Final Documentation

Here is a link to my website/final documentation of my work for Unrvl:
http://sidewalksightings.com/index.html

I’m excited to continue adding to this archive and work on making the site more interactive. I think my next steps will be expanding the map, and adding information about each neighborhood/site that I’m documenting. I’d also like to add upload links so that I can create viewer-submitted image libraries.

I think it would be beneficial to push the humor a step further by making this website look more official and mimic the online museum/interactive-educational format by adding as much information about the models as I can.

Some Progress

Today I finished rendering 4 new models. Here are some images:

Before break, I CNC’d a large chunk from one of my models, a 48×48″ sidewalk square:

I also CNC’d a handful of small 6×6″ squares to test out different paint finishes.

This past week, I’ve been focusing on making my website to display all the models. My html coding is pretty much finished and today I started writing my css scripts. It’s really nothing fancy (in fact I probably could have just used a squarespace site) but I’m proud of my progress so far and it’s been fun learning how to code.

Project Update

Tonight I talked with Ryan about milling one of my 3D scans.
Because the surface is pretty detailed, I will probably use foam as my material to cut down on milling time.

I’m very curious to see how these models will translate back into a physical form/ how they will compare to the actual sites and objects that they reference. I plan to mill at least one of the models at a 1:1 scale. If I have time, I am also interested in milling smaller chunks (maybe 6″ x 6″ x 1″ squares) of each 3D model I’ve made to display them as small texture studies.

I’m picking up foam sheets from Home Depot tomorrow and would like to begin milling this Friday or next Monday/Tuesday before break.

Web Display

Today I uploaded some of my 3D models to sketchfab and began playing around with some of the lighting/camera adjustments. I really enjoy how easy it is to navigate these modules and how clean/smooth the presentation is. I will probably end up using this mode of interactive display, though I do plan to play around more with lighting and background. Thanks to Ryan for suggesting sketchfab!

https://sketchfab.com/models/af0f79f7d2e0404db4871edd42eb7ec7/embed

SS_Artifact_002
by korey
on Sketchfab

 

https://sketchfab.com/models/447e1bafdd8c422dbc694717c1b6601f/embed

SS_Artifact_005
by korey
on Sketchfab

Thoughts on Display

 

Scans by Oliver Laric: http://lincoln3dscans.co.uk/by-title/
(.gif loop of object rotating)

Smithsonian X3D Library: https://3d.si.edu/
(3D viewer by Autodesk)

How to display information:

• What to include: date found, location of finding (coordinates), material make-up, title (?)
• How to display models: should they be shown as animations of the model rotating or should there be a viewer module where the viewer can rotate the object and zoom into the object themselves?
• Sharing content: should I allow viewers to download the .obj files?

 

Timeline

Week of 11/2/16-11/8/16
– Continue scouting locations and taking photographs (50 per site seems to be a good amount) Should make at least 3 models.
– Continue HTML tutorials on Lynda
– Sketch out design for website
– Schedule Maya lesson with Daniella
– Meet with Daniella for Maya basics
– Meet with Josh to talk about HTML basics and displaying models online

Week of 11/9/16-11/15/16
– Begin testing out rotating models on Maya and exporting scenes
– Continue collecting photographs and turning into 3D models (at least 3 models)
– Work on website

Week of 11/16/16-11/22/16
– Continue collecting photographs and turning into 3D models (at least 3 models)
– Work on website
– Test CNC cut one of the models

Week of 11/23/16-11/30/16 (BREAK)
– Work on website
– CNC one of the models (as physical prototype)

Week of 12/1/16-12/7/16
– Prepare documentation and presentation
– Finalize website
– Finish CNC model (paint or flock)

Week of 12/8/16-12/14/16
– Present for crit

December 14
– Presentation at OpenWorks

Embedding 3D models into websites

Resources for embedding models into websites:

http://blog.modelo.io/company-blog/2015/11/30/embedding-3d-models-in-your-website
https://sharemy3d.com/

