Dan Thompson

2012 Show Reel

2012-01-23T03:16:00.000-08:00

I'm mostly a lighter these days but I have been know take on

the role of a generalist from time to time :)

Arduino Push Button ON/OFF Example

2011-12-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

Someone posted a request for this in the comments. After a quick search I couldn't find a simple example on how to do this so here's one I made based on the Debounce example sketch in the Arduino IDE.

arduino codeDebouncePushButtonOnOff

/* 
 Debounce
 
 Each time the input pin goes from LOW to HIGH (e.g. because of a push-button
 press), the output pin is toggled from LOW to HIGH or HIGH to LOW.  There's
 a minimum delay between toggles to debounce the circuit (i.e. to ignore
 noise).  
 
 The circuit:
 * LED attached from pin 13 to ground
 * pushbutton attached from pin 2 to +5V
 * 10K resistor attached from pin 2 to ground
 
 * Note: On most Arduino boards, there is already an LED on the board
 connected to pin 13, so you don't need any extra components for this example.
 
 
 created 21 November 2006
 by David A. Mellis
 modified 3 Jul 2009
 by Limor Fried
 
This example code is in the public domain.
 
 http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Debounce
 */

// constants won't change. They're used here to 
// set pin numbers:
const int buttonPin = 2;     // the number of the pushbutton pin
const int ledPin =  13;      // the number of the LED pin

// Variables will change:
int ledState = HIGH;         // the current state of the output pin
int buttonState;             // the current reading from the input pin
int lastButtonState = LOW;   // the previous reading from the input pin

// the following variables are long's because the time, measured in miliseconds,
// will quickly become a bigger number than can be stored in an int.
long lastDebounceTime = 0;  // the last time the output pin was toggled
long debounceDelay = 50;    // the debounce time; increase if the output flickers

void setup() {
  pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
    Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  // read the state of the switch into a local variable:
  int reading = digitalRead(buttonPin);

 

  // check to see if you just pressed the button 
  // (i.e. the input went from LOW to HIGH),  and you've waited 
  // long enough since the last press to ignore any noise:  

  // If the switch changed, due to noise or pressing:
  if (reading != lastButtonState) {
    // reset the debouncing timer
    lastDebounceTime = millis();
    
   // this is all that's new to the code 
   // toggles the ledState variable each time the button is pressed 
      if (buttonState == HIGH) {
      ledState = !ledState;
      Serial.println(ledState);
    } 
  } 
  
  if ((millis() - lastDebounceTime) > debounceDelay) {
    // whatever the reading is at, it's been there for longer
    // than the debounce delay, so take it as the actual current state:
    buttonState = reading;
  }
  

  
  // set the LED using the state of the button:
  digitalWrite(ledPin, ledState);

  // save the reading.  Next time through the loop,
  // it'll be the lastButtonState:
  lastButtonState = reading;
}

code formatter

My First Animation Editor (With Bezier Curves)

2011-08-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this on and off for a while now. Ever since I got Maya talking with the Arduino. I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be nice if there was a free app that wasn't bloated and designed just for animating parameters?" Well, I just hit my first milestone for this goal. Eventually I would like to add multi-segment Bezier Curves. Then I would like to have multiple channels of animation. It's all written in Processing so serial communication with the Arduino should be simple. The trickiest thing to get working was the lookup of the Y value on the curve based on where the Time Slider is. Many thanks to Ben Paschke for finding the function I needed in the Blender Source Code and helping me port it to Processing.

There is another Processing Tool out there called Timeline but it's heading in a different direction than I am and I wasn't a fan of it's mixed languages and non-realtime Y lookup function. Plus, I thought this would be a good challenge to set for myself considering the industry I am working in :)

Hotkeys:
Spacebar = Play/Pause
J = Play Forward
K = Play Backward
L = Pause
Left Arrow = Step Backward 1 Frame
Right Arrow = Step Forward 1 Frame

Click and Drag to Position the Handles or Timeslider

Genuflex Virtual Axis Formula

2011-07-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

A Sketch to Demo the core Function of the Virtual Axis on Genuflex Motion Control Rigs

http://www.general-lift.com/GLMoCo/Products/Genuflex_Mk3/Prod_mk3_p1.html

Notice how the length of the Hypotenuse(c) stays fixed on the triangle no matter where you move the rig.

Please Note that this only demos the Z,Y axis an not the X,Z axis. But the principle is the same for X,Z and gives full 3D positional control of the rig as long as the boom (Hypotenuse) is long enough to accommodate the max distance of where you want to place the camera(mouse in this case).

Tonight's Hack Session!

2011-07-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

You can read about it here!

Arduino Timelapse Shield

2011-07-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings Arduino and Timelapse Enthusiasts! Just thought I'd give you a sneak peak at what I've been working on of late. It's a Remote Shutter Proto Shield. I'm aiming to make this shield compatible with all major brands SLRs. Of course this is a very hard claim to make if I don't have access to all camera's for testing. I'm confident that it will work with Panasonic,Canon and Pentax SLRs at the very least. But as you can imagine I really need to do my homework on what's out there before I sell a product that claim this type of compatibility

The shield will be compatible with the open moco timelapse engine as well as being a completely customizable with it's prototyping area. It's not a complicated circuit really. The most complex components are the opto-couplers which are basically just optical switches that safely trigger the focus and shutter on your camera. So I'm getting close to the manufacturing stages, I just have a few measurements to triple check before I send of the gerber files. This is quite a leap in complexity from the last PCB I designed. But I'm hopeful that it will work just as I designed it to when product is finally manufactured.

Disassemble Reassemble

2011-06-03T00:08:00.000-07:00

In light of recent PCB manufacturing explorations, I have decided to go into business! Well on a very small scale :) Check out my new online store. Below are some pictures of what's currently in stock.

My First PCB Design (Part 2)

2011-05-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well if you read my last post, you will know that I have been waiting for my first ever PCB design to arrive in the post. Well it finally came! exactly 10 working days from the time of order. Overall, I'd say the result looks pretty good! I haven't soldered one up yet. But when I do, I will do a video. The encoder fits perfectly, the only thing I might have done differently is give more space around the mount holes for extra strength. Please leave a comment if you would like to purchase one of these. They are designed to fit this rotary encoder from Spark Fun Electronics. If there is enough interest I will look into a simple way to sell and distribute online. Next stop, Arduino Shields!

If you want to make your own, check out the prototyping service at this link.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NOW! visit my ImMojo Store

My First PCB Design (Part 1)

2011-05-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with a rotary encoder I bought from sparkfun.The pins wouldn't fit in a breadboard and I got sick of spaghetti wires everywhere.

So I asked my local hacker space about PCB etching. I decided to give Iron On Transparency Sheets a go. But I got half way through buying the bit's I needed and then came across this site. I'd already done some Eagle Cad Tutorials to create my circuit for the Iron On sheets. So I looked at how cheap I could do a PCB run with the design I already had. It turns out Very Cheap! About $14 AUS for 10 pcs including shipping. I literally can't make them myself for that much so I thought why not give it ago!?

This is my first design.

The boards should arrive in a couple of days. I'll do another post when they arrive.

Here's a link to Part 2 of this post.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NOW! visit my ImMojo Store

makerslide open source linear bearing system

2011-05-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna pledge some money to this. Just the thing I'm looking for at the right price.

Houdini Controlling Servos!

2011-03-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Who needs Maya when you have Houdini!

I've been wanting to do this for ages but not knowing houdini's api has blocked me. Thanks Alvin for this awesome video! If it works with houdini apprentice, I will be very excited!

Timelapse Calculator for iPhone

2011-02-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

Well actually it's called Timelapse Helper. Thanks Simon Loffer for his slick, and much more portable take on the Original Timelapse Calculator. Follow this link to download the iPhone app. I hear Simon is keen to do an Android version soon too. Man, I love open source!

Adelaide Hackers Soldering up a Storm!

2011-01-22T23:15:00.000-08:00

Hackerspace Adelaide volunteers gave up their time today to solder up POV kits for the kids who visited the science pavilion at the Adelaide Tour Down Under. Those who brought their bikes were lucky enough to take one of these kits home!

My First Bezier Curve

2010-12-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

Taken from the math on this page. Apparently this is about as simple as it gets as far as bezier curves go. I'm hoping to try and recreate a few of the examples on this page before going any further.

Mac Version of Servo Tools For Maya!

2010-12-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

Chishbak has managed to get Servo Tools For Maya Working on the Mac. Unfortunately I don't have a mac to test, But at least we know it's possible! :)

Timelapse Calculator v0.1 Released

2010-11-10T02:39:00.000-08:00

Yay! My first Cross Platform Application Is ready for use. It is written in Python utilizing PyQt for the interface. Enjoy!

Features

Shooting Duration (Input or Calculation)
Playback Duraion (Input or Calculation)
Interval Time Between Shots (Input only)
Shots to be taken (Input or Calculation)
FPS, Frames Per Second for playback (Input only)
Reset values, Sets all values to 0
Cross Platform Interface and API

To download the tool and for info on installation and usage visit this page on openmoco.org

Timelapse Calculator Preview

2010-10-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

So I have been playing with pyQt recently and thought I'd have a go at writing a timelapse calculator. The cool thing about QT based apps is they are cross platform so all design for the UI translates to Windows, Mac and Linux with very little effort. The other cool thing is there is a python binding for QT which is called pyQt so it's pretty easy to learn even for a beginner like myself!

Light Painting Experiment

2010-10-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

A friend and I went out the other night to do some timelapse of the stars. While we were out there, we thought we'd try our hand at some light painting.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix GH1
Lens: 14-140 (Stock Lens)
Music By: Little Scale (re-cut for video)

My First Timelapse

2010-10-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

Lucas next to some wild Sturt Desert Pea

My family and I have just returned from a well earned vacation at Leigh Creek. Leigh Creek is coal mining town with a rich history that goes back to the 1800's It's quite a remote town located in the center of South Australia. Beautiful landscapes, especially at the moment due to the drought breaking rainfall that we have had this year. So the place was alive. I will post a slide show soon. While we were there we would go out driving in the bush in the morning and then my pregnant Wife and 2 year old Son would come home for an afternoon sleep. This gave Dad a chance to go out and play with his toys! Timelapse that is... ;)

Here's some stills of the remote trigger I built based on a circuit I found on Instructables for the Lumix GH1.

I used the Open Moco Timelapse Engine v0.82 and Slim v0.12. The code can be downloaded from the Open Moco website. If you are interested in getting into timelapse like me. Here are some use useful links:

openmoco.org Open source timelapse software for use with Arduino and various other hardware platforms.
timescapes.org I great online community for all things related to timelapse, motion control and slow motion photography.
arduino.cc A non-threatening programmable micro-controller aimed and hobbyists and tinkerers.. like me!

The Lindy Dolly + Kflop + BFG

2010-10-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Gerald Thompson continues to show us how it's done with his new light weight lindy rig. Driven by his modified kflop board and his own animation software. It may not look all that different to the timelapse dollys out there. But I can assure you it's a big step up from a timelapse rig to a true realtime repeatable system. Can't wait to build one of these myself!

Point In Triangle Example

2010-09-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

A little sketch that colours the triangle red if the mouse is inside it. I'm working towards something I promise! :) The concept taken from the "Same Side Technique" example on this site where the formula is explained in detail:

XY Handle Class Example

2010-09-24T01:28:00.000-07:00

Messing around with Processing and thought a manipulator handle widget might be handy to have for future sketches. So here's a real basic one. I plan to add arrows and make it less boxy but it does the job for now.

Rising Sun Pictures

2010-08-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

I don't often talk about my work on this blog. Here is a nice little article on the company I work for, Rising Sun Pictures (RSP). The truth is I love what I do and feel like one of the lucky ones...

Here's a link to the article. Yes I am in this picture. Can you spot me?

BFG + GAMEPAD

2010-08-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Another quick video demonstrating the use of a Game Controller with the KFLOP and BFG Animator Software.

2010 Show Reel

2010-08-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Some of my work at Rising Sun Pictures over the last 4 years. Most shots showcase my skills as a Lighting TD. I also contributed to Texturing, Modelling and Rigging in several of these shots. There are other films I have worked on since, but unfortunately due to N.D.A. laws I can not put them on my reel until the DVD is released.

Music is By Coda.

Two Motors Are Better Than One

2010-08-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

Progress has been slow lately. I've been very busy at work. But I managed to make some time to solder together a proto-board with two easydrivers on it for testing. Here's a quick video showing them in use. I have a more heavy duty Leadshine Stepper Driver and a bigger motor to test for high speed applications. But I need to save up for a suitable power supply first.

KFLOP + BFG SOFTWARE

2010-07-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

A new toy arrived this week. It's a modified KFLOP motion control board. Gerald Thompson is a Motion Control Operator who has set out to create his own software for the board with all of the features (and more!) he has come to expect over the years from using industry tools such as Kuper and the like.

I am very interested in his ventures. Coming from the post production side of the film industry, I have always been interested in repeatable motion control photography for use in visual effects. For the last couple of years I have been tinkering with the Arduino as an introduction to electronics and it has taught me a lot. But I have decided that a full featured dedicated motion control board is the way to go (for me) if I am ever going to make some images before I grow tired of the pursuit.

Gerald has shown me a relatively affordable way to do this. I am hoping to be able to consolidate some of the ideas previously mentioned on this blog for use with the KFLOP.

My Blog is Changing

2010-07-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

I'm redesigning my blog template. So don't freak out and think there's something wrong with your graphics card :) Basically I have widened it to make room for photo galleries that I will be posting more frequently now. I have also gone with the dark grey pro app look as It's my preference when working in any 3d or 2d app for creating digital works. It may look a bit funky for a while as I find the time to update menus and blog titles an the like so please bare with me.

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I have some exiting motion control stuff that I will be blogging about just as soon as it's up and running!

peace.

Houdini + Shaders

2010-06-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

I'm learning Houdini and loving it! My point of entry to this app is in the context of lighting and shader writing. It's a lot of fun.

EasyDriver 4.2 Tutorial

2010-05-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Finally I had some time to do a tutorial on the Easydriver v4.2 board. The following example code is just for demonstrating the board's new functionality. It is was tested on a sparkfun stepper motor. You will notice in the code that each time the step mode changes, so to does the delay time between steps and the number of steps per revolution. The is not absolutely necessary but it helps you compare the differences between stepping modes.

Make sure you have the serial monitor open in the Arduino IDE when running this code. This will give you some feedback about the various modes of the board as they switch on an off.

Note: For real world use I would recommend hard-wiring the MS1 and MS2 pins to some switches to pull them high or low. This way you can free up some more pins on your Arduino.

