Sep 7

Loops

Here's my lecture about loops in art, technology and cinema.

Update. Here's an even better lecture about loops (and visualization!) by Lena V. Groeger, "That's the Power of Loops" (at YouTube) or "On Repeat: How to Use Loops to Explain Anything" (at ProPublica or archived in this zip).

A Consideration of Graphical Nuance

How many ways can you think of to convert a circle to a triangle?
In this Circles to Triangles project, I demonstrate 14 methods that I could think of.
The point of this demonstration is to sensitize you to details of computational craft.

Creative coding basics and tricks

Let's dig in to some specifics of creative graphics programming.

  • The transformation matrix; pushMatrix(), popMatrix(), scale, translate, etc.
  • random() vs. Perlin noise(). p5's randomGaussian(). Random seeds.
  • The modulus operator; map(), constrain()
  • Simple sinusoids; circular motion. Lissajous figures!
  • Here's a demonstration of looping noise (Processing) (p5.js)
  • Shaping functions (also called easing functions, tweens, and unit generators) can be used to create nonlinear movement:
    • Luke DuBois' p5.js-func (JavaScript) is a proper p5.js library which you can include into your project.
    • My Pattern_Master (Processing/Java) is just a collection of functions. You'll have to copy/paste code directly to use the functions you want.

If you'd like more information, here are some Coding Train videos that might be helpful for you:

A Praxinoscope / Zoetrope Activity

Students will use an inexpensive Praxinoscope or a Zoetrope as part of Deliverables #2. We will start our in-class activity:

Code templates:

Other Viewings

We looked at: