Animation help & proposal

[Ironbat]

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Henrique and I was fascinated by all the animations that were built from the users of this site. A few months ago I created one of the pyramid hologram projectors and tested a few animations as a sample on my phone, then I showed it to the physics club at my school, but this time I made the pyramid fit for the size of a tablet, once again using some of the animations of this site. I then decided to take that further and enlarged the pyramid even more, however this time I made it fit for a 46 inch Tv screen and I created a video of our own to present it to my class during our Graduation ceremony.

 

After receiving high positive reception from parents and students, me an my colleagues are prepared to take a step even further with this idea. However to make this work we need to have a more professional animation, one that won’t make it seem like a high school project, and here’s where I need help, knowing that most of you have experience with this, as seen by the comment section and your beautifully designed concepts, I was wondering if you would be wiling to spare some time to help with this project of mine that I have in mind. if you want to know more details of my plans, please reply to me when you’re interested in being a part of our project.

 

Have a great day everyone!

[robcat2075]

I don't know what pyramid hologram is?

[Rodney]

I don't know what pyramid hologram is?

 

 

I'm thinking something like this: http://diyhacking.com/diy-hologram/

 

Looks like fun.

 

Here's a video of it in action:

(Disclaimer: The sound was a bit loud on this one for me so consider turning your sound down)

 

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXsxj9OUvpI

 

 

And here's a pretty impressive example at larger scale:

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhjEQuR_fo

[Rodney]

Of note... the images projected must be reversed because when viewed the audience sees the mirror image in the reflection which corrects it.

You can get away with a lot when the projection is images but this is especially important for text which won't be very readable.

 

Flames interacting with real objects tend to catch people's attention:

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2obmilh7170

[John Bigboote]

That is pretty a danged sweet little illusion concept! I imagine you mainly need 'on black' animations... lots of particles look cool too, and you will take care of compositing the 4 sided video that needs to be made? I want to make one of those....!

[Ironbat]

IMG_0007.mp4@ John Bigboote

Yeah the links that Rodney posted pretty much sums up what we did.

I've attached the actual video in case you are all curious to see what was all about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUYJ-TsAvZc&index=3&list=LLIZzuy49bPabL26I5vkwDCg

*note the video is in 4 sides because that's how we need it to be presented in order to project with the pyramid hologram. Also the video has a small story that we developed that is basically a metaphorical journey of a knight (our grade) going though high school and finishing school, if you watch it it will make sense and you'll understand

 

anyways I'm looking for someone to help me with these animations, because i personally can only do some editing, but in terms of animation i'm still a newbie. that's why i joined this site to learn some stuff, but even then it's still complicated for me. If anyone is willing to spare some time to help me with my plans that I have for this I'd appreciate. I can tell you that these plans are quite exciting

[largento]

This is cool! Found a website that sells the pyramids (one for phone size, one for tablet size): https://hologrampyramid.net/

 

I ordered the small one just to play with it.

[John Bigboote]

$10(with shipping) for a phone version? Why not! (ordered. Great find, Mark!)

 

I will also keep an eagle eye out at flea markets, garage sales... seems to me a larger version could be found there, altho you need to keep the glass thickness quite thin to minimize double imaging. I would love to find (or make) one about 1 foot by 1 foot for use with a larger monitor... hallo'ween! Ironbat- thanks for showing your plexiglass design in process... that is gonna be SWEET!

[John Bigboote]

Ironbat- going back to your call for help. It is difficult for anyone to step forward to volunteer a large chunk of time these days on a volunteer basis... perhaps you could make a list of the sequences you foresee needing and maybe some of us have the models you want already in our databases and could rerender on black or donate them to you so you could render as you see fit. Y'know- there is a wonderful KNIGHT model available on the Hash reasources CD too...

[largento]

$10(with shipping) for a phone version? Why not! (ordered. Great find, Mark!)

 

I will also keep an eagle eye out at flea markets, garage sales... seems to me a larger version could be found there, altho you need to keep the glass thickness quite thin to minimize double imaging. I would love to find (or make) one about 1 foot by 1 foot for use with a larger monitor... hallo'ween! Ironbat- thanks for showing your plexiglass design in process... that is gonna be SWEET!

 

Well, color me not-so-impressed.

 

First, the envelope arrived wide open. I looked around the mailbox in a panic, thinking it must've fallen out in transit. Looking inside, I found a small cardboard container and realized that the pyramid isn't quite what it appeared to be. It's basically a flat piece of semi-opaque plastic (about as transparent as a milk container) with the instructions to "Carefully bend into a perfect pyramid shape."

 

After carefully bending it into what I can't call a perfect pyramid shape, I happily loaded the app and placed it in the center of my phone. Since you're basically looking at a reflection that is angled down, you need the side of your phone to be at eye-level. This means holding your phone up, while the "perfect" pyramid slides all around and fails to sit level. The fruit of all of this is a decidedly fuzzy reflection that I suppose you could call a hologram.

 

I thought perhaps that I had folded it in the wrong direction and tried to fold it so the other side faced out, but that only made it worse.

 

I feel like I just got something I ordered off the back of a 1960s comic book. :-)

 

Despite the packaging's promise of eye-popping crystal clear images that will be the hit of your next dinner party or family function, I cannot recommend getting this.

 

[EDIT] Okay, despite their being nothing in the instructions about this, I discovered that there was a thin film stuck to both sides of the pyramid. Peeling them off, leaves you with a clear plastic pyramid and although it is still flimsy and cheap, the image is at least now clear. Still a disappointment since I expected something better constructed.

[fae_alba]

Mark, I looked at that product and came away wondering just what it was that made it different from any of the other possibilities out there. Thier claim is that they utilize "technology" that can't be matched. I wonder how what they are doing can be different than taking a sheet of thin plexi and cutting what ever size you want. The only thing different is perhaps instead of four seams theirs has only one?

[John Bigboote]

Yup- chintz city! I documented the experience in pixx.... $10 i'll never see again. I used a lil scotch tape to hold the seam together... I have an iphone 6plus and I think most videos are designed for the 6... The viewing experience was 'underwhelming' and I was delighted to know I can still get excited about stupid crap!

[Ironbat]

@ John Bigdoote

can you please send me a link to that Knight that you were talking about. I couldn't find it.

Also for the mini-model you can easily do it at home. all you need is transparency sheets, if you don't have one you can use the plastic that covered your Iphone 6S when you bought it. You know the one that you take it off right when you buy a brand new phone and it's the best feeling in the world taking it off the screen.

Once you have the plastic you then:

1. cut 4 trapezoids each with dimensions of (short side of 1cm, longest side of 6 cm, diagonal should be 4.5 cm if you use the previous measurements)

2. tape them together having the short sides making a blank square at the base of the pyramid.

3. and that's it! (i've attached an image of what mine looks like)

you can use my video to test it if you want cause I know it works for sure. Just remember to keep at your eye-level, so either put it on top of a table and sit in a small chair or lift your phone up with your hands. Also i suggest you do it in you bathroom since it's probably the darkest place in a house. The more dark it is the more neat the videos are.

 

Hope that Helps enjoy and please send me the link if you can

[largento]

Paul, I guess their claims have to do with the fact that the viewer is pre-cut (rather than you having to cut it out yourself) and their app. Like Matt, I have the iPhone 6 Plus and they say how you can perfectly align the pyramid with their software. I'm not going to knock it, but in the long run, there's no real difference to just angling a piece of clear plastic over your phone. The reflection is just a reflection.

[John Bigboote]

Plus- when I assembled mine with the scotch tape (how else could it stay together?) the sides 'bowed-in' at the bottom... which throws all illusions off. The Knight model may be in the contributors cue... it is one of the models everyone does their tutorials with... Rodney knows where to get it... RODNEY!!!

[Rodney]

Rodney knows where to get it...

 

 

I dunno nothin! I wasn't there. There were no witnesses and you can't prove anything!

 

 

The knight can be found in several places... but I see it and the rest of the characters used in the exercises aren't in the Characters forum (in A:M Exchange).

I'll have to do something about that.

 

The files in question, including the Knight, can be found on the ftp site at; ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/misc/LittleData.zip

Just download, unzip and load. Most of the Actions that accompany are designed to go with the Knight so you might consider using those.

[John Bigboote]

AND- please shoot some video of your display, we are interested in seeing how it comes off!

[Ironbat]

@ John Bigboote

 

will do! I'll let you guys know when I make progress.

 

@Rodney

 

One more thing do I need to install a specific application, cause the one I have won't open the files you sent me

 

Is there something wrong? What application should they run on?

[Rodney]

One more thing do I need to install a specific application, cause the one I have won't open the files you sent me

Is there something wrong? What application should they run on?

 

 

Apologies if I misread.

There is only one file that you are after from what I read above and that is the Knight model (Knight.mdl) that is in the Actors folder.

All models (.mdl files) open in Animation:Master (A:M)so you will need Animation:Master.

You should be able to import the model or double click on it to open it in A:M.

As for the majority of the other files, they open in Animation:Master too.

I'm not sure what program you refer to if it's not the trial version of A:M.

[Roger]

Hey, at least now you can redo the last 10 minutes of Logan's Run with your phone.