Mixing different frame rates in a sequence

I have learnt since my poly years not to mix different frame rates in the same sequence as it will pose potential frame problems. However because of my quest to video flickering lights, it really challenged me to re-look into this issue.

I came to realise that not all flicker shows up on video despite it flickering in real life. It got me questioning my perception a little. However, I toggled around with the frame rates and realised that on 50fps, the flicker can be seen but not on 25fps.

So I took the risk to record on 50fps and decided to figure it out in post. I dragged and drop the 50fps footage onto a 25fps timeline, PremierePro (PP) will convert it automatically but I will lose my flicker as a result. So I almost wanted to use a 50fps timeline and drag and drop the rest of my 25fps videos into it. As I did that, the 25fps videos played fine but they are all bigger than my frame and I have to manually click ‘scale to frame’ for each individual video. That just wasn’t smart, not to mention I wouldn’t know if any thing may happen to my video when I export.

While searching for an answer, someone shared in the CreativeCow forum, that he tried to slow the speed of the 50fps footage (on a 25fps timeline) down by 50% to get the slow motion effect. That is not what I wanted, but I tried anyway, and the flicker came back! YESSSSS However it was in slow motion. -.- if I do not include any human movement, it would not be obvious, but I do have a man riding a bicycle in the shot.

After a few more links digging and trying, people recommended conforming footages to fit the timeline. So you double click your video in the project folder > Modify > Interpret Footage > set your desire frame rate. Surprisingly the conversion work with my flicker still intact! (I assumed it will be like my first attempt of drag-and-down to the timeline, but it wasn’t)

 

I tried exporting it with a 25fps footage and this is how it works out. I am going to try editing the videos together and hope it will not cause me any more issues.

 

Good week ahead~ Hope it helps anybody who is mixing different frame rates in the future.

 

Communication 301

Heya all! Thank you for this class, I learnt a lot about interactivity with spaces as well as about you guys!! My video laden with voice over to explain my intention is gonna appear below. Meanwhile, I shall talk a bit bout my difficulties and how I managed them.

Before I joined this class, I was hesitant because I have no programming knowledge whatsoever. Unless you count html that I did when I was in high school, “programing”. I remembered clearly that LPD said nope, that’s not programming. Hahaha… Apprehensive but intrigued at what this class could offer, I went ahead.

I’d like to thank Issac specially for being patient with me as he introduced Processing and Javascript to a newbie like myself. Without his interference, I might not have been able to achieve the automated recorder  and playback which are key elements to my work.

So I got to touch processing, led strip with fade candy and the transformer. These are new to me.

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the hardwares of my installation. ^

 

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Coding is tough, it’s really a language, another language that is illegible unless you spend time deciphering it. I wouldn’t dare say I understand the whole flow of Java. But it was a good start. I managed to make the playback random, and also managed to understand how the FadeCandy works so that I could color code my installation into three stages, “idle”, “recording”, “playback”. I also managed to make the recording mode ‘pulsates’ which was what I had in mind. Overall, the set-up wasn’t something I would have preferred, however with the limited resources and time, I decided upon a 1 is to 4 cups approach. Something smaller but more intimate. I chose the lounge to display my work hoping that the function of the lounge itself would lend meaning to my work; that it is a communal space for people to congregate and exchange dialogues and conversations.

 

I’d like to thank Kamarul for all the wonderful videos and photos, and the rest for being such a great sport.

VIDEO HERE:

 

You may leave a part of yourself in exchange for a part of another. 

 

 

 

Peace out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Augment Video – Film

So hello again,

This is my augmented video on the level 3 Gents. I gathered my friends and gave them each an action to do. It was a good exercise on creating a scene. I had fun as much as they do, I believe.

 

So based off my earlier posts, I wanted to challenge the perception of private spaces and that of ladies and gents. It’s quite funny that a space evolves to such a sacred place because of a signage placed outside the toilet. In this video, I re-created a scene whereby it’s a free-for-all toilet and what are the possibilities it may be.

