What is needed is a TouchDesigner program for a permanent autonomous installation at the University Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The exhibit features the projection of a 9166 x 2160 pixel video image onto my mural painting below.
The basic program is already written, and the required hardware installation is almost complete. What is needed are final testing and adjustments to the program, and ways to make the ongoing installation be “set it and forget it.”
The projected image is made through three matched ceiling mounted 4K Epson LS-800 laser projectors. The overall image is mostly blank. It features a narrow vertical light strip 7” high, called the soundline, which moves slowly along the painted bands, in time with the music soundtrack. The whole show lasts about 21 minutes, the length of the source piece, the famous guitar concerto “Concierto de Aranjuez.”
The movement of this soundline from left to right is at roughly 30 pixels per second, or one pixel per frame (30 fps). The right edge of the soundline represent the current moment in the music, and the artist will adjust it in the final mastering step to make an exact sync with the painting throughout the piece. A list of key sync points has been made to guide this movement more exactly in the program. These sync point descriptions feature the elapsed time in the music in frames, together with the position of the soundline in pixels on the full reference image, which is not projected but matches the size of the overall projected image.
For example, in the first movement 514 frames in (17:04) the soundline top is -134 pixels from the top of the overall image extending down to -338 px, and located 914 pixels horizontally from the left edge of the image.
The projected plain white light illuminates the painting as it passes over it. The essence of the project is the changing appearance of the painting as it appears in these fleeting glimpses.
During the course of the show, the appearance of the soundline changes, from a narrow line 3 pixels wide to a wider patch with a sharp right edge and a long fade down at a given width.
Another special variation has the sharp edge on the left, representing the sync line, and the fade out extending off to the right.
In the usual case, where the trailing edge goes off to the left, the leading edge forms a wipe that progressively covers up a projected image of the painting in negative color, so the painting appears greyed-out until the soundline passes over it to reveal its nature.
The music playback is a single piece, playable as either mono or stereo, in its native form as a WAV file. The playback is distributed through eleven audio spotlight speakers. These speakers are turned on and off at specific times (I have the list). They are mostly left off, and only turned on when the viewer is standing close to them. This will make a small bubble of sound which follows the viewer as they move slowly down the hallway. To make use of the projectors’ subwoofers, the video shown through a particular projector at a particular time may include the subwoofer sound instead of silence.
The distribution of the audio channels to the speakers is done by making use of the channels of two 7.1 Surround boxes linked to a USB port. While the usual playback is playing one mono track through one speaker at a time, a stereo variation uses the left and right channels played through two speakers at a time.
Once the synchronized sequence for the whole piece of music is complete, the playback at the installation will be controlled by a button panel in the hallway, which causes either the whole piece to be played, or a selected portion of it. The communication between the button panel and the master Mac Mini computer is via ethernet.
The master TouchDesigner control program is also responsible for controlling various house lights what are controllable by DMX, mainly to turn them off before the main show begins, but also, in the case of the main strip wall wash lights, to vary their color temperature throughout the day.
The master control computer is in a fold-down control box in an adjacent closet, accessible either locally or by remote control. It is important that the work includes recovery procedures if needed to cover power outages and equipment maintenance.
The construction on the hallway is underway now. The final installation process should begin as early in October 2026 as possible.
david@mccutchenworks.com