Projection Mapping

Projection Mapping is a technology that has been around for a few decades but is quickly picking up popularity now. It is a popular feature used by modern-day artists and musicians. The "trippy" effect that these projections can create are perfect for modern-day DJ's and are used regularly at there concerts.

The style used in the concerts is often abstract blank white shapes that have different protectors pointed at different areas and then a light show is designed around that. 

The Projection Mapping is also used for different forms of a sculpture like art. 

 

Flying Lotus is an artist that uses these projectors and software, only he uses it a little differently.  He is a DJ and he sets up a series of scrims (somewhat transparent curtains) around him in order to create a 3D appearance of his concert show. 

One software for projection mapping is  MadMapper. This software is a simple any easy to learn program that allows its user to explore the quickly growing interest related to projection mapping. 

These programs are growing very fast and are attracting a lot of attention. If it is a field you are interested in, find out more: Click Here

 

Music & Animation

One of the things I'm most excited to play with more in After Effects is animation based on music. I (like most people) am a huge music lover and transitively a big fan of music videos when they're done well. I think for certain albums, more artists should consider creating visuals to go along with entire albums as opposed to just certain singles. I saw a lot of potential for this in a video released by producer Flying Lotus a few weeks ago, which was essentially a preview for his upcoming album "You're Dead!". The video basically shows snippets of every song on the album with a little trippy visual for each one. The animation is all based on the music and fits the album very well.  The video is not on YouTube but you can watch it at this link:

(WARNING: Lots of flashing lights do not watch if susceptible to seizures)

Flying Lotus Website

Flying Lotus is no stranger to setting his music to animation. Here are a couple other examples:

These are more quirky little videos. Each tell a story and each have an art style that is truly unique and fitting of the music it's made for. It's a ton of work, but this is the type of stuff I'd have a lot of fun making.

By the way, the new album "You're Dead!" releases October 7th, but it leaked over the weekend. It's absolutely amazing, and I definitely recommend checking it out (and buying it when it releases). My roommates and I have been each listening to it and promptly getting our minds blown.

Anthony Schepperd, the Manimator.

Anthony Schepperd is an award winning director and animator who does work in music videos and commercials. He posted on his vimeo that "Animation gives us the rare opportunity to spill our most coveted attribute, the imagination." I have been a huge fan of Schepperd's work ever since I started watching the music videos below. He not only takes animation to a whole new creative level, but works with many of the musicians that I know and love. His animations have also been featured on such channels as Adult Swim. I don't want to post too much about what to expect, because it's really just something you have to see for yourself. But the bottom line is, I can't imagine how much time and dedication must go into these projects.

Here is a link to his website! http://themanimator.com

"Tiny Tortures" by Flying Lotus

Hey yall. So the artist Flying Lotus just released another music video from his new album "Until The Quiet Comes." It's really an amazing video which features a ton of 3d and most likely some after effects. Plus you have Elijah Wood in it, which is very surprising. The song is so atmospheric and just plain cool. Hope you enjoy!

Layer 3 and Flying Lotus

      It is hard to pinpoint a genre to throw music producer Flying Lotus into.  His music takes a little bit from everything, whether it's jazz, hip hop, electronica, you name it.  Over the past few years he has been met with more and more acclaim from fans and critics alike and has had the opportunity to work with other artists like Radiohead and Erykah Badu.

      Very recently he has launched a unique visual experience to coincide with his music performances.  It is called Layer 3, which is a fitting name for a stage setup which uses just that- three layers.  Layer one is a transparent screen with visual overlays. the second is Flying Lotus and his musical equipment and the third layer is a background with more visual effects.  The two visual layers are separately controlled by two different VJs who try to use their layers together to make an interesting tandem act.  Flying Lotus says that the animations were inspired by one of his favorite movies, 2001: Space Odyssey.  I have never seen Flying Lotus live before, but if I ever have the opportunity I will want to see him especially because of this Layer 3 system.



Flying Lotus 'Layer 3' – A Red Bull Music Academy Film from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

Awesome Music Video

One of my favorite artists, Flying Lotus, just released his new album "Until The Quiet Comes." His music is a blend of hip-hop and electronic, with insane pulsating beats. Most of his tracks are instrumental with amazing energy just flowing out of them. He released a new music video which is all animated. Check it out.

It looks like After Effects was used in creating this video! I'm not a huge fan of performance based music videos and definitely enjoy videos made based off just the music. The video is pretty weird, but I think the visual style is so unique. Everything moves to the beat of the video. Watch the legs of the robots and how they walk. It's pretty cool to know that our class knows how to achieve this. I would really enjoy creating an animated music video just because you could do anything!