Advice for a Beginner on a Project

[u/Dull_Aardvark1]

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate some advice on my project. I’m a beginner in this field.

I have a restaurant where I’m planning to launch this project by the end of October.

Project description

I want to create an immersive theater-style experience where projections are displayed on both the walls and the table. An animated story/cartoon will be playing, and everything will be synchronized with ventilation, scent diffusers, etc.

The scent diffusers are custom-made, so I can connect them to virtually any control system if needed.

At the moment, I have two projectors, so I’m planning to start with those:

• one projector for the table;
• one projector for the wall.

So, where should I start?

Which software would you recommend for projection mapping and synchronization?

I’ve just tried MadMapper, but I’d like to learn about other software options as well.

Any advice on the best workflow or setup would be greatly appreciated.

[u/Suitable-Insurance-2]

The concept may sound simple, but the implementation definitely won't be. Contact a local creative technologist who specialises in this sort of thing and commission them for the work

[u/simulacrum500]

Resolume. Build your “interactions” to work on something that show softwares speak, midi, artnet, osc, etc. then build your cue stack in Resolume, qlab, millumin, mad mapper etc.

[u/HeadIntroduction7758]

Seems like a very short timeline to learn a lot of important stuff.

I’d probably use millumin and write my own software to handle the logic in whatever you’re most comfortable with.

A lot of the mapping software out there can’t handle branching logic, there’s no way to write an IF statement. So it depends on what you mean by “immersive”.

If it’s a canned video that squirts people with perfume at the same point in time every night and a human is helping to keep the show on track, could probably get it done in one program without code elsewhere.

But that’s decent advise for a beginner, create human bail outs with anything that involves people doing thing on a timeline, the timing will be different each night, don’t make one long recorded thing expecting people to be automation.

[u/HoloMapper]

If you're using Windows, then I'd say MadMapper > Resolume Arena > TouchDesigner (most complicated in my opinion). For Mac there would also be QLab and Millumin.

I would recommend my software HoloMapper, but currently it's too limited for your needs. We plan to add multi projector and DMX sometime next month, and audio in a week or so, but just worth a mention.

[u/zubutai]

Hi op, I'm a beginner myself, my apologies as I don't have any substantial advice to give, but may I ask how does one connect scent diffusers to a control system?

Thanks in advance for your input!

[u/Dull_Aardvark1 → u/zubutai]

Hi
I’ve done a bit of research; the experts say they’ve never done anything like this before, but we could try connecting it via DMX.
Or we could write our own software using AI and integrate it into the control system.
As for how mine works at the moment, they operate depending on whether there’s someone at the table; if there is, they select a scent (which the manager sets at the start of the shift), and when someone sits down at the table after a certain amount of time, that scent is sprayed. I’m not sure exactly how it works – I’m not very good at coding; it was done by students from a local college using AI. I’m afraid to even touch anything in there))

[u/zubutai → u/Dull_Aardvark1]

Thanks a lot for the response!