AUDIO EXPERIMENTS 1

I feel that I must pay equal attention to the audio so as not to produce a conceptually misleading result.

I will use the window tones to program the sound as well as the forms of the animation. The window tones will form one part of the audio, the low frequency track (bass tones), and I will use dial tone frequencies to produce the higher frequency audio (melody).

Concentrating on the bass track first here are the audio results for the top three floors, read from left to right.


They were made by taking the brightness level for each window and converting them straight into a single frequency (67% brightness = 67hz).

The tone duration is dependant on whether it is a wide or narrow window section (long or short tone as with dial tones!). This means that each floor will follow the same beat rhythm of short and long sections and therefore result in a musical composition.

The audio tempo follows the tempo that I have rendered the visuals, if we say a narrow window is one section and a wide one two, each side contains 10 sections, each floor 20 overall . I will make one section half a second (15 frames), so 10 seconds per floor.

An addition at the beginning and end of each floor is an added tone (Dial tone 425hz0, signifying a working line is operating. I will use this to signify a change of floor level.

The changes are subtle for sure but when listened to together in one track will produce an interesting mutating bass line.

LEFT / RIGHT SYMMETRY

Taking the idea of the mirror image of the facade into account I have decided to read both the left and right side of the building using only one structural composition. The tones are read from left to right for the left hand side of the facade and then back again from right to left for the right hand side. This back and forth motion produces a stable constant reading.

The animation below shows the reading of the top floor of the tower.

TONE TEMPO

The animation below shows the window tones per floor for the left side of the facade, animated from top to bottom, followed by the equivalent for the right hand side.

The tempo is fast but highlights the fact that at two points per floor the tone stays constant. It also shows that the right hand side is a mirror image of the left in terms of structure.

ANIMATED WINDOW TONES 1

Having developed a way of turning the towers windows into a visual beat I now need a way to read them, animate them and to turn them into an audio accompaniment.

Here are a few initial considerations:

1. How to show which tone is being read and how many to read at one time.
2. Which view to show the window tones in (Front-on, perspective, top plan etc.)
3. At what tempo the tones are to be read and does this tempo change at all.

Below is a reel of animated studies I produced to help answer these questions.




The first test has the tones as invisible but reads them using a render bar to show up the forms. This I feel is effective in highlighting the undercover nature of the building.

The next two has the tones as semi-transparent but varies the viewing angle.

The final three explore differing camera views and projections but also vary the lighting within the scene. I have animated the light source to move up to replicate the suns movement over the building. This has the effect of altering the shadows cast by the tones and therefore producing a secondary visual beat in the tones and on the bottom level of tones.

This is something that I will investigate further as it could be used to alter volume for example.

The tempo reads the section in 3 seconds and I feel may be too fast.

PROCESS ANIMATION

Here is a small animation showing exactly how the relief mapping results in varied 3D form. At frame zero the 'Top level' is set to 0% and steadily increases to 100%. Note that most of the movement occurs in a very short time, this is due to the fact that the levels in the relief map are very close together in value.

Window tones Relief mapping

The next experiment I undertook was to put the window tones into the relief map for the top 2 floors. All of the windows lie somewhere between the 0% of the glazing and 100% of the cladding. The variation in levels produces a visual beat for the facade.

Below is the relief map for the top floor


Below is the resulting C4D relief model

Window tones

• Looking at the building again, I realise that I can read more into the elevation than first meets the eye. Relief mapping can be used to produce accuracy but also to re-interpret!

• The windows on Keybridges facade all contain blinds to block out the outside world, these are all of a muted green or blue shade. each window therefore has its own level of brightness and therefore its own position on a relief model.

1) Each window could be read as a dial tone, as there are ten dial tones for numbers (0-9) we could assign each 'brightness level 10 percentile' a tone. The facade could then be read as a series of numbers each triggering a particular tone.

• This study shows the brightness levels for each of the main windows on the facade. Note that each floor is made up of three glazed sections however.

• The lowest section contains only one consistant tone as it is made up one repeated colour, From the ground level it is impossible to see how this works on the very top few floors however.

• The top window section is usually in shadow caused by the overhanging concrete slab and it is difficult to read as a level. I will take advantage of this fact in some way I'm sure!

I am going to start by concentrating my experiments on the middle section.

Relief Mapping experiments

The 3d modelling I wish to use for this project relies on the process of using relief mapping to read 2d images and turn them into 3D virtual constructs. Cinema 4D does this very efficiently and renders them fairly quickly and accurately.

The first experiment I carried out was to model the front elevation with accuracy using the depth measurements taken on site and from photographs.

Relief mapping works by reading an images levels of brightness and converting them into positions of depth.

White= 100% brightness= furthest forward on the relief map Black= 0% brightness= furthest back on the relief map

Any levels in between get placed accordingly.

The element of the facade nearest you is the metal vertical cladding running up the building (equals white 100%).

The element furthest from you is the glazing (equals black 0%).

The distance between the two is 1500mm, setting the relief map to this then allows me to calculate the levels required for accurately positioning all other elements.

The concrete slab needs a level of brightness = 35%

These levels are applied to the CAD drawing in photoshop in greyscale. Below is the initial relief map for the top eight floors.



Here is the new relief map of 1 floor only and the resulting C4D facade.