Playing With Particles
I have recently started playing around with particles in Flash for an upcoming project and thought I might share some of the results I have had with the FLINT particle system. You can click on the examples to move the particles around.
I started by experimenting with the basic behaviours and actions available in FLINT. Combining different actions such attractors, velocity matching, minimum distance, collision and many more allow you to quickly and easily come up with complex particle behaviour and flocking.
I then used some basic filters to create a fluid effect when particles are close to each other, a bit too much like a lava-lamp for what I want, but nice nonetheless! Ultimately I want to create large ‘blobs’ with boundaries that can ripple and respond to collisions in a way that is convincingly fluid-like. I did some quick tests (shown in the video below) to try and achieve this, but the CPU usage is far above what I will have available for this project. Hopefully I can get something similar to this running efficiently enough to work on a Mac Mini. I think I may end up using a combination of what I have here along with an implementation of soft-body physics using vertlet integration, however, that in itself is likely to be rather CPU intensive so I think more research is needed first…
Watch ‘Blob Test’ in HD from birdsigh on Vimeo.
This happened… launches new site.
I’ve been going to the ‘This happened…’ events whenever I am lucky enough to get a ticket and they never fail to amaze and inspire. I was a little disappointed, however, to miss a few very intriguing presentations which were made at the new Utrecht This Happened. Thankfully, no more!
The new version of the This Happened website is now online, with videos of all the previous presentations available to watch. Such as this great talk from Werner Jainek of Cultured Code, on developing ‘Things‘. I look forward to seeing what else is in-store for the site, and hope that slides from more events are made available; I remember particularly enjoying Troika’s presentation (http://www.thishappened.org/talks/troika-london-6/) and the slides they showed on the development and construction of ‘Cloud‘, and would love another chance to look over the sides again.
photo by Mr Andrew Murray
The prototype for ‘Cloud’, which now lives in Terminal 5 Heathrow, is currently on display at the Design Museum on South-bank (http://www.designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2009/brit-insurance-designs-of-the-year)(until 14th June) as part of the Brit Insurance Design Awards 2009, definitely worth checking out (for more info on this exhibition, and many others, check out the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year).
