Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation) (Hardcover)

by Ira Greenberg (Author)
Key Phrases: import library, hybrid shape, table layout, Ira Greenberg, New York, Poly Pattern (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

• 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

About the Author
With an eclectic background combining elements of painting and programming, Ira Greenberg has been a painter, 2D and 3D animator, print designer, web and interactive designer/developer, programmer, art director, creative director, managing director, art professor, and now author. He holds a BFA from Cornell University and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ira has steadily exhibited his work, consulted within industry, and lectured widely throughout his career. He was affiliated with the Flywheel Gallery in Piermont, New York, and the Bowery Gallery in New York City. He was a managing director and creative director for H2O Associates in New York\'s Silicon Alley, where he helped build a new media division during the golden days of the dot-com boom and then bust—barely parachuting back to safety in the ivory tower. Since then, he has been inciting students to create inspirational new media art; lecturing; and holding residencies at numerous institutions, including Seton Hall University; Monmouth University; University of California, Santa Barbara; Kutztown University; Moravian College; Northampton Community College\'s Digital Art Institute; Lafayette College; Lehigh University; the Art Institute of Seattle; Studio Art Centers International (in Florence, Italy); and the City and Guilds of London Art School.

Currently, Ira is Associate Professor at Miami University (Ohio), where he has a joint appointment within the School of Fine Arts and Interactive Media Studies program. He is also an affiliate member of the Department of Computer Science and Systems Analysis. His research interests include aesthetics and computation, expressive programming, emergent forms, net-based art, artificial intelligence, physical computing, and computer art pedagogy (and anything else that tickles his fancy). During the last few years, he has been torturing defenseless art students with trigonometry, algorithms, and object-oriented programming, and is excited to spread this passion to the rest of the world.

Ira lives in charming Oxford, Ohio with his wife, Robin; his son, Ian; his daughter, Sophie; their squirrel-obsessed dog, Heidi; and their night prowler cat, Moonshadow.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 840 pages
• Publisher: friends of ED; 1 edition (May 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159059617X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590596173
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #160,962 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tutorial on a simple language that produces beautiful computer art, June 28, 2007

By	calvinnme "Texan refugee" (Fredericksburg, Va) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This is a very good book on the Processing language, which is an object-oriented languaged based on Java that is used for computer art. It allows computer artists to produce attractive computer-generated art without having to become experts on the Java language, Java3D, Java2D, and all of the other associated Java multimedia APIs. The Processing language's home page has considerable tutorial information, but it is not organized in a tutorial format as this book is. The book starts out in the first few chapters talking about "code art" including a brief mention of various "code artists". It then goes on to talk about the origin and basics of the Processing language. Chapter 5 is the most helpful of the chapters in part one, since it discusses the actual environment of working with the Processing language including the various programming modes and rendering modes.

Part two is very practical and useful, as it illustrates how to actually draw shapes, work with various color and imaging styles, and even includes chapters on building interactive art, programming motion, and working in 3D. There is also a short chapter on object-oriented programming in the middle of this section, but it is rather brief and if you are unfamiliar with the topic you are going to need outside sources. The format of the chapters in part two is to discuss what you are trying to accomplish, show and discuss the Processing code for performing the task, and show an illustration of what your final piece of computer art should look like.

Part three is a reference on the Processing language itself that also includes an appendix consisting of various mathematics equations you will need when working with geometric figures. If you already know Java, as I do, this book makes learning the Processing language a breeze. If you don't already know Java or at least programming in an object-oriented language, this book might be more difficult. Note that there is an extra appendix and an extra chapter available online that is not in the printed book itself. These chapters are "3D Rendering in Java Mode" and "Integrating Processing within Java".

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and thorough. , August 19, 2008

By	C. Nielsen (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to programming for creative types, March 27, 2008

By	James Bumgardner "jbum" (Los Angeles, Ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I teach Flash Actionscript at an Art College in Pasadena, and I am sometimes asked by my students for a good book to introduce them to programming fundamentals. Until I encountered this book, I was at a loss to find a good one, because so many programming books assume the reader already knows the fundamentals, and don't take the creative personality into account.

This is the book I was looking for. It's not about actionscript, but that doesn't matter, as Processing is an even better choice as a first programming language for creative people. Once you learn the fundamentals of programming, learning things like Flash actionscript becomes much easier.

The thing I like about this book is that it concentrates on making computer art, it has good tutorials on basic computer programming, computer graphics concepts, and it understands that its core audience is likely to be math phobic (due to the horrible math experiences so many of us have had in schools).

If there's a flaw, it's that the author is a little to anxious to share some extremely advanced scripts a little too early in the book. First time readers should skip over this stuff, because much simpler stuff is on the way. The book will reward skipping around and rereading. I also recommend getting another book on the same subject, such as the Reas and Fry processing book, and perhaps one of John Maeda's books.