Emi - submission log

Made some last minute changes yesterday.
Mostly to do with UI, user-friendliness and appearance, but also:
- made a 75 second reset patch (with the help of Rob) and then sent a message-close message through various delays and sends through to each individual sub patch and bpatcher. It closes the Quiz and german part first, then the subpatches, then resets to the three-screen menu, and then slides into the main screen. It was very glitchy at first but I managed to smooth it out a bit by altering delay times.
- Also, while Jed and Will found the right sound to play whenever the mouse is clicked (as requested by the client), I made the <sfplay> patch to go along with it, connected to a <mousestate>.
- attempted to make fading pictures in the quiz as big as possible but couldn't change the screen size as that would mean re seizing every single slide of the quiz, not to mention  all the graphics and bpatcher a to resize.. Resizing pictures alone was the best bet as it's easy and all I could do in such little time.
- made other minor aesthetic tweaks: put a fade on the three-screen texts for better visibility, repositioned voiceover-play buttons in subpatches for easier use, standardised back buttons in the german subpatches to go along with the main patch blue back-arrows, and other minor changes.

Will head to university son to submit my assignment, finally!!

Jed Log FINISHED!

We are glad to say that the installation is finished! It took a few late night shifts and a lot of last minute work due to crashing and the likes, but we have finished!
Over these past few days we have taken onboard any final improvements recommended by Rob, Matt and the museum staff themselves and any final little bits we wanted to add and put them in the patch.
It is now ready to be released into the wide world for everyone to see and love!!! <3

Jed Log (on emis profile :3)

We didn't quite manage to figure out what was causing the crashing to occur but we did figure a solution late friday night. We essentially built the whole patch again except from the german side and the quiz parts of the patch. By removing a lot of images and reducing unnecessary patching we managed to stop the new patch from crashing, it still runs a little sluggy when editing but seems to run fine when using the patch itself. This hold up meant we have had to pull a couple of long night shifts and leave out several extra parts we would have liked to include.

Emi - last ever log (hopefully)

Quiet day at work so I brought my laptop... Since Max has completely given up ((crashes whenever having to save)) I'll go back to the prototype patch and work from there. There is no other choice since it crashes whenever we save the patch, even on the uni's more powerful computers (in mixing 2) with the 3x4 core PCI-e processors - obviously Max MSP doesn't like museums.

Anyway, I'll be working from the patch that was made on the 4th - meaning that this and last weeks work was for nothing. Since I remember what changes I made since then it'll be easy (easier) to re-edit.

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A big problem I’m having is that when taking out a subpatch from the main folder, to edit the main patch (because it’s less likely to crash when it loads the project without subpatches), is that the <bpatcher> doesn’t remember how many inlets/outlets the <bpatcher> has.

For example: I’m having to take out subpatch X to edit Main patch Y, then the <bpatcher> in Y looses the in/outlet -connections because it’s not actively linked to a subpatch and I have to relink them all over again.

This is especially problematic with the Quiz Subpatch because it has some 15 screens.

11th November 2014

Worked on a patch showing the different places that where bombed, they are viewed by clicking on the place name,

Jed Log

CRASHING CRASHING AND MORE CRASHING!

We're now in the final stages of putting our patch together, all thats left is to add information and pool all the patches into one, but at every turn max crashes and any work we have done is lost. Even saving max causes it to crash. Working on parts outside the patch is no use as when we combine them or add the parts in, max crashes........
We've tried using several different computers and setups but the problem persists.

Emi - MaxMSP crashing...

MaxMSP keeps crashing and taking a very long time to load - especially on the nano micro mini Mac computer. It's becoming a real chore re-re-re-re-repeating all the edits.

Edit: Took me 40min to edit the size of three pop-up windows. While waiting for an edit to happen I'd go on a different computer stress testing the patch on the Mac Mini - when operating the patch, it works fine, but the problem is when editing.

13.11.14
Max keeps crashing whenever saving a patch (even in Overdrive mode, on the multi-CPU computer in the Mixing 2 -room)

Monday 10th November

Worked on a patch that plays different sections of the George Brown interview depending on which picture you press, could maybe be used as a small extra

Jed Log

I'm currently in the process of refining a few parts of the patch's overall image including backgrounds and text etc. However, Max itself keeps crashing as the patch is getting huge. This is starting to really slow the whole process down as i have to keep saving my work after every step which often cause it to crash. When i load the patch back up i then have to redo all of the work i have just lost.

BUT WE FIGHT ON!!!!

