Well, the crazy system I am running "Drowsy" on finally let me down.
It has been a show full of fun. Opening night the main rag slipped the lower pulley and barely made it in and out, and the work lights were left on, spoiling the opening blackout. One night the follow spot got locked out of all cues and they had to turn it on manually. Which was good, because the next night the "robo-light" (some moving light, I don't know the make or model) didn't light, and they had to cover for it with a manual follow-spot.
I'm running all the sound through my laptop. Well...everything but backstage and conductor's monitor. Us old-school techs are scared of depending on a computer. I've seen a BSOD in a booth. I've had to restart a Mac a couple of times, too.
Here's the set-up; wired microphones along the proscenium line, four wireless belt-packs on actors. All plugged into a Mackie 1602 mixing board. Then the group outputs of the Mackie are run into a MOTU firewire interface and into the computer.
In the computer, Reaper takes the different buses (proscenium mics, wireless mics, off-stage chorus mic) and processes them with compression and graphic equalizer. (Plus there's a little corrective EQ done in the MOTU itself with its on-board DSP.) Then Reaper exports to the primary firewire outputs, which are plugged directly into the house mains.
The other outputs of the MOTU are being sent to effects speakers. QLab speaks to those. And as I mentioned in a previous post, QLab is also generating MIDI events which are translated into a serial signal via a Processing sketch, and sent to an Arduino that switches the practical ringing phone on and off.
Saturday I had no signal on the vocal bus. Same night we lost the moving light. And, of course, it was the night I had friends in the audience...!
There's no intermission. There really isn't a spot in the show where it was safe to reset the systems or otherwise do anything more than the most conservative problem-solving. So I routed all the mics to the one working bus and worked with that. Which didn't sound anything as good, but got me through the show.
Part of the problem was, I couldn't send any useful diagnostics to headset, and the average vocal material was too low to tickle the meters. As it turned out, I still had the chorus mic bus, and that would have helped me zero in on the problem. But the only times I had a hot enough signal to trace via metering, were times I didn't dare do anything that might kill the signal.
Well, following the show I could. And it turned out...Reaper was fine. The computer didn't crash. Even the MOTU was fine. The problem was on the group faders on the Mackie. For some obscure Mackie reason, if the button to assign a group back to the main bus gets some corrosion in it, the signal out of the unique group output goes dead as well.
All it took to restore the sound was pressing the button a couple of times. Today I sprayed the button, and the show went flawlessly.
And, yes; the contrast between not having the computer properly in the loop, and having the corrective EQ and dialed-in compression I'd set for the vocal mics....well, it was a huge difference in how transparent the reinforcement was. So I am prepared to say this was a good way to do it.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Details, Details
The V150 hull is closed up and watertight now, and is probably printable. I'm doing most of the detail work before I send the test mesh in, though.
Yesterday was turning it from a solid model to a hollow model. And that was a lot more painful than I had expected.
First, all of Carrara's automated tools bollixed on the mesh. So I had to do it manually, one plane at a time.
Then I checked dimensions. And the thickness I'd eyeballed was way under. The minimum printable wall thickness is 0.7mm, and I was aiming for a margin with 1.0mm (or a little more). That's almost 6 centimeters in the scale world. Let's put it this way; the bottom plate armor of the real thing is less than 1/4 the thickness I have to make it in order for it to work in the 3d printer.
A lot of this would have been much faster if I hadn't made the doors and vision blocks and hatches as framed "holes" in the mesh. For the battlemat version, none of the hatches need to open and in any case it would have been faster to do the extrusion and thickness if I had the simpler slab sides. Lesson for next time.
So all that ate up a day. Today was starting in on detailing. Although the print will support details as fine as 0.2mm (a bit over a centimeter on the real vehicle), I've enough experience both with how smaller details can collapse or fill in, and how much I have to exaggerate details in order for them to be properly visible in scale. On the real vehicle, for instance, the outside of the vision blocks is mostly a weld line, with a small retainer plate holding a gasket.
In the model, I am extruding the whole edge a couple of centimeters. And, yes...since the shapes are already in the model, I'm making a smoother mesh and less material waste by extruding many details instead of adding them on. The only exception so far is the exhaust shroud.
I've also been tesselating the various curves. Originally, I intended to subdivide the entire model. But Carrara's tools get a little funky around some shapes, and I was having to dial up the Sub-D to ridiculous levels in order to smooth out the puckers. Plus the mesh was wrapping around itself in places and might end up unprintable as a result. Oh, and Carrara crashed a lot. It doesn't seem to like Sub-D on a model with multiple surfaces.
To do all these small details I'm jumping around between nicely drawn plans of a V150S, a walk-around book of the V100, and a plastic model of a late-issue foreign-export V150. Many details don't match, of course. Some are just plain difficult to find reference on. I have a fairly good sense of what should be on a Morrow Project era V150, and I'm able to chart my way around some of the things present on Thai and Philippines reference photographs that shouldn't be on this version.
But with all that, plus the issues of having to build a mesh that can be 3d printed, means accuracy is pretty much gone by the roadside now. I'm eyeballing everything at this point. At least the basic hull shape is about the right proportions and angles. And I've got the locations and more-or-less sizes of the various hatches off of references. But the details and curves and thicknesses are all eyeball and trackball now.
A few more days. I should be able to test the hull with the Shapeways software tonight, but I still have undercarriage, wheel hubs, turret detailing, and random bits like filler caps and jerry cans to do before the thing is complete.
Yesterday was turning it from a solid model to a hollow model. And that was a lot more painful than I had expected.
First, all of Carrara's automated tools bollixed on the mesh. So I had to do it manually, one plane at a time.
Then I checked dimensions. And the thickness I'd eyeballed was way under. The minimum printable wall thickness is 0.7mm, and I was aiming for a margin with 1.0mm (or a little more). That's almost 6 centimeters in the scale world. Let's put it this way; the bottom plate armor of the real thing is less than 1/4 the thickness I have to make it in order for it to work in the 3d printer.
A lot of this would have been much faster if I hadn't made the doors and vision blocks and hatches as framed "holes" in the mesh. For the battlemat version, none of the hatches need to open and in any case it would have been faster to do the extrusion and thickness if I had the simpler slab sides. Lesson for next time.
So all that ate up a day. Today was starting in on detailing. Although the print will support details as fine as 0.2mm (a bit over a centimeter on the real vehicle), I've enough experience both with how smaller details can collapse or fill in, and how much I have to exaggerate details in order for them to be properly visible in scale. On the real vehicle, for instance, the outside of the vision blocks is mostly a weld line, with a small retainer plate holding a gasket.
In the model, I am extruding the whole edge a couple of centimeters. And, yes...since the shapes are already in the model, I'm making a smoother mesh and less material waste by extruding many details instead of adding them on. The only exception so far is the exhaust shroud.
I've also been tesselating the various curves. Originally, I intended to subdivide the entire model. But Carrara's tools get a little funky around some shapes, and I was having to dial up the Sub-D to ridiculous levels in order to smooth out the puckers. Plus the mesh was wrapping around itself in places and might end up unprintable as a result. Oh, and Carrara crashed a lot. It doesn't seem to like Sub-D on a model with multiple surfaces.
To do all these small details I'm jumping around between nicely drawn plans of a V150S, a walk-around book of the V100, and a plastic model of a late-issue foreign-export V150. Many details don't match, of course. Some are just plain difficult to find reference on. I have a fairly good sense of what should be on a Morrow Project era V150, and I'm able to chart my way around some of the things present on Thai and Philippines reference photographs that shouldn't be on this version.
But with all that, plus the issues of having to build a mesh that can be 3d printed, means accuracy is pretty much gone by the roadside now. I'm eyeballing everything at this point. At least the basic hull shape is about the right proportions and angles. And I've got the locations and more-or-less sizes of the various hatches off of references. But the details and curves and thicknesses are all eyeball and trackball now.
