“Everyone you know someday will die” – The Flaming Lips

No matter how strong a relationship or how durable a material is, the passage of time will erode it. The blobs and the legs fall down as each minute passes, each trying to bounce or twitch its way back up top, but it will never achieve its old position ever again. We too can struggle against the flow of time, but we cannot win.

I like the organic feel of the blob, but I feel like it could be more irregular to look even weirder. I also wanted the legs to represent something, such as the hours, but since my clock resets every 12 hours, 12 legs is not enough. They also look weird without being attached to a ball so I just attached them randomly to balls.

int square_width = 15;
Ball[] balls;
Leg[] legs;
int past_second = -1;
PImage leg_img;

class Ball{
  int x, y, diameter, stop_point;
  float speed, acceleration;
  int dx, dy, dd;

  Ball(int a, int b, int d)
  {
    x = a;
    y = b;
    diameter = d;
    speed = 0.0;
    acceleration = 0.0;
    stop_point = (int)random(-30, 30);
    dx = (int)random(-3,3);
    dy = (int)random(-3,3);

    // delta diameter
    dd = (int)random(5,15);
    if(random(-1,1) < 0.0)
      dd *= -1.0;
  }

  /**
   * drops the ball
   */
  void drop()
  {
    acceleration = 0.9;
  }

  void draw_ball()
  {
    // make the ball fall
    if(y < height - 40 + stop_point || (speed < 0.0))
    {
      y += speed;
      speed += acceleration;
    }
    else if(abs(speed) > 3.5)
      speed *= -0.4;

    float percent = (millis() % 1000.0)/1000.0;
    if(percent > 0.5)
      percent = 1.0 - percent;

    stroke(200, 50 + diameter);
    fill(20, 50 + diameter);
    ellipse(x+percent*dx, y+percent*dy, diameter+percent*dd, diameter+percent*dd);
  }
}

class Leg{
  float direction;
  float theta, leg_scale, dtheta;
  Ball ball;

  Leg(Ball ba)
  {
    ball = ba;
    leg_scale = random(0.8, 1.2);
    theta = random(-0.5, 0.5);
     
    direction = 1.0;
    if(random(-1,1) < 0.0)
      direction *= -1;
  }

  void draw_leg()
  {
    pushMatrix();
    
    float percent = (millis() % 1000.0)/1000.0;
    if(percent > 0.5)
      percent = 1.0 - percent;

    translate(ball.x, ball.y);

    if(ball.x > width/2)
      scale(-leg_scale,leg_scale);
    else
      scale(leg_scale,leg_scale);

    if(0.0 < ball.speed && ball.speed < 0.1)
      percent = 1.0 + 0.03*percent;

    float on_ground = 0.0;
    float speed = 1.0;
    if(ball.acceleration != 0.0)
    {
      on_ground = 0.006*ball.y;
      speed = ball.speed;
    }

    rotate(theta+percent*0.09*(direction*speed)+on_ground);

    image(leg_img, 0, 0);

    popMatrix();
  }
}

void setup() {
  size(600, 600);
  randomSeed(15251);
  initialize_balls();
  leg_img = loadImage("leg.png");
  initialize_legs();
  set_to_current_time();
  
}

/**
 * initializes the clock to current time
 */
void set_to_current_time()
{
  int minute_passed = 60*hour() + minute();
  for(int i = 0; i < minute_passed; i++)
  {
    int r = (int)random(0,720);
    Ball random_ball = balls[r];
    
    // select a ball that hasnt already fallen
    while(random_ball.speed != 0.0)
    {
      r = (int)random(0,720);
      random_ball = balls[r];
    }

    random_ball.drop();
  }
}

/**
 * allocate the ball objects
 */
void initialize_balls(){
  balls = new Ball[720];
  int i = 0;
  while(i < balls.length)
  {
    int x = 0;
    int y = 20;
    while((x < width/2 && y > 2*x/3 + random(-10,10)) || 
          (x > width/2 && y > 2*(width - x)/3 + random(-10,10))
          )
    {
      x = (int)random(20, width-20);
      y = (int)random(5, height/3);
    }

    int s = (int)random(20, 50);

    balls[i] = new Ball(x, y, s);
    i++;
  }
}

/**
 * allocate the leg objects
 */
void initialize_legs()
{
  legs = new Leg[20];
  for(int i = 0; i < legs.length; i++)
  {
    Ball b = balls[(int)random(0,720)];
    while(!(b.x < 200 || b.x > 300))
      b = balls[(int)random(0,720)];

    legs[i] = new Leg(b);
  }

}

/**
 * draw the gradient for the background
 */
void draw_background(){

  for(int i = 0; i < height; i++)
  {
    stroke(100-i/7, 50-i/12, 70-i/10);
    line(0, i, width, i);
  }
}

void draw() {
  draw_background();

  // resets the clock every 12 hours
  if(hour() % 12 == 0 && minute() % 60 == 0 && millis() % 1000.0 < 100.0)
  {
    initialize_balls();
    initialize_legs();
  }

  // selects random ball to drop every minute
  if(second() == 0 && past_second != second())
  {
    int r = (int)random(0,720);
    Ball random_ball = balls[r];
    
    // select a ball that hasnt already fallen
    while(random_ball.speed != 0.0)
    {
      r = (int)random(0,720);
      random_ball = balls[r];
    }
    random_ball.drop();
  }
  past_second = second();

  // draw the balls
  for(int i = 0; i < balls.length; i++)
  {
    Ball b = balls[i];
    b.draw_ball();
  }

  // draw the legs
  for(int i = 0; i < legs.length; i++)
  {
    Leg l = legs[i];
    l.draw_leg();
  }
}