The method of assessment for this unit will be a combination of a
number of assignments, a major project and a number of small quizzes
held in class.
The unit will be assessed primarily through coursework that students
produce during the semester.
There will be two assignments during the first half of the semester.
In total the assignments are worth 50% of the final mark for the unit.
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Assignment 1 (Deadline: Monday 6 April)
Static Variations —
Develop a sketch that draws a static image.
(
brief
/
results)
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Information
The goal of the assignment is to create a sketch that can
generate variations upon a design each time it is run. You
should use the random() function to generate
random numbers and use these random numbers to alter the
output of your sketch each time you run it.
The static image should be created using only the drawing
commands available through the Processing environment. No
images should be loaded from external files. The assignment
should include a design document, a final sketch and a series
of experimental sketches that show a process of exploration.
Comments
For those of you with some background in programming.
You are limited to using only those language features that
we have covered in class up, i.e., statements,
variables, arrays, conditionals, and loops. It is part of
the challenge to develop your generative sketch within these
constraints.
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Assignment 2
(Extended Deadline: Thursday 7 May)
Animated Explorations —
Develop a animated sketch.
(
brief)
-
Information
The animation should be created using only the drawing
commands available through the Processing environment.
Images can be loaded from external files, but movies cannot.
The assignment should include a design document, a final
sketch and a series of experimental sketches that show a
process of exploration.
Resources
The following are some example sketches that you can take apart
to find out how they create different types of animations.
Image Transformation
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This is the sketch I wrote in the tutorial last week. It
demonstrates how to transform an image using rotate()
and scale(). It also shows how to simply produce a
trail by replacing the normal call to background()
with the drawing of a semi-transparent rectangle using
fill(0, 4) and rect(0, 0, width, height).
Try changing the opacity of the fill to see how it affects the
length of the trail. This technique can be useful, even if you
don't want it in your final sketch, because you can use it to
debug your animation.
Linear Image
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The LinearImage example sketch that comes with Processing
is more complicated than it needs to be. So I've created
a simpler version that uses copy() instead of playing with
pixels:
SimpleLinearImage.
This version also removes the code for handling mouse and
key presses, just to make things as simple as possible.
Bouncing Ball
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The following sketches build on the animations that you've been
creating in the labs. The first creates a simple ball that bounces
around the display window. The second adds some physical forces
to make things a little more complex.
Timed Animation
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The following sketch illustrates how you can create timed
animations using functions. The sketch using a function called
drawCircles() to draw an animated sequence only
when the current frame falls into the range when it is told to
draw itself, i.e., between startFrame and
startFrame + numFrames. Also notice how
randomSeed() can be used to give the same
sequence of numbers for every frame, allowing randomly placed
elements to be produced that stay in the same location between
frames, try taking out this line to see what you would get without it!
Final Project
In the second half of the semester students will work on a single project.
The project is worth 40% of the final mark for the unit.
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Final Project (Deadline: Friday 12 June)
Toys & Games
Develop a simple toy, game or puzzle in Processing.
(
brief)
-
Information
The aim of the assignment is to develop an interactive
sketch that is fun to play (or play with).
The sketch can make use of whatever external files are wanted,
e.g., images, sounds, etc.
The assignment submission should include a design document,
a final sketch and a series of experimental sketches that
show a process of exploration.
Comments
The ContinuousLines example sketch that comes with
Processing shows how simple a drawing tool can be. This might be
considered a basic example of a toy and might form the basis of
your own sketch—although I'm sure you can all make something
much more fun now!
Submission (via the Dropbox)
You should submit your assignment via the DECO1012 dropbox that has been set up on the faculty's servers for this unit of study. To submit your work, use one of the Windows machines in the labs. First, create a folder that is named the same as your login username. Put all the files you want to submit in this folder (this should include your documentation and your experimental and final Processing sketches). In Windows Explorer open \\DROPBOX\Dropboxes\, enter your username and password if required. Open the DECO1012 folder. Drag your submission folder onto the folder called "Project".
If you make a mistake, you should resubmit. You will not be able to delete or overwrite your original submission, so you should add a number to the end to indicate that it is a later submission, e.g., if you submit a second version of your sketch add "_2" to the end of your submission folder's name. For example, if your username were "abcd1234", your first submission would be in a folder called "abcd1234". If you wanted to resubmit your assignment, you would call the folder for the second submission "abcd1234_2".
Resources
Here is some example code that you may find useful as techniques
for implementing your final project. In these examples I've used
classes and subclasses to organise the code as much as possible.
- Shapes
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A simple example of a superclass and two subclasses that implement
shapes. This is the code that I wrote in the lecture on May 26.
- SceneGraphObject
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A more complex (and more useful) superclass and two example subclasses
that implement something called a scenegraph. A scenegraph is a way
of organising objects in parent-child relationships so that when an
object is rotated, translated or scaled, all of it's children are also
transformed.
- DraggableObject
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An example of implementing an object that can be picked up and dragged
around with the mouse.
- CollisionObject
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An example of implementing an object that uses a simple bounding circle to
test whether it has collided with other objects and the edges of the screen.
- GameStates
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An example of how to implement different "screens" in a single sketch using
the idea of a "state machine". The sketch maintains a current state, which
can be one of a limited number, and the different parts of the code will
do different things depending on the current state, including switching to
another state when something happens, e.g., when a key is pressed.
Attendance and Engagement
Students are expected to attend all lectures and labs. Proof of completing
the lab exercises is worth 10% of the marks for the unit.