A few more days. I should be able to test the hull with the Shapeways software tonight, but I still have undercarriage, wheel hubs, turret detailing, and random bits like filler caps and jerry cans to do before the thing is complete.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
More Fun With Math, and a Joke
I did a little calculating on the printing cost. Unfortunately, once you assume a hollow model, the final price is exquisitely sensitive to the wall thickness. So the difference between a generous thickness and getting right down to the margins of what is printable is a range of 4:1 in cubic centimeters of plastic, hence cost.
And this is the point at which the project forks. The original request was for a hex mat model; detailed enough to be representative, but no functioning hatches or interior detail and, indeed, few small details of the sort that might break off in transit to the game and back.
The laser-sintered nylon (PA 2200) Shapeways offers as "White Strong Flexible" is the best choice for this, and can print down to a wall size of .7 mm, but given the strength should probably be between 1 and 2 mm in wall thickness for this model. At $1.40 a cm^3, the hull comes out under $25. So as a guess, the entire model is around $40 in this material. Sans wheels, which as solids add as much as $8 to the print.
Since I intend to add some of the surface details, including suspension and hubs, jerry cans, lifting eyes, etc., I figure the complete and total print cost will be a bit over $60.
Here's the current state of the thing:
I am ready now to close up the hatches and vision blocks, add thickness to the walls and make them "watertight" (necessary for printing), and then extrude some select surface details around the vision blocks and hatchs. The Rh202 barrel is just a mock-up for me; the final print will omit the gun barrel as it is too thin to print.
Actually, I have one other step before that. Right now the mesh is at arbitrary scale (it is scaled to how big the drawings were in the workspace). I need to fiddle with the bounding boxes and so forth in order to get a true scale representation, so I can keep the printable mesh within the Shapeways design rules. Of course Carrara is poor at dealing with changes to its workspace defaults (and what else is new?)
The second fork is a diorama version with posable hatches (although I shudder at the idea of interior detail). The thinner walls are more than offset by the possible upgrade to SLS ("White Detail" on Shapeways); a full $2.99 per cm^3. I've worked with the SLS more than I have with the nylon, so I am not a good judge yet whether this materials upgrade is strictly necessary.
There has always been a military modeling community in 1:56, although they tend to gravitate to World War II era. There is a growing number of models available of later armor these days (by much better modelers than I am), but, as yet, obscure post-Vietnam armored cars are not among them.
So there are people who could make use of this. Enough to justify the effort, I don't know.
The putative third fork would be Poser-izing it. Which would be a pain, mostly as my current mesh has extremely poor flow, is not Poser-optimized, and isn't UV mapped either. Wouldn't hurt to have another 3d model in my online store, though...
Someone landed on this blog with a search for theater tech jokes. Given time I'd remember a few. At the moment all I remember is traditions at certain theaters, like "Pumatic" tools at the Rep (due to a badly spelled drawer label on the road box).
And a few lightbulb jokes. The kind of theater person who says each, you can probably fill in on your own...
"How many ___ does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"
"One...two...one...two..."
"It's a LAMP, dammit!"
"It's not a prop or a set piece. Get an electrician to do it."
"Ooh, I like it. Keep it!"
"Five six seven eight!"
And related, there's the one a bass player told me; "One, five, one, five, one, five, one, five, one, five......"
And this is the point at which the project forks. The original request was for a hex mat model; detailed enough to be representative, but no functioning hatches or interior detail and, indeed, few small details of the sort that might break off in transit to the game and back.
The laser-sintered nylon (PA 2200) Shapeways offers as "White Strong Flexible" is the best choice for this, and can print down to a wall size of .7 mm, but given the strength should probably be between 1 and 2 mm in wall thickness for this model. At $1.40 a cm^3, the hull comes out under $25. So as a guess, the entire model is around $40 in this material. Sans wheels, which as solids add as much as $8 to the print.
Since I intend to add some of the surface details, including suspension and hubs, jerry cans, lifting eyes, etc., I figure the complete and total print cost will be a bit over $60.
