DISPLACEMENT towards the generation of artificial depth
daniel polk
displacement Daniel Polk
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Towards an Aesthetics of Remediation
University of California, Los Angeles Department of Architecture and Urban Design Jason Payne Topics Studio 401.4, Winter 2019
Collaborators,
Sally Chae Yiran Chen Erin Day Eric Lin Kevin MacDougall Tom Niu Nichole Tortorici Connor Verteramo Kenny Wong
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Contents
1. Image Selection and Curation
p. 9
2. Enhancement of Depth
p. 15
3. Creation of Parafictional Landscapes
p. 25
4. Refining the Process
p. 31
5. Introducing the Clipping Plane
p. 41
6. Twenty-Five Diptychs
p. 49
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Glossary of Terms
altitude
the elevation of a light source above a the horizon, expressed in degrees between 0 and 90
aerial perspective
the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its background decreases
azimuth
the direction of a light source from an object, expressed as the angular distance from the north point of the horizon to the point at which a vertical circle passing through the object intersects the horizon, expressed in degrees between 0 and 360
clipping plane
a two dimensional plane that separates foreground from background, usually defined at a set distance between the camera and a point perpendicular to the plane
color map
an image that is used to apply color values to a digitally modeled surface or object
depth map
a greyscale image that is used to displace a digitally modeled surface by translating color value into surface roughness
displaced surface
a digitally modeled surface that has variance in the z direction, often dictated based on pixel values from a depth map
global illumination
computer algorithms that take into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene
normals orientation
a line or vector that is perpendicular to a given point on a digital object or surface
orthographic
a form of parallel projection, in which all the projection lines are orthogonal to the projection plane, resulting in every plane of the scene appearing in affine transformation on the viewing surface
parallaxing
a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines
perspective
a linear projection where three dimensional objects are projected on a picture plane. This has the effect that distant objects appear smaller than nearer objects
raw light
a rendering layer that stores the effects of direct lighting on scene objects with no diffuse components
raw shadow
a rendering layer that stores information about cast shadows calculated from the lighting in the scene
reflection
the change in direction of light vector at the interface between two different media so that the vector returns to the source from which it originated
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rendering
the automatic process of generating an image from a three dimensional model by means of computer programs
shadow
a dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface
z-axis
The axis on a Cartesian coordinate grid that is usually drawn vertically and shows a range of values
z-height
the range of values between the maximum and minimum points of a surface along the z-axis of a Cartesian grid
Displacement Towards the Generation of Artificial Depth
The subtle control and differentiation of depth within Owens Lake can only be experienced fully through the act of visiting the site and interacting with the salt and mud. Orthographic imaging via a satellite or drone tends to flatten the lake bed into a gridded accumulation of colors and textures. Shadow, reflection, aerial perspective, and parallaxing are all visual effects and cues that are discernible in physical space, but through the processing of an image they are reinterpreted as pixels and color values.
By artificially re-creating the conditions of the lake through the generation of a displaced surface, addition of lighting, and mapping of color, a highly specified control of artificial depth can be reached‌ somewhat analogous to translucence and refraction in the visible spectrum. In the act of rerendering this new image, additional layers can be extracted and specified, such as z-height, raw light, raw shadow, global illumination, and normals orientation. In addition, the insertion of a digital clipping plane further separates foreground from background, adds legibility to the newly deepened surface, and becomes a referential device for illustrating the nuanced depths of water within the physical lake.
This project ultimately attempts to act as a parafictional proxy to the highly controlled engineering exhibited in the anthropocene of Owens Lake.
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All selected images were captured with drone aerial photography. Out of over 4,000 individual images, captured over five days, fifty were selected to be used in this album based primarily on their individual “featureness,” recognizability, and some amount of intuition. When viewed together, these fifty images describe a subset or snapshot of features, patterns, and textures that occur on Owen’s Lake. These images and their generated depth maps were then shuffled and paired in order to create fifty interrelated parafictional landscapes.
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chapter one image selection and curation
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The top-down view of satellite and drone photography gives the viewer a distanced and calculated view of Owen’s Lake which forces a new reading of the landscape. However, the nature of the top-down perspective also betrays the engineered precision ingrained within the nuanced depth of the lake. The following chapter highlights the first attempts at re-claiming a sense of depth from these images through the use of digital modeling and manipulation tools.
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chapter two enhancement of depth
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four selected color maps
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creation of depth maps
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generation of a displaced surface
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rendering of digitally deepened image
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Owen’s Lake is an amalgamation of various anthropogenic elements, working together to create a beautifully diverse landscape. Depth, color, and texture are determined by equal parts nature/chemistry and human engineering. The following images look into the depiction of a parafictional Owen’s Lake, where color and depth are divorced, shuffled, and recombined in order to highlight the differences in their creation and presence within this foreign landscape.
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chapter three creation of parafictional landscapes
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four color maps on one depth map
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one color map on four depth maps
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The process of generating an artificially deepened image includes a vast number of variables that must be considered, each of which has an effect on the final output of a parafictional landscape. These variables include things like z-height, lighting, and perspective distortion. For each of these variables, a selection was made based on the ability to read both the color map and depth map equally, without giving preference to one source map over the other.
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chapter four refining the process
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investigation on depth of a surface
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* selected
5 units
20 units
40 units
80 units 33
investigation on direction of light 45 degrees above horizon
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* selected
315° azimuth / 45° altitude
45° azimuth / 45° altitude
225° azimuth / 45° altitude
135° azimuth / 45° altitude 35
investigation on direction of light 22.5 degrees above horizon
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315° azimuth / 22.5° altitude
45° azimuth / 22.5° altitude
225° azimuth / 22.5° altitude
135° azimuth / 22.5° altitude 37
investigation on perspective distortion at varying lens lengths
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orthographic
20 mm
* selected
30 mm
10 mm 39
In digital modeling software, a clipping plane is a surface that dictates the visibility of foreground vs. background at a set distance perpendicular to the cameras location. The placement of this two dimensional surface is highly controlled and specified in order to produce a more clear understanding of three dimensional space. On Owen’s Lake, the clipping plane acts in an analogous manner to the digital environment, controlled by engineers and adjusted on the scale of millimeters in order to balance the conservation of water with the control of dust particulates.
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chapter five introducing the clipping plane
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investigation of the digital clipping plane at varying locations on the z-axis
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-30 units
-10 units
* selected
-20 units
0 units 43
investigation of the digital clipping plane at varying opacity
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* selected
0% transparent
30% transparent
60% transparent
90% transparent 45
investigation of the digital clipping plane in varying colors
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* selected
grey
red
blue
green 47
The final output of this process examines the relationship between color map and depth map as well as the agency that each has in the rendering of a parafictional landscape. By presenting these images as a series of diptychs in which the first image is composed of “color map a” on “depth map b” and the second image is “color map b” on “depth map a,” it becomes possible to understand how the terms color, depth, pattern, shadow, etc. contribute in the generation of a physical landscape. By pairing the source images in this manner, a visible connection exists within each diptych; the last hint of a editorial hand in the creation of these new anthropogenic landscapes.
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chapter six twenty-five diptychs
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