Multimedia Programming with Pure Data

A comprehensive guide for digital artists for creating rich interactive multimedia applications using Pure Data

Overview

• Carefully organized topics for interactive multimedia professional practice
• Detailed reference to a large collection of resources in the open source communities to enhance the Pure Data software.
• Visual explanation and step-by-step tutorials with practical and creative multimedia applications.

In Detail

Preparing interactive displays, creating computer games, and conducting audio-visual performance are now achievable without typing lines of code. With Pure Data, a graphical programming environment, creating interactive multimedia applications is just visually connecting graphical icons together. It is straightforward, intuitive, and effective.

"Multimedia Programming with Pure Data" will show you how to create interactive multimedia applications. You will learn how to author various digital media, such as images, animations, audio, and videos together to form a coherent title. From simple to sophisticated interaction techniques, you will learn to apply these techniques in your practical multimedia projects.

You start from making 2D and 3D computer graphics and proceed to animation, multimedia presentation, interface design, and more sophisticated computer vision applications with interactivity. With Pure Data and GEM, you will learn to produce animations with 2D digital imagery, 3D modelling, and particle systems. You can also design graphical interfaces, and use live video for motion tracking applications. Furthermore, you will learn Audio signal processing, which forms the key aspect to multimedia content creation. Last but not least, Network programming using Pure Data extension libraries explores applications to other portable devices.

What you will learn from this book

• Prepare computer animations with 2D images, 3D modelling, and geometric transformation.
• Produce imageries with digital image processing techniques.
• Design graphical interfaces for audio-visual performance.
• Develop motion detection and tracking applications.
• Generate interactive animation with particle systems.
• Synthesize audio content for interactive applications.
• Connect Pure Data applications with external devices.
• Extend Pure Data with external libraries for advanced interactive applications.

Approach

A quick and comprehensive tutorial book for media designers to jump-start interactive multimedia production with computer graphics, digital audio, digital video, and interactivity, using the Pure Data graphical programming environment.

Who this book is written for

An introductory book on multimedia programming for media artists/designers who like to work on interactivity in their projects, digital art/design students who like to learn the first multimedia programming technique, and audio-visual performers who like to customize their performance sets.

Bryan WC Chung

Bryan WC Chung is an interactive media artist and design consultant based in Hong Kong. His interactive media artworks have been exhibited at the World Wide Video Festival, Multimedia Art Asia Pacific, Stuttgart Film Winter Festival, Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, and the China Media Art Festival. In the former Shanghai Expo 2010, he provided interactive media design consultancy to industry leaders in Hong Kong and China. Chung received a computer science bachelor degree in Hong Kong, an interactive multimedia master degree in London, and a fine art doctoral degree in Melbourne. He has been developing software libraries for the open source programming language—Processing. Currently, he is Assistant Professor in the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, where he teaches subjects on interactive arts, computer graphics and multimedia design. His personal website is: http://www.magicandlove.com.