Class Canceled Today 10/22

Hi All,

You should have received Bob's email, but just in case, class has been canceled today.

Assignment #6 MakeCubic Spherical Space

This week we've taken our panoramas to the next level by using MakeCubic to create 3D spherical spaces that we can navigate.

The first step is to make sure our images are seamless left-right. We do this in Photoshop by going to Filter-Other-Offset, and moving our image horizontally while making sure that wrap-around is selected. This allows us to then fix our seam with the stamp tool, for example. Making sure the image size isn't too large we'll flatten and save as a jpeg file.

Then it's just drag and drop our image file onto the MakeCubic program icon and let it do the rest. Once our mov file is created we can navigate the space with our arrow keys, shift to zoom in, and control to zoom out.

At this point we should also take notice of any artifacts created at the top and bottom of our spheres as a result of the image being pinched together. These "God rays" can be taken care of by adjust the color at the top and bottom of our image in Photoshop. A single color will fade together and eliminate the ray effect. It might also be interesting to try to create an image that makes good use of these rays.

(Sorry sample video doesn't work on the blog)

Assignment #5 Space and Narrative

This week our assignment is to design a full panoramic space with the possibility of a narrative through photo-montage. Beginning with the basic form of the panoramic image and the automate - photomerge tool built into Photoshop, we can explore the creation of extended spaces through photography.

Panoramas can also be created with the use of a single image by mirroring it on itself. Symmetry is often found in arranged spaces. To make it more comfortable though details are changed while the balence is kept. This is sometimes known as "French symmetry." When mirroring images we have to be careful about the new abstractions formed. The human mind has a habit of seeing creatures created in foliage and clouds.

The panoramic form has also often been combined with narative imagery, whereas a story unfolds as the viewers travels from one end of the image to the other. In this case multiple perspecitves can be combined with the idea of expressing time visually. Early scrolls and tapastries are good examples to look at.

Take this opportunity to explore all of the possibilites of creating your own emersive space. Go ahead and break the traditional rules of panoramic imagery, and feel free to use the tools discussed in class in new ways.