For Those of You Who Model Water Scenes: THIS IS THE FUTURE!

[MetroRedLn]

Thanks to LCD, CGI and video game engine technology, you can make ships, boats and even marine animals move on the water feature of your layout:

https://cubed6.com/System%20Overview...Video%2001.mp4





More here at: www.cubed6.com.

[ChicagoNW]

Wonderful system but how many locos does the system cost?

[spruslayer]

Wonderful system but how many locos does the system cost?

Im gonna guess two mortage payments,a corvett payment and a divorce,But it sure looks cool!

[NtheBasement]

Hey, no wake buddy! That's a remarkably tight turn he's doing at speed. Bet the folks in the ferry were running for their lives!

[Jugtown Modeler]

In the right circumstances, that could be a pretty cool addition. I see more of a commercial display taking advantage of it.

The concept of 3d projection mapping is an application that I think would lend itself to a scenario like this without the limit of a TV screen.



I am truly surprised we have not seen more applications of this technology. It probably has come a long way since this video was done 6+ years ago.

I was suggesting this idea to the owner of Northlandz. I think aircraft (planes, helicopters,balloons, etc) would be a great place to start on wall/backdrop surfaces. But the concept is only limited to the imagination.

[Bryan]

I saw a video of this projection concept used at a restaurant, showing the preparation of the meal on the plate in front of you… at the end the plate is swapped out for the actual meal that looks the same.

[Jugtown Modeler]

I saw a video of this projection concept used at a restaurant, showing the preparation of the meal on the plate in front of you… at the end the plate is swapped out for the actual meal that looks the same.

That is probably an expensive system to implement in a restaurant. But now that you say that, someone was trying to explain this in a roundabout way but did not understand how it happened.



To stay more on topic: Projection Mapping on trains



As a side note. There is a member here who built a 1/160 model ship in all white that was created for a projection mapping project. I can't recall his handle here and I never got to see the outcome of the final product with video mapping, although the ship was amazing.

(Apologies @MetroRedLn, I did not mean to hijack your thread topic. Although, it is about computer aided model enhancements...)

[MetroRedLn]

(Apologies @MetroRedLn, I did not mean to hijack your thread topic. Although, it is about computer aided model enhancements...)

I don't think the thread was hijacked at all! These are all interesting and novel approaches to our hobby that most of us probably hadn't even considered before. Just think - Eventually 3-D holographic projection could be used to depict scale-appropriate smoke from steam locomotives or even diesel exhaust.

[NtheBasement]

I suspect the stuff in the video took days to program. Getting smoke to follow a train live involves another layer of tech.

[ChicagoNW]

I’m not quite sure you could call those holographic projections. They definitely are excellent 2D art of 3D objects. There are too many times when a person casts a shadow, interrupting the projection.

The technology is not hard to duplicate in N scale. But rather than a dinning table we can use the side of a building like this…
https://artonthemart.com/programming/
Granted few of us have layouts with a building with two acres of surface, but many of us have buildings with plain walls. Most of the Kato and Tomix towers have one wall that is without windows or prominent details. I you use a projector like this…
https://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Ultra-P...81841081&psc=1
Which can easily be hidden inside another structure. Similar to the system used at the Mart. The multiple projectors are built into the opposite side of the river.

Disclaimer- I’ve not tried this, so I cannot say this particular projector will do the job.

[Stu]

Just think - Eventually 3-D holographic projection could be used to depict scale-appropriate...

...complete trains and scenery. The only work left will be the danged wiring, as always!

[bobo1160]

holograph projection has been here for awhile, when they commercialize it and can put the technology on a chipset mass produced for cheap it's going to be a real gamechanger for lots of things .

[MetroRedLn]

I’m not quite sure you could call those holographic projections. They definitely are excellent 2D art of 3D objects. There are too many times when a person casts a shadow, interrupting the projection.

I never once said any of these were holograms. I was only using that as an example of furthering visual projection technology possibilities for model railroading use.

[ChicagoNW]

No need to discuss what is or isn’t a hologram. It will be a while before any of us can use it anyway.

Getting back to the original idea of recreating moving water without it being wet. Now this wouldn’t work with moving boats. But if you mount the projector above your water feature and show a movie or animation of wave action or rolling water, you might just get the look of live water. A movie might be easier as you could use a video drone to tape the real thing. Then using the video create scenery that matches.

[Jugtown Modeler]

The technology is not hard to duplicate in N scale. But rather than a dinning table we can use the side of a building like this…

We weren't attempting to demonstrate projections on a building in scale... I distracted the original topic with the videos demonstrating other uses of projection mapping. @MetroRedLn 's original post was about creating realistic water bringing life to a layout.

Eventually 3-D holographic projection could be used to depict scale-appropriate smoke from steam locomotives or even diesel exhaust.

I would not disagree with this. Eventually being the key word...

But if you mount the projector above your water feature and show a movie or animation of wave action or rolling water, you might just get the look of live water.

This is exactly what the projection mapping can/is doing. Using video (that can be customized to certain constraints) and projecting it onto a surface.
The original post tech was just doing from below via TV/monitor screen.

Not to get too far into this, as it is an expensive process, but there is a lot of potential for this tech to grow and offer some useful 3D effects. Maybe not for the average home layout. But scaled down, you could create quite a few effects in the sky, or water. Here is an extreme example:


On a side note, the video models would generally be painted all white in order for projections to work well. Unless the projectors are on, everything would be solid white, which is an obvious issue.

[ChicagoNW]

The idea is not new. If you’ve ever been in Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion, many of the vignettes used the technique with film projectors instead of video. Most famously, the head in the crystal ball.

Lots of great ways to add life to your layout is in this book…
https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Cre.../dp/B01FKTLQO4
It covers all kinds of ways to animate your layout including light, sound and motion. There is a large section devoted to ways of animating water or fire, by using light and polarizing films. I’ve seen the technique used in various museum exhibits.

[Jugtown Modeler]

The idea is not new.

Projecting moving images for effects is not new. Agreed.

Creating computer enhanced interactive water effects with scale modeled work... I'd say that is a fairly new technology and not in common use. Especially the OP tech and subsequent 3D mapping. But, agree to disagree.
I don't think the OP was about an interest in adding animations as much as it is to inform us about a new form of animation that we may have been unaware of.

[MetroRedLn]

Projecting moving images for effects is not new. Agreed.

I don't think the OP was about an interest in adding animations as much as it is to inform us about a new form of animation that we may have been unaware of.

Exactly! Those of us who run DCC already have computer-controlled trains (decoders are basically microcomputers...). These animation systems are also computer-controlled. Merging them together? The possibilities are endless.

[Scaper]

I saw this on Facebook the other day. It's so awesome. I'll definitely have a bit of a water scene when I build my layout. This would be just amazing.

[MetroRedLn]

The company that made this recently had a booth at my local train show last weekend. Here's a video of their demo: