This section describes ArtMatic's tools and menus.

Click on a section title to go directly to that section: Modes/Tabs, Tools, Menu commands

Tips Display
You will notice that there is a Tips display located at the bottom right of the ArtMatic window. If you move the mouse over a button or tool, the tool's name or other helpful tip will be displayed.

Modes/Tabs


ArtMatic has four basic 'modes' which determine what sort of art it generates, whether black and white images, tiled color images, color images, or sounds. At the top of the ArtMatic window are tabs which let you choose ArtMatic's mode. The tabs are:

• Explore (black and white): The current picture is displayed in gray scale. No color shading takes place. This is a good way to see the actual surface of the system clearly. Low altitudes are represented by black and higher altitudes by white. This mode is well suited for exporting elevation data to Bryce or for creating alpha channels in Photoshop.
  This example shows a cone shape in black/white explore mode.
  
  
• Tiles : The current picture is displayed as a symmetrical tiled pattern that repeats horizontally and vertically. This is useful for creating patterns to be used for the Macintosh desktop or as Web page backgrounds.
  
  
• Explore (color):
  This is ArtMatic's default mode. In this mode, instead of using a range of grays from black to white to depict altitude, the surface is shaded using a color gradient, which can be chosen from a pop-up list, edited manually, or modified using the randomize colors tool. Several color shading functions are available. Though most of the time this algorithm will be chosen randomly, you can select a specific one by clicking on the color function box icon which appears as the last stage of all structures.
  
  The available color shading functions are:
  
  
  Note: In ArtMatic, the height or depth of a surface is unbounded and may exceed the color gradient range. When this happens, the colors wrap around using the cyclic clut or, in ceiled mode, clip to the last available color (black in our example).
  
  The following examples show the following gradient ("color lookup table" or "clut" for short) applied to the previous black/white example.
  
  
  
  
  • Cyclic clut: In this mode, the surface shades wrap around cyclically.
    
    
    
  • Ceiled clut: Points outside the maximum and minimum altitudes are mapped to the first and last colors of the gradient.
    
    
    
  • Logarithmic clut: Higher altitudes converge logarithmically to the maximum.
    
    
    
  • Procedural A,B, and C: Blend the results of several of the tree's last functions.
    
    
    
• Sound: In this mode, the system will play a sound when the parameters are animated. To generate sound, ArtMatic circles along a picture's surface at 440 cycles per second in the default centered view. The hills and valleys of the surface define a waveform that evolves continuously as the picture's parameters change. The evolving sound can provide interesting source material for MetaSynth.
  
  Sound mode's user interface differs slightly from the other modes'. Two new buttons appear on the left side. One allows you to hear the sound; the other saves the sound as a Sound Designer II file, MetaSynth's default file format. Note:The zoom commands affect the pitch of the sound as does the Tuning Key preference.
  
  Sound algorithms
  
  In this mode, the final function of the ArtMatic structure is the sound generation algorithm.
  
  • Drone: a direct translation of the picture into sound.
    
    
  • Rhythmic: a drone processed with a pulse. The rate of this pulse is the bpm specified in the Preferences window. Clicking on the small dice will randomize the rate of this pulse.
    
    
  • FM drones: drones modulated with sounds based on intermediate functions in the structure. The effect is polyphonic.
    
    
  • Sequencer: loops a short sequence of notes which can be randomized by clicking on the small randomize die.
    
    
  • Sine drones: the system surface modulates the pitch of a sine wave whose frequency is specified by the tuning key in the Preferences window.

TOOLS

Left side tools

• Open Structure (Command-O)
  Allows you to open a previously saved ArtMatic file. Clicking on this button is equivalent to using the File->Open menu command. The structure of the system; the color gradient; the current parameters; and, if recorded, the parameter sets 1 and 2 are all part of an ArtMatic file. You cannot open images saved as pictures with this command.
  
  
• Save Structure As
  Allows you to save a structure, along with its current parameter values and color gradient to a new ArtMatic file. Clicking on this button is equivalent to using the File->Save As menu command. To save into the currently open file, use the menu command File->Save.
  
  
• The following are available in the Explore (Black/White), Explore (Color), and Tiles modes:
  
  
  • Full Screen View
    Render the picture in full screen with anti-aliasing. Clicking anywhere on the screen will return you to normal viewing mode.
    
    Shortcut: Pressing 'p' (without the command key) is equivalent to pressing this button.
    
    
  • QuickTime Movie Export
    ArtMatic can generate a QuickTime movie from the current system. Each frame of the movie is an anti-aliased image. Currently, no image compression is performed. So, the movies generated can be quite large. See the Tips page for more information about creating movies with ArtMatic.
    
    
    
    Format
    This is the screen size of the exported movie. Larger movies are difficult for QuickTime Movie players to handle and may appear choppy when played back. Larger frames also take up more disk space. Click on the Format popup menu to display a list of frequently used formats.
    
    
    fps (frames per second)
    This is the number of still frames that will be played back in one second. The larger this value is, the more processor-intensive playback is and the larger the resulting file will be. Values of 12-15 generally give very nice results.
    
    Duration in M S F (minutes, seconds, frames)
    Total frames
    Changing the value in "Duration in MSF" will change the value in "Total frames" and vice-versa; they are two ways of looking at the overall time of the movie. The ratio between the two values is specified in Animation Delta Time in Edit->Preferences.
    
    Animate Options
    This determines the method ArtMatic uses to create the animation. Excerpts from the movie are displayed at the top of the dialog box. The first and last frames are shown at the beginning and end of the preview.
    
