The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book - Projects_Book_v4

Tutorial WALKTHROUGH

(^142) The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book raspberrypi.org/magpi
Create your own cut-out theatre controlled from your mobile device
MIKE COOK
Veteran magazine author from the old
days and writer of the Body Build series.
Co-author of Raspberry Pi for Dummies,
Raspberry Pi Projects, and Raspberry Pi
Projects for Dummies.
magpi.cc/259aT3X
MIKE’S PI BAKERY

DIY

he idea for this project is to replicate a cut-out

theatre using the Raspberry Pi to show your

production. As the Pi’s screen will display

the finished performance, that leaves no space on

the screen for your controls. You might think that

you could use a keyboard, but that would not provide

proportional control and would be difficult to drive.

The alternative, of using external hardware, could

get expensive. A cheap solution, if you already have

a smartphone or tablet, is to use that to control the

theatre. All you need is an interface you can customise,

and a way to send and receive messages. Enter OSC.

OSC stands for Open Sound Control, and is an open,

extendable method of exchanging messages. While

it was originally designed for sound applications like

mixers and effects units, it’s flexible enough to be used

T

> Apple or Android

mobile device

> TouchOSC app

> Raspberry Pi 3

You’ll

Need

for anything. TouchOSC is an excellent application that

turns your mobile device into an OSC command-and-

control station. It is hard to convey how satisfying it is

to control the performance from a tablet!

TouchOSC

While it is not a free app, at less that £5/$6 it is not

very expensive. There are two parts to it: the app

that runs on your mobile device, and an editor for

designing the custom control screens on your laptop.

Go to the TouchOSC webpage at magpi.cc/2nSa69S

to download the app and the editor. There are plenty

of controls on offer, including faders, pads, rotary

controls, and push-buttons. Follow the instructions in

‘Creating the custom performance’ to create a simple

custom interface for this project.

CUT-OUT

THEATRE

The wolf approaching Grandma

Tablet controlling the performance

Position of the Wolf