For a tutorial on how to use the Easydriver v3.1 check out this post

QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME (but please keep it related to the example in this post )

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Stepper Motor skecth for use with the EasyDriver v4.2 //
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Dan Thompson 2010
//
// Use this code at your own risk.
//
// For all the product details visit http://www.schmalzhaus.com/EasyDriver/
// For the full tutorial visit http://danthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/


////// ED_v4  Step Mode Chart //////
//                                //
//   MS1 MS2 Resolution           //
//   L   L   Full step (2 phase)  //
//   H   L   Half step            //
//   L   H   Quarter step         //
//   H   H   Eighth step          //
//                                //
////////////////////////////////////

int DIR = 3;          // PIN  3 = DIR
int STEP = 2;        // PIN  2 = STEP
int MS1 = 13;        // PIN 13 = MS
int MS2 = 9;         // PIN  9 = MS2
int SLEEP = 12;      // PIN 12 = SLP


void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);     // open the serial connection at 9600bps
  pinMode(DIR, OUTPUT);   // set pin 3 to output
  pinMode(STEP, OUTPUT);  // set pin 2 to output
  pinMode(MS1, OUTPUT);   // set pin 13 to output
  pinMode(MS2, OUTPUT);   // set pin 9 to output
  pinMode(SLEEP, OUTPUT); // set pin 12 to output
}



void loop()
{
  int modeType = 1;                         // This number increases by multiple of 2 each through the while loop..
                                            // ..to identify our step mode type.                                            
  while (modeType<=8){                      // loops the following block of code 4 times before repeating .
    digitalWrite(DIR, LOW);                 // Set the direction change LOW to HIGH to go in opposite direction
    digitalWrite(MS1, MS1_MODE(modeType));  // Set state of MS1 based on the returned value from the MS1_MODE() switch statement.
    digitalWrite(MS2, MS2_MODE(modeType));  // Set state of MS2 based on the returned value from the MS2_MODE() switch statement.
    digitalWrite(SLEEP, HIGH);              // Set the Sleep mode to AWAKE.
    
    int i = 0;                              // Set the counter variable.     
    while(i<(modeType*200))                 // Iterate for 200, then 400, then 800, then 1600 steps. 
                                            // Then reset to 200 and start again.
    {
      digitalWrite(STEP, LOW);              // This LOW to HIGH change is what creates the..
      digitalWrite(STEP, HIGH);             // .."Rising Edge" so the easydriver knows to when to step.
      delayMicroseconds(1600/modeType);     // This delay time determines the speed of the stepper motor. 
                                            // Delay shortens from 1600 to 800 to 400 to 200 then resets  
                                                 
      i++;                      
    }                              
    modeType = modeType * 2;                // Multiply the current modeType value by 2 and make the result the new value for modeType.
                                            // This will make the modeType variable count 1,2,4,8 each time we pass though the while loop.
   
    delay(500);
  }
  digitalWrite(SLEEP, LOW);                 // switch off the power to stepper
  Serial.print("SLEEPING..");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.print("z");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.print("z");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.print("z");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("");
  digitalWrite(SLEEP, HIGH);
  Serial.println("AWAKE!!!");                // Switch on the power to stepper
  delay(1000);
}



int MS1_MODE(int MS1_StepMode){              // A function that returns a High or Low state number for MS1 pin
  switch(MS1_StepMode){                      // Switch statement for changing the MS1 pin state
                                             // Different input states allowed are 1,2,4 or 8
  case 1:
    MS1_StepMode = 0;
    Serial.println("Step Mode is Full...");
    break;
  case 2:
    MS1_StepMode = 1;
    Serial.println("Step Mode is Half...");
    break;
  case 4:
    MS1_StepMode = 0;
    Serial.println("Step Mode is Quarter...");
    break;
  case 8:
    MS1_StepMode = 1;
    Serial.println("Step Mode is Eighth...");
    break;
  }
  return MS1_StepMode;
}



int MS2_MODE(int MS2_StepMode){              // A function that returns a High or Low state number for MS2 pin
  switch(MS2_StepMode){                      // Switch statement for changing the MS2 pin state
                                             // Different input states allowed are 1,2,4 or 8
  case 1:
    MS2_StepMode = 0;
    break;
  case 2:
    MS2_StepMode = 0;
    break;
  case 4:
    MS2_StepMode = 1;
    break;
  case 8:
    MS2_StepMode = 1;
    break;
  }
  return MS2_StepMode;
}

Hack Your Servo v3.0

2010-04-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

This should shake things up a bit! For those of us who find PID control loops boring but need it in our projects.

RGB Colour Mixer

2010-04-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

Well I couldn't make it to my local hacker space tonight, so I decided to "hack at home!" :)

This is a prototype of an RGB LED Light I'm designing for my 2 year old son at the moment. I thought I could work on the code design in processing while I am waiting for a new Arduino to arrive in the mail.

Busy Busy Busy!

2010-04-01T03:56:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of activity on this blog lately. I'm flat out working on a Production and the deadlines are approaching thick and fast. I will try to answer comments when I get the chance (which is never at the moment). Apologies but please remember that my place of work pays for my hobbies.

100th post!

2010-03-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

A very cool Article on how to hack a servo adding 10-bit incremental / absolute encoder feedback to your hobby servo.

Looking forward to "Hack your servo V3.0" with PID control!

Where's My Blog's Menus!?

2010-02-17T01:35:00.000-08:00

Apologies,

My blog's Drop-down menus are playing up. Unfortunately I am away from my computer for the next couple of weeks. So this blog will look pretty lamo in the menu department until I can get back to my machine and re-upload my files to the server. Sorry for the inconvinience.

Dan.

Edit: All fixed now, Just realised that if I don't log in to my free file hoster every 90 days it deletes the files I use for my Menus! :( ... I might have to switch to Dropbox.

My First Animation Editor?

2010-01-29T04:24:00.000-08:00

I made a curve editor thingy! Well, not really a curve. It only does Linear Interpolation. It's a start. ;)

Press the hotkeys 1 or 2 and move the mouse to change the keyframes. If it doesn't work first time, try clicking in the frame first.

Edit: Check out the latest progress with this curve editor here!

Hong Kong Panorama

2010-01-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a stitch I didn't even think would work over looking the harbour towards Hong Kong. Not the best conditions, but it gives you a sense of the city. I have been putting together a slide-show (and learning lightroom at the same time) of the trip. I think I may need to widen my blog to fit in all the vistas :)

Ezi Servo (motor envy)

2010-01-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

Sigh.. If only I had money... :)

open moco touchscreen interface v002_001

2009-12-29T01:34:00.000-08:00

Just another Iteration. This one has button images! Find out more in the Original Post

Open Moco Touchscreen Interface

2009-12-22T00:53:00.000-08:00

I have started contributing to the OpenMoco project. It's basically a well thought out motion control engine and intervalometer that people can use to build their own motion control contraptions.

The first GUI is going to be based on the Touchshield Slide by liquidware. This is a very exciting time for us DIY moco enthusiasts.

The applet you see above is purely to test functionallity. There are already several people designing the look of GUI and I gotta say I like what I've seen so far. I will slowly add flashy buttons and sliders as the are discussed and agreed upon. If you want to contribute to the project I suggest you head on over to open moco forums and make yourself known!

You can check out the next iteration of the GUI here.

APAC Panorama Event = Success!

2009-12-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

In the last post I mentioned that I was going on a working holiday to Hong Kong. I was asked by Autodesk to join 3 other industry professionals to be apart of the APAC Panorama event.

My duties were:
- Critique and Mentor the Students to help them polish their films
- Give a 45min talk about Character Development and Animation for Visual Effects
- Be on the panel of judges to select the winners of the competition.

It was a surreal experience. Not only was it a complete culture shock. But the format of the event attracted lots of media. So there was a camera on me pretty much the whole time I was there!

The whole event was also covered be a TV crew from Animax an Asian anime channel. They are planning to do a series of short silhouettes on the event. The First one goes to air on Christmas Day! Unfortunately we do not get the Animax channel in Australia, but if clips end up online I will be sure to post them.

Here is a link to the winning team's film. It's called Tancho and I was lucky enough to be their Mentor as they polished it off in the last remaining days of the event.

You can follow all if the student's adventures throughout the event as they were all given flip cameras for a vBlog competition (Australia Team one this one).

I'll post more photos from the trip when I get time. But all in all it was an experience I'll never forget!