    
    • using Random Path
      This animation uses the Random Path start time as a beginning point for the animation. The rest of the animation is created by changing parameter values according to the Random Path. The Start Time parameter allows you to enter a start time other than 0.
      
      
    • using linear interpolation
      Parameter Sets 1 and 2 are used as the start and end points of this animation. If the two sets have not been recorded, ArtMatic will randomly choose them.
      
      
    • using circle interpolation
      This animation is a linear interpolation that starts and ends with the same frame. This is ideal for seamless looped playback.
      

Set Compression
Clicking this button invokes the standard QuickTime compression dialog. This allows you to generate a movie that is compressed. The Sorenson option (available to users with QuickTime Pro) can yield space savings of 90% in some cases. In most cases, there is some loss of detail to the resulting animation. But this is often compensated for by the enormous space savings. You may want to experiment with a short animation first to see which options yield the best results.

Preview
Clicking this button generates a preview of the animation that will be exported. It does not preview the compression artifacts but gives a correct idea of the real speed of the motions.

Sound Track
Clicking on this pop-up menu lets you choose an input sound to use as the animation soundtrack and, optionally, as the source of the animation. The options are:

• No soundtrack
  
• Use ArtMatic Sound - Generates the sound that would have been generated in Sound mode and uses that sound as the movie's soundtrack.
  
• Use Sound File - Prompts you for a Sound Designer II format file to include as the movie's soundtrack.
  
• Animate Sound - Prompts you for a Sound Designer II format file to include as the movie's soundtrack and uses that sound file to create the animation according to the rules described for Audio Input.
  
  

• The following tools are available at the left side only in Sound mode:
  
  • Play Sound (Full screen)
    Plays the sound associated with the system while it evolves along either the random path or the linear interpolation from set 1 to set 2. This button is meant to be used for live performance or presentation as it hides the underlying user interface. See "Modes" for more details.
    
    
  • Save Sound
    Saves the sound as a Sound Designer II file. When you click on this button, a dialog box will appear, allowing you to specify a name for the file. Clicking on the Save button will close the dialog box and begin playing the sound. The sound you are hearing is being recorded to disk. Clicking anywhere on the screen will terminate the current sound playback and recording.
    
    
• Audio-In Control
  Clicking this control animates the picture using the sound coming from the Macintosh's sound input device.
  
  To stop the animation, click anywhere or press the space bar of your keyboard.
  
  All parameters are driven by real-time FFT analysis of the sound input. The analysis is simplified to 18 frequency ranges that are mapped to the current system's parameters. This feature requires a fairly fast processor to work well.
  
  The standard Mac "sound" control panel or the Sound control strip is used used to select the sound source. If you use the Mac's built-in mic, you can have your voice or background music drive the picture. Or, you can choose the Mac's CD drive, insert and play a CD and have the music "animate" all parameters. The overall sensitivity to the sound input can be modified in the preferences dialog. Some structures will work best with low input sensitivity while others may require greater sensitivity.
  
  The synchronicity of sound and animation through the Audio-In Control is remarkable on a fast machine. Any ArtMatic picture can be animated with sound input, resulting in vastly different and often delightfully curious interpretations of the sound source.

Top tool set

• 
  Copies the 512*512 picture preview area to the clipboard. For a larger anti-aliased version, save to disk using "save pict".
  
  
• 
  Computes and saves to disk an anti-aliased high-resolution version of the current image. You can specify the size at which a picture will be saved in the Preferences window. The options are: low resolution (512*512), medium resolution (1024*1024), or high resolution (2048*2048). Note: to save large pictures an appropriately large amount of memory must be assigned to ArtMatic.
  
  
• 
  Returns the picture to default viewing position, centered around zero. The default centered view ranges from -Pi, Pi in both the x and y axes. Zooming in and out or moving sideways by clicking and dragging in the picture preview will change the view range.
  
  
• Edit Gradation
  This dialog box is displayed when you click on the Edit Gradation button. Here you can modify various aspects of the current gradation or draw arbitrary, new Red/Green/Blue curves.
  
  
• Set Colors
  Clicking in the gradient rectangle lets you pick the color used for any individual slot of the gradient. If you need to edit the current gradation globally, you can use the Edit Gradations window (see above).
  
  
• Choose Colors
  Selects a gradation from a preset list. By selecting "Store Gradation," you can add the current gradation to the list. You can remove a gradation from the list by selecting it while holding down the option key.
  

Right Side tools

• Choose Structure
  This button allows you to choose a tree structure from ArtMatic's list. In general, the fewer components there are, the more quickly the system can be rendered. On the other hand, larger structures offer a richer array of images.
  Example of a structure
  
  The picture above is one of the 18 types of structures from which you can choose. Each box in the picture represents a mathematical function. By clicking on a box, you can select a function for that box. All functions of the tree define a multidimensional parameter space (10 to 30 parameters) that you can easily explore and animate using the play or randomize buttons.
  
  
• Randomize Parameters
  Clicking on this button will slightly mutate the current structure's parameter values.
  
  
• Randomize All ('r')
  
  This is ArtMatic's most important feature! Clicking on this button randomly chooses a new value for each parameter, a different function for each component of the current structure, and new color gradient for the picture.
  
  Shortcut: Pressing the 'r' key (without the command key) is equivalent to pressing this button.
  
  
• Randomize Colors
  Clicking on this button slightly mutates the colors in the picture.
  
  
• