The SparkFun Guide to Processing: Create Interactive Art with Code

389 Pages·2015·7.17 MB·English

by  Derek Runberg

THE SPARKFUN GUIDE TO
PROCESSING
CREATE INTERACTIVE ART WITH CODE
BY DEREK RUNBERG
SAN FRANCISCO
THE SPARKFUN GUIDE TO PROCESSING. Copyright © 2015 by SparkFun Electronics.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.
Printed in USA
First printing
19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ISBN-10: 1-59327-612-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327612-6
Publisher: William Pollock Production Editor: Alison Law Cover Illustration: Pete Holm Interior Design:
Beth Middleworth Developmental Editor: Jennifer Griffith-Delgado Technical Reviewer: Andres Colubri
Copyeditor: Rachel Monaghan Compositor: Susan Glinert Stevens Proofreader: James Fraleigh For
information on distribution, translations, or bulk sales, please contact No Starch Press, Inc. directly: No
Starch Press, Inc.
245 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: [phone]; [email protected]
www.nostarch.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Runberg, Derek.
The SparkFun guide to Processing : create interactive art with code / by Derek Runberg.
pages cm
Includes index.
Summary: “A project-based guide for beginners that teaches how to use the programming
language Processing. Covers digital artwork and hardware topics including pixel art, photo
editing, video manipulation, 3D design, and using Processing to control an Arduino”--
Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-59327612-6 -- ISBN 1-59327-612-5
1. Processing (Computer program language) 2. Computer art. 3. Digital video. 4. Arduino
(Programmable controller)--Programming. I. SparkFun Electronics. II. Title.
QA76.73.P75.R86 2015
776--dc23
2015024859
No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc. Other
product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Rather
than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in
an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the
trademark.
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution
has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have any
liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or
indirectly by the information contained in it.
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO
THE EDUCATORS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
WHO ARE WORKING DILIGENTLY TO BRING
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ELECTRONICS
TO THE FOREFRONT
OF THEIR CLASSROOM PRACTICE.
About the Author
Derek Runberg is the educational technologist at SparkFun Electronics, a position dedicated to creating
outstanding curriculum for electronics and computer science education. Before joining SparkFun, Derek
was a middle school technology and engineering educator for five years. During this time, he ran a number
of after-school and summer programs on both programmable electronics and Processing. Derek’s time as an
educator has culminated in this book, which takes computer science concepts and breaks them into
digestible chunks that everyone can understand.
Derek documented his work with Processing in the middle school classroom as the author of the website
Processing and Interactivity for Educators.
This website focused on developing curricula for teachers using Processing in the mainstream classroom.
Derek’s Processing activities were focused on getting students to be creative with code, for the sake of
creating.
In his free time, Derek likes to spend time with his two children, Bear and Bridge, and his wife, Zondra.
If you ever run into Derek, he will talk your ear off about either food or technology; choose wisely. He
enjoys the outdoors, writes code when it’s raining, and has been known to do both at the same time!
About Sparkfun Electronics
SparkFun is an online retailer that produces and sells the widgets and parts that end up in a lot of maker
projects, prototypes, and even the International Space Station. Nathan Seidle started the company after
blowing a circuit board in 2003, while he was an undergraduate at Colorado University. At the time, circuit
boards were really hard to get; you had to fax your credit card to another country and hope that you got your
hardware in six to eight weeks. Nathan felt he could do better, and he did. SparkFun.com was born, and it
now sells over 3,000 different parts of all shapes and sizes for your digital electronic needs. From a basic
Arduino to GPS modules, you can find them and all of the documentation you need to get up and running at
SparkFun.
SparkFun’s Department of Education develops curricula and runs professional development programs for
educators of all kinds. The department is at the forefront of a number of computer science and maker
initiatives that are making headway in the classroom. Processing is an everyday tool in the department and
is a foundational part of SparkFun’s professional development workshops around the country. You can learn
more about SparkFun and the Department of Education at https://www.sparkfun.com/ and
https://learn.sparkfun.com/.
About the Technical Reviewer
Andres Colubri is an active contributor to the Processing project, as the main developer of the OpenGL
renderer and the Video library in Processing 2 and 3. He studied physics and mathematics in Argentina and
later received an MFA from UCLA’s Design Media Arts program. He uses Processing as the main tool to
bridge his interests in computer graphics, visualization, and statistical modeling. You can see some of his
work at http://andrescolubri.net/.
Contents
Foreword by Nathan Seidle
Introduction
Project 0: Getting Started with Processing
Project 1: Pixel Art
Project 2: Holiday Card
Project 3: A First Dynamic Sketch
Project 4: Interactive Time-Based Art
Project 5: Enter the Matrix
Project 6: Image Processing with a Collage
Project 7: Playing with Text
Project 8: Two Drawing Programs
Project 9: A Maze Game
Project 10: Manipulating Movies and Capturing Video
Project 11: Audio Processing with Minim
Project 12: Building a Weather Dashboard with JSON Data
Project 13: Using Sensors with Processing and Arduino
Index
Contents in Detail
Foreword by Nathan Seidle
Introduction
Why Start Making with Processing?
Who This Book is For
A Note to Teachers
What’s in this Book
The Processing Community
Online Resources
Project 0
Getting Started with Processing
About Processing
A Programming Language
A Tool for Art and Design
An Open Source Project
Installing Processing
The IDE
A Quick Tour
The Preferences Window
Hello World
Anatomy of a Sketch
A Two-Part Recipe
Syntax
Data Types
Cartesian Coordinate Plane
Project 1
Pixel Art
Gather Your Materials
Drafting Your Pixel Art
Translating Your Sketch into Code
Adding Color
Order Matters
Removing or Modifying Your Outlines
Scaling Your Sketch to Epic Proportions
Taking It Further
Project 2
Holiday Card
Gather Your Materials
Drawing More Shapes!
Ellipses
Lines
Quadrilaterals
Triangles
Programming a Digital Collage
Setting the Stage
Gluing Down the Pieces
Printing to the Console
Taking It Further
Project 3
A First Dynamic Sketch
More on Variables
Anatomy of a Variable
Where to Use a Variable
Math in Processing
Logic
Inside if() Statements
A Refresher on Relational Operators
Logical Operators
Following the Bouncing Ball
Moving in One Direction
Creating Walls
Trails of Color and Multiple Variables
Reusing Code
Manipulating Individual Shapes
Taking It Further
Project 4
Interactive Time-Based Art
Built-In Values
Finding the Mouse and Keypresses
Telling Time
Putting Built-In Values into Action
Extending Your Range
Transformation Functions
An Abstract Clock
Comparing the Major Time Functions
Spicing It Up!
Sharing Your Project!
Taking It Further
Project 5
Enter the Matrix
What is a Matrix?