loops

looping of sequence is done using custom code. It uses optical flow to "warp and morph" images together.

It's not easy to find good loops when working with live footage , but it can be very relaxing. you can see a lot of examples here. read about the method in detail here. the code is accessible on github.

typically i would select footage. cut it down in fragments where i feel there could be interesting loops and try different parameters on it. Eventually i would stabilize footage with 2d tracking to help the process.

p(ii)tch #38 [s(uu)rf] was a very difficult one. i had to manually edit every single frame to get it right. it's one of my favorites :)

Sometimes i would simply fade pictures to achieve the loop if it's visually pleasing. for more chaotic animations I could simply cut.

stippling

Stippling is a drawing technique in which areas of light and shadow are created using nothing but dots. The basic idea is simple: For darker areas, you apply a greater number of dots and keep them close together.

i'm using the Linde-Buzo-Gray-Algorithm . a method that distributes points based on Voronoi diagrams. you can find the initial code here. I added optical flow to keep temporal consistency in the animation. the process is repeated on different resolutions. typically i would generate stippling sequences from 700 pixels down to 40 pixels. the output are point clouds written in .ply format which houdini reads natively. [.ply] is handy as it comes in an ascii and binary format and is capable of storing arbitrary attributes on points.

notably i track a unique label on points as long as the stippling process doesn't replace it with another. so i can use this label later to track color or geometry (letters) across the animation. Initial footage color and optical flow motion vectors (backward and forward) are also stored for each point.(some pieces use motion blur)

p(ii)tch #86 [ja(ja)] collaboration with @auniseiva

3d layers

I use houdini to render the different cg layers composing a piece.

The first pieces of the serie [1..18] were using a simple rectangular grid of points. typographic elements are copied to the points with houdini stamping mechanism.some layers are using only points also.

fonts are imported in .otf or .ttf format. Each font is converted to polygon and sorted by their area. a mapping between point original luminance and area is done to compose the final geometry.

p(ii)tch #3 [d(ii)p]

compositing

Most of my picture manipulation pipeline operates via command line programs. but I also use off the shelf software. In this case I used nuke for ease and rapidity. Compositing is mainly achieved using grading , hue shift and glow nodes. layers are usually in screen or over mode. I also used a lot of simple radial and circular ramps to combine layers. Working in full 32 bits all along was also very important.

A lens deformation is applied at the end of the compositing tree, light streaks are created with simple edge extrapolation nodes and also defines the visual signature of the serie.

Compositing was usually the more comfortable part of the process as it allows fast feedback thus a lot of iterations.

I used to mint the pieces straight after compositing so I wouldn't overthink things.

p(ii)tch #46 [l(iii)fe]