Asia Pacific Animation Challenge

2009-11-25T02:30:00.000-08:00

The PANORAMA - Asia Pacific Animation Challenge 2009 ("Contest") is a creativity and skill-based contest allowing eligible entrants to compete for the opportunity to have their design selected as the following winners of the Autodesk Education PANORAMA - Asia Pacific Animation Challenge 2009 in one of the (4) categories and profiled on the Autodesk Website.Entrants will submit their original designs for judging according to the criteria for each of the specific Categories.

Congratulations to all the finalists in the APAC. This year I have the honor of speaking at the event which will be held at Cyberport in Hong Kong. Looks like it's shaping up to be an awesome event!

Servo Tools For Maya Tutorials

2009-11-14T00:27:00.001-08:00

Well it took a little longer than a few weeks. But finally I have the first three video tutorials ready for viewing! There is still more to come, but this should be enough to get you started.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have any questions about installation, I've created a thread on the creative crash forums. You can get to it from the Servo Tools For Maya download page . Just click on the forum tab.

Enjoy!

New Round Rectangle Example

2009-11-08T02:29:00.000-08:00

I an earlier post, I described a round corner rectangle button class. Unfortunately my approach was a bit too hacky for some web browsers to be able to handle. So I have simplified things.

This time I am building the shape out of ONE rectangle using strokeJoin(ROUND) to give me my round corners.

Keyboard Controls are:
r + mouse x = radius
s + mouse x,y = size
p + mouse x,y = position

It's not a class yet. But I think this sketch shows that the concept will work

EasyDriver V4.2 is out!

2009-11-04T04:02:00.000-08:00

Great News!

Brian Schmalz has released a new Easy Driver Board!

It has some great new features. The most notable one for me is the ability to access the chip's logic that can switch to micro, half and full step methods. It also now has pretty lights and a more usable trim pot.

I've just ordered three of these from sparkfun cause good things come in threes! Check out Brian's Easy Driver Site for all the details.

Thanks Brian for this brilliant piece of hardware!

Update! Check out my EasyDriver v4.2 Tutorial post.

Servo Tools For Maya Release v1.0.1

2009-10-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

I have finally taken the plunge and released Servo Tools For Maya to the world!

Servo Tools For Maya is a Python Plugin that sends rotational values over USB the the Arduino Micro Controller. These values are then converted in to Pulse Width Modulation which is used to control multiple Hobby RC Servo Motors.

Applications for the plugin are only limited to your imagination. Some popular examples could be to drive complex animatronic puppetry or kinetic sculpture art installations.

Current Features Include:
- Control up to 4 Servos simultaneously. (see tutorials on how to add support for more)
- High Level GUI for building servoWrite node network.
- Ability to calibrate you servo's range and limits directly from Maya.
- Serial Connection over USB cable to hardware

Hardware Requirements:
- USB Cable
- Arduino Micro Controller
- At least 1 RC hobby servo

Software Requirements:
- The Scripts and Plugin available from this page
- Python (separate from the one that comes with Maya 8.5+)
- PySerial Python Module for Serial Communication
- Maya 8.5 or Higher (32-bit only)
- Latest Arduino Software

PLEASE NOTE:
I'm still prepping the Documentation in Video Form. So unless you are familiar with all of the above concepts, I would wait for the videos before you dive in. They should be ready in a week or two when I get back from holiday.

My First Processing Class

2009-10-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

So I recently bought a book on Processing. If you haven't heard of Processing CHECK IT OUT! It's an open source programing language with a strong enphasis on visual applications. I love it cause of it's ease of use. It reminds me of how quickly I was able to get started with the Arduino IDE. Infact the IDE for Processing and the Arduino are almost identical!

The book I bought is so well written, even I can understand it! And you don't need a computer in front of you to read it!

In the future I would like to design a generic animation timeline out of it for motion control applications. But for now I'm taking baby steps with this one as I really want to learn it well.

Here's a link to My First Processing Class (you will need java installed on your machine to interact with it) It's a Button that has rounded corners. Nothing too crazy here. But this class should prove usefull in future projects.

Mental Ray MIA Portal Light Shader

2009-10-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Just Playing. Mental Ray physical_lens_dof, mia_portal_light and final gather.

Rick Baker (Monster Maker) Modcast Interview.

2009-09-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of him. Check out his filmography! He is the master of Makeup FX.
Well worth the listen! Thanks to Brad Peebler from Luxology for setting up this very inspiring interview.

Check it out interview here!

mia_envblur node

2009-09-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

Just playing around with the mia_material in mental ray for maya. Reading through some of the docs on the mental images site and found a way to optimize glossy reflections with the mia_envblur node.

Propeller Platform Module

2009-08-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

This looks awesome. Exactly the kind of thing I'm after. I love it's modular design.

Check out gadgetgangster.com for more info.

Panasonic Lumix GH1 Review

2009-08-22T20:59:00.001-07:00

And here's another one.

Servo City PT-2100 Pan Tilt Head

2009-08-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recently brought this product to my attention. It looks to be acceptional value for money at an introductory price of $999.99(I'm assuming it's USD) . We are both curious about the timelapse and repeatable motion capabilities on this unit. From what I can tell, it's just a remote control speed and direction pan tilt head.

I'm wondering if anyone reading this has bought one or knows any more. If nothing else I imagine you could modify it with your own stepper or servo motors based on your moco requirements. This is the best value for money unit I have seen so far. As always, your comments are welcome.

Check out this link for more details on the PT-2100

Open Moco Intervalometer Tutorial

2009-08-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

Shutterdrone has done it again with another great tutorial. If you are into DIY timelapse photography then you can't go past this one. It's part of a fast growing body of knowledge on the open moco website. What is open moco? It's not to be confused with open moko(open source mobile phone platform). Openmoco.org is a website dedicated to DIY motion control.

This tutorial is not only an introduction to Inervalometers, but also a step by step guide on how to build your own with a few simple components.

For the full tutorial and more moco goodness visit the openmoco.org.

Social Media

2009-07-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

LAMP (Laboratory for Advanced Media) recently ran a Seminar and Workshop called the Social Media Campaign about Connecting and Conversing with your Community through Social Media. This is a really interesting topic to me.

I don't pretend to know too much about the big picture. But I found that this video reasonated with what I do here on my blog and elsewhere in other online communities. The video goes for about 50 mins so you might want to get comfortable :)
Check it out:

For more info check out the LAMP web page.

Filmography

2009-07-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

New Menus

2009-07-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

In an effort to make my blog more user friendly I have added some snazzy new menus at the top of the page. They are designed to help you find common topics without having to sift though all the tags on the side of the page to find what you are looking for.

These menu's don't give you access to every topic or tag, just the ones that are important to me and apparently interesting to you.

Enjoy!

DIY Moco Update

2009-06-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

So it's been several weeks since I posted any real progress on the DIY Moco front. So here is a bit of an update.

MOCO TOOLS FOR MAYA

I was almost ready to release the software, but as I was going over the code I came across a few fatal flaws in my design :( The most obvious was that my position engine could only support one stepper motor! I thought it would be easy to make it support more. But due to the dynamic nature of the engine, I would have to resort to some serious multi threaded type coding and interrupts to get it to work the way I want. If you are not familiar with the Moco Tools For Maya project, here's an example clip. This is just one piece of a much larger idea :)

REVELATIONS

I discovered a new micro controller platform which is slowly louring me into it's multi-core ways. It's called Propeller and it's made by Parallax. I'm interested in it because it can run up to 8 parallel loops due to it's multi-core design. So in my case I would use one for serial communication, one for file reading and buffering and the other 6 would each have their own position control engine. Each Proc is called a "Cog" and while they function independently, they can all talk to each other as well!

If I was just reading the move data from a file, all of this would be much easier. But I am really interested in the interactive position control for all six stepper motors at the same time. This is why I'm seriously considering the propeller for this for this project.

STUDY

On the weekend I attended an Arduino Physical Computing class. It was run by a couple of guys for the Adelaide Dorkbot chapter. Check out this post for more info. Fun was had by all!

