Team Pattymore: Anam, Isaac, Jessie, Joan
Project location: Installation @ room downstairs

Our aim is to create the “Patronus Charm” from the Harry Potter series. The Patronus Charm is a magic spell that wizards cast from their wands. It casts a white vapour which can transform into an animal. In our version, when the wand is waved, an animal appears in the vapour and when it is still, only the vapour appears. The spread of the particles in the vapour will also increase with the speed of the wand waving.

We plan to achieve this by using motion tracking via light and blob tracking in Max 7 to trigger the appearance of both the white vapour and the animal. The white vapour will be generated particles and the animal will be an animated video. We will blend the the particles and the animal to create a smooth transition based on the speed of the wand. The X and Y coordinates of the particles and animal will be determined by the wand’s location. The wand itself will have an LED on the end of it so the camera can track the user’s movement.

All of this will be projected onto a fogscreen to create the illusion that the patronus is in 3D. The fog screen will be designed based on tutorials such as this: https://prosauce.org/blog/2012/6/10/how-to-diy-improved-inexpensive-fog-screen.html And our aim is to create an effect like this one:

 

Tutorials on generating particles in Max:

 

Project Milestones:
Our plan for the next few weeks! -> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NpC8NnpvjGQyTXnlQejEV3mqLUMhFA-0V5pfKfUKBlI/edit?usp=sharing