pouët.net

Hello sceners,

I have just embarked myself on a journey to learn to code visual stuff since I work in the visuals scene in Germany/Europe.

My current criteria for success should actually IMHO be quite achievable with some application of myself and time, winter is coming :D

So what I actually want to achieve is to learn how to code for visual output and before someone starts mentioning things like C#, ASM or C++ for that matter I will just state that even though they are all excellent languages for various reasons I have no interest or intention of learning any of them (maybe assembly one day, just for the challenge) for the simple reason that I don't have the time or the need to do so atm.

Formalities and disclaimers aside, wtf do I want then:
Math is beautiful if you know how to express it and I have long been playing with the idea of using algorithms to drive led walls etc. but since I come from a very un-academic background I lack the vocabulary to tell google what I'm looking for, also, I think a lot of people in this scene has done a lot of good leg work in this field and might know exactly which direction to point me in my search for good info.

Looking forwards to hear from you and happy hacking!
-bblinky

so you already know some other programming languages or visual tools i suppose?

Try shadertoy. Watch the examples and see the code how it is done. The code is shaders written in a language called GLSL.
See this intruductory video from shadertoy's maker on how to apply simple math equations to form visual shapes.
It's not that difficult, and you get instant feedback.

along with shadertoy, processing, vvvv, unity or even tooll.io are nice frameworks to start doing some visuals without getting too hardcore into code straight away.

You guys keep suggesting various languages, although he clearly states:


What's left is content tools and video.

You could perhaps use Red Sector DemoMaker. ;)

Unpopular opinion, but if you don't wanna learn a language, maybe look into UE Blueprints?

Bitnaughty? Is that you?

i never thought i'd ever write this, but adok won the thread!

Thanks!

Lookup the plasma effect, should work well on a LED panel.
The mathematical concept of multiplying functions
And sine and cos

The next general purpose concept would be vector fields that you use to move textures. The field itself can be made with an equation of sin and cos combinations.

Basically, trigonometry is behind most visual effects.

So you want advice but are arrogant enough to tell us that you don't need it?

Sod off and come back with proper questions once you've got your feet wet.

You are being too sensitive preacher. I think its bad advice to tell someone to learn yet another language/API/tool when what they actually want to learn is graphics algorithms. Blinky is wise to avoid the black hole of learning too much irrelevant stuff.

Getting swamped in irrelevant stuff can be a problem, but if you are not even willing to learn one thing, then you don't get very far. I also think ShaderToy would be one good thing to look into in this particular case.

We all know that nothing will ever come of this. The OP probably won't even come back.

I would argue that math is rather ugly at its core.

It has non-intuitive foundations; it is full of paradoxes, special cases and pathological objects (especially in geometry). The solutions to even simplest problems might be convoluted and absurdly hard to explain.

Meanwhile, some people (especially engineers with an obssession on "keeping things simple") make very wrong wrong assumptions that there must be some "beautiful ideas and patterns" explaining "everything", but this is essentially a wishful thinking.