Sunday 9th November

Recorded again today, managed to get all the parts including female vocal. Would prefer to have more than one but I am struggling to find others. Also started the modern day background of Scarborough beach including cars and arcades

Saturday 8th Nov

Went up to record some more parts today at Filey road studios but everything was lost so couldn't get in, found out later that you can go and speak to security to open the doors on a weekend will try again tomorrow.
Got home and decided to edit the voiceover audio i had recorded earlier in the week aswell as work, more on the background soundscape adding filter, reverb and delay to different parts to give a sense of depth and space to the listener.

Friday 7th november

Today i worked on the soundscapes and started the one at the german boats,
also successfully recorded the voice overs but want to record more so there is a variety of different voices both male and female

Tuesday 4th November

Looked over the script Jed had made and with his help and made a few alterations. (facts, wording etc.)
Recruited some vocal actors from Scarborough, this seemed the most appropriate accent as the event occurred in this area.
Took to the recording studio and found that sometimes the Yorkshire accent can be difficult to interpret, so a few takes where needed for each person to try and smooth the accent out for all to understand.
Saved the project onto my USB stick, took it home to effect and chop up audio only to find the files where missing from my data pen.

Friday 7th November - Back upto the studios to record again

Jed Log

All the information we have for the day of the attack has been put into script form. This is to be recorded using several different voice overs to keep the installation interesting.
I have also put this information into the patch in the given locations (e.g. the grand, the lighthouse etc) but in a much more brief form. The voice overs will be telling the viewer the information while the important facts they touch on will be displayed on screen.

Emi - Log 6

Yesterday and this morning I worked on the quiz and finally put it in the master patch. The picture fade (reward upon completion of the game) only has two pictures for now because I do not have time to relink missing files that weren't embedded in the patcher.

Below is the quiz:

Also, the windows should hopefully all fullscreen automatically and fit on the screen. The programming is all there but it's a bit temperamental. Example, you open a pop-up window and it doesn't fullscreen at first, but when you close it and open it again, it fullscreens..................

fri 31st oct

Today i spoke to 2 vocal actors (still looking for 2 more) and arranged a time to get them in the studio to record for us, also researched different effects which can be applyed to vocals to create a more authentic sound appropriate to that time.

Started creating the patch that will allow us to fade between the before and after pictures. Using a jit object and loaded the pictures in, this distored the pictures although the fade worked quite well. I then used an Fpic object which proved to not damage the photo quality (max isnt compatable with jpeg images to i converted them all online to .png

Script work - Jed log

Im working on writing up all the information that will be in the installation. We've decided to have the bulk of the information read out by a voice over and just have key points on screen. This will keep the screen clutter free and will also make the installation more interactive.

Tuesday 28th Oct

Used the effects and sounds i had downloaded to create ambient noises for both the pre bombing and during the raid scarborough

Emi - Log 5

For demo-ing purposes we will focus only on the 'during' phase of the interactive display. The Before and After will be added at a later date.

Today I am doing to following:

• Programming in the BPatcher window (the below is just a placeholder to demonstrate what it'll look like)
  
• Will fix non-standardized items - window (size), images, buttons, etc.
• Reword pop-up information windows
• 
  
• If time permits I'll work on the mini-game aspect of the project - if you answer correctly an old picture fades into one we've taken 2 weeks ago of the same location (old to new comparison)

Also,
I emailed a Peter Bobroff asking if we are allowed to use his information, pictures, etc. that are on his website <http://navalhistory.flixco.info>. Some pictures, escpeically of the ships, are very rare and could only be found on this website. Besides the rare photos of the time, the information is great - and him sending back a "Feel free to make use of the site..." was of great help.

--EDIT--

• Quiet day at work so I'm working on the patch. Finished the title page and a main menu (to navigate between before/during/after)

• Finally got around to resizing every pop-up window which should've been set to the standard I set in "Log 4" (840x400). Now to change the font size, colour, etc. and resize buttons...

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Tuesday 28th Oct

Researched 1914 music and war songs today, downloaded the appropriate ones. Also downloaded more war sound effects and scarborough sounds

Emi - Log 4

After doing extensive research this week (which i didn't get to do last week) I finally started to put things into Max. I started with the subpatch for the german ships. Firstly I cropped all images I needed into smaller .png files (.png = for the background transparency) as shown in the picture below:

This was laid over a picture of the ship and made to glow in pulses. Clicking the above gun for example brings up information about it - For instance: "This is one of the two dual-barrel turrets which fired 30.5cm explosive shells, this SK-L/50 model was very popular in battleships across the german navy fleet."

My thought is, I'll start from the submenus and then link them all up in the main patch.

