Book Image

Mapping and Visualization with SuperCollider

By : Marinos Koutsomichalis
Book Image

Mapping and Visualization with SuperCollider

By: Marinos Koutsomichalis

Overview of this book

SuperCollider is an environment and programming language used by musicians, scientists, and artists who work with audio-files SuperCollider has built-in graphical features which are used in conjunction with the sound synthesis server to create audio-visual mapping and sound visualization. If you wish to create data visualizations by acquiring data from audio and visual sources, then this book is for you.Digital sound artists need to analyze, manipulate, map, and visualize data when working on a scientific or an artistic project. As an artist, this book, by means of its numerous code examples will provide you with the necessary knowledge of SuperCollider's practical applications, so that you can extract meaningful information from audio-files and master its visualization techniques. This book will help you to prototype and implement sophisticated visualizers, sonifiers, and complex mappings of your data.This book takes a closer look at SuperCollider features such as plotting and metering functionality to dispel the mysterious aura surrounding the more advanced mappings and animation strategies. This book also takes you through a number of examples that help you to create intelligent mapping and visualization systems. Throughout the course of the book, you will synthesize and optimize waveforms and spectra for scoping as well as extract information from an audio signal. The later sections of the book focus on advanced topics such as emulating physical forces, designing kinematic structures, and using neural networks to enable you to develop a visualization that has a natural motion with structures that respect anatomy and which come with an intelligent encoding mechanism. This book will teach you everything you need to work with intelligent audio-visual systems to extract and visualize audio-visual data.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Chapter 4. Vector Graphics

So far, we have elaborated on how to scope, plot, and meter signals and data as well as on how to create good-looking, (in any subjective way) ready-to-scope audio signals. In this chapter, we will introduce ourselves with two-dimensional vector graphics, and we will learn how to use the Pen class to generate shapes of arbitrary complexity as well as more sophisticated structures such as fractals and particle systems. It has to be said that while SuperCollider is arguably less featured than other dedicated computer graphics environments, such as the various OpenGL-based frameworks, it is nevertheless powerful enough and a lot easier to master; more importantly, it is also bundled with one of the most advanced audio synthesis engines on the planet, thereby, simplifying the task of integrating Computer-generated Imagery (CGI) with computer-generated audio.

The topics that will be covered in this chapter are as follows:

  • Learning the vector graphics fundamentals

  • Drawing...