Here's the current state of the thing:
I am ready now to close up the hatches and vision blocks, add thickness to the walls and make them "watertight" (necessary for printing), and then extrude some select surface details around the vision blocks and hatchs. The Rh202 barrel is just a mock-up for me; the final print will omit the gun barrel as it is too thin to print.
Actually, I have one other step before that. Right now the mesh is at arbitrary scale (it is scaled to how big the drawings were in the workspace). I need to fiddle with the bounding boxes and so forth in order to get a true scale representation, so I can keep the printable mesh within the Shapeways design rules. Of course Carrara is poor at dealing with changes to its workspace defaults (and what else is new?)
The second fork is a diorama version with posable hatches (although I shudder at the idea of interior detail). The thinner walls are more than offset by the possible upgrade to SLS ("White Detail" on Shapeways); a full $2.99 per cm^3. I've worked with the SLS more than I have with the nylon, so I am not a good judge yet whether this materials upgrade is strictly necessary.
There has always been a military modeling community in 1:56, although they tend to gravitate to World War II era. There is a growing number of models available of later armor these days (by much better modelers than I am), but, as yet, obscure post-Vietnam armored cars are not among them.
So there are people who could make use of this. Enough to justify the effort, I don't know.
The putative third fork would be Poser-izing it. Which would be a pain, mostly as my current mesh has extremely poor flow, is not Poser-optimized, and isn't UV mapped either. Wouldn't hurt to have another 3d model in my online store, though...
Someone landed on this blog with a search for theater tech jokes. Given time I'd remember a few. At the moment all I remember is traditions at certain theaters, like "Pumatic" tools at the Rep (due to a badly spelled drawer label on the road box).
And a few lightbulb jokes. The kind of theater person who says each, you can probably fill in on your own...
"How many ___ does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"
"One...two...one...two..."
"It's a LAMP, dammit!"
"It's not a prop or a set piece. Get an electrician to do it."
"Ooh, I like it. Keep it!"
"Five six seven eight!"
And related, there's the one a bass player told me; "One, five, one, five, one, five, one, five, one, five......"
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Hunger Games
Hard to concentrate like this, but made a little more progress on the V150.
For some reason, I don't trust the TimeLine set of plans. The Cadillac Gage plans are cleaner and more detailed -- even though they are of a V150S. Unfortunately, the TimeLine plans (and the Hobby Boss model kit) are the only ones with the 20mm turret I wanted.
So first thing I did today was remove the "stretch," bringing the hull I'd made off the Cadillac Gage plans closer to the dimensions of a standard V150. There were multiple places where the plans disagreed, and several where they were unclear, so I compromised.
More compromises with the turret. The TimeLine plans don't match the Hobby Japan model. And, unfortunately, I've had a lot of trouble finding photographic reference of that turret. Well, more or less. I've found several similar turrets. Enough to conclude that there are a lot of variations, and that I am probably fine with modeling whatever seems clear and resembles as much of the reference material as is practical.
Similarly, I've been quite unable to track down information on the actual wheel wells (whatever is behind the cut-outs). The best I can figure, from the V100 walk-around book, is the they have a curve on the trailing edge and are squared off on the leading edge. Which is pretty bizarre. And they also get a "plank" on top of them on the inside; it is an obvious larger slab that sits over the flattened top.
For this, I've decided to go with what is on the Hobby Japan model and live with it. Because there's enough to model already on this thing. I still haven't figured out how I'm breaking it up to make it printable.
And then Carrara started crashing for no discernable reason, and while I was wrestling with that my dinner burned. Tomorrow, I take a crack at tires. Then start making hatches.
And NOW I'm tired.
For some reason, I don't trust the TimeLine set of plans. The Cadillac Gage plans are cleaner and more detailed -- even though they are of a V150S. Unfortunately, the TimeLine plans (and the Hobby Boss model kit) are the only ones with the 20mm turret I wanted.
So first thing I did today was remove the "stretch," bringing the hull I'd made off the Cadillac Gage plans closer to the dimensions of a standard V150. There were multiple places where the plans disagreed, and several where they were unclear, so I compromised.