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EDIT 27.10:
Will be using today to lay out everything in Max.

Worked out the following standards for the project:

• Font = Georgia (colour code #000033)
  - 18p for Text
  - 30p for Heading (may decrease if heading too big)
• To any text there will be a background of #c3995d with 92% Opacity
• A "more info," "back" and "close" button

• background images will adhere to 1280x1024
• Pop-up windows will conform to 840x400

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Here is a video showing the most recent thing I've worked on:

The pulsating buttons work fine, until the lowest <alpha 1$> -value is reached. It then skips to the highest and then starts the pulse over again. Its supposed to go from 1-0 and then back SMOOTHLY - instead it goes from 1-0, flashes to 1 for a millisecond, and then returns from 0-1... The slow fps in the video doesn't capture it, apologies.

Here is the programming:

For the time being I will leave it in, as it is the best thing i can do, and I'll make the sub-patches for the other ships and then put them together in the German-section- of this installation. Tomorrow I will ask Rob (lecturer) if he can use his magical mastery of mysterious Max MSP to aid me.

...

Jed log - making the home screen

Each of the three days in our project is going to have a separate home screen, each set out as a newspaper front page with a map of scarborough on the front. I have been working on the home screen for the day of the attack and putting it together in photoshop cs6.

Image 1

 I started with this image provided by the museum of the front page of a scarborough newspaper (image 1)  and this image of the scarborough sea front from above (image 2).

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

I then altered the colour of image 2 to attempt to make it look a little more old fashion styled and to keep with the theme. I also brushed out the boats that were on the water. (image 3)











I altered the aspect ratio and I then combined the front page image 1 and image 3 to make the front page of our interface for the day of the attack (image 4).

Research

I've been reading up and looking through the information that has been given to us by the museum. We have split the information three ways, before the attack, during the attack and after the attack. I am researching during the attack so i have been looking into the accounts of the attack itself. I have mainly been using the information provided by the museum and taking the key points as the main aim of our project is to relay this information to people unable to make it around the whole exhibit.

Jed

Emi - Log 3

Last week was 'research week,' in which we went away to gather all the info so we could then focus on putting everything in Max MSP. I was in charge of getting all info on the 'after' of the event and the others would research on the 'before' and 'during

For me, it didn't go as planned, between other uni work and 'work work' I've had very little time so I will be cunducting my research today and we will pool all our info together tomorrow morning.

Photographed some of the sites seen in the pictures both given to us and found online, tried to re- capture the same image angle as in the 1914 photos, couldnt find the correct picture for the grand hotel.

Friday 17th October,

Just gone through the pictures and information finding out the different locations so i can go and take photos of the modern day buildings.
Some of the names i do not recognise so i will have to look on google maps to get the specific places.


War memorial

lighthouse upclose / far away

cresent

pavillion hotel

esplanade (57, 

back of st nicholas parade near grand hotel scarborough

the barracks castle yard

roof of house in belle vue street 

commercial street

2 wykeham street

gladstone road

offices kings cliff camp

chemist shop, south street

dunollie filey road

grand hotel

joseph merry weathers corner prospect road

24 rothbury street inside house

royal hotel 

gladstone road school

coastguard station

belvedere

belvoir terrance

defences

west sand gate, east gate

Emi - Log 2

17.10 - 4th meeting (after 1st presentation)

Meeting today to work on the information-side of the installation.

Will be trying to find out as much as possible from secondary sources (videos, textbooks, etc.) and researching if it is possible to get a primary source (interview, personal account of happenings, etc.).

All the information will be put in power point format. Each slide representing a different sub menu, that we will have in the installation, and then linked with hyperlinks. When you click on the battleships for example it takes you to slide 5 which has more info on the ships, the german navy, etc.

Changes/Additions made to plan:
- Instead of having dots on the map leading you to a different screen altogether, you get a pop-up with a brief fact, summary, etc. Then, from that pop-up (still on the main map) you can chose to navigate to a "read more" or "game" section -> Less layers to the layout: simpler and more intuitive.
- May include a video puzzle, as well as the picture puzzle as mini-games
- As a 'reward' for completing the game, the picture that the user assembles will fade into a picture of the past, followed by a brief fact on the side
- Will have it so you can switch between the 'before,' 'during' and 'after' at any time (suggestion from Mark H.) - Also, will need a 'Back' button on all windows/pop-ups/etc.

post to be continued...

Emi - Log 1

08.10 - 1st meeting

We met right after visiting the Remember Scarborough exhibit in the Scarborough Art Gallery to discuss any concept ideas we had thought of so far. The following is what I have understood of the meeting and is still all in the early stages and will definitely be subject to change over the course if this project.

