To help my friends easily publish content for Blinkenlights Stereoscope, I’ve made a simple converter in Java that will allow you to convert an image sequence into a Blinkenlights movie.
All you have to do is generate a greyscale image sequence (PNG format is probably best) in your favourite program (After Effects, 3D programs, Processing, Logo, whatever) and run it through my converter. For the Stereoscope project you should make your image size match one of the top two screens, or the entire virtual matrix (96×32 pixels).
Check out the Virtual Matrix map on the Stereoscope Create page to see how it all lays out. Unfortunately the numbers on the map are backwards, so you will need to do a bit of math if you want to address the buildings precisely.
You can download the jar file for the converter tool below, double click it, and convert your image sequence to a BLM file. If you would like to test the movie, and you’re using OS X, you can download the Stereoscope Creation Tools (from the page linked above) to get a simulator and playback tool. If you’re on Windows or Linux, there is no simulator for you yet.
Download Image to BML Converter. (requires Java 1.5 or later).
Update 20081001: I accidentally published a jar that was compiled for Java 1.6. I’ve replaced it. If you downloaded this yesterday and it didn’t work, try again!
Source code is available under the GPL, but not well packaged yet. Ask and ye shall receive.
[…] Fraser posted an image converter that creates BML files that can be used for Stereoscope. This means you can convert any animation […]
I tried exporting my clip from final cut pro to a png image sequence and then opening the image sequence in the BML converter, all the images are greyed out. So I can’t convert my pngs… It’s not working for me. Am I doing it right?
Make sure the source images are grayscale. The converter only uses the blue channel to get the brightness of the final output pixels. You’ll get the best results if you start with greyscale images.
If you still have a problem, please send me an email with one of your images and the BML file that was made, and I will see if I can find the problem!