Unit 1 Lecture/Reading

Review Course Goals, Syllabus and Calendar

Course Goals

In this course, you will learn how to download and install Processing. You will use the Processing API and Integrated Development Environment, and Java to create artistic interactive computer programs. You will learn to paint with procedures. You will investigate color, shape, movement and human-computer interaction. You will investigate modern artists of note and mimic their concepts in order to create new art. You will learn how to create a web page portfolio where your art applications will be available to the public at large to peruse.

Here is the syllabus.

The following are the non-required, recommended text for this course.

Java in Easy Steps by Mark McGrath
Design by Numbers by John Maeda
Maeda @ Media by John Maeda
Creative Code: Aesthetics + Computation by John Maeda
Developing Games in Java by David Brackeen

Here is the Course Calendar.
The summer is 10 weeks long and covers 8 Units.

View the artwork exhibition gallery at www.processing.org  .

Go to www.processing.org and then click on the "Exhibition" link. Click on the links to artwork details.

How would you categorize the art you see there? Does any of the artwork there appeal to you? How would you compare the art there with the art in a modern art museum?

How Processing works with JavaTM, projects, source code files, applications, applets, the web browser, fonts, images and jar files.

Java

NOTE: For this course, you will not need to download a Java version; because, you can download versions of Processing that come bundled with the Java you will need.

The Java Programming language is owned and created by Sun Microsystems. Java is an object oriented programming language. It is a very popular language and is similar to the C++ programming language. Version 1 of Java was released back in 1995. The standard edition of Java is free of cost to use. Java comes in several versions.

The most popular versions of Java to download are:
JRE - Java Runtime Environment
JSE - Java Standard Edition (JDK). Includes the JRE.
JEE - Java Enterprise Edition

You can download the above items from java.sun.com .
The current version of JSE is 5.0 (In the Java world, Java 1.5 and Java 5.0 are the same version.)

If you only install one edition of Java, the instructor recommends that you download and install the JSE. JSE is the edition to begin developing applications in the Java programming language.

When you download Processing from www.processing.org you may have the option to download with or without a Java runtime included with the download.

Processing and Java

The Processing Application Programming Interface (API) sits on top of the Java API. Processing require Java in order to work. The Processing Integrated Development Environment is written in Java and runs in a Java runtime environment.

All the looping and control statements that you will be using in your Processing are straight pure Java.

Processing and Projects

Processing wants you to work a certain way. It wants you to work in projects that Processing calls "sketches". Each sketch is a directory named the same as the sketch name. This directory contains all the files that pertain to that project. The sketch name should not contain dashes but can contain letters, numbers and underscores. If you copy or rename a Processing sketch, you are copying or renaming the sketch directory and all its children files.

Processing and Source Code Files

Processing lends itself to writing your programs in a single source code file. In processing you must have a file with a ".pde" extension. There are a few extra steps you must take if you desire to create a Processing program with more than one source code file. Any source code files you create beyond the first "pde" source code file will have the extension of ".java". The steps to create sketches/projects with more than one source code file will be revealed in a future Unit.

Processing and Applications, Applets and Web Browsers

In Java, an application can run in three modes: as a windowed application, a full screen application or embedded in a web page also called a Java Applet or just "Applet". By default, Processing enables you to export your Processing sketch as an Applet with sample web page or as a windowed application. When you are in the Processing IDE and click run, your sketch appears as a windowed application. If you have the Sun Java Plug-in installed (available at www.java.com), most popular web browsers can display a Java Applet by opening the web page that contains the Java Applet.

Processing and Fonts

There is a setup procedure you must go through to output typography to the screen using fonts in Processing. The procedure will be discussed in a future Unit. For now you should know that you use a menu in the Processing IDE to create a font file. The file will have the extension ".vlw" and will be placed in a directory named "data" under your sketch directory. You will basically always put extra resource files that you want to load in your application in the "data" directory.

Processing and Images

Processing can load and display pre-made images. Processing can load PNG images. In order to load a pre-made graphic image in a Processing enabled application, you must place the image file in a directory named "data" under your sketch directory. If the directory does not exist, you can create it. It is recommended that you name it "data" case sensitive. You will basically always put extra resource files that you want to load in your application in the "data" directory. The procedure will be discussed in a future Unit.

Processing and Jar File Libraries

Jar files are the method that Java has established to package and compress useful code libraries. Jar files can also be used to package and compress resources that your applications can use such as fonts, configuration files, data files and pre-made images.

Processing Pros and Cons

There are pros and cons to using Processing. The pros are that you can get a small artistic program running very quickly on a web page with a minimum of thought and effort. Just install Processing, copy an example program and click a couple of buttons.

The cons are that if you are learning to program for the first time using Processing, there are some things that are being hidden from you such as the Java graphics API, the java.applet.Applet class, the main(String[] args) method, and an application class. If you ever want to program in Java while not using Processing, you will have to overcome these hidden concepts and know how to apply them.

How to Install Processing

How to Run Processing

How to Run An Example in Processing

How to Exit Processing

Assignment #1 (Mandatory): Download and install the Processing software and read the reference manual.

Blogging for publicity, fun, documentation and socializing.
Feel free to create a journal of your adventure using Processing in this class in a blog. You can easily create a blog by creating an acount at blogger.com and making diary entries.

What is Creative Commons?

How many Creative Commons licenses are there? Who founded Creative Commons? Would you ever release a piece of art, image or web site under a Creative Commons license? If there was an art show at a gallery of artwork under a Creative Commons license what would you do?

Artists: Ben Fry, Casey Reas and John Maeda

Go to the web sites for the artists listed above. Try to find artwork completed by them. Can you determine who created the Processing software? How is John Maeda related to the other two artists? Are all the above artists also teachers?

Philosophy: The more I copy, the more original I become.

Are there legal ways to copy other artists? Is copying other artists a good way to learn the practice of art making? Can you think of an artist that at one time produced artwork similar to another artist. Was Pablo Picasso one artist you thought of? Artists like John Singer Sargent copied the painting of other artists. In John Singer Sargent's case, he copied paintings by Velaquez. Roy Lichtenstein cut out panels of comic books, reinterpreted them, changed them a little and painted them on a larger canvas with oil paints. Is that a form of copying?

Creating your own artist publicity and portfolio web site

Crash course in creating web pages with XHTML and CSS

Crash course in using Fireworks to create images with layers.

Assignment #2 (Mandatory): Create the first page of your artist web site and upload it to your web server. This page will state who you are to the world and will eventually list hyperlinks to the assignments and projects you complete in this course.