How Computer-Generated Animations Were Made, Circa 1964
Interesting computer-made presentation demonstrating the earlier concepts of computer graphics. It is 15 minutes long, silent, and very slow moving, but from a digital literacy perspective, essential watching:
This film explains how the computer scientists and mathematicians at Bell Labs created early computer graphics films, like most (though not all) of these films, made by Bell Labs employees E.E. Zajac, A. Michael Noll, Ken Knowlton, Frank Sinden, and many others.
This film, A Computer Technique For the Production of Animated Movies, from 1964, gives the basics on the process, from Ken Knowlton’s BEFLIX programming language for a raster-scan (bitmap) output, to the hardware details (IBM 7094 mainframe, Stromberg-Carlson 4020 microfilm printer).
Tatiana Plakhova - Music is Math (2010)
This is superb work from a superb design artist. According to Tatiana’s website, she uses a myriad of influences from music to science, and then converts them into data and pattern visualizations via a mix of her own hand and mathematical rendering software.
The results are just stunning. Check out her full collection.
(via utnereader)
Source: likeafieldmouse
Experimental Fluid Abstractions, Right In Your Browser
I’m sorry for giving you all so many addictive toys to play with. We’re never going to get anything done around here.
From Felix Woitzel, we are given a fluid simulation of Turing patterns, for you to create your own liquidacious works of whimsy. Works best in Google Chrome, it looks like.
Previous Productivity Killers: Paint your own nebula, an artistic fluid dynamics simulator, and a firecracker-esque particle/gravity simulator.




