ArtMatic Concepts

Concepts

Structure

Each ArtMatic image is the result of data flowing through the current "structure". You don't need to understand how this works to make full use of ArtMatic though a simple understanding of how this works can be helpful for users that want to increase their control of the image creation process. If you aren't one of those users, you may want to skip ahead to the User Interface section.

ArtMatic "structures" are trees of mathematical functions connected together to form a system. Structures are chosen using the Choose Structure pop-up menu. The system's inputs are simply the points of a two-dimensional plane (actually, a section of a plane), while the final output can be seen as an altitude (or two altitudes, when a 2D function is used at the bottom) above the plane. Pictured above is one of the 18 structures from which you can choose.

How the data flows

The position of each visible point in the plane is fed into the inputs of the function or functions at the top of the structure. The function outputs are used as inputs to the next function or functions and so on down the line. The functions can be thought of simply as black boxes that further modify the image. While there is no need most of the time to understand what each black box does, advanced users will want to choose particular functions to achieve a specific result.

Each box in the structure represents a function. When you click on a box, a pop-up menu appears for you to select a function. Parameter sliders appear at the bottom-right of the page that allow you to modify the function's behavior. These values are altered when you click on the Randomize Parameters tool (the left-hand die).

Functions which have two inputs and two outputs distort space or act like displacement maps while those with several inputs for one output act like scalar or shading functions.

Learning more about functions

To become familiar with the available functions and how they behave, it is a good idea to start with a simple tree, like the first preset. This section explains the following structure:

Click on any function to display its parameter faders. Move a fader back and forth and observe the effect it has on the image. Viewing the picture in black/white mode (by clicking on the gray scale "Explore" tab at the top of the window) can make dimensional changes more apparent.

Rotation, the structure's first function, has one parameter which rotates the picture.

Hexagonal grid has two parameters. The first controls the frequency at which a pattern is repeated: higher frequencies result in more repetitions. Changing this parameter fader makes the picture appear to move closer to or further away from you. The second parameter fader changes altitudes in the picture and works as a contrast control.

Scaling filter Ax+B has two parameters. Parameter A controls scalar altitude changes in the picture, while B is an overall altitude offset.

Sine clut. The last function of every structure is a color shading function. These functions have no parameters.

Exercise: Change the rotation function to the twirl function and experiment with the Twirl's parameters.

ArtMatic tip: The whole system can be viewed as a scalar surface function of the type F(x,y)=z.

Click here to continue.