Motion Tracking Motorized Panels + OSC Communication

[Woland]

Posting on behalf of someone else:

"I've been asked to motion-track and project cleanly upon an array of motorized moving planes for a trade show. I've achieved this sort of motion-tracking successfully in the past using the Eyes++ using techniques already explored here in various threads. The problem I need to overcome currently is that there is no way for us to control the lighting surrounding this work, thereby rendering even an IR bandpass route an unreliable option, especially if the work is shown at multiple venues, each with its own lighting profile. 

My collaborator (who is building the motorized planes) has suggested that we might be able to coordinate the moving planes and the projection mapping via OSC communication from the computer driving the motorized planes to my computer driving the projection process through Isadora, but I'm having trouble finding any documentation regarding this approach on the forum. If there already exists such a thread on the forum, please let me know."

Best wishes,

Woland

[Juriaan]

If there is no way to overcome a Light based solution like IR then I would personally go for a more dedicated approach.. So using a Optitrack system, Blacktrax. Sadly that comes with a huge price tag, perhaps you can rent these kind of systems.. Other then that, I don't think there is a ready to go solution that isn't light based.. The only thing that I can imagine is that you can use TUI trackers, basically small QR codes in the corners of the structure that know there own oriention, using that system and some code work you can perhaps create a projection mask that can move with the structure.

- Juriaan

[jhoepffner]

Personally I would follow the way linking directly plane positioning to projection. It can be a little bit difficult to find the right protocol between the two computer (ideally OSC but could be TCP/IP) and to calibrate the projection (but it's also not easy with camera tracking). But when set it can works easily with any lightning.

Jacques

[DusX]

as @jhoepffner has said I think the motorized plans can be done, and setup so that with a little configuration during setup made to work well. The exact approach may differ depending on the panels motorized movements. I assume they are linear movements but you will need to test how reliably repeatable the movements are.

[barneybroomer]

Running the track over over OSC together with projection mapping would be the safest way if moving from place to place. I assume projectors are always in fixed position. I did the same with a dutch manufacturer of the moving planes and (ahum, sorry Mark) Vézer program, so you can edit the travel trajectories of both projectors and planes in a nice timeline. In Izzy you could do this with timers and keyframes. Or maybe even with Timecode :) Timecode! Oh, if we only had timecode! Sorry Lucas 

[Juriaan]

Oh also, if a option I would go for OSC over a TCP connection, if you don't you might drop a single frame that causes the panels to get out of sync.

[Fred]

@woland if you want to use the data from the moving planes to provide tracking it can be done. You would need to add something to the planes, like rotatory encoders that will give definitive rotation counts per wheel, or angle of rotation if the wheels turn to steer. With a bit of extra code and electronics you can get reliable position data and send it to isadora.

Another way would be to use vive trackers on the planes and if the space is small enough an HTC vive with a little bit of code reading out the tracker positions. The vive pro would get you a much larger tracking space. It costs a bit, but way less than a mocap system.