Example Pure Data patch
Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing. You can download Pd for free from puredata.info. You can also find some tutorials and other info to get you started. Pd is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.
OpenFrameworks is a cross-platform, open-source C++ library for creative coding. It seems to be really catching on in the new media field, and a lot of artists and hackers are now using it. Watch the video I posted here, “Made with openFrameworks” for some examples of how it has and can be used, and some interviews with some people using it.
Basically what openFrameworks (”oF” for short) does is to allow you to easily use graphics, audio and video (generating as well as playing from files) and using stuff like video tracking (using OpenCV) and audio inputs. It is also easy to extend it further using other C++ libraries or using inputs from e.g. an Arduino board.
It is a C++ library which really means you’ll have to know (or learn!) C++ to use it. For me, openFrameworks is what finally made me force myself to learn C++.
openFrameworks is free, really free, and you can get it by signing up at openframeworks.cc. Actually, you don’t have to sign up either, you can just go straight to openframeworks.cc/about - but you really should sign up to the list.
You will need a C++ IDE. You can use Code::Blocks to build your applications, whether you’re on Windows, Mac or Linux. It is free, too! Or you can use XCode (free, on a Mac) or Visual C++ (on Windows, comes in a free version called “Express”) if you prefer.
openFrameworks vs Processing
Recommendations: if you are a total programming newbie and want to try some stuff or to learn to program, I recommend you to start with Processing. If you just want to do some graphic stuff that you want to put online, Processing will do just fine (or consider using Flash). If you already know C++, consider going for openFrameworks. If you want or need really fast applications, you should know that Processing is no way near as fast as openFrameworks.
The buglabs platform consists of a small PC with a peculiar form factor (tripod mounted!) and a number of square addons (camera, GPS, etc) that just snap on to the front and back. Really cool. The pricing at about $300 for the base and $50 to $100 for the modules is not too bad.
Update Nov. 2008: The video clip went offline, now it’s linked to another video.
Stripboards (sometimes called veroboards) are typically used for prototyping electronic circuits. They have little holes, evenly spaced at 0.1 inches (yes, even in Europe - electronic components usually have their pins 1/10″ (0.254 mm) apart.
The image shows the soldering side - usually the back or bottom side. You stick the components in from the other side and solder on this side, and then cut off the pins so they don’t stick out too far.
See also: Yoshi’s DIY stripboard cutter
I was in the electronics lab making a prototype and was just saying how I prefer the stripboards with links, where the solder points are connected in groups of three, rather than in strips that run the full length of the card. Yoshi just reached out his hand, picked something up and waved it triumphantly. “You need this!”
It turned out to be a little tool he made himself. It’s a poor photo I took with my camera - it’s not actually rusty, it just looks like that in photo. He made this from a blade from an jigsaw, using a Dremel tool to cut away all the teeth and make a sharp point at the edge. Using this it’s really easy to cut away the copper from the stripboard.
Processing is an easy-to-learn programming language that is geared towards visual programs. It’s completely free and even completely open source. It is very easy to make simple things and still powerful enough to do some really interesting things. There are lots of examples of what has been done at the Processing.org site. Processing builds to applets (so you can post them live on a web page), or to executable files. And it works for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Download Processing and learn more from http://processing.org