At my real place of work I have be learning pftrack. It's a piece of software used for extracting a moving 3D camera from 2D footage. It's not the funnest job I've had to do, but iteresting none the less.

I've also been learning Perl and Processing. Why Perl you ask? The current interface for the openMoco timelapse engine is written in Perl. So if I am to speak to it, I need to know it's language (well, a little :) Why Processing? It's visual! and it plays nice with Arduino and I am in the early stages of writing a generic animation editor. Like the ones you see in most animation packages, only much simpler.

TALKS

A few weeks back I did a talk about my motion control adventures for our local chapter of Dorkbot. It was well received.

Tomorrow night I am doing a talk for the Australian Video Producers Association. I'm tag teaming it with a friend of mine who is a professional timelapse photographer. Check out his work! I think it's beautiful.

I made the top 20!

2009-06-28T00:28:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine just notified me that I'm on the HacknMod top 40 Arduino Projects on the Web! I can scarcely believe it myself! I came in at number 20. Check out the link for loads of other cool projects!

The project I'm listed for has been on the shelf for a little while. Maybe it's time to dust it off and release it to the world!

This is Me!

2009-06-07T02:40:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is me! :)

First Light (Image Based Lighting Test)

2009-06-04T01:30:00.000-07:00

Original Sculpted Maquette

3D Render A/B Composite (no textures)

So I had some time off work and decided to dust off the old film again. This time I did some RND on the Lighting Pipeline. I am using Mental Ray's hidden Production Shader Collection. These shaders are awesome. So far they do everything I need them to do and are fairly quick to render too! It's nice to know that this result can still be acheived with out proprietry tools like the ones I use at work.

This clip has obvious issues with the shadows and depth of field. These problems should go away, once I am able to render into separate passes.

There are still a few tests I need to do such as outputting render passes for comp and how to control specular with the mia materials. But I'm feeling pretty good about it. Once I am confident with the lighting pipeline, I will balance the textures ready for the final renders. Soon I will be able to see more than just grey characters slapped on top of the background footage. Yay!

Moco Tools For Maya (Under The Hood)

2009-05-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

This Video covers the current state of the Maya/Python/Serial side of things. I will cover the Arduino side in another video.

Warning: Some viewers may find this a bit dry and boring.
Duration: 35mins.

Visualising Smoothstep Interpolation

2009-05-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

Justin just posted this video in response to an earlier post I made on smoothstep interpolation. He is using the python module pygame to display the formula. Pretty cool stuff! Thanks for sharing Justin.

DIY Motion Control Rig - Design Concepts

2009-05-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in collaboration with a couple of chaps from Ohio of all places! I put together this video to explain the origins of my plans to build my own Motion Control Rig. I thought some of you might be interested also as it explains some of the core design concepts in regards to the rig's 6 degrees of freedom.

For an overview of the pipeline visit this post.

Maya To Moco Sneak Peak

2009-04-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

A sneak peak at a set of Maya Tools that can control servo and stepper motors. It uses the Arduino platform as a bridge between Maya and the Motors. I will be releasing the tools on the openMoco website soon.

openMoco Icons

2009-04-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge

Just a quick update on some maya to moco related stuff. I'm very close to releasing something. I've been spending a bit of time on user interfaces of late. Here are some icons I've been working on. They start as 3D models in maya. Then I render them out in vector format for Adobe Illustrator.

Something tells me that I will have to go and "macify" them to make them more pretty. I'm a sucker for slick glossy graphics. But I always go full circle and make them simple again in the end :)

Python + Arduino + Motor Shield + Stepper Motor (Part 1)

2009-04-11T02:24:00.000-07:00

This is my first successful attempt at sending a number (higher than 255) from Python to Arduino using Serial Communication. Currently it sends 3 bytes per execution.

The 1st byte for packet identification, and the 2nd and 3rd byte makes up the Base10 number we are sending. I've used bit-wise operators to maximize the number I can construct from 2 bytes. Currently the maximum number I can send is 65535. The code can still be optimized, and currently it does not support negative numbers but hey, I'm taking it one step at a time (pardon the pun). FYI, this exercise is part of a much larger project. You can read about it Here

Edit: After several requests I have put a revised version of the code to make this work online.

Copy and Paste the Arduino Code into a text file and save as a .pde and upload it via the Arduino IDE. Copy and Paste the Python Code into a text file and save as motor.py

To run it in python, type:

import motor [Enter]
motor.position(1,1.8,360) [Enter]
motor.position(1,1.8,0) [Enter]

This should make a 200 steps per rev motor turn 360degrees and then return to it's original position. The only thing that you may need to change is line 20 in the python code. It depends on what COM port you will be using.

DIY Motion Control Rig

2009-04-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

Preamble

Ok, so usually I'm not in the habit of blogging my over ambitious ideas. They never usually eventuate so I like to keep them in my head. But since I started this blog, I have noticed that all of my tinkering has began to carve it's own path to the one common goal. Building my own motion control rig of coarse!So in this post I will simply layout some of my plans and direction for all of my future tinkering with motion control.

Background

I've been wresting with the idea of affordable motion control for years. Ever since I found out that the rig I was designing an interface for costs around 100 grand to buy! I was lucky enough to get to play with and study one of these rigs when I was studying at visual effects at film school. Through some reverse engineering and a lot of late nights I was able to discover all of the formulas that make this rig's movements so dynamic! but more about that in another post. I recreated a virtual version of this rig in a 3D animation program called Maya. I wrote some software (with help) that exported the move data to a file which could later be read by the real rig's software and translated into an actual move. The software has since proven itself as a reliable industry tool used on many TVCs and several short films.Less than a year ago I discovered micro controllers and stepper motors. I quickly realized that I had the basic ingredients and experience to make my own rig with the same six degrees of movement that I had already come accustomed to at film school. So here I am, a Full Time Visual Effects Artist, Married with a 1 year old boy and enough ideas to last several lifetimes. I guess that's why they call it a hobby :)

Software Features

- Maya to Motion workflow(already exists)- Ability to program Dual Scale Moves (I have the secret formula :)- Ability to play back the move at any frame rate- Processing timeline GUI with animation curves (Here's a WIP)- Move Data Exporter (not written yet)- Move Data importer and Cache system for playback (not written yet)

Hardware Features

- Arduino (1 or many, what ever it takes)- Stepper Drivers (still researching the right one for my needs)- Stepper Motors (synced to the sync pulse of the video/film camera)- Crane on a Dolly with Pan Tilt and Roll head (adjustable nodal point)- Tracks (custom to begin with)- Basic LCD programmable interface for timelapse shoots.

Summary

So these are just some of the Ideas I have kicking around. I must stress, this is a Hobby, not a business(not yet). So I am comfortable sharing this info without commitment. You know how it is no expectations, no let downs :) It works for me! Won't you join me as I push my brain until it hurts.Right that's the last time I ramble on about myself I promise. From now on it will be practical and hopefully helpful posts from me on motion control.

New Worm Gear Box

2009-04-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Diagram for input shaft quote.

Well I have finally purchased my first major part for my DIY Motion Control Rig. It's a worm gear box which will be part of the Pan Tilt Head System. The pictures I took with my phone make it look much larger the it actually is. The gearbox weighs about 1.2kg which seems fairly light compared to some of the rotary tables out there used for the same setup.

It was about $150 AUS and if it's works the way I hope, I will buy another one for a second axis. The gear box ratio is 60:1 (60 motor revs = 1 output shaft rev) to ensure I have enough resolution in my camera pans or tilts. There seems to be a bit of backlash but I will need to run some tests before I know if it's of any concern.

I still need to make an adapter shaft between the motor an the gearbox. I'm getting a quote from a local machine shop for that.

I'm thinking of going for a nema23 stepper with this setup, but still need to do a bit more research. Can't wait to try this out!