More compromises with the turret. The TimeLine plans don't match the Hobby Japan model. And, unfortunately, I've had a lot of trouble finding photographic reference of that turret. Well, more or less. I've found several similar turrets. Enough to conclude that there are a lot of variations, and that I am probably fine with modeling whatever seems clear and resembles as much of the reference material as is practical.
Similarly, I've been quite unable to track down information on the actual wheel wells (whatever is behind the cut-outs). The best I can figure, from the V100 walk-around book, is the they have a curve on the trailing edge and are squared off on the leading edge. Which is pretty bizarre. And they also get a "plank" on top of them on the inside; it is an obvious larger slab that sits over the flattened top.
For this, I've decided to go with what is on the Hobby Japan model and live with it. Because there's enough to model already on this thing. I still haven't figured out how I'm breaking it up to make it printable.
And then Carrara started crashing for no discernable reason, and while I was wrestling with that my dinner burned. Tomorrow, I take a crack at tires. Then start making hatches.
///
And NOW I'm tired.
There's a Little Black Bug On My Wall Today...
Well, actually, a whole bunch of them. They really like rice, and if I don't clean out the rice cooker promptly they will swarm in the kitchen.
It is still hot, and I've been suffering with a sinus headache for a week or so now.
And I'm broke. Desperately so. I'm in the middle of a four-week run of a show that is paying pretty good, plus they promised a bit extra for all the crawling around under the building tearing out old wires and tracing bad ones I had to do to get everything working by Opening Night. And my personal mics are on rental for a pretty decent fee as well.
I don't have any dates, though. I don't even have a contract in my hands. The only thing I'm relatively sure of is a very small check for hourly work that will show up around the end of this week.
I've probably got enough gas in the car, and rolled oats and udon noodles in the pantry, to make it to that check. But I'd really, really like to have enough on me now to smog and register my car before the next late fee arrives.
And the toughest thing? When I am hungry, and have no money for food or anything else, I tend to nest. As if hibernating until the snows retreat and the money starts arriving again. I don't go outside much, I don't work out. I even move slowly, as if it is essential I conserve every little calorie. And that's a really, really lousy way to job search -- or to complete home projects for a few extra bucks.
It is still hot, and I've been suffering with a sinus headache for a week or so now.
And I'm broke. Desperately so. I'm in the middle of a four-week run of a show that is paying pretty good, plus they promised a bit extra for all the crawling around under the building tearing out old wires and tracing bad ones I had to do to get everything working by Opening Night. And my personal mics are on rental for a pretty decent fee as well.
I don't have any dates, though. I don't even have a contract in my hands. The only thing I'm relatively sure of is a very small check for hourly work that will show up around the end of this week.
I've probably got enough gas in the car, and rolled oats and udon noodles in the pantry, to make it to that check. But I'd really, really like to have enough on me now to smog and register my car before the next late fee arrives.
And the toughest thing? When I am hungry, and have no money for food or anything else, I tend to nest. As if hibernating until the snows retreat and the money starts arriving again. I don't go outside much, I don't work out. I even move slowly, as if it is essential I conserve every little calorie. And that's a really, really lousy way to job search -- or to complete home projects for a few extra bucks.
My Car, it's Full of Holes
I have three days off before I have to get back to the monkeys. Time for a bit of 3D!
This is the start of a printable model of a V150 armored car.
Well, V150S at the moment. Cadillac Gage first came out with the "Commando" during the Vietnam war. The V100 went through a bunch of changes, from squared-off wheel wells to ever-changing numbers of vision blocks on the sides. The V150 series adds some more changes, and the "S" model was the first "stretch," about 50 cm longer. Cadillac Gage had few enough orders that they optioned the heck out of them, with all sorts of different turrets/wells/pedestals/boxes on top, different hatches, etc., etc. And that's not even counting what some of the end-users did with them!
