Algorithms for Visual Design Using the Processing Language

Experiment with design problems to create 3D animations, GUIs, and more

Are you ready to dramatically enhance your programming skills by experimenting with design problems in the digital domain? Kostas Terzidis shows you a series of generic procedures that serve as building blocks for you to test, explore, or channel your ideas and principles into solutions. He uses the Processing computer language to walk you through advanced algorithms and techniques. You'll then gain a strong understanding of the complexity involved in today's design problems as you construct your own customized algorithms.

• Develop geometric entities and combine the elements into complex shapes

• Design graphical user interfaces using standard library components and connect them to geometrical actions

• Process images as an alteration of a local area or as a global effect in the form of a filter

• Build single and multiple animated objects as well as simulate dynamic behavior

• Produce the behavior of a 3D object rotating in space

• Create the impression of a continuous surface out of discrete points

• Use, connect, and control devices in the form of feed, feedback, and multiple feedback systems

As the first book to share the necessary algorithms for creating code to experiment with design problems in the processing language, this book offers a series of generic procedures that can function as building blocks and encourages you to then use those building blocks to experiment, explore, and channel your thoughts, ideas, and principles into potential solutions. The book covers such topics as structured shapes, solid geometry, networking and databases, physical computing, image processing, graphic user interfaces, and more.

This book offers design engineers the technical, theoretical, and design means to develop computer code that will allow them to experiment with design problems in the digital domain. It offers a series of generic procedures that can function as building blocks for designers to experiment, explore, or channel their thoughts, ideas, and principles into potential solutions. The computer language used is a new, open source, and easy-to-use language called processing used quite extensively in the visual arts in the last few years. The algorithms and techniques are quite advanced and offer not only the means to construct new algorithms but also function as a way of understanding the complexity involved in today's design problems. The content of the book will not change much over the next years given that class structures, algorithms, and theories remain quite constant in the computational field.

Kostas Terzidis is an associate professor at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He is an educator, designer, theorist, architect, and computer scientist. His professional work includes software development for Java media framework and Linux as a software engineer for AOL. Terzidis is also the author of three previous books.

Introduction.

1. Elements of the Language.

2. Points, Lines, and Shapes.

3. Structured Shapes.

4. Basics of Graphical User Interfaces.

5. Image Processing.

6. Motion.

7. Advanced Algorithms.

8. 3-D Space.

9. Solid Modeling.

10. File Processing.

11. Physical Computing.

Appendix A: Equations of Lines and Planes.

Appendix B: Answers to Exercises.

Appendix C: Further Reading.