Here's a link to the transmission suppler: www.tea.net.au

Pay Per View Mocap Test

2009-03-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

This was a motion capture test I did back in the film school days. I was learning Motion Builder at the time and wanted to test the motion builder to maya capabilities.

I cringe at the poor anatomy and bad smooth bind. But hey it's still fun to watch a TV Head do karate kicks!

Smoothstep Interpolation with Arduino

2009-02-25T02:46:00.000-08:00

I have a friend who is crazy about timelapse photography. Lately he has been experimenting with motion control camera equipment to make his shots more dynamic . Most of his gear is built from combining off the self components in different ways. Nick is wanting more control out of his devices. So I introduced him to the world of electronics and micro controllers.

Now we are endevouring to break some new ground in timelapse (at least for us ;) The first task I have been appointed with is to come up with a way to go from no camera motion to full camera motion in the smoothest possible way.

Below is a snippet of Arduino code utilizing the smoothstep function. I very powerful formula for smoothing the interpolation from one value to another. Also check out this post for a python example video of the same formula

Check out some of Nick's beautiful timelapse work at nickgraalman.com

For more info and pics on the smoothstep method check out this link. This code is also featured on the Arduino Playground Wiki in the Code Library and Tutorials Section


///////////////////////////////////////
// Smoothstep Interpolation Example  //
///////////////////////////////////////

// Dan Thompson 2009
//
// Inpired by the code and chat on this site.
// http://sol.gfxile.net/interpolation/index.html
//
// Use this code at your own risk.
//
// This sketch was written with motion controlled timelapse photography
// in mind. I have tried to make it generic enough to understand the smoothstep
// concept so that one might adapt this powerful formula in other areas as well.
//
// For the full tutorial visit http://danthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/
//
// Usage:
// 1. Upload the sketch to the Arduino.
// 2. Click on the Serial monitor to see some visual feed back of the SMOOTHSTEP function.
// 3. Scroll throught the print out to see the SMOOTHSTEP curve.
// 4. Play with the code and addapt it to your needs! ;)

#define SMOOTHSTEP(x) ((x) * (x) * (3 - 2 * (x))) //SMOOTHSTEP expression.

int j = 0;             //Just an Iterator.
int i = 0;             //Just another Iterator.
float A = 0.0;         //Input Min Value
float B = 100.0;       //Input Max Value
float X;               //final smoothstepped value
float v;               //smoothstep expression variable
float N = 100.0;       //number of steps

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);  //establish serial connection for debugging
}

void loop()
{
if (j < N)                      // Keep looping until we hit the pre-defined max number of steps
  {
v = j / N;                    // Iteration divided by the number of steps.
    v = SMOOTHSTEP(v);            // Run the smoothstep expression on v.
    X = (B * v) + (A * (1 - v));  // Run the linear interpolation expression using the current smoothstep result.
    for ( i=0; i < X ; i++)       // This loop could the relevant code for each time your motor steps. 
    {
Serial.print("1");          //Prints the number "1" for each step.           
    }
Serial.print("  ");           //Puts a space between each line of steps and their corresponding  float value
    Serial.println(X);            // prints the soothstepped value
    Serial.println("CLICK!!!");   // this could be where you trigger your timelapse shutter 
    j++;                          // Increments j by 1.
  }
}

zBrush_Torso_WIP_001

2009-02-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

This is my first real attempt at a sculpt in zBrush. I started this sculpt with zSpheres and so far it's been lots of fun. I used this video from Ryan Kingslien as reference. I hope to do this sculpt 3 times before I try a different body part.

More stuff from the First Light Vault

2009-02-09T03:56:00.000-08:00

Digging around my old Hard Drive I found these pics.

An unfinished Solem Model.

A model sheet of Solem and RB7

First Light Robot Designs

2009-02-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

These were the initial sketches I did when trying to come up with some characters for the film.

Frankenegger

2009-02-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

A Very old Render of the first ever 3D character I modelled. This guy was made in a program called Animation Master. He is the villain from a clay animated short film I worked on years earlier. Here's a link to the film. The Adventures of Egg Cup Boy

First Light Context Cut v010

2009-01-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

This is the latest Context Cut for my short film First Light. It's still got a long way to go but it's getting there. This is an assembly of the first 2/3rds of the film.

The miniatures were built at 1:10 scale. The format was HD 1280 x 720. Shot on a Panasonic Varicam using a Genufelx Mark II Motion Control Rig. Lots of Toys!

First Light Previs

2009-01-02T17:05:00.001-08:00

This was the previs for my yet to be completed short film school project. The previs was used to pre plot all of the motion control camera setups on the miniature shoot.

This was the only way I could justify 60 odd camera setups using miniature sets on a 3 day shoot. Ahh film school... I was so naive. Amazingly we pulled it off though. The real challenge lay ahead in post production. 60 full blown VFX shots in HD with one Artist on it for a few months. NO CHANCE!

So the film was put on the shelf. Occasionally I will dust it off and do a bit more on it every now and then... Sigh..

Kinetic Wave Sculptures.

2008-12-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

Meet Reuben Margolin, a visionary Maker who creates elegant and hypnotic techno-kinetic wave sculptures.

Kinetic Wave Sculptures from make magazine on Vimeo.

3D Wiz Kid

2008-12-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

I don't usually post this sort of stuff. But I have an 8 month old Son. I couldn't resist!

Apparently he was 7 years old when he did this. Amazing!

Also Check out his Site

Resistance

2008-12-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

An excellent video explaining... The Resistor.

I-Sobot

2008-12-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

I so want one!

Playing with the Mental Ray physical sky shader

2008-12-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

This is a lot of fun if you have maya 2009's IPR and an 8 proc machine. I will try some more ambitious environment stuff soon.

Timecode Based Stopwatch

2008-11-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

A stopwatch that is timecode based. This will be the foundation for all of my motion control R and D. Eventually I hope to drive all of the mechanics by a sync pulse from a video camera. Until then this setup will have to suffice.

Here's a copy of the code used in this project.


/* Frame Rate Stopwatch By Daniel Thompson http://danthompsonsblog.blogspot.com
 *
 * This sketch is based on Paul Badger's StopWatch sketch which can be found here:
 * http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Stopwatch
 *
 * The Frame Rate Stopwatch sketch runs at 25fps (PAL Video) by default and has an adjustable frame rate.
 * Just change the framerate variable to suit your needs.
 * Demonstrates using millis(), pullup resistors,
 * making two things happen at once, printing fractions
 *
 * Physical setup: momentary switch connected to pin 2, other side connected to ground
 * LED with series resistor between pin 13 and ground
 * LCD Display setup as described in this tutorial:
 * http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lcd.html
 * Easydriver v3.1 board. by Brian Schmalz http://schmalzhaus.com/EasyDriver/
 * Sparkfun Stepper Motor Connected to the Easydriver as described in this tutorial:
 * http://danthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/easydriver-v31-tutorial.html
 * 12v 0.4a regulated DC power supply.
 *
 * ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * Hardware hookup guide for Jaycar's 2x16 character backlit LCD Display MODEL No.QP5518 
 * ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * 
 * Note: Includes hookup info for use with a 10k Pot for contrast control.
 * 
 * connect LCD PIN DB11 ------> Output PIN 7
 * connect LCD PIN DB12 ------> Output PIN 8
 * connect LCD PIN DB13 ------> Output PIN 9
 * connect LCD PIN DB14 ------> Output PIN 10
 * connect LCD PIN R/W -------> Ground
 * connect LCD PIN 5v ------------> 10k Pot (left pin)and 5v supply
 * connect LCD PIN Contrast ------> 10k Pot (middle pin)
 * connect Ground -------> 10k POT (right pin)
 * connect LCD PIN Gnd 0v ------> Ground
 * connect LCD PIN REGISTOR SELECT ------> Output PIN 11
 * connect LCD PIN ENABLE SIGNAL ------> Output PIN 12
 * connect LCD PIN Gnd 0v ------> Ground
 */




