Basic Projection Mapping
Tatsuya Deals
Outgrowing its function, projection mapping is nowadays used to enhance artistic performance in concerts and theatre, provide an atmosphere for a product launch or yet animate a corporate event. And with mapping solutions flourishing, the path to delivering immersive experiences has never been clearer. However, some questions need first be answered: what is projection mapping? What are its specificities? How do you do projection mapping? Is there any training to learn projection mapping? We provide all of the answers in this article.
2D mapping is usually done on flat or curved surfaces where the measurables are length and height. By comparison, 3D projection mapping is used to account for depth and other spatial concerns. e.g. When working with objects and textured surfaces.
As can be seen, the three-dimensional factor brings more attention and interest to the creation. The more there is a dimensional interest, the more spectacular and relevant the projection mapping is. A 3D projection mapping intrinsically generates more value and takes on a true meaning.
We know projection mapping can be applied to absolutely any physical element. Meaning anything from infinitely small to gigantely colossal. And for this latter part, the market is occupied by the AV big players.
They create massive works by combining several high-performance projectors for a single project. Both the visual rendering outstanding and financial expense are outstanding.
AV big players are, in general, technical providers who supply the essential technology for great experiences. They collaborate with creative agencies to create the audiovisual material that will be shown.
The agency is responsible for generating 3D material that will match the building flawlessly and exclusively. The agency is provided blueprints, prototypes, or designs in any format so that they should work on them before the event. The content development process is critical, and it is sometimes offered as a service by AV companies.
French music band Free for the Ladies used projection mapping in their set design when filming and the result is electrifying. Filling their instruments and faces with color waves thanks to the most user-friendly mapping software, music vibes are flowing through the screen.
You can use HeavyM in any location and on any surface. The projection surface can be the front of a building, your car, a pair of shoes, or any scenery of your choice. You can also use our Olga kits specially designed for projection mapping. The ease of use and rendering of projection mapping designed with HeavyM and the Olga kit has led some customers to turn art projects into permanent installations. This is the case for the Sheron project below.
Several players have already tested HeavyM software to boost their corporate events, their stage installations or their artistic decorations. For example, the YMCA used HeavyM to build an elegant stage design for a DJ set at the Angoulme comic book festival. The audience was transported into a visual universe inspired by the world of comics!
If you wish to gain expertise on the subject of projection mapping, training courses are available. Count a few thousand euros for a complete course ranging from the history of mapping, to the deployment of the workflow, to a technical application.
As you can see, mapping can become an accessible and easily achievable practice as soon as you have the knowledge and the right tools to grasp it. To avoid wasting time and to make your events spectacular in the blink of an eye, choose HeavyM, the intuitive and easy-to-use projection mapping software!
For many years we have approached projected images as simple 2 dimentional flat pieces, used predominantly to relay presentations in a hotel conference rooms. But with the emergence of powerful media servers, we now have the ability to use projection to transform plain objects into mind blowing visual art instalations through a process known as 3D Projection Mapping.
The laser scanner used to create the 3D map of your projection surface is a common tool used in the construction industry and, because the hardware is highly specialised and expensive, most AV companies will rely on a professional scanning company to provide this service and then construct the 3D model.
Your projection mapping specialist will convert the digital architectural drawing of the projection surface into a design format and then identify a position which will be used as the audience perspective reference. This is handed over to the content creators.
There's a lot of material on the web showcasing this technique, but how one creates this effect remains elusive at best. So many people have made detailed tutorials but i feel they don't apply it in their work, and that's why my approach to explaining this technique is to walk you through a completed installation. I feel its more concrete this way. And plus, it's about time instructable got a nice projection mapping project on its site!
I have long wondered how a projector can be used to create such a magical and immersive experience, after years of incubation in my mind I finally got the chance to create an installation using the technique. This is my first attempt into the world of projection mapping. If you think my work and instructable deserves your vote, please do vote for me!
Projection mapping describes the technique that uses a projector on any surface and can turn it into a dynamic visual display.Instead of using a boring flat white screen, it can be used to bring buildings and objects to life, create immersive environments and to provide exciting interactive experiences. A variety of different methods can be employed to achieve the desired effect but it always involves a combination of a creative mind and intricate technical planning. Typically the content features a mixture of computer animation, 2D and 3D effects.
Projection Mapping uses everyday video projectors, light is mapped onto any surface, turning common objects of any 3D shape into interactive displays. Projection mapping can be used for advertising, live concerts, theater, gaming, computing, decoration and anything else you can think of. I have decided to use this technique to create an installation that surround you in an ambient, soothing wash of color and texture.
As my canvas I have decided to go with translucent sheets of plastic. They allow light from the projector to glow through them, creating an ethereal feeling. Choose your canvas wisely! You don't want to create something to project upon that is unable to express what you want it to.
I started by brainstorming about what i want to express. I then made sketches (which i've lost) and finally moved on to the computer. With a concrete concept in my mind I modelled it to scale along with the location where i was going to install it. It's very important to think of scale, too big and and you are lost and the effect is diluted. Too small and it's simply not effective enough!
We have all at some point used a spreadsheet to solve a specific
mathematical problem. Starting with intentionally chosen values, and under certain rules that we have imposed on the system when setting it up, we are able to instantly obtain very complex results, which also, can be immediately recalculated by simply tweaking the original parameters.
The benefits of this process are immediate. It is a huge leap in the quality of our process, since we are not bound by our tools anymore; now it will be us who design our own tools. On the other hand, parametric design is fundamental when minimizing the effort needed to create and test design variants.
Even though my concept was clear i wanted to be able to vary quickly and easily my model to try other variations, and that's why i chose to build a parametric model using Grasshopper for Rhino. If you find yourself in a situation like this, I recommend learning parametric modeling. It will prove invaluable.
Once i was completely happy with the model and how it looks, it was time to build it! The picture i have attached describes the plan from top view, along panel lengths. The plastic I bought comes in a large roll, I bought mine according to the width i needed. The sheets were first cut and numbered in an organized way.Next, two pieces of wood were prepared for each sheet.
I decided to use thin fishing line to hold the panels up. First attaching on the ceiling frame and then anchoring to the ground so that they do not fly around. Keep in mind that with nylon fishing line its quite troublesome to tie knots with! Constantly using my digital model as a reference, I basically used digital fabrication but this was more of a manual fabrication. Its tedious work!
We first acquired two projectors and two laptops. We then decided the optimal placing for the projectors. This is important, as the resolution of your final work will be affected by this. Place the projector at a location where its throw perfectly covers everything you want it to project on. Get as close as you can!
For our structure, as we wanted all of the front panels to be able to take on a colour of its own, we decided to use two projectors placed in such a way that from the projector's point of view, none of the panels were intersecting.
In Cinema4d we set the mask as a back ground image and approximately place the cinema4d camera so that it matches the projectors position. And then by guessing and luck we moved and rotated the cinema4d camera until our 3d scene matched exactly the digital scene. We had to do this for both cinema4d cameras. This is a tricky step, take your time, everything depends on how well you align the digital model to the masks.
Ok! If you made it this far you can finally take a breather. This is now the fun creative part, watch lots of videos for inspiration, use tutorials to learn, or simply download content from other generous artists. I used Adobe After Effects to create most of my content.
This is where the true mapping happens. By now we have prepared a grand canvas, placed our projectors optimally and aligned our digital cameras to out projectors. Now, in this step you as an artist must decide from which angle you want your work to to seen from. Remember, projection mapping typically only works from one point of view.
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