Anyhow. I have some nice drawings of a V150S, a Hobby Boss kit in 1/35 of a late-serial-number V150, a walk-around book on the V100, and some other references. And I'm not going to try to make every variation. Heck, Bruce Morrow bought enough of Cadillac Gage's entire factory output that he could have the things customized however he wanted them.
So I'm not sweating the details. I'm building a generic that more-or-less fits the median of these variations; my major guidance is what I've good a good reference for. Followed by what is easier to model.
Anyhow. Current progress is a mostly-done hull (I have details in the back and a lot of work to go on the underside). I've cut out most of the hatches and vision blocks, even though for the printable model I'll probably fill most of those in again.
And, yeah, you do end up with quite a lot of holes (and I haven't even included the firing ports!)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Carpet-Bagging
Finished my first sewing project.
I figured a tool roll would be a simple project to get used to using the new machine.
And it would allow me to get as intricate as I cared for with different kinds of edge treatments and so forth.
I thought about camo, steampunk-style canvas, even custom-printed fabric, but then I found this cute upholstery fabric at Discount Fabrics and decided to make it carpet-bag style.
There were supposed to be two straps but I only bought one buckle (was hoping to find something nice in brass).
Lined it with a tighter-weave khaki I found at Stonemountain. Stitched both pieces together and zig-zagged to protect the hem from fraying. No, I'm not running out to buy my own serger!
Tried bias tape, flat-felled seam, and self-bias, but then found some fake leather stuff at the fabric store that was simple to stitch in place even with a standard foot. Held it in place with binder clips while working.
Seamed the pocket parts, attached them to one edge, and worked my way down; pulling them around each tool to form the pocket and stitching the excess in. If I did it again, I'd run a pulling thread for a neater gather. That's a piece of soft plastic rescued from an over-the-door shower bag over the VOM, allowing me to use it without removing it from the bag.
The original plan was a fold-over. I actually worked out all the dimensions on a piece of drafting paper first, which was the pattern I cut the shell from.
But the rounded corners looked funny if you folded it in half. And the number of tools made it too fat to roll well.
So now it rolls without any folding, and the major downside to that is it flops a bit in the middle. Ah, well.
Next project will be a 4th Doctor frock coat. Either that or a new pair of work pants. Depends on how insane I feel that day. I learned a lot on this project, including how long it takes to sew even something simple. Even if it had been a total failure as a tool roll, it would have been a success as a learning project; I played with all sorts of tapes and interfaces and different stitches and seams.
But it works as a tool roll, too. I am using it every day.
(A few weeks ago, but this is the first chance I've had to take a picture).
And it would allow me to get as intricate as I cared for with different kinds of edge treatments and so forth.
I thought about camo, steampunk-style canvas, even custom-printed fabric, but then I found this cute upholstery fabric at Discount Fabrics and decided to make it carpet-bag style.
There were supposed to be two straps but I only bought one buckle (was hoping to find something nice in brass).
Tried bias tape, flat-felled seam, and self-bias, but then found some fake leather stuff at the fabric store that was simple to stitch in place even with a standard foot. Held it in place with binder clips while working.
Seamed the pocket parts, attached them to one edge, and worked my way down; pulling them around each tool to form the pocket and stitching the excess in. If I did it again, I'd run a pulling thread for a neater gather. That's a piece of soft plastic rescued from an over-the-door shower bag over the VOM, allowing me to use it without removing it from the bag.
The original plan was a fold-over. I actually worked out all the dimensions on a piece of drafting paper first, which was the pattern I cut the shell from.
But the rounded corners looked funny if you folded it in half. And the number of tools made it too fat to roll well.
So now it rolls without any folding, and the major downside to that is it flops a bit in the middle. Ah, well.
Next project will be a 4th Doctor frock coat. Either that or a new pair of work pants. Depends on how insane I feel that day. I learned a lot on this project, including how long it takes to sew even something simple. Even if it had been a total failure as a tool roll, it would have been a success as a learning project; I played with all sorts of tapes and interfaces and different stitches and seams.
But it works as a tool roll, too. I am using it every day.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)