#include <LCD4Bit.h>
//create object to control an LCD.
//number of lines in display=1
LCD4Bit lcd = LCD4Bit(1);

#define ledPin  13                  // LED connected to digital pin 13
#define buttonPin 2                 // button on pin 2
#define steppin 5                   // Easydriver step pin on pin 5
#define dirpin 3                    // Easydriver step pin on pin 3

int value = LOW;                    // previous value of the LED
int buttonState;                    // variable to store button state
int lastButtonState;                // variable to store last button state
int blinking;                       // condition for blinking - timer is timing
int frameRate = 25;                 // the frame rate (frames per second) at which the stopwatch runs - Change to suit
long interval = (1000/frameRate);   // blink interval
long previousMillis = 0;            // variable to store last time LED was updated
long startTime ;                    // start time for stop watch
long elapsedTime ;                  // elapsed time for stop watch
int fractional;                     // variable used to store fractional part of Frames
int fractionalSecs;                 // variable used to store fractional part of Seconds
int fractionalMins;                 // variable used to store fractional part of Minutes
int elapsedFrames;                  // elapsed frames for stop watch
int elapsedSeconds;                  // elapsed seconds for stop watch
int elapsedMinutes;                 // elapsed Minutes for stop watch
char buf[10];                       // string buffer for itoa function

void setup()
{
 Serial.begin(9600);
 pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);         // sets the digital pin as output
   lcd.init();                      // intialise the LCD.
   pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);       // not really necessary, pins default to INPUT anyway
   digitalWrite(buttonPin, HIGH);   // turn on pullup resistors. Wire button so that press shorts pin to ground.
   pinMode(dirpin, OUTPUT);
 pinMode(steppin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop(){

 ///////////////////////////////////////
   //   Initiate LED and Step Pin States
   ///////////////////////////////////////

 digitalWrite(steppin, LOW);                           // Initiate the Easy Driver step pin ready for a rising edge
   digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);                            // set the Led to Low

 //////////////////////////////
   //   Check for button press
   //////////////////////////////
   buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);                // read the button state and store

 // check for a high to low transition if true then found a new button press while clock is not running - start the clock    
   if (buttonState == LOW && lastButtonState == HIGH  &&  blinking == false){   
    startTime = millis();                             // store the start time
      blinking = true;                                  // turn on blinking while timing
      delay(5);                                         // short delay to debounce switch
      lastButtonState = buttonState;                    // store buttonState in lastButtonState, to compare next time      
   }

 // check for a high to low transition if true then found a new button press while clock is running - stop the clock and report
   else if (buttonState == LOW && lastButtonState == HIGH && blinking == true){   
 blinking = false;                                    // turn off blinking, all done timing
   lastButtonState = buttonState;                       // store buttonState in lastButtonState, to compare next time

 /////////////////////////////////////////////
   //     Routine to report elapsed time            
   /////////////////////////////////////////////   
   elapsedTime =   millis() - startTime;                // store elapsed time
   elapsedMinutes = (elapsedTime / 60000L);
 elapsedSeconds = (elapsedTime / 1000L);              // divide by 1000 to convert to seconds - then cast to an int to print
   elapsedFrames = (elapsedTime / interval);            // divide by 40 to convert to 1/25 of a second - then cast to an int to print
   fractional = (int)(elapsedFrames % frameRate);       // use modulo operator to get fractional part of 25 Frames
   fractionalSecs = (int)(elapsedSeconds % 60L);        // use modulo operator to get fractional part of 60 Seconds
   fractionalMins = (int)(elapsedMinutes % 60L);        // use modulo operator to get fractional part of 60 Minutes
   lcd.clear();                                         // clear the LDC

 if (fractionalMins < 10){                            // pad in leading zeros
      lcd.printIn("0");                                 // add a zero
      }

    lcd.printIn(itoa(fractionalMins, buf, 10));       // convert the int to a string and print a fractional part of 60 Minutes to the LCD
      lcd.printIn(":");                                 //print a colan.  
       
 if (fractionalSecs < 10){                            // pad in leading zeros
      lcd.printIn("0");                                 // add a zero
      }

 lcd.printIn(itoa(fractionalSecs, buf, 10));          // convert the int to a string and print a fractional part of 60 Seconds to the LCD
   lcd.printIn(":");                                    //print a colan.         
                         


 if (fractional < 10){                                // pad in leading zeros 
      lcd.printIn("0");                                 // add a zero
      }     

 lcd.printIn(itoa(fractional, buf, 10));              // convert the int to a string and print a fractional part of 25 Frames to the LCD
   }

 else{
      lastButtonState = buttonState;                  // store buttonState in lastButtonState, to compare next time
   }

 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   //    run commands at the specified time interval
   ////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 // blink routine - blink the LED while timing
 // check to see if it's time to blink the LED; that is, the difference
 // between the current time and last time we blinked the LED is larger than
 // the interval at which we want to blink the LED.

 if ( (millis() - previousMillis > interval) ) {

    if (blinking == true){
       previousMillis = millis();                    // remember the last time we blinked the LED
                               
       digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);                   // Pulse the LED for Visual Feedback
         digitalWrite(steppin, HIGH);                  // create a rising edge for the Easydriver to step the motor once

      
       elapsedTime =   millis() - startTime;         // store elapsed time
         elapsedMinutes = (elapsedTime / 60000L);      // divide by 60000 to convert to minutes - then cast to an int to print
         elapsedSeconds = (elapsedTime / 1000L);       // divide by 1000 to convert to seconds - then cast to an int to print
         elapsedFrames = (elapsedTime / interval);     // divide by 40 to convert to 1/25 of a second - then cast to an int to print
         fractional = (int)(elapsedFrames % frameRate);// use modulo operator to get fractional part of 25 Frames
         fractionalSecs = (int)(elapsedSeconds % 60L); // use modulo operator to get fractional part of 60 Seconds
         fractionalMins = (int)(elapsedMinutes % 60L); // use modulo operator to get fractional part of 60 Minutes
         lcd.clear();                                  // clear the LDC

       if (fractionalMins < 10){                     // pad in leading zeros
         lcd.printIn("0");                             // add a zero
         }

       lcd.printIn(itoa(fractionalMins, buf, 10));   // convert the int to a string and print a fractional part of 60 Minutes to the LCD
         lcd.printIn(":");                             //print a colan.  
       
       if (fractionalSecs < 10){                     // pad in leading zeros 
         lcd.printIn("0");                             // add a zero
         }

       lcd.printIn(itoa(fractionalSecs, buf, 10));   // convert the int to a string and print a fractional part of 60 Seconds to the LCD
         lcd.printIn(":");                             //print a colan.  
                                 
       if (fractional < 10){                         // pad in leading zeros 
         lcd.printIn("0");                             // add a zero
         }
          lcd.printIn(itoa((fractional), buf, 10));  // convert the int to a string and print a fractional part of 25 Frames to the LCD
         }
  
    else{
          digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);                 // turn off LED when not blinking    
          }
 }

}

New Pan Tilt Head

2008-10-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well I had to wait 3 weeks for it, but it finally arrived in the post this week! It's a Pan and Tilt Camera Head from Servo City. This web site is sells just about everything you need if you are into designing and building your own robot contraptions. This head will be the basis for all of my bench testing as I try to construct my own DIY Motion Control Camera Rig.

The head is designed for use with an RC servo. But I'm planning to use stepper motors with it. So there will need to be a few major modifications to the head before I can show it in action. I'm starting a relationship with a local fabrication shop here in Adelaide to help me with some of the tricky parts.