 

Thank you everybody who helped out in this!

 

Having A Third Eye Try-out

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So to conclude this device, I’m going to go through the considerations of building it and the concept that goes behind it.

Building it:
So I set out to build two corrugated plastic boxes to hold two phones that are going to Skype each other.

Other than the usual cutting and measurements to make sure it fits the phone I wanted it to with the right hole for the camera etc.

I also made certain safety precautions for example,  I scotch taped the side  that was facing the user to make sure that no sharp edges is gonna cause a cut.

And that the twines were able to fastened the phone tightly such that it will not slip off the box I made. However during class, the twines that were used to hold the boxes onto the head had problems which resulted in manual holding.

 

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two cameras

Concept:

Maybe the scenario of walking around in the Sunken Plaza doesn’t exactly fulfill this change in perception. But imagine scenarios where you had to order lunch, hang out at the lounge, interact with people. More than anything I wanted to explore this new perspective that is now bestowed upon the user. The ability to see what goes on behind your back. To attain a (almost) 360 view of your life, rather than just a one sided view. To liberate the user from the physical limitations of our sight.

This liberation enables us to see a lot more and thus communicate differently. There is no need to turn your head just to look at a specific subject, you can just see and communicate with your back facing your friends. You can watch people more effectively, you won’t need to be afraid of what is behind you. Neither will you need to feel the urge to turn back and wave the last goodbye, you can just watch your treasured ones as you leave, and they too, know that you’re looking at them as you leave.

And at a party, standing in the corner or the wall will no longer be safe and comforting with half your vision impaired. Contradictory, standing right in the middle of the room will be the utmost comfort, as it is optimally where you can see everybody.

 

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seeing another perspective

I guess having “a third eye” will fundamentally change a lot of things, of how we build a space (architecturally), and also how we transverse space.

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Our first group shot: looking good!

 

 

The link for the documentation video is below:

 

 

 

 

Moving forward from Basic Communication 101 & 201

Hello guys!! It’s been a while, probably a week since I updated OSS. I have a huge problem with documentation, they are quite a pain but I will set aside some time to do it this week. Hopefully. Anyway, I was thinking of how to advance from the analog installation that I had done.

This is my first “installation” and also a liberation from what I do normally in photography. In photography or rather in our school’s photography course, we create works base off our expressions, what do we want to say? How do we evoke a certain emotion? How do we tell a story?

Borrowing some concepts from what I learnt, I made some amendments to how I thought. Instead of a direct, dictation of my expression/ story/ emotion in my work, it took some time for me to convert that into a platform or a playground almost for people to interact with. This shared experience of interesting engagement is something I think I’ve learnt from this installation and may then apply back to my own photographic works. A frame work, a platform is indeed more than necessary for anyone to view your works in.

What was interesting that I did not see it coming was that the vibration from one cup transmit back down and up to another cup on level 2. In which, the cup at level 1 becomes a main telecomm like a communication tower almost and it sends it’s vibration back to everyone else on the bridge on level 2. That was just splendid.

So I left the installation out for about two days before I was requested to take it down. But that allowed time for people to interact with the installation and from there I have gathered feedback. Generally, everybody had fun speaking into the telephone cups, some interaction last as little as 3 minutes to as long as 30 minutes. I asked “what made you stay put for longer than 30seconds?” Most people said friends, or basically other people involved in the interaction. The engaging part was the attempt to listen to your friends or talk to your friends through this network. I am well aware that this a strength and a limitation as well – so what if you were alone when you encounter this installation or what if you are generally a solo kid. How do the installation reach out to you then? If communication is a technology for all?

But before I jumped into the next concept I have to “improve” or maybe “change the analog installation slightly” for my digital installation. I would talk bout the little design principles or elements that I have thought of or that my Interactive Spaces classmates have put forth to me.

