I've been busy building the last week, starting with this website and then diving head first into a new film prop project.
I also got Mono Amor back online today. If you havn't seen these projection mapped paintings I co-created back in 2014 they are definitely worth checking out.
This summer I am co-producing and doing the props & post FX for a couple shorts produced by Genius Pills. One of them features an AI character in-a-box that I've been building this past week.
I've been deep in learning how to build and program an ESP32 D1 Mini, how to build the required circuit to feed the LED strips, starting with a breadboard prototype and then miniaturizing it onto a prototyping board. It's very fun learning new things and watching all these pieces come together feels like magic.
Now that I've got the D1 Mini figured out for driving LEDs off a 5v lipo battery I am very inspired to dive back in to laser cut art that uses custom LED arrays.
I also did couple tests using epoxy and various metallic inclusions to see what would look best with an LED lighting it. Once I got the samples trialed, I landed on a gold glitter and casted the custom mold I built.
The electronics needed a small case to protect it, so I taught myself some basic Autodesk Fusion and designed a 3D model which my buddy Ryan printed for me. Likewise I created models for the remaining 4 wood pieces to be CNC cut out rather than trying to fabricate a hollow box from scratch.
I'm excited to see this build finally come together and for the short film we'll be making with it that will be released at the end of this year.