The first step is to model it all in 3D so I can make changes to the design and send the files to the engineer for a quote (well, that's the idea anyway)

The two main changes I will need to make are:
1.) Retro fit the stepper motors. Each with it's own worm gear box.
2.) Make it possible for nodal point offsets. This is essential if I want to make a good panoramic stitch from multiple images. It's also important for extracting 3D move data if I'm shooting a Visual Effects shot.

Here's some pictures!

Solem And RB7 Turntable

2008-10-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here's two Characters I Designed, Modelled, Textured and Rigged for a short film I am working on called First Light.

Below are the Maquettes that we used as reference while shooting the miniature sets which would later serve as background plates for the final compostie. I sculpted these myself at 1:10 scale out of super sculpey.

The Bottom character, RB7 was made from a robot toy that I re-proportioned to match the CG character. The head, calves and chest piece were the only parts made from super sculpey. A friend from film school helped me out with his head due to time constraints.

Thinktank "Suitor"

2008-10-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

This was a Promo Clip for Thinktank's European Tour in 2003. The clip was shot at two different venues in Adelaide. I edited the video and shot about half of it. Good times.. :)

Andrew Schneider

2008-10-09T16:37:00.002-07:00

Andrew Schneider is a performance artist, body hacker, and inventor of Experimental Devices for Performance. Check out his Website.

This Video has no real technology in it, but I found myself relating to it's message in some kind of strange way...

Arduino Flash Communication Tutorial

2008-10-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome tutorial from Kasperkamperman!

Arduino Flash communication from kasperkamperman on Vimeo.

Thankyou

2008-10-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last Month's Blog Stats

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog last month. It showed me that people are actually interested in my video tutorials. Most of you who visited came via the sparkfun website. They kindly posted a link to my blog on their news page.

As a result, I have decided that it is worth the time it takes to put together one of these tutorials. So as I learn more stuff I will do my best to present my findings in the form of a short, easy to understand video tutorial.

I've got a few on the way already. Feel free to post feedback on here about them. I don't want to be posting crap. This would be a waste of everyone's time. That said, this is my personal blog so the statement at the top of the page still applies :)

Anyways. Thanks for all your interest so far.

Dan.

EasyDriver v3.1 Tutorial

2008-09-11T03:35:00.000-07:00

Update: I've posted a new Easy Driver 4.2 Tutorial for those who are using the new design.

A quick tutorial on how to get things up and running with the EasyDriver v3.1 Stepper Motor Driver Board. A big thank you to Brian Schmalz, the designer of this board. It's obvious why he has called it the EasyDriver. It was indeed, an "EasyDriver" to set up ;)

PLEASE NOTE: some people have overlooked the extra (ground) pin on the easydriver board. It is not labeled on the board itself, but it is visible as the top right pin in the picture above. Grounding the easydriver board is essential but sometimes overlooked by newbies like myself :)

WARNING Easy Driver v4.2:
Please do not attempt this tutorial with new Easy Driver v4.2 board. Please consult the QA for version 4.2 on the Easy Driver Site for explanations on 4.2's extra functionality. For more information you can always look at the Data Sheet and Schematic as well.

Here is a copy of the code used in this Video:










////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Stepper Motor skecth for use with the EasyDriver 3.1 
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Dan Thompson 2008
//
// Inpired by the code and chat on this thread.
// http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=10378&highlight=easydriver
//
// Use this code at your own risk.
// For all the product details visit http://greta.dhs.org/EasyDriver/
// For the full tutorial visit http://danthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/
// 
 
int dirpin = 3;
int steppin = 12;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);

pinMode(dirpin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(steppin, OUTPUT);
}
void loop()
{

  int i;

  digitalWrite(dirpin, LOW);     // Set the direction.
  delay(100);

Serial.println(">>");
  for (i = 0; i<4000; i++)       // Iterate for 4000 microsteps.
  {
digitalWrite(steppin, LOW);  // This LOW to HIGH change is what creates the
digitalWrite(steppin, HIGH); // "Rising Edge" so the easydriver knows to when to step.
    delayMicroseconds(200);      // This delay time is close to top speed for this
  }                              // particular motor. Any faster the motor stalls.

  digitalWrite(dirpin, HIGH);    // Change direction.
  delay(100);

  Serial.println("<<");
  for (i = 0; i<4000; i++)       // Iterate for 4000 microsteps
  {
digitalWrite(steppin, LOW);  // This LOW to HIGH change is what creates the
    digitalWrite(steppin, HIGH); // "Rising Edge" so the easydriver knows to when to step.
    delayMicroseconds(200);      // This delay time is close to top speed for this
  }                              // particular motor. Any faster the motor stalls.

}

Frankenegger Stopmotion Test

2008-09-01T02:11:00.000-07:00

A lip sync animation test for a character called Frankenegger from back in my film school days.

Maya + Python + Arduino + Servo (Part 2)

2008-08-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

An update on the previous video. This time I have written a Python Plugin for maya. This makes it now possible for real time (viewport to servo) communication, without the need for dynamic playback. So now it is possible to literally keyframe your servo's position in time and playback it's animation!

A big thank you to John Park for blogging about these Ideas on the Make Blog. Check out what people have to say about it here

Edit: I have made some progress on this technique click here for more info

It's Here!

2008-08-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post some pics of my first Spark Fun Electronics order which arrived in the mail the other day. I'm looking forward to testing out these little beauties over the next couple of weeks. The stepper driver board is a microstepper board. That means that it is capable of producing up to 1/8th of a standard step. Now that's precision! Probably too much precision for my application but hey, at $15 USD why not give it a try!

Stepper Motor Rob-08420

EasyDriver v3.1

Maya + Python + Arduino + Servo (Part 1)

2008-08-26T05:04:00.000-07:00

This is something that has been going around in the back of my head for a while now. It's amazing what you can find online these days. Practically all of the code for this setup is borrowed from other sources. So thanks to everyone who's contributed to this by posting their own projects on the web.

Here are the links to the main contributors:
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/ASCIIchart
http://principialabs.com/arduino-serial-servo-control/
http://pyserial.wiki.sourceforge.net/pySerial
http://principialabs.com/wp-content/uploads/servo.py
http://www.digitaltutors.com/store/

I will post more details on this project as I get time. I'm am planning to document this whole Idea exhaustively.
This is just the beginning...

If you liked this post, check out PART 2 for some further progress

The Future.....

2008-08-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

I'm always skeptical with these kind of "Magic Bullet" presentations. But this one is still pretty cool none the less.

For the full run down on this technology visit: gizmodo

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.

My First Stepper Motor Driver Circuit

2008-08-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

This is my first successful attempt at driving a stepper motor from an Arduino Card. This has been a relatively cheap project which has taught me a great deal about different types of steppers and how to wire them up. My next project will be using a mini servo. After that, I will move on to a more advanced type of stepper control interface.

Introducing the Sanguino

2008-08-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

For the full blurb on this power packed device visit:
http://www.nycresistor.com/2008/08/08/announcing-sanguino-v10/

Sanguino: Arduino's Big Brother from Zach 'Iowa' Hoeken on Vimeo.

Soldering Competition?

2008-07-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Man, and I thought I was a Geek....

visit http://www.nycresistor.com for more fun with electronics

The Ruins (In Cinemas August 7)

2008-07-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is a film I worked on last year at RSP. We did CG vines for it. If you have a weak stomach, I suggest you sit this one out. Gory stuff. A Dreamworks production shot on mt tambourine in Queensland Australia. Here's a teaser. Navigate to, and click on the camera to see the trailier.

My First Arduino Project

2008-07-05T05:50:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt at an Arduino Sketch. An Arduino Sketch is basically a prototype of some code that can be uploaded to an Arduino Card that in turn, can run various electrical devices (Light Emitting Diodes in this case). An Arduino Card is hobbyist's micro controller mounted on a circuit board. It's basically a simplified computer that can be hard coded through the use of a simple programming language.