  1. light. Light is a beautiful phenomenal, in which we can’t see without it. While trying out the cups during recess week. I attempted to shine my phone torch into one of the cup. and it lit up beautifully but it does not translate to the threads. So Issac suggested that maybe I should consider fibre optics or something that allow the entire thread to be lit up. I particularly liked his suggestion because (if it’s possible) the vibrations of the sound can send a signal to the sensors for the light. And that you can see when a conversation is happening. ideally.
  2. voice modulators. So Suhui say that it would be interesting if one person’s voice get modulated into different type of voices across the many different cups I currently have. This allows people to move around each cup just to listen how different one sounds.
  3. political symbolism. Kamarul & LPD said. haha yes when I set it up, I have half a mind that it can be something about that. But no, I do not want to engage anything bigger than what it is lest it becomes fluff.
  4. listening. Vivian brought up an interesting point, what she liked the most was the fact that she could hear others and that she could just listen, the ‘static’ or the drop in signal/vibration that sometimes happen enhances the fact of fragility in the presence of the voice. I particularly like this observation because maybe it comes close to what I was trying to bring home with the dream boxes. The presence and absence of someone.

Feedbacks are great, it re-confirm things you already know, gives you another insight you might have missed and more importantly allow the mind-space to expand to include new angles and takes on it. This should be emphasised. I realised. especially in a creative school like ours.

So gathering from everybody’s feedback and remembering my original inspiration for this work, I realised that maybe if I can to create an answering machine in ADM. with the same cups just maybe an additoinal recorder, a trigger to show that there’s a message and to play back and re-record again. I don’t know if it is possible. I welcome feedbacks.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD 🙂

Execution Vertical Cups

So I spent the whole of Friday attempting to try the cups.

The vertical form will allow interact of two levels. Two different spaces in that sense. But what initially was supposed to be beneficial – (cause of gravity pull) didnt work out quite well. People will still need to pull the cups and stretch the threads a little for it to work.

Of course everybody had fun playing with it.

 

 

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Below is a link of the day in 20 seconds.

I titled this work-in-progress “Communication 101” just for the sake of it. Since I’m delving into this topic of relations through communication.
I’ve received some feedbacks from my friends who were in school over the weekends. Some said it was fun, people liked it, overall people played with it. I learnt, in interactivity, the element of play is important or rather it co-exist with the concept of interactivity. I am glad that I have made some progress from just hanging boxes to something one can play with and interact with. However, can I do more with this?

The Cup-Thread-Cup is just one module. What else can I do with it? How can I engage with a space differently, or how can I subvert the notion of communication? How can I play with this idea of communication?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBAXGjtbYI&feature=youtu.be

 

Hanging them Cups

So after hanging the boxes, it reminded me of my many sketches of hanging cups instead. (i’ve in total three sketches but never thought to execute them until now)

Reasons why I remembered the cups were that I wanted active participation – allowing viewers to interact with it/ speaking through it than just passively listening to it. So I set out to attempt this experiment, hoping that it will work. (i never did this as a kid – I’ve always seen them on cartoons. but as we all know not everything on cartoon can be done in real life).

 

So other than the standard dangling, I thought of how you would place the cups.

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I thought of a “see-saw”. Reasons being the whole idea of unfairness / justice. Or that there are too many dialogues incoming to one source. of course after researching, I soon realised that it is impossible to do have the wires all going to one cup. It will lose it’s vibration and thus it does not function.

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I also came up with a “Hotline to God” – to have a bed below the ladder, and have telephone cups linking up the ladder. I was serious though. But I thought it did not quite use space the way we were introduced.

And then I went to look at our school’s lobby, and realised that maybe I can bridge distance with the telephone cup, dangling from level 2 to level one.

Or just a horizontal work.

 

So as I contemplated the difference between a vertical and a horizontal; is that vertical could probably look fun as the cups are swinging in mid-air, hopefully the gravity will substantiate the threads and allow vibrations to pass through better.

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Whereas horizontal must be precise and that all the strings must be taut. I also looked at thread art for the different possibilities one can play with threads.

 

However one criteria that I must have is that it still has to be functional.

Which is the biggest difference between all these other works.

 

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