Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation)

Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation)
| 2007-05-28 00:00:00 | | 0 | Computer Graphics


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 Chapter 5: The Processing Environment PART TWO: PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE Chapter 6: Lines Chapter 7: Curves Chapter 8: Object-Oriented Programming Chapter 9: Shapes Chapter 10: Color and Imaging Chapter 11: Motion Chapter 12: Interactivity Chapter 13: 3D Chapter 14: 3D Rendering in Java Mode PART THREE: REFERENCE Appendix A: Processing Language API Appendix B: Math Reference Appendix C: Integrating Processing within Java

User review
just ok
i started my learning of processing with this book,, and then i got hold of the manual by Reas and Fry. It was the comparision that made me realize how little synthetic Greenberg is in his writing. It hardly works as a manual or reference book for processing. The code gets too long many times unnecesarily, and to my taste, i would prefer to get a view on creative issues, rather than in Greenberg own personal experience.


but still you can get quite a lot of information out of it


Thank you for writing it Ira.






User review
Engineering Students Should Not Bother With This Book
Generally speaking this book moved way too slow for me and did not work well as a reference manual, so I would suggest that people who are already familiar with programming do not bother. The author spends way too much time running his mouth about stupid garbage that nobody cares about like how he got interested in processing or the profoundness of algorithmic art.

I know this book was written for artists and it probably works very well for that purpose but I strongly recommend that engineers or anybody already familiar with programming stay away from this book.

User review
Great book for advanced programmers as well
I have purchased literally hundreds of books from Amazon, this is the first one I felt compelled enough to write a quick review on.


I have been developing software for over 25 years, I am also formally trained as an artist. I discovered Processing a few months back, and it has been an incredible find. I wanted to learn as much as I could, so I started buying some books.


I was concerned that since I already understood all of the fundamental and advanced programming concepts that I would find the book trivial and just a re-hash of what I already knew. I was mistaken, and I am so glad I took a chance and purchased this. The author does a great job of weaving in personal anecdotes, historical context (in both programming and art) and an fresh look at many of the abstracts used in modern day programming that I found it at once refreshing, insightful, and informative. I actually thought about some of the paradigms I am familiar with from a new perpsective.


I highly recommend this book to both novices and experts alike - it provides a great context for learning programming and Processing specifically. It is also very well written in a conversational format that makes it immensely more approachable (and entertaining) than many of the other more engineering focused texts.

User review
Inspiring and thorough.
I picked this book up on impulse while about halfway thru the other book `Processing: A Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists`. They seemed like books that were too similar, but they are not. This book is aimed more at the individual, whereas the other seems to be aimed more at a classroom (yet is also an excellent book). The amount of exercises and experiments is massive. The book opens up assuming you have never touched a computer language before, however it's easy to jump ahead if you have experience. The book is also hardcover, making it a nice object to hold and read. As the book progresses, it becomes more of an encyclopedia than a tutorial, therefore should stay useful for years to come. As a former artist-tuned-web developer, Processing has saved my life from mundane coding, and this book provided much of the inspiration. I have also recommended this book to non-artistic coders looking to expand their graphic and artistic skills.

User review
Great book about Processing and a lot of concepts of programming
I received this book a few days ago and i have not finish yet, but everything i have read is very clear, easy to follow and with a lot of examples that works.


Is my first book about Processing, Im a actionscripter and here i found many interesting concepts, formulas, procedures that can help, not only in processing, just in a lot of languages that we could make artistic things.


If this book is an alternative for novices? i guess it is. Maybe in the firts reading people who have not any knowledge about programming it could be hard to follow, but i guess in the second or third lecture will became in a very good programmer. For people who have a knowledge it will be a very interesting travel to be a better programmer.

Digital Lighting & Rendering

Digital Lighting & Rendering
| 2000-01-15 00:00:00 | | 0 | Computer Graphics


New Riders' [digital] series is performing a tremendous service to the computer animation and graphics community. The newest addition to this family is [digital] Lighting & Rendering. Author Jeremy Birn has long been regarded as a talented computer graphics artist and generous writer, and he's been sharing his techniques and discoveries for years.

Using computer graphic and 3-D tools to create accurate images is easy; using them to produce beautiful, inviting, memorable images requires more than technical skill. [digital] Lighting & Rendering introduces reasons and techniques for using light, shadow, texture, and composition. The book is not software-specific, but demonstrates techniques that are applicable to almost any 3-D graphics application. It is assumed, however, that your 3-D software of choice supports such basic rendering features as soft shadows, light maps, colored gels, depth-of-field blur, motion blur, and so on.

The first half of the book discusses lighting and shadow: lighting workflow; light types; using lighting rigs, such as three-point lighting; shadows and shadow type; and light quality. Lighting--how it's used, where it's placed, the kind of shadow it casts, its intensity--is critical to any image, whether you're creating a photorealistic computer re-creation or a surreal fantasy picture. [digital] Lighting & Rendering explains not just how to use various lighting techniques, but why.

An outstanding chapter on color and its use through composition and lighting offers insight into how colors are perceived and how color affects a scene. The importance of color, hue, and saturation should not be underestimated, and the examples in this chapter, like in every other, drive home that point.

Additional chapters cover exposure, composition and staging, materials and textures, and compositing. There is no accompanying CD-ROM, but the platform-generic nature of the book (and of the subject matter itself) makes it unnecessary. The book is designed to educate and inform; it is up to readers to apply what they learn to their own projects.

Although fewer than 300 pages long, [digital] Lighting & Rendering is an informative and important book, useful to any computer graphics artist. Each page is filled with fascinating, immediately helpful information about the craft. The publisher spared no expense on the book's production, either--every page is in color, with at least one color photo per page illuminating the text. Mr. Birn's experience and insight are not to be underestimated, and this book is not to be missed. --Mike Caputo

User review
Must have for those into CG graphics
Lots of helpful illustrations and clearly explained concepts.


Even if you know a lot about digital lighting and rendering chances are you could still learn many new things from this book. Highly recommended.

User review
Another recommended [digital] title!
This book has some great theory and topics that do not fade with time. Even though there is a Second Edition out the information within this book is still rich and plentiful. I own several of the [digital] titles and have been pleased with all of them, and this one is probably about the most informative of all the titles I own.

User review
Get the 2nd edition, not this!
This 1st edition came out in 2000 and now there's a new 2nd edition coming out this year ~ I ordered the up~to~date one instead!

User review
Ray
Mr Birn makes great effort to illuminate the subtle and unappreciated aspects of creating visually aesthetic lighting and rendering. He helps pin down the elusive `why` factor, as opposed to bombarding the reader with a lot of technical information.

User review
Best book available
This book goes way beyond what you need to know, in a good way. I have read and re-read this book numerous times, learning new things with each read. It is like taking 2 courses in lighting and 2 in color. Extremely professionally written from a practicing professional (Pixar Studios). Classic.