Algorithmic Art

Summary: In this laboratory, you will continue your exploration of Script-Fu by using more Scheme-like operations to automatically generate art. You will also explore techniques for modifying existing images.

• Exercises
  • Exercise 0: Preparation
  • Exercise 1: Higher-Order Drawing
  • Exercise 2: Your Own Functions
  • Exercise 3: Loading Images
  • Exercise 4: Mapping Images
  • Exercise 5: Your Own Color Transforms

Exercises

Exercise 0: Preparation

a. Start the Gimp.

b. Open the Script-Fu console.

c. Open the Script-Fu procedure reference.

d. Make a copy of art.scm, the sample code for this lab.

e. Load your copy in the Script-Fu console.

Exercise 1: Higher-Order Drawing

We've seen a number of ways in which Scheme can be useful for creating images. But we haven't yet used all the wonders of Scheme. For example, we have yet to take advantage of recursion or higher-order procedures. I've written a simple procedure, (gsfu-create-image width height func), that creates a new image and layer by applying func to every pair of (x,y) values in a new image.

Here's a sample procedure you might use:

(define exercise-one
  (lambda (x y)
    (list
      (mod (+ x y) 256)
      (mod (* y y) 256)
      (mod (trunc (* 1000 (sin x))) 256))))

a. Try to create a small image (say 100 by 100) using gsfu-create-image and exercise-one.

Note that the list returned contains an image id and a layer id. You'll need to show the result using (gimp-display-new image-id).

b. Try to create a somewhat larger image (say 200 by 150) using gsfu-create-image and exercise-one.

c. What, if anything, do you note about the relationship of the two images?

Exercise 2: Your Own Functions

a. Experiment with you own variations of exercise-one. You might try using sin, cos, powers, addition, subtraction, and much much more.

b. See if you can make something that looks circular somewhere in your image. You may want to take advantage of the fact that the distance between two points is the square root of the sum of the squares of the horizontal and vertical distances.

Exercise 3: Loading Images

Things can get even more interesting when you work with an existing graphic. It's fairly easy to load and get information about an existing graphic. You can load an image file with

(define image (gsfu-load-image path))

For example,

(define image (gsfu-load-image "/home/rebelsky/Web/CS151/Images/NorthCampus.jpg"))

(Yes, there are also built-in commands for loading images. Feel free to look for them in the procedure browser. I find mine easier to use.)

Try loading an image of your choice using gsfu-load-image. Note that the list returned contains an image id and a layer id. You'll need to show the result using (gimp-display-new image-id).

Exercise 4: Mapping Images

It is possible to map a function onto an image by getting the color at each point, applying the function, and then setting the color to the result of the function. I've implemented a map for images as

(gsfu-map-image image layer func)

a. Here's a simple procedure that maps a color onto another color.

(define four-a
  (lambda (color)
    (let* ((red (car color))
           (green (cadr color))
           (blue (caddr color)))
      (list green blue red))))

What do you think will happen if you run gsfu-map-image using this procedure?

Verify your results experimentally. Note that it may take a minute or two for the procedure to run. You may want to read ahead while waiting for gsfu-map-image to complete.

b. Here is another simple procedure that maps a color onto another color.

(define four-b
  (lambda (color)
    (let* ((red (car color))
           (green (cadr color))
           (blue (caddr color))
           (tmp (/ (+ red green blue) 3)))
      (list tmp tmp tmp))))

What do you think will happen if you run gsfu-map-image using this procedure?

Verify your results experimentally.

c. Here is a third simple procedure that maps a color onto another color.

(define four-c
  (lambda (color)
    (let* ((fun (lambda (val) (* 32 (trunc (/ val 32)))))
           (red (car color))
           (green (cadr color))
           (blue (caddr color)))
      (list (fun red) (fun green) (fun blue)))))

What do you think will happen if you run gsfu-map-image using this procedure?

Verify your results experimentally.

Exercise 5: Your Own Color Transforms

Write and test a few color transformations of your own. Your transformations should include:

a. One that adds 128 to each color value and then mods by 256.

b. One that makes each new color value depend on a combination of color values in the earlier image.

c. One that uses max in some interesting way.