AR (augmented reality) fun ..
with Artivive
First (my personal) experience ..
incl. ´making-of´ / brief behind the scenes info
with Artivive
First (my personal) experience ..
incl. ´making-of´ / brief behind the scenes info
Being a fan of new technologies - and - AR / Augmented (or Mixed) Reality, in particular .. not only for how cool it looks, but also - for its ease of use and ´accessibility´ (unlike for all those VR/Virtual Reality toys and necessary VR gadgets) ..
recently, I happened to came across a sweet little app - Artivive.
So, decided to give it a try, and .. fell in love with it, straight away.
So - here I share one of my first experiments with this app,
and - a bit of the process.
Note/Disclaimer:
and - a bit of the process.
Note/Disclaimer:
I am in no way affiliated / connected or otherwise involved in / with this app or its creators / provider.
I just happened to discover it recently - as a regular end user - and loved it. So - just sharing my excitement -
and my own experience - with my community / other fellow artists .. as they also might want to give it a try.
Also -
needless to say - that only 3 ´slots´ /for your AR projects/ are provided for free, to artists.
For more projects - or for commercial use - it´s a paid service.
Still worth trying out, tho, in my opinion - even if you don´t plan to spend your money on AR, really ..
Just for the experience of it ..
as - once your image gets ´augmented´ - it´s a lot of fun .. :)
I just happened to discover it recently - as a regular end user - and loved it. So - just sharing my excitement -
and my own experience - with my community / other fellow artists .. as they also might want to give it a try.
Also -
needless to say - that only 3 ´slots´ /for your AR projects/ are provided for free, to artists.
For more projects - or for commercial use - it´s a paid service.
Still worth trying out, tho, in my opinion - even if you don´t plan to spend your money on AR, really ..
Just for the experience of it ..
as - once your image gets ´augmented´ - it´s a lot of fun .. :)
AR .. for ´Augmented Reality´
Augmented - or ´Enhanced´ reality is nothing new, really.
Just - as the tools are much easier and accessible - now more than ever - it may become more ´tempting´ for many artists / designers / illustrators /animators, recently ..
Even those who never really had a chance to experience - or try themselves - this before - as the process of creation becomes so easy, that almost everyone, even with zero previous experience in AR or 3D, can give it a try.
This is not true in all AR cases, in general - as there are many different AR tools or apps, providers, techniques - and/or approaches, each a bit different (with a different level of technical limitations / difficulty etc.).
But - as I am only talking about just one of them - Artivive, here (that I just happened to came across, recently) - I can say (and confirm) - it definitely applies in this case.
And - in my experience -
the way how it works is actually pretty amazing.
Simple interface, easy to learn/use - and pretty impressive results.
Letter D .. in AR.
My try.
For this little AR experiment - I used one of my alphabet designs / letter D - that I created for currently running #36daysoftype Instagram challenge, that I am taking part in, atm.
(So - other than that - there´s no other connection between 36-days-of-type and Artivive AR app. Just my personal choice.)
And my plan was that - every time my (or someone else´s) device/smart phone camera (with the Artivive app installed) ´sees´ the checked ´D-day´ in the official 36-days-of-type calendar - the ´enhanced´ / AR ´letter D´ image will ´pop up´.
In other words - this calendar image will be serving as a ´signal´ (´trigger´) for the AR app to display my enhanced AR image.
In other words - this calendar image will be serving as a ´signal´ (´trigger´) for the AR app to display my enhanced AR image.
Making of
So, starting out with these two images .. (preparation)
For the initial image (that will be ´recognized´ by the AR app as a ´trigger´ - a calendar in my case) - a simple *jpg was all I needed. For the other (´D-image´) though - as I wanted it to pop up in 3D space - splitting into separate layers (in Photoshop, in my case) was necessary, first.
(I already worked in layers while designing, so this was actually just a question of re-saving all the layers I wanted to use - as separate files, in my case).
*Jpgs or *pngs are supported, for still AR imagery - and up to 6 layers can be used.
So - 6 separate files.
So, starting out with these two images .. (preparation)
For the initial image (that will be ´recognized´ by the AR app as a ´trigger´ - a calendar in my case) - a simple *jpg was all I needed. For the other (´D-image´) though - as I wanted it to pop up in 3D space - splitting into separate layers (in Photoshop, in my case) was necessary, first.
(I already worked in layers while designing, so this was actually just a question of re-saving all the layers I wanted to use - as separate files, in my case).
*Jpgs or *pngs are supported, for still AR imagery - and up to 6 layers can be used.
So - 6 separate files.
Nice thing is that transparency is supported, too, so - in case you want to use it, you can.
This comes in handy especially while layering more layers - one over the other - in 3D space.
There are some technical limitations (and some threshold /edge issues can occur, for keyed-out backgrounds, in videos, for example - if applied), but for still imagery natively supporting transparency, like *png formats, it works pretty nicely.
So - I used it.
(not visible in the above previews, but the layer content is actually on transparent background).
This comes in handy especially while layering more layers - one over the other - in 3D space.
There are some technical limitations (and some threshold /edge issues can occur, for keyed-out backgrounds, in videos, for example - if applied), but for still imagery natively supporting transparency, like *png formats, it works pretty nicely.
So - I used it.
(not visible in the above previews, but the layer content is actually on transparent background).
Now, finally,
Artivive´s backend ´AR creation´ tool - called Bridge, comes to play.
For this, you´ll just need to register on Artivive´s site (artivive.com), first.
Once registered (with a free Artist´s account) - you´ll get access to this nice little easy-to-use on-line interface (accessible via standard browser, like Firefox, in my case) .. where you can upload both the ´initial´ image (on the left) - and - also set up its ´augmented version´ (on the right).
So, first I uploaded my first (calendar) image.
As a rule of thumb - the more contrast / simply ´recognizable´ pattern, the better.
But, you can basically try to use whatever image. Just make sure the ´recognition speed´ (star rating, that displays in your gallery, under the thumbnail, once you save your project) is high enough. Otherwise your AR version might have difficulties loading.
(you can edit your project, anytime, back and forth, even after saving)
As a rule of thumb - the more contrast / simply ´recognizable´ pattern, the better.
But, you can basically try to use whatever image. Just make sure the ´recognition speed´ (star rating, that displays in your gallery, under the thumbnail, once you save your project) is high enough. Otherwise your AR version might have difficulties loading.
(you can edit your project, anytime, back and forth, even after saving)
Next step - ´enhanced´/ AR image creation / setup.
For this - two modes are available - Basic (simple 2D) or 3D.
I picked 3D, to ´distribute´ my layers ´in 3D space´.
It´s a simple 3D interface, where you can upload (and freely transform / move / rotate) your layers.
For this - two modes are available - Basic (simple 2D) or 3D.
I picked 3D, to ´distribute´ my layers ´in 3D space´.
It´s a simple 3D interface, where you can upload (and freely transform / move / rotate) your layers.
Once everything is setup - and saved (and after some processing time) -
I finally got my finished AR/enhanced image, which showed up in my gallery.
Done.
I finally got my finished AR/enhanced image, which showed up in my gallery.
Done.
Viewing ..
So as to be able to actually view these images - in real time - as a ´true´/live AR experience -
a viewing app (Artivive app, available for free both in Google Play / App Store) needs to be used.
So as to be able to actually view these images - in real time - as a ´true´/live AR experience -
a viewing app (Artivive app, available for free both in Google Play / App Store) needs to be used.
So - I downloaded/installed it into my smart phone ..
and .. voila!
Here we go .. :)
and .. voila!
Here we go .. :)
(for better results - and easier ´recognition´ - as shown in the first Vimeo demo at the very top -
I printed the initial ´trigger´/calendar image on paper, enlarged .. But - it seems to also work on screen, even with just thumbnails.
So - if / once you download the viewing Artivive app to your device - you should be able to see my augmented /AR image - live - hopefully, too.)
And now imagine ..
you can also make your images .. move :)
I´ll post a separate post for that case, once I finish the testing .. hopefully soon.
#BringArtToLife
I printed the initial ´trigger´/calendar image on paper, enlarged .. But - it seems to also work on screen, even with just thumbnails.
So - if / once you download the viewing Artivive app to your device - you should be able to see my augmented /AR image - live - hopefully, too.)
And now imagine ..
you can also make your images .. move :)
I´ll post a separate post for that case, once I finish the testing .. hopefully soon.
#BringArtToLife