So far, we've managed to come up with an overall theme for the project - we're thinking of having this all be in the style of a newspaper. We will have, like the three rooms in the upstairs part of the gallery, three different newspapers on the main menu - stacked like a newsagent would. If we have enough time we will include the ability to switch between the english and german time at any time with a button so can easily compare the two.

Here is a rough outline of what will appear in each menu/sub-menu. The 1st picture (Main Menu) will give you the ability to chose between the before, during or after of the attack. The second will, still in newspaper format, show you a map of scarborough (before: peaceful image, during: fires/explosions/etc.) where you'll be able to select different places on the map, for example: hovering over the castle will make it pop up. Once clicked it'll take you to the 2nd submenu (3rd picture) where you will find out about the english military around Scarborough. The 3rd image is a factual sub-menu where you can find out brief information about the town, the attack, etc. depending if you're on the 'before,' 'during' or 'after' section. From here you'll be able to click to a "read more" section or the "game" (for adults who want to know more OR a quiz for kids, maybe even a picture puzzle) - this will allow for a wider appeal.


Other:
- "This info is available in room 1," instead of "go to room 1 for more info" to not offend disabled audiences
- Video comprehension as a game, then the questions read out by a voice-over artist
- Basic blueprint showing which room is which in a help file.
- Clicking on the ships will lead you to a diagram where you can hover over parts of the ship and a menu pops up with details on guns and other weapons, crew, etc.

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EDIT:
13.10 - 2nd meeting
We met to discuss and put together the presentation we are holding on the 14th and to further develop our ideas.

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Just an example photo of what an icon may look like in the first sub-menu when hovering over it, which will then lead to more information about he clicked icon.

Thursday 9th October

Started searching for audio samples to use throughout the project downloaded various pieces these included sounds of bombs dropping and general war noises.

Sunday 12th October

Started the presentation we would use for the following Tuesday, downloaded pictures and searched for other web cites that would be useful during this project.

Monday 13th October

Completed slide show presentation in apple keynote, and discussed the presentation as a whole including what we each will talk about and when.

Scarborough Art Gallery Visit

The display for Remember Scarborough at the Scarborough Art Gallery consists of four separate rooms (1 downstairs, 3 Upstairs).

The ground floor room is used as an introduction to the whole gallery including brief information, a projector with interviews playing, paintings of the battle and a folder containing all of the written information throughout the rest of the exhibit. The inclusion of the folder seems to be there to compensate for any visitors that can't access the rest of the exhibit, but it comes across as very dull and uninteresting compared to what the exhibit actually has on offer to viewers.

The three rooms that are located upstairs are split into three sections, before the attack, during the attack and after the attack. This is what inspired us to build our installation with a similair capability to see the event over time instead of at one point in time. This really helps to build perspective and give the viewers an overall broader view on the events and lasting effects that came as a result of the attack.

The majority of the installation is reading information located on the walls around the exhibit. The information starts with the important and bulk of the information, but offers more insight as the reader continues to read on. This works effectively as readers who just want to know the main information are provided with it before they lose interest, but if the reader desires more information, they can read on. The huge amount of text how ever does become a little over whelming towards the third room.

There are several displays and a map of scarborough that has a narration of the bombing which shows where the bombs hit, but overall there aren't many visual displays on offer.

The exhibit does a fantastic job of showing the attack in multiple lights. For example, showing scarborough during the bombing and the effect it had, but also showing the german side to the story and providing reasons as to why the attack occurred in the first place. This really makes the exhibit stand out and greatly helps give a huge understanding on the attack, the reasons for it and the lasting effects.

The combination of the large amount of text, the slight lack of interactive and visual displays and the brilliant perspective the exhibit gives on both sides and the time zones is what has inspired our installation plan and what we decided to include within it.

Jed Log 1

Jed Log 1

I created two mock up demo versions of the overall theme and home screens that we are going to be using in our installation. We decided to have the installation set out as if it were a newspaper and the viewer was getting information from reading it.

We decided on the home screen being of an over head view on scarborough town set out as the front page of a newspaper. The town will have red dots placed throughout it which all represent places of interest that were hit during the attack. When these dots are selected, it will transport you to the page in the paper that has more information about the selected sight and an interactive game.

These features will be available over three different time periods. Before the day of the attack, on the day of the attack and the day after. Different information about the same spot will be displayed dependant on what time period is selected.

The pictures below are the demo images that display what the home screen for the scarborough attack and the home screen for the ships themselves will show.