Following on from my meeting with Jon Holmes I began experimenting further with physics simulation in Blender and the different effects that could be achieved, particularly in reference to materials. Initially I practiced with the smoke simulation, converting the face to emit smoke that can be interacted with by outside forces. The final effect is interesting, but doesn’t really communicate the aspects of the cyborg and the border between the natural and machine I have been exploring.
After meeting with Kevin Hallsworth I have adapted my teeth model so this can be printed effectively. I decided to remove the sections of the tonsils, the roof of the mouth and the uvula as these were the problem areas. Also in terms of the final scale the teeth will be printed at, this level of detail will be unnecessary whilst still communicating the desired effect. I also decided to remove the connective tissue that joined the top and bottom sections, this again was an issue and it will be easier to print these in two separate parts and then join them together after.
I then tested these .stl files in Meshmixer, this can analyse the model and show its suitability for printing. It also has the capability of filling any holes in the model, again making sure it would print effectively.
04/05/2016:
Meeting with James Field:
Meeting with Jon Holmes:
I then met with Jon Holmes to go through blender animation and particularly physics simulation in order to animate a texture.
Jon went through all the different soft body/ rigid body simulations such as objects reacting when hitting a surface, cloth draping over an object, the object turning into cloth itself and the object being made of smoke that can react with sliced through by another. This was extremely helpful and interesting to see the different effects I could create, it will be good to consider this in terms of the different textures/materials that would effectively communicate the notion of human > object. Particularly paying attention to the border between the natural and machine. For instance the materials could be metallic, porcelain, silicone, rubber to give an interesting juxtaposition to the natural and man-made and those materials we deem the most akin to the human.
Meeting with Craig Bratley:
I then met with Craig Bratley to test the audio aspect of my project, having the input through 1 mic output to 4 speakers each pitch shifted differently. Craig helped me out with this and advised it would need to be set up as followed:
Mic > Mixer > 2 x audio interface (this splits the input to multiple outputs) > computer with Audition (to pitch shift the input) > 4 x speakers (2 x on each computer)
I would need to use Audition in order to perform the realtime pitch shifting, so that the mic input is altered and this is directly output. This does cause a delay but I think it could be accommodated, the issue does become that this cannot be looped and replayed. Craig suggested setting this up with a loop pedal in between either mic and the mixer or the mic and the audio interface, that way the audio can loop constantly and added to with each new input from the mic.
Meeting with Kevin Hallsworth:
Finally I met with Kevin Hallsworth to go through everything I would need to have set up in order to 3D print 4 of my mouths and 4 of my teeth. Kevin let me know this would cost approx £10 per head using the printer where the support material can be dissolved away, leaving a clean print which is purely the object. The teeth do need some extra work in order to make them printable, the mouth roof and tonsils need to be attached to the upper/lower teeth in order for the printer to handle them. Kevin also let me know they are currently testing with metallic filament (gold and aluminium) and I could print a test mouth using these, he showed me some models while I was there and they have an interesting shine to them which would be interesting to consider. If I wanted to print all the mouths using these then I would need to buy a roll of filament, which would be approx £20.
I began setting up my files ready for 3D printing, exporting the individual mouths and teeth as .stl files. The teeth work particularly well with the mouths created using Seene and add an interesting dimension rather than having a void.
Also again the finder previews of .stl files show an interesting dimension of the object and exposes their jagged/ somewhat crystalline surface.
Further experiments in animation using Blender. This time manipulating the face to resemble it being flattened, pulled inside out and one side melting away. These give a very creepy effect that begins to translate the face further away from the human to an in-between state of the uncanny.
Following on from the previous experiment I isolated the animation this time to just a simple twist, exposing the elastication and otherness when the face begins to fold in on itself.
As a possible output for my current MA project I’ve been thinking about a digital animation based on the objects I have been creating. Initially I contemplated an animation where the mouth moves in a more realistic representation, however I feel this would ground the work too much in the human when I am attempting to find the translation to object. Thus the exposure of the material would be a better way to approach this, animating a material rather than the object would highlight the blurring of the border between the natural and the machine. So I am proposing to view this as a form of experiments in texture, metal, marble etc, and then animate the breaking/manipulation of these.
I have started by doing an initial animation test in blender (as this is something I haven’t attempted previously). This uses the mouths I have been creating and distorts and stretches it as if it is elastic. There’s much further to go with this, but the initial test confirms the effect would compliment my project.
After being tidied up and the mouth opened up in Blender the faces are beginning to resemble a choir, currently this has a majority of mouths created using Photoscan but the contrast with those created using Seene provide an interesting level of intrigue.
As I was going through the process of translating the human to a 3D model using Photoscan I came across another 3D app called Seene. After testing it, it actually gave some interesting results. The models produced come out very standardised and capture quite a bit of detail. There is a sheen like quality to the texture, which gives the effect of material or a form of digital fabric that seems to drape over the face. It could be interesting to combine Seene with Photoscan as a representation of the pursuit of the perfect translation, further blurring the boundaries between human and machine.
As a continuation of the makings of a cyborg choir, I began the rendering process of creating the 3D mouths using Photoscan. This initially proved slightly difficult to gauge how well the software would translate the human mouth into that of a digital copy, at times it saw nothing and others had sections missing or repeated. When it did work the results highlighted how the translation process can produce very different results from the same source, I used my face and took the photos in the same place each time but the final 3D renders each have their own variations and mistakes.
In order to continue the notion of the cyborg I would like to either print the models using metallic filament to communicate the meeting of man and machine bridged using digital tools. Or the models could be printed in white or clear and then airbrushed with metallic paint, this would bring elements of the human back in and perhaps provide a link with the human voice that will eventually be fed through them. If I we’re to choose paint as an option, then this could potentially be decided using digital tools in the creation of either gradients or patterns. The gradient is a digital re-creation of colour and light/shadows in the natural world.
