Video Wall with ICE?

[pdesopo]

I'm wondering if there's a way to create the classic video wall (http://j.mp/KstQJ6) with ICE.
I saw this https://vimeo.com/32012982 but it seems there's no explanation or compound.
I'll try something, just curious to see if someone has already stumbled across something like this, if so idea/tips?

[Zafar Iqbal]

I suck at ICE, but I recognize things I used in my last ICE related job.

Use states to trigger translation. Use a node (cant remember its name right now - there are two, one of them seems to have proper name but wont work as expected) to evaluate distance to triggering object, when that object is X units away from each tile.

Edit: cant seem to find any of the pages that helped my out when I worked on the similar thing. This is an early example of what I was doing - can send you a simple setup once I'm at my computer again, if you like:

[pdesopo]

Zafar Iqbal,

thanks for helping out. I'm actually stuck at a more basic level right now. The truth is, it's a disaster. Texture doesn't work neither ICE particle duplication. I just relied on luck as I'm trying some scattering compounds that obviously cannot work properly.

Clipboard-1.jpg

It should looks more like in the fake sample I did with an extruded grid and a proper texture projection:

Clipboard-2.jpg

I believe it's pretty clear I've no idea what I'm doing

Below a quick example I roughly did in C4D just to show the basic idea:
Simple MoGraph Wall Sample

[Zafar Iqbal]

This is a scene I used in a project - animation, unnecessary geometry etc. have been removed: http://www.digital-ray.dk/community/3D/XSI_WALL.rar

Some notes:

Since the scene originates from a project, it might be a bit too complicated for your needs. It should be easy to simplify once you dig into it and understand how the ICE tree works.

MatrixBoard_Grid:
Used to build the wall and to "project" the UV onto the wall (important: pay attention to the bricks material). I'm using point shape, but you can also use instanced geometry. The needed nodes are there.

Trigger_*:
All items with "Trigger_" in front of them are used to trigger different states in the ICE tree.
If you chose to add another trigger object, then make sure to place it in the corresponding group. My ICE tree reads the triggers from groups. You aren't limited to primitives. Use a spaceship if you must

Trigger_tB_*:
Turns front to back. Use these first.

Trigger_tF_*:
Turns backside to front. Use these after tB objects.

"V" and "H" in object names:
Vertical and horizontal rotations - I did not have time to figure out how to rotate in both directions using just a single item.

Trigger_tB_V_Cube_Trigger
Changes the state, so any brick affected thinks it is rotated. Good for big clean wipes after random number of turns on random number of bricks (which I did a lot of in my project).

There are few more objects - play with them and see what they do. Feel free to ask if you need to.

I *could* have used a single object for both back and front turns, but chose to do it this way as it seemed more reliable and flexible. My subframe sampling is set to 4. This means tiny bit slower playback, but again, it' more reliable.

Mixing vertical and horizontal rotations will cause headache if only some bricks are turned. The texture of the backside needs to reflect how the bricks were turned and this can become trivial work. I ended up rotating vertically most of the time because of this.

Instances:
Create/import your geometry and drag it into the ICE tree. I already have a Instance Shape node at the top of the tree. Read the geometry from there and connect it to Set Particle Shape.

I noticed some issues when working with instances - it's been a while so I do not remember them well. Using point shape was sufficient enough for me so I didn't give instancing much thought (tight deadlines, meh). See how it works for you.

I have simulation caching set up for better playback and rendering. You might need to change paths, but other than that just hide the true point cloud object (MatrixBoard_PB) and unhide MatrixBoard_PB_CACHED when you want to preview or render.

When you open the scene and have a look at the ICE tree, you'll see this:


Each white line basically represents a state cycle.

I hope your can figure out how my scene is set up. It was never intended to be shared

My setup was build by bits and pieces found from different pages, as I also mentioned in my earlier reply. It saddens me I can't credit the original masterminds - particularly regarding the UV thing.

Ps. the texture will not look correct in the viewport.

[Daniel Brassard]

I saw this https://vimeo.com/32012982 but it seems there's no explanation or compound.

Have you PM Christian (known on this forum as Chris_TC) and ask him how he did it?

[gustavoeb]

preparing little video tutorial, please wait a few minutes

[gustavoeb]

So I've prepared this little video tutorial using my motion graphics add-on for ICE (called Motion Tools). As you can see, it is not mandatory and you can do without it. I just things it makes some mograph workflows simpler.



Also, sorry for the little hickups, I recorded this without any previous planing. I've used Color Multi Switch, you can also use Color Array Switch, for an infinite amount of possibilities...

[gustavoeb]

ps: just realized my tutorial is no good to you, since you want one video playing in all the instances :/

[pdesopo]

Zafar Iqbal,
thanks a lot for your file!

Daniel Brassard,
I didn't try that. I'll see what I can come up first but thanks for the heads up

gustavoeb,
thank you so much for the tutorial! Just wrapped into another job right now, no much time at the moment, but the mp4 it's already on my drive. Not sure if I get what you mean by the video playing in all the instances, but it seems your set up could be exactly what I'm looking for. No need for separated video pieces on each brick, just one whole texture.

P.S. I didn't get the email notification for the last replies, sorry for my late feedback.