/AR/MR, film, television, video games, installation art, etc. You may choose a piece you already love (or hate) or something that merely strikes you as having interesting sound and/or images. Try to limit your choice to a short clip (in other words, analyzing all of Job Simulator or Roots or Skyrim or a Game of Thrones episode is impossible in this context.)

2) Begin your writing by briefly describing what you chose in an introductory paragraph. Include all salient identifying information (medium/platform, director/developer/studio/showrunners, year of release, etc.). Also say why you chose this piece.

3) Play the clip three times: listen once with your eyes closed, watch once with the sound off, and screen it normally by both watching and listening at once. The order in which you do this does not matter. Answer the following questions, either in individual paragraphs or as a longer comprehensive essay:

a. How do the images feel to you without sound? Be specific and provide examples.

b. How does the sound feel to you without images? Be specific and provide examples.

c. How do sound and image work together in your clip? Be specific and provide examples.

d. What is particularly striking to you about the clip and its use of sound and image? What is done well? Would you add anything? Would you do anything differently? How are sound and image both important? Why?

4) All essays are due on Blackboard by the end of the day on Monday, 10/11/21. Papers should be typed in a readable, 12-pt font with 1” margins. Cite sources as necessary. Style form (APA, MLA, etc.) is up to you, but be consistent. These papers should be roughly three pages* in length, but you may certainly write more if you like.

*Graduate students should write four or more pages and cite one scholarly source. The source can be about your specific object, provide a hermeneutic framework, etc.

Watch CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 1: Legacy - Full show on CBS

Sound Analysis Assignment_2021 Fall_ECT 2210 - Ardrey.pdf

Feedback to Learner

10/31/21 11:30 AM

Greg, this is absolutely marvelous! It's very well-written, superbly thoughtful, incisive, technically precise, and deals with a novel object at length and in striking depth. Bravo! I especially appreciate the ways in which you intertwine your thoughts on broadcast standards and audio formats with the analysis of your chosen object. Bravo! Bonus!

ATSC 4 and VR.pptx

In Class Student Presentation

Every Friday, two students in the class presented a course related topic that they had researched. For my topic, I looked at my planned dissertation topic on the convergence of VR and Broadcast Television in a possible future standard. I presented some of the history of how TV has evolved along with current research and discussions that strongly hinted at that probability.

Unity Project: Roll-A-Ball

Unity Exploration and Creation

1. Download and install Unity or work with Unity on an XR Lab computer. Explore the program extensively, take tutorials, read, watch videos, etc. Please note that the Unity student version (second link below) requires enrollment verification; this may cause a delay. The personal version (first link below) is fine. DO NOT pay for Unity.

https://store.unity.com/download OR https://store.unity.com/academic/unity-student

2. Explore this:

https://unity.com/learn/get-started

3. Next, complete the Roll-a-Ball tutorial and build the Roll-a-Ball game. I recommend sticking to either Mac or PC for now. Make sure to save your work somewhere you can access it. Always back up your work!

https://learn.unity.com/project/roll-a-ball

4. Find a time to show me your completed Roll-a-Ball game no later than Friday, November 19th. I would prefer not to receive project files because of technical issues (I cannot troubleshoot or debug so many projects.) Ultimately, I should be able to clearly view your game, see that it works, and verify that it is your own individual effort. You should feel free to customize your game. I may ask questions.

Augmented Reality: Adobe Aero

This was an experiment with Adobe Aero on an iOS device using a stock robot animation and a few real-world props to enhance the realism of the animation.

Final Project: 3D 360 Video with Ambisonic Audio

This is another video filmed with the Vuze+ camera and using its on-board ambisonic audio to film a drive around the Licking County Courthouse square at Christmas time.

Instructor's Comments:

Greg, this is a lot of fun. I enjoyed this setting for 360. I still think you'll get better visual results by experimenting with stitching, but I find this compelling. I was unaware of the Licking County lights too. Thanks!

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