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Want Easy Processing? Use the Downloaded Tool

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

This illustrates why people are jumping for Processing.js, even if it cripples many of the things that make Processing cool. Paul Downey inadvertently hits the nail on the head:

… somehow hadn’t got around to actually doing anything with it. You see it’s the whole Java thing that puts me off; when it comes to playtime life’s far too short to wrangle a CLASSPATH or compile an applet.

Ah-hah — there’s the reason: developer laziness, and fear of Java. And rightfully so. Configuring a full-blown IDE for Java can in fact be some effort — I think it’s well worth it when you’re doing lots of work over time, but what if you just want to sketch?

Here’s the good news: Processing’s “founding fathers” Ben Fry and Casy Reas agree with you.

The thing is, these JavaScript developers I think haven’t bothered actually trying Processing — the real Processing in Java. The creators of Processing understood that traditional Java development could be a pain. So the whole point of the Processing IDE that you get when you download — a simplified text editor that understands the Processing language — is saving you exactly that trouble. You almost never, ever have to deal with “wrangling a classpath.” It just doesn’t happen, certainly not with the included libraries (which do a lot more than Processing.js can). In fact, there’s even a download for Windows that takes care of installing Java for you. Nor do you have to worry about the effort involved in “compiling an applet.” Again, Processing does the work for you.

In case you’re interested, what Paul did is reasonably cool — he set up Processing.js inside TiddlyWiki, the personal notebook tool.

But, Paul, in the time it took you to do that, you could have been off and running in the Processing editor. Give it a shot, really. As I said, I think the hack for JavaScript is very much in the spirit of Processing as an open platform. But if you don’t experience it in Java, you’re missing out on a lot of what it can do.

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Posted in 101, News, code, javascript, learning, processing.org, programming, trends | Comments Off

vvvv Festival on Now: Node 08 in Frankfurt

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Continuing our current vvvv love-in. Aforementioned generative AV project “Va” will be performaing at the Node08 festival in Frankfurt, which started on the 5th and continues until the 12th. Lots of exciting workshops and lectures happening, and concluding with “vvvvinisage”, featuring visualists from around the world.

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Posted in Announcements, Asides, Workshops, code, events, festivals, generative, learning, lectures, visualists, vvvv | Comments Off

Processing Class in New York, Online: Art From Code, For Non-Coders

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

I used to be resistant to the idea of coding. It wasn’t just fear that I couldn’t do it, though that was part of it; it was also the sense that I wouldn’t be able to get to the actual art and music making if I got too involved in programming. And, actually, that bit can be true. But a group of pioneers, working on projects like Processing, OpenFrameworks, and other intelligent development frameworks, has been working really hard to make code an elegant an expressive tool rather than a hindrance. Processing has reached widespread popularity because it does this really, really well — even if you’ve never programmed before.

I’ll be teaching a three-part class on Processing at Harvestworks in New York next month. If you’re in the area, there should still be openings if you’d like to sign up (and if you’re enrolled, feel free to holler hi here — if I hear from you in advance, I can help tailor the course to your needs).

For intermediate digital artists, even those who have never coded before, we will introduce techniques in Processing. Processing is an elegant, high-level, Java-based tool designed to make coding friendly to artists. We will learn how to create generative art in just a few lines of code, building interactive works in minutes. We’ll also look at some of the deeper possibilities for manipulating data, video, images, sound, and MIDI and other I/O. The emphasis will be on basic sketches that help introduce fundamental coding skills.

Wednesdays, March 5, 12 and 19, 6:30 – 9:30pm
$325/$385

Class page / signup @ Harvestworks

The class will specifically focus on how to make video, 3D visuals, MIDI, and sound work for performance. Making Processing a performance tool definitely involves some particular skills. But I’ll also use this as an opportunity to teach very basic coding techniques so that unfamiliar programming topics can immediately generate something on the screen or some sound, since that’s part of the appeal of the whole tool.

But what if you’re not in New York?

We’ll soon have CDM Labs up, which will include examples from the team at CDM, plus other stuff from around the Web, not only in Processing but related tools, as well. I’ll use this as a playground for the course, so what I share with them, I can share with you. And, honestly, we hope this will help discipline us here to keep coding and keep documenting. More on that soon.

I’m also hoping to refine this course into something that can be offered elsewhere; if you’re interested, get in touch.

Processing Workshop Day 1: You, Too, Can Learn to Code

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

Some sketches from the first day of Ben Fry’s Processing class here at Anderson Ranch. What was striking to me is that you really can cover the essence of setup and coding syntax in a day, even for people not familiar with programming/Java. You’re instantly translating code into visuals, so there’s immediate feedback — not a big slog through how the environment works before something actually happens.

Since I have spent some time with Processing, I took the opportunity to try to push some of the examples in a different direction. Speed is not necessarily my forte (with anything, really), but it was fun to try to throw together a sketch as quickly as possible. I didn’t even worry about checking for errors; I actually decided that if the compiler was regularly throwing errors because I accidentally left out a parenthesis, that meant I was moving fast enough. Even though we’re starting at the beginning, though, I’m rapidly filling up holes in my knowledge about Processing and picking up endless tips — it’s really extraordinary to get the chance to work directly with Ben Fry himself! And not only is it an opportunity to get close to the source, but, as I expected, he’s a fantastic teacher, as well.

I’m also trying a new way of working, which is to regularly keep a visual log of what I’m doing. Plaqs’s Skitch, a hot new Mac app currently in beta, takes care of that nicely. It allows me to quickly take screen grabs and post them either to my Skitch page or (as here) Flickr, so I have a record of various iterations — some successful, some less so. More on that and how TextMate makes life easier with Processing coding on Mac soon.

Stay tuned for more…

(more…)

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Posted in News, anderson-ranch, ben-fry, code, flickr, images, learning, processing.org, programming, visualist | Comments Off

Off to Aspen for Ben Fry’s Processing Workshop

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Ben Fry anemone screenshot

Ben Fry’s Anemone is a generative illustration created from web traffic – a web traffic creature! (I need one in material, sculptural form on my desk so I know when I need to “water” Create Digital Motion so it doesn’t wilt!)

I’ll be out next week at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado, where I’m taking a workshop led by Processing co-creator Ben Fry.

In this workshop we will focus on Processing’s video library, learning how to play with pixels from a live camera by analyzing their makeup, altering colors, and experimenting with effects. We will also explore video as an input to control graphic elements on-screen, whether by controlling their movement or generating dynamic, abstract compositions.

I’ve done work with video and Processing before, but naturally not with Ben Fry himself nearby, so I’m quite excited! I’ll be interested to see how he teaches it, since video performance is not a strong suit of Processing (largely the fault of Java, not Processing), though it is an interesting tool for using video for other tasks.

I’ll try to “liveblog” some of it next week, but if that doesn’t work, I promise some code examples of my own and other tidbits when I return. CDM, code, events, generative, java, learning, processing, processing.org, video

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Posted in CDM, News, Processing, code, events, generative, java, learning, processing.org, video | Comments Off

Powerful Visuals for Newbies: Your First Shader Tutorial at C74

Thursday, May 24th, 2007

My First Shader

No, wait! You, too, can do this! Then show everyone your shader code and feel like a bad-ass. Or, better yet, get a GLSL shader code tattoo.

Shaders, snippets of code for processing pixels and 3D points on your 3D card’s GPU, are cool — that much you may know. You may even know that you can use shaders — designed for 3D applications — to perform powerful video-processing tricks, as well, at high speeds, even on a relatively lowly laptop. How to actually build your own — that may be elusive. So, at long last, Cycling ‘74 has published a great, beginner-friendly (even for non-programmers) tutorial on building your own shaders:

Your First Shader

The author is Andrew Benson, who is my hero as far as coming up with great Jitter examples. (Every time I’m looking for some model for a technique I have in mind, I keep stumbling on his sample patches in the Jitter folder and still more in his By the second page, you’re already building your own custom, glitchy visual filters. Great stuff.

Now, of course, this tutorial isn’t limited to users of Max/MSP/Jitter, but Max is really an ideal environment for testing shaders. (It can even work well as a prototype environment before going elsewhere.) This code will work in Processing, though, and I could see using a combination of those two tools (still working on my own workflow there).

We’ll be practicing our shader chops, because there’s definitely a need for more information like this. This sentence says it all: “If you want to learn more, I highly recommend poking around the “jitter-shaders” folder and grabbing the official GLSL specification(PDF) or the GLSL Orange Book.” Good advice, and the example Jitter shaders included with the program will already do a lot of what you’d like need. But, as fair warning, the Orange Book and other official OpenGL documentation can make your head hurt, fast. (There’s a reason “… for Dummies” isn’t on the end of the title.) I still recommend picking up a copy, but there’s definitely a need for at least intermediate documentation. Being something of a dummy myself, I may be able to help. GLSL, GPU, Jitter, learning, Max/MSP, opengl, processing.org, programming, shaders, software, tutorials, video

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Posted in GLSL, GPU, Jitter, Max/MSP, News, Software, learning, opengl, processing.org, programming, shaders, tutorials, video | Comments Off

Future “development”

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

Recently I had to think a lot about an eventual hardware and software configuration for a personal project – still on progress. Basically my aim is to provide PCs with a pre-installed software. The software has to be, as usual, visually and interactively compelling. After a bit of research I wanted to share my actual [...]

Posted in development, learning, processing.org, programming | Comments Off

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