Projection mapping project for live show

[littlepeoplemusic]

hello

I'm london based electronic musician who has dabbled with VJing in the past (using Vidvox grid to trigger clips - so fairly basic stuff). I've recently just signed up with a booking agent in the States (where i'm enjoying most of my success) and will expect to tour my new album in the US later in 2011. So for that, i feel the need to up my game a bit... that's why I feel I should outsource my visuals...

I've been toying with the idea of using interesting stage design (cuboid shapes etc..) and using projection mapping to bring it to life (similar in concept to this video i guess http://vimeo.com/groups/20474/videos/9642903). So i would be looking for someone to help me put together a fully automated set which i could take on the road myself. Video content would be fairly simple and would probably amount to rhythmic triggering of block colour shapes. I'm fairly sure this could be achieved using VDMX5 for instance - triggered via MIDI from a sequencer.

Although not massive, i can pull some budget together for this. For practical reasons, someone based in London would be useful but i guess not necessary.

Would anyone be interested? Is this do-able? Any out there already done something similar? Any questions?

Thanks!
Laurent
little people
http://littlepeoplemusic.com
e: laurent [at] littlepeoplemusic.com

[fryup]

You know you would have to calibrate the visuals everytime you set up your cubes on stage, so I it wouldn't be that automated.

When the MadMapper appication comes out it could be a really helpful tool sending content from VDMX or Modul8 via Syphon to the MadMapper app. This would make your mapping/calibration process a lot faster every time you set up.

[littlepeoplemusic]

Thanks for your response. I'm aware that'll need to calibrate everytime i set up. I meant full automation in terms the show itself (IE i don't intend to manipulate any of the visuals on the fly - i'll have enough to do on the music side.)

I saw a handy video with someone calibrating using a wiimote... I'll check out madmapper, certainly would be good to speed that up.

[fryup]

Yes, there is a lot of interesting thigs happening with projector calibration software right now. It would be really cool if programs like the MadMapper would support these technologies. It would save a lot of time.

[evomedia]

I've rarely been in a venue where the projector can sit anywhere like a similar position and distance. That's going to cause major headaches if your hoping for a plug and play show with minimal setup.

I also reckon you'll have massive problems getting beamers calibrated, keystoned and warped correctly to work with a premade mapping setup, I think basically you'll have to adopt a start from scratch in some venues when you find your object wont fit or is obstructed, or you suddenly have to rear project because the ceiling height is too low.

Seems a real shame to spend time creating a mapping setup and then just putting nothing but simple coloured blocks on it. I don't really see why you don't just put up a standard screen and just create a ton of flashing square videos and just forget the mapping and just run it via a playlist.

I don't really see the point of mapping if your not doing anything interesting with it, If I saw that out in the world I'd certainly be thinking, what a waste.
Ideally you should just hire a VJ to work with you, you'd end up with a much better and interesting show.

[fata alex]

Ideally you should just hire a VJ to work with you, you'd end up with a much better and interesting show.

But that effectively doubles the cost of the tour, especially when abroad, unless he were to plan the tour with a US vj to start with.

Evo is right about the practicalities of mapping on tour though, venues are so varied, unless you know you are only going to be playing in large venues, with a minimum stage size, and conventionally placed lighting bars. Chances are, unless you are a huge act, at least half your gigs will be in small underground clubs with low ceilings and irregular shaped rooms/dancefloors/ dj booths.
Carting big white blocks around with you just for those few venues you have room to set them up in is as impractical as hiring a vj to come on tour with you.

I disagree with the concept being a waste of mapping though, if i was your average punter (and not a perfectionist vj) if i saw a show with a stage setup half as good as the installation video you posted then i'd be pretty blown away. I think simple concepts executed well can be very effective.

But unfortunately, the practicalities mean that unless its a big budget tour in big venues (in which case you should definitely hire a vj to come with you) you're much better off just bringing content with you that can be played on whatever video setup the club has or the promoter can provide.

[littlepeoplemusic]

I'm not expecting this to be easy to pull off, which is why i'm after some expertise...

I don't really see why you don't just put up a standard screen and just create a ton of flashing square videos and just forget the mapping and just run it via a playlist.
Because that seems like a lazy way of doing this. This is really about having an interesting set design which doubles up as a projection surface. I only mention coloured blocks to limit the scope of the work initially - but i'd be only to happy to move towards something more ambitious and interesting. I'm most definitely open to ideas...

Ideally you should just hire a VJ to work with you
That's precisely why i posted on this forum - and whilst i have an idea of what i want to achieve, i'm keen to work with someone to explore the different possibilities.

[alfaleader]

Should be doable with a vj program with advanced mapping abilities (f.e. madmapper which is going to be released for mac).

My approach would be first create the content you need, and you should make the content "flat" so it can be mapped correctly in the future:

like this: http://illuminations.nctm.org/tools/cubenets/CubeFoldStatic.gif

If the content is created, i would use Resolume with the new Ir Mapio plugin to assign each part to the correct 3D place. (Fold the 2D thing to 3D)

Your "input" layers stay the same and you just have to calibrate the "output" each time.
http://irworkshop.com/images/mapio/image2.png

That's how I would do it, and I think it's one of the easier ways to do it. There are different ways, used by the "pros" but I think that's more difficult.

[littlepeoplemusic]

Hey alfaleader

Thanks for that. Despite my limited understanding, i did see a video which applied the same idea in VDMX.

Thanks for all your responses by the way. I got a couple of emails from people interested in helping me... so let's see where that leads to.

[mowgli]

Carting big white blocks around with you just for those few venues you have room to set them up in is as impractical as hiring a vj to come on tour with you.

A bit of imagination and planning can easily turn the white blocks into ultra light, flatpack versatile 3D shapes.

[Ulfilas]

how about this little piece of free software for projection mapping?
http://hcgilje.wordpress.com/vpt/