March 29, 2004
Flash Sound Object
I came across this little tutorial that expands upon the sound object tutoiral that Jordan presented last week. The site looks like it contains a number of other useful Flash tutorials.
Spring Break!
Just a reminder that there is no class this week. We will be available on the forums if you have questions.
See you in Cancun!!! (yea..)
March 27, 2004
Reiner Strasser: The Virtual Affair
Intimate Flash sketches and collaborations:
The Virtual Affair
in the white darkness
March 24, 2004
Project 4 Assignment Posted!
The Project 4 Assignment: Hypermedia For an Audience of One has been posted. You can download an MS Word doc here or view it in the Project section
March 23, 2004
Spotlight: Teel Lassiter
I will be posting selected student works from the class where file size is not an issue. This one is from Teel. (It's 1.2 mb so it will take a minute or so to load if you are on a dialup connection). It's a lovely piece, with a rich layering of imagery and association. Definitely worth a look.
March 20, 2004
Spotlight: Adrian Ward
Adrian Ward is a software artist exploring areas related to Generative art.
Music Pond (mac only) is a lovely sound toy using simple rules and interactivity to generate complex audio and visual experiences.
His site contains links to many other projects, along with a paper he wrote on the authorship of generative art.
For links to many other Generative art projects, take a look at the site generative.net
March 19, 2004
Sue's Color Picker Example
Here is the source code for the color picker example Sue showed last night.
Colorpicker
March 18, 2004
Loop + Havok
Some links from last night:
Loop Game and the game developers: Gamelab
Some general information on mouse gestures as an input method:
news.com article
SILK (Sketching Interfaces Like Krazy) research project
Nicolas Clauss: Flying Puppet- some wonderful Director Examples and interview with the artist
Havok Physics: Havok
March 16, 2004
New Media Artist Spotlight: Josh Nimoy
Josh Nimoy is an artist/programmer who uses Director as a tool for investigating interactivty and design. His work is worth checking out for its playfulness and depth of engagement in exploring simple ideas that result in a rich "user" experience.
Big Red & Shiny
---from a post by iKatun:
Check out the article by kanarinka about new media in Boston in this month's issue of Big RED
& Shiny.
"New Media is Mediumly Old: Surveying the Boston New Media Scene with turbulence.org"
Check out the other articles, news and reviews while you are there - Big RED & Shiny is an excellent new resource for Boston-related art news & discussion.
---------
More About Big RED & Shiny: Big RED & Shiny seeks to be a forum for criticism, discussion and promotion of the Boston arts scene. To this end we will provide reviews of exhibitions and events, articles examining the larger scope of Boston arts, and news that is up-to-the-minute and helpful to Boston artists and those interested in the arts.
Big RED & Shiny also seeks to be a home for discussion, debate and commentary on the state of the arts in Boston, and invites our audience to participate in these discussions. Further, we encourage arts institutions, curators, and patrons to communicate with the artists of Boston, in hopes of helping the arts of this city to grow and evolve in exciting and innovative ways.
March 12, 2004
ActionScript Tutorials
So here are some ActionScript tutorials from Macromedia. Feel the love...
http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/action_scripts/event_methods/
http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/action_scripts/basic_actionscript/
March 11, 2004
The Ghost of Bob.. um.. Jacob Marley
A bit of underdone potato? More likely the wrap I had for lunch. Ugh. Sorry to miss class and thanks to Sue & Jordan for taking over.
Some class business:
Project 3: Interface I haven't had many questions on this- is everyone clear on the assignment and working away - or completely baffled and in denial? It is due March 24th.
Forum We need to make the server that is hosting the forum work harder- it is getting fat and watching soaps. To that end we will be posting tips and techniques on a regular basis along with fielding questions. A fast way to see what is new in the forum is to click the link on the right side "view post since last visit" - this will show you...all the posts since your last visit.
Spring Does anyone know who at Harvard is controlling it this year?
March 09, 2004
N - Cool Flash Game
This is one of the best Flash games I have seen in terms of performance and gameplay. The graphics are minimal so it totally depends on the interactivity and feel for its success. You can download a Mac or PC projector here: MetaNet
Net_Art_Review
Many links to net art sites, projects and artists: Net_Art_Review
March 08, 2004
Spaulding Gray
So it looks like Spaulding Gray has been confirmed dead. Not a surprise since he has been missing for over a month but sad nonetheless. He was a very good and unique performance artist/writer.
March 03, 2004
Scripting Followup
Note: .zip versions added below
Here are the source files for the example used in class tonight. I hope everyone will take a look at it and play with changing or adding features - like sound, rotation, changing cast members/movie clips when a collision occurs, etc. Tweaking code to see how it works and adding your own elements is one of the best ways (only ways?) to learn this stuff.
As always, attend the lab sections and post to the forum with your questions. If we don't know where you are getting stuck, we can't help.
Flash Source- .sit
Flash Source- .zip
Director Source- .sit
Director Source- .zip
Here are some links to the Director based courses I have taught the last few years. There are lots of example files and links to learning resources.
Intermediate Multimedia Development
Advanced Multimedia Development
Programming II
Tonight will be a work session to make sure that everyone has a basic understanding of how to plan, write and debug custom code (compared to using pre-existing behaviors or the code editors). Here is the example we will be building:
March 02, 2004
Hackers and Painters
Here is an interesting article by Paul Graham entitled Hackers and Painter. It meanders a bit but I think it is well worth skimming for his perspective on programming.
Realizing this has real implications for software design. It means that a programming language should, above all, be malleable. A programming language is for thinking of programs, not for expressing programs you've already thought of. It should be a pencil, not a pen. Static typing would be a fine idea if people actually did write programs the way they taught me to in college. But that's not how any of the hackers I know write programs. We need a language that lets us scribble and smudge and smear, not a language where you have to sit with a teacup of types balanced on your knee and make polite conversation with a strict old aunt of a compiler.
(Oh - yes, I have broken this site again - smudged it - but it's still mostly functional. I'll fix it soon)
March 01, 2004
Press Here to Control the Universe
More Interface....
from the New York Times
Press Here to Control the Universe
Pedestrians who dutifully pressed those buttons to get a walk signal at busy New York intersections have to be miffed. It turns out the buttons usually won't give them the green light any sooner. The buttons — 3,250 of them — became obsolete with computer-controlled traffic lights. According to the city, fewer than 20 percent are still wired to do the job. The rest are props, teasing the hurried and law-abiding to believe they have some control.
Truth is, any button that promises a response controls people. It gets them when they are needy. Open a garage door, operate a microwave oven, turn on the TV — all done by pressing buttons. Generations since the 1950's have been trained for life at the touch of a button. Boot up a computer, make a doll talk, brew coffee — all impossible without pushing away. In a high-rise, there are buttons to contend with on the elevator, plus the fact that someone is always running to catch it just when the doors are shutting. A character test: Do you hit the button marked "close door" or "open door"?
An unofficial sampling shows that the "close door" button is usually all but worn away, while its open-door twin is pristine, though it works if anyone chooses to use it. Clearly, not many do. The close-door button might as well have a happy face on it and squirt water at your eye. The doors will close when they are good and ready. People press away anyway, futilely, believing that insistence gets results. Or maybe they enjoy that sense of power that pressing seems to impart.
Not so long ago the most powerful person in America was referred to as "the man with a finger on the button." With the end of the cold war, that changed. The thought of men and buttons now only stirs up dread when it involves a remote control. And that is easily remedied by hiding the AA batteries and blaming technology.