dad.project is designed as a dynamic archive of the moving/dancing body. On this page you will find information about submitting your own images that will 'autogenerate' a new digital flickbook.
Instructions
1. Recording
The images you elect to submit to dad.project can be recorded on a variety of devices ranging from digital video cameras (e.g. Nick) to phones that carry a video recording function (e.g. Molly). The only limitation is that you need to be able to transfer this video information onto your computer and then be able to read the file in a video editing programme.
Pay attention to increasing the contrast between your subject and the background in the video. Sequences with a neutral (or ‘clean’) background tend to work better but this is not a given.
2. Exporting
The basic process here is to export your video material as an “image sequence”. This takes each frame of video and converts it into a still image. The thing to remember (especially if you are not very familiar working with video) is that video “runs” at either 25 frames per second (PAL format) or 29.97 frames per second (NTSC format). This means that if you export the images at your video’s native framerate you will only have about 2-3 seconds of material for your flickbook – not a lot of dancing, but perhaps enough (I have tended to only record a maximum of 30 seconds dancing just to limit how much data I have had to play with – but even that amounts to 750 frames of PAL video material). When you export your video as an image sequence you will be given the option to specify a frame rate so your best bet is to play around with a frame rate that “captures” the movement as you want it to be seen. Faster movement will need a higher frame rate for the movement to be viewed without too much flicker or jitter. Whatever you decide you will inevitably end up with more than the 60 images (or “frames”) required for dad.project flickbooks - you will have to decide which of these frames you want to submit.
In order to export your video file as an image sequence you will need video editing software ranging from Final Cut Pro to more basic programmes like iMovie, and Windows Moviemaker (for a list of free video editors go here). Perhaps the simplest and most efficient way is to purchase a copy of Quicktime (Quicktime is actually free, but the “export as image sequence” function is only available in the “Pro” version).
In Quicktime, open your video file, and choose File>Export. Then select “Movie to image sequence” from the “Export” drop down. Click on options and choose JPEG format, and then enter your desired frame rate. Choose a name (which will be changed later) and then select “Enter”.
3. Preparation
Select the 60 images you would like to include in the flickbook animation. It’s worth using an application like iPhoto for Mac or Picasa for Windows. These will enable you to view the images side by side and help in the selection process.
Copy these 60 images into a new folder and then rename the images from 1.jpg – 60.jpg (Please note that the first 9 images must NOT have a "0" in front of them: 01, 02 etc). This process can be automated using a “batch” renaming procedure. Go here for a list of programmes that will help in this process.
4. Processing
There are only two requirements for this part of the process: 1) all 60 images must be 300 x 240 pixels and 72 dpi (or less); 2) the images must be compressed using JPEG compression with each image being NO MORE than 16kb - make sure they are NOT saved as Progressive JPEGs, and that they have the extension .jpg
However, you can also process the look of the images in whatever way you choose. In the flickbooks prepared by us we have chosen to utilise a “drawn” or “photocopy” feel to the images. This was achieved using a filter in Adobe Photoshop called “photocopy”. You might also like to deinterlace the images. Video frames are composed of two separate fields and in still images of a moving subject these two fields might cause a certain amount of “artefacting” in your image.
If you would like to replicate the look and feel of our dad.project flickbooks the Adobe Photoshop action is available here. Once downloaded (and unzipped if your browser doesn't automatically handle this), double click on this file and it will be added to your list of Photoshop actions. For information about using actions to automate processes in photoshop, go here and click on Danny Raphael’s Action tutorial.
5. Archival
The final part of the process involves compressing the images into an archived “zip” :
1. Select your 60 images (NOT the folder they are contained in, but the ACTUAL images themselves)
2. A) For Mac OS X users, CTRL click and select “Create archive of …”. This will create a *.zip archive of your images.
2. B) For Windows XP users, right click and select “Send To > "Send To Compressed (zipped) Folder"
For further information on creating zip archives, go here for windows users and here for Mac users.
6. Submission
Before submitting your material, check that the 60 images are:
- jpeg compressed (each no bigger than 16kb)
- 300 x 240 pixels
- named 1.jpg to 60.jpg
- archived as a .zip file.
Finally, as part of dad.project, we are seeking, in 12 words or less, why it is that you “like” dancing. This information is displayed as part of the digital flickbooks and provides another ‘reading’ or experience of the animations.
If you are happy with these instructions, click on “ go ahead and submit”. This will load a new window in your browser. For further information or questions/clarification email dad.project@skellis.net.
Once you have completed the submission process, the dad.project site will be updated within 24 hours. If there are any problems we will contact you directly.
So, go ahead and submit...