What I did
- Solved the scene switching triggered by the distance sensor in Max with David
- Set up TouchDesigner on the school’s PC.
- Installed equipment and configured Touchdesigner for presentation mode.
- Conducted final testing of interactions by connecting both MAX and TouchDesigner.
- Borrowed and set up the recording equipment.
- Filming
Challenges Encountered
On the exhibition day, I encountered a challenge when trying to link Max with TouchDesigner. As we didn’t conduct a complete test in advance, we set two fixed points in TouchDesigner for using the distance sensor, and the audience triggered the scene switching by walking between the two points. However, in Max, David set three fixed positions, and the audience’s position will switch between these three points. If we had followed the previous plan, the scene would have frozen in the transition when the audience stood in the middle position, and they would not be able to see a complete scene. Fortunately, after communicating with David, he modified the trigger value of the distance sensor in Max. As a result, the scene will switch when the user moves between the three adjacent positions.
The second problem we encountered was related to the equipment. Due to the highly complex interaction logic and large point cloud file imported into the TouchDesigner project, as well as the fact that the Kinect only supports Windows systems, it was difficult to run the project successfully on our laptops. Although we borrowed a computer from the school for the demonstration, it encountered some malfunctions on the day of the presentation, which caused severe lag and even prevented us from re-linking to the point cloud file in TouchDesigner. In the end, we had to set the point cloud file in an external hard drive on our own computers and run the project on the school’s computer through the external hard drive. This cost us a lot of preparation time.
The third challenge we encountered was related to the version of TouchDesigner. As we were using a non-commercial version and there was no free student version available, the resolution of our presentation was limited to 1280*1280, and we could not cover the entire screen when presenting in full-screen mode. Fortunately, with the help of Molly and Dani, we were able to enlarge the projector screen, so the presentation window was not affected.
Lessons Learned and Team Collaboration
This project made me realize the importance of thorough testing before presenting a project to the public. Although we tested the equipment in advance, our features were not fully designed, and the visual and sound aspects were not tested simultaneously, leading to many unexpected situations on-site. Fortunately, we were able to solve most of the problems before the presentation. This was also my first time working in a team of nine people, and I realized that timely communication and collaboration are crucial in a large team. Updating progress and sharing problems in a timely manner can make team collaboration more efficient.
Yuxuan Guo