 

Texture mapping

UDIM UV mapping

 

VCG library
http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/vcglib/index.html

Creating a Digital Archive of Physical Sites & Sightings

So I’ve been thinking about how I want to narrow down my project for the semester, and I’ve realized that what I’m most interested in is creating an archive or catalog of physical spaces and artifacts from my surroundings. In creating this archive, there are a few things I’m considering:

• making it open-source: allowing anyone to upload models, photos, and text
• local: focusing on a small geographical region. for each submission, i would like to include the coordinates of the finding(s) so that others may actually visit the physical location (maybe even post updates)
• live: i’d like to create an archive that is live and expanding. the idea that actual change or transformation could be studied over time is an incentive.

My goal is for this archive to inspire people to find ways to connect to their environment. In the way that social media platforms provide opportunities for people to stay in contact with friends that they have already made in real life, I’d like to create a platform that encourages people to notice their surroundings and share those noticings with others, creating a shared appreciation of an environment.

I did some Google searches to see if others have done similar projects. Here are some of my findings:

A People’s Archive of Sinking & Melting 
Amy Balkin
This project is an open-source collection of images that depict objects that have been altered from natural forces. For most of the images, the location of their discovery is noted and there is a stress placed on climate change. So most of the locations are coastal regions that are at risk of disappearing or have disappeared already.
For this archive, it looks like people are sending in the actual artifacts from all over the world. The items are then photographed by the artist and uploaded.
http://sinkingandmelting.tumblr.com/

Urban Archives
BMA (2009)
An exhibition from 2009, “Urban Archives” was part of a multi–year series of exhibitions that looked at contemporary culture as a “living archive.” It draws primarily from the personal collections of a number of artists that have been working in and on the Bronx since the late 1970s. In their collections, the testimonies of long-time residents and occasional visitors coexist in the form of mementos, documentation, artwork and other sort of cultural artifacts.

“Urban Archives” opens at BMA

 

Other inspirations:

• Geocaching
• topix.com (local town forums)

Photoscan Tutorials

Some tutorials I’ve been watching. I looked for some agisoft tutorials on Lynda but the ones they had were only in German…

I’ve also checked out agisoft’s website which has a lot of great tips and instructions on the program: http://www.agisoft.com/index.php?id=32

 

Memory, Artifact, and Virtual Reality

I’m beginning to get a better idea of what I want to pursue for my project this semester. I’m still interested in continuing to work with pulp and continuing to research renewable materials, but conceptually, I’m heading in another route.

I’ve always been interested in methods of preservation (photography, reproductions, recording/storing of information) and how these methods of preserving objects/sites/experiences compare to an individual’s subjective experience with memory.

Things I’m considering:

• our culture’s value of the copy over the original, the virtual over the physical, the representation eventually taking place of what it is re-presenting
• the presumed loss of value in the original object by creation of its copy
• data loss/ generation loss in image files, how jpegs “fill in the gaps” where information is lost
• translation from physical to digital to physical- what is lost, what is gained
• altered or fabricated memory (in relation to VR: https://youtu.be/1E_Ndt9kssg)

 

As I’ve been reading more and more about it, photogrammetry in the field of archaeology and geology is really catching my attention- I’m intrigued by the idea of creating 3d models that create a frozen view of artifacts and terrain within a given space and time. I wonder how this technology will continue to develop towards increasingly engaging simulations of the world.

 

Rather than just replicating existing things, how can artists use 3d scanning to create new things, new objects, that are derived from (but not necessarily restricted by) their original sources? And further, how can the imperfections and errors of the artist and the technology be used to the artist’s advantage, acting as a creative tool in itself?

I’d like to explore these methods of 3d scanning and photography to create images and sculptures that reference physical spaces and found objects from my own life (and possibly my past) in a way that questions what it means to preserve vs. to remember.

 

things I’m looking at:

How to set up a successful photogrammetry project

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/esp.4012/abstract

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0097849311000409