Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art

Create code art, visualizations, and interactive applications with this powerful yet simple computer language and programming environment

Learn how to code 2D and 3D animation, pixel-level imaging, motion effects, and physics simulations

Take a creative and fun approach to learning creative computer programming If you're interested in creating cutting-edge code-based art and animations, you've come to the right place! Processing (available at www.processing.org) is a revolutionary open source programming language and environment designed to bridge the gap between programming and art, allowing non-programmers to learn programming fundamentals as easily as possible, and empowering anyone to produce beautiful creations using math patterns. With the software freely available, Processing provides an accessible alternative to using Flash for creative coding and computational artboth on and off the Web. This book is written especially for artists, designers, and other creative professionals and students exploring code art, graphics programming, and computational aesthetics. The book provides a solid and comprehensive foundation in programming, including object-oriented principles, and introduces you to the easy-to-grasp Processing language, so no previous coding experience is necessary. The book then goes through using Processing to code lines, curves, shapes, and motion, continuing to the point where you'll have mastered Processing and can really start to unleash your creativity with realistic physics, interactivity, and 3D! In the final chapter, you'll even learn how to extend your Processing skills by working directly with the powerful Java programming languagethe language Processing itself is built with.

You'll learn:

The fundamentals of creative computer programming—from procedural programming, to object-oriented programming, to pure Java programming

How to virtually draw, paint, and sculpt using computer code and clearly explained mathematical concepts

2D and 3D programming techniques, motion design, and cool graphics effects

How to code your own pixel-level imaging effects, such as image contrast, color saturation, custom gradients and more

Advanced animation techniques, including realistic physics and artificial life simulation

Summary of Contents

PART ONE: THEORY OF PROCESSING AND COMPUTATIONAL ART

Chapter 1: Code Art

Chapter 2: Creative Coding

Chapter 3: Code Grammar 101

Chapter 4: Computer Graphics, the Fun, Easy Way