This is the software behind the ACAB wall. You can get our software on github: https://github.com/muccc/acab-streetlife

Writing animations

Animations are created as python scripts which run on the computer controlling the installation.

In the multi wall configuration, ACAB has two walls with 8x6 pixels each. They are addressed using the wall number [0,1] and their x and y coordinates.

In the single wall configuration, ACAB has a single wall with 16x6 pixels.

The setup looks like this: (x,y)

(0,0), (1,0) ... (14,0), (15,0)
(0,1), (1,1) ... (14,1), (15,1)
  .      .          .       .
  .      .          .       .
  .      .          .       .
(0,4), (1,4) ... (14,4), (15,4)
(0,5), (1,5) ... (14,5), (15,5)

Use the acabsl library from our git repository to create your own scripts.

It provides two methods:

acabsl.send(x,y,r,g,b,time,w):

    Send a new color to pixel (<x>,<y>) on wall no <w>. If you omit 'w', the
    server will choose a wall for you, when the script gets executed.

    'r','g','b' are in [0-255]

    time is in seconds:
        'time'=0  => Instant update
        'time'>0  => Fade to the new color in <time> seconds


acabsl.update():

    Use this command if you want to use double buffering.
    Use it once before you do your first acabsl.send() call.
    Then use it every time you want new commands to be executed.
  
    This command only affects walls which have been modified since the
    last call to acabsl.update()

It also provides the following constants:

acabsl.WALLSIZEX:
    Size of a wall in X direction

acabsl.WALLSIZEY:
    Size of a wall in X direction

acabsl.NOOFWALLS:
    Number of walls available

Example:

import acabsl

#enable double buffering
acabsl.update()

# let every pixel of the wall chosen by the server fade to red
for x in range(acabsl.WALLSIZEX):
    for y in range(range.WALLSIZEY):
        acabsl.send(x,y,255,0,0,500)
'''
# let every pixel of every wall fade to red
for wall in range(acabsl.NOOFWALLS):
    for x in range(acabsl.WALLSIZEX):
        for y in range(range.WALLSIZEY):
            acabsl.send(x,y,255,0,0,500,wall)
'''

#execute all fades at once
acabsl.update()

Have a look at the scripts in the animations directory for examples. We also have audio examples ;)

Test animations using simulator

A simulator is available for local animation testing. To use it you have to install the pygame library. The command to install pygame on Debian based systems is:

apt-get install python-pygame

Execute the startsimulation file to run a simulation of the walls on your computer:

./startsimulation

Optionally you can modify the size of the simulator window by adding a resize factor. The follow example will reduce the simulator to half size:

./startsimulation 0.5

It will open two windows with simulated ACAB walls.

Then execute the script you wrote to display it on the simulator.

Send new scripts via a pull request to our github account: https://github.com/muccc/acab-streetlife and we will put them into rotation on the walls.

Send animation to real wall

You can also directly stream your animation to the wall if you supply your script with the following arguments: '--host= --port=6002'

Have fun :)