In addition to interparticle forces, all the objects in this script are effected by a Perlin Flow Field. Two dimensional Perlin noise evolves through time and sits behind the particle system as a grid of forces. These forces are applied to each particle based on it’s exact coordinates each frame, before any other functions. The system creates some very elegant effects as smaller (lighter) particles get sorted out and complex force structures create swirling spirals and channels of flowing particles.
Post Page »My Blog: projects, sketches, works in progress, thoughts, and inspiration.
Category: art
Adding lines connecting nearby points in a particle system creates an interesting effect, but it does get a little messy. I thought it would be interesting if the lines only connected the nearest particles to each, which would vary from point to point, and if the lines didn’t overlap or intersect. The result would be a nice mesh with varied density. Of course after putting the script together I turned it into a drawing machine. I’ll post more on exactly how this script works sometime soon.
In this Drawing Machine a series of particles spawned when the mouse is pressed move through a morphing Perlin noise flow field. They also slightly repel each other. The netting algorithm is applied to the particles to create the dark lines and their colors slowly shift. Many different factors effect the size and transparency of the points and lines in order to keep everything moving smoothly. Lines fade out as they get longer and fade out with the points they join.
My anemone piece needed a little color. Here are a few more renderings and a video of the system running. I’ve also added a few more objects to my particle script including particle generators, attractors, and repellers. A faint circle of somewhat random size around each particle gives a little texture in empty space and pushes back older tubes by overlaying a dark texture.
This is the result of my attempt to create a variation of my line wave script which waves in two dimensions. I started anew and used some particle systems I’d started a while ago. With a spring class which holds two particles together all the particles could be chained together. Hiding the particles and springs and wrapping the particle loop in a shape method with a curve vertex for each created a wobbling line. Without a background function the line continually drew each frame on the screen.
It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but I like how it turned out. I have a few different variations I may post and will keep playing with it. I’ll also have a few desktop wallpapers available from this script soon as soon as I decide how to set up and organize a wallpaper section on my site.
Continuing with particle systems in Processing I stumbled upon some effects I’m very happy with. Although it wasn’t exactly what I was trying for at the time but have an aesthetic which is very interesting to me. The path of each particle is drawn at each frame with a semi-transparent circle, gray with a white border. The way the circles overlap create a pseudo 3d effect which reminds me a lot of an electron scanning microscope.
Although there are a couple particle system libraries available for Processing I thought I’d build my own anyway. For practice, a better understanding of what’s going on, and more control over the details. With a little help from Dan Shiffman I began working on one a little while ago but never quite finished it. Trying to extend my Wave script to flow fully in two dimensions, a particle system seemed like a good tool. All the particles repel each other and have realistic motion with force, acceleration, and velocity vectors. I also added a spring class and a few other little tools.
On the way I was distracted a few times and made a few other generative sketches. This one simply creates particles which slowly fade. A curve along all of the points with a very low opacity creates the brushy textures.
Post Page »Concentric circles and lines always seem to catch my eye. They hold a lot of movement and tension and have an inexplicable beauty to me. This little morning project scripted in Processing draws a waving horizontal line. Each point on the line has a vertical speed and acceleration, and the line is recalculated fifty or so times.
To add a little more depth I put in a blur filter before each new line set, and an invert filter creates some nice complimentary colors.
I created this Context Free Art script a few months ago and revisited it to tweak it a bit and make some nice high resolution renderings. This is a great illustration of what I find so fascinating about fractals. Computers are often considered the antithesis of organic growth, however, their incredible ability to replicate such processes seems to be in the very nature of object oriented programming. The complexity that can be formed from such simple rules and patterns continues to amaze me.
Although a mathematics purist may not willingly call this a fractal, it is in my opinion a prime example. I think Benoît Mandelbrot would agree with me. It is a mathematical function which, through a simple iterate system, fantastically mimics physical structures. It also has the properties of self similarity over infinite scale which is indicative of fractals.
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Working in 3d in Processing is all well and good but does have it’s limits in terms of rendering. To get a better rendering of three dimensional forms created with Processing it’s possible to export them to a file that a 3d modeling program can read. From my experience, the exported file isn’t perfect, but with a little work it can be turned into a nice model. A Processing script generated a 3d grid based on sound, the three axes representing amplitude, frequency, and time. Using the DXF library, I exported the model.
This raw data is a little bulky and has a few issues. All the segments of the form were separate objects. After importing the script into Blender (a free 3d modeling and animation program) I selected all the objects, joined them, and then in edit mode removed doubles. This combines all the meshes if they are lined up. Then using the ‘make faces’ on auto will fill in all triangles and quads. The image above was also extruded to give it some form and has a subsurface modifier for a smoother look.
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