learning processing pt2

And now I've written this one on my own using the first sketch to jog my memory when I forgot exactly what to do:

void setup() {
size (400,400);
smooth();
}

void draw() {
//background (0);
for (int i=0; i < 100; i++) {
int xPos = int(random(-width, width));
int yPos = int(random(-height, height));
int diam = int(random(30));
color col = color(random(255), random(255), random(255));
drawCircle (xPos, yPos, diam, col);
}
}

void drawCircle(int xPos, int yPos, int diam, color col) {
fill(col);
noStroke();
ellipse(xPos, yPos, diam, diam);
}

learning processing pt1

So Derek and I had a little learning session last night. He's attempting to teach me how to code in processing. It's starting to make better sense to me now, and we wrote a program last night that helped me a ton.

Here is what we did:
void setup() {
size(400,400); //WINDOW SIZE
smooth();
}

void draw() {
background(0); //BG COLOR
translate(width/2, height/2); //CENTERS SCREEN

for(int i=0; i < 10; i++) {
int xPos = int(random(-width, width));
int yPos = int(random(-height, height));

drawCircle(xPos, yPos, 50, color(50, 0, 100));
}
}

void drawCircle(int xPos, int yPos, int diam, color col) {
fill(col);
noStroke();
ellipse(xPos, yPos, diam, diam);
}

It turned out well and got me to understand how processing works as a language. I'm happy with what we did last night and I look forward to more learning... apparently he created a folder for me on his desktop: "Zac Lessons" haha. Thanks dude.

Research begins

The first design firm I ever got to listen to was LUST. They are based in The Hague and their presentation really intrigued me. I saw them give a talk as part of the Walker Without Walls series a few years ago and I was instantly compelled by their attitudes and design philosophies. I just found this article on a project they completed on the sound of the internet. The link to the project no longer works, so I have no example of how it actually worked, which is disappointing. But the basic concept, as I understand it, is to take the IP addresses of all the devices between your machine and the server that the project is hosted on and derive a sound from them. I really wish I could find the project.

This is one library I'm going to try and use for the project. I hope it will be simple enough for me to figure out. All I need it to do (I think) is import the sound from the microphone, and Ess should be able to handle that.

I am going to have to figure out how to define my variables -- which frequencies each will pick up. So I hopped over to wikipedia and looked at some audio frequencies.

installation piece

I had the idea to do a dynamic or interactive piece for the show. I see lots of repetition in GD Senior shows here, and while the work is often spectacular, I have gotten bored with the same old printed material.

My strongest idea so far is to do something in Processing or Flash that will react to the sound in the gallery during the show. The idea so far is to translate volume levels of certain tones or pitches into movement. A grid of text would be projected onto the wall. Each letter in the grid would be tied to a certain tone/pitch and fluctuate in size based on the volume of the particular tone it was tied to.

Thats what I have so far.

More later.

Senior Project 2008

Here I will be posting research, ideas, images, thoughts, etc about my senior project. I'll be using it rather like a digital process book.

More later...