Heightmaps as Terrain Representation

A common way in science and for computer games to represent terrain as a volumetric model are digital elevation maps, which are created from two images of a terrain from different angles (a stereo view), taken from an airplane or by a satellite.

A simplified way to store this incredibly comprehensive data are scalar heightmaps, where the contrast scale represents the elevation of a terrain: black areas represent lowest and white areas elevated terrain.

We thought the incredible irregular detail of natural structures can probably be best mimicked by a dynamic generative system, than made up from skratch and drawn by hand. Specialised terrain and heightmap generators like Terragen provide an interface to generate landscapes e.g. for computer games. But these tools aim to create static terrains as naturalistic as possible, whereas we wanted surrealistic and dynamic topographies: drifting glaciers, shifting plates and brittle rocks.

Generative Landscapes

To be able to create these dynamic topographies, we developed a custom animation tool – an agent-based software simultion written in Scala and Processing, in which up to 5.000 ice floes dynamically drift along the scene.

With flocking, repel, attract and several other behaviours and global forces, we controlled the movement of the floes; accumulated them to mountains, ridges, and canyons, while the floes constantly got jammed and pushed by each other.

As a result, we rendered heightmap animations of evolving and morphing mountain landscapes from top view.

Translation from 2D to 3D

In 3D graphics applications, these heightmaps can be displaced into volumetric models of topographies. A dozen of black and white scenes featuring different landscapes, perspectives, and camera flights were then animated and rendered in Maya.

We synchronised the generated image sequences and the rendered camera views: every frame of the film corresponds with an image from the generative heightmap image sequences. The permanent drift of the ice floes was thereby turned into transposed rock and ice strata.

Narrative, Coloration, and Soundtrack

The scenes of Interim Camp were composed from the perspective of a wanderer, whose path becomes more challenging with every step, with every day he or she spends in this area. In fact, the physical and menthal strains affecting the body on a mountain hike can lead to vertigo, altitude sickness, displaced perception, and halluzinations.

Besides the increasing morphing of the landscape, the coloration of the film plays an important role in representing this physical and menthal condition of the invisible protagonist, in whose position we place the visitor. Scene by scene was colourised in post-production with the help of dynamically changing colour palettes.

Musician and composer Arran Poole worked on the soundrack in a parallel process. He layered noises, drones and rhythmical patterns to relate to the vastness and abstractness of the scenery. Weaved in field recordings of foot steps, beathing and unfamiliar sound events support the narrative of the film.


Interim Camp was supported by:
Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst

About the idea

The dream of reaching for the stars is as old as mankind itself. The mathematics of planetary orbits, the perfection of natural geometrical forms fascinates andinspires scientists and artists alike. Even music principles as tonality or phase displacement are based upon computational ideas and find correspondency in the Orbiter’s structure.

The music is played on a scale of concentric circles, visible in some of the scenes, with higher tones on the larger, basses on the smaller circles. The bigger you let a star grow before you pull back your hand to insert it into orbit, the louder it plays. Like the stars orbit on the large ceiling screen above the player, the surround sound orbits in the room on up to 10 high-tone-channels, supported by a bass box and a solid bourne sound speaker underneath the player´s couch.

Each version of the Orbiter features various scenes with different graphics, sounds and behaviour. Some create an illusionary nightsky firmament, playing more melodic or ambient sounds. Others experiment with the possibilities of graphical abstraction and rough synths, allowing you to even play drum´n basslike sounds.

A long-time exposure of the firmament

About the technology

The installation is based on custom-built software using latest gaming and computer vision technology, performing real-time analysis of a camera image of the player as well as generating 6-channel-audio and video signals.

Developing these very different tasks in one and the same programming environment would have meant a lot of compromising, and created a monolithic software application. So we developed each as an independent module in the respectively most capable environment:
The video analysis and motion tracking is written in C++. This instructs a small application developed with the audio synthesis programming language SuperCollider for the sound generation, aswell as Java/Processing for the graphics generation.

Previous exhibitions include:
tendence lifestyle, Microarchitecture Lounge. Messe Frankfurt, Germany. August 2007
Woodstreet Galleries, Out of This World. Pittsburgh PA, USA. July-September 2008
Move New Media Digital Art Fair, A Coruna, Spain. November 2008

More installation photographs can be found at flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fliegerhorst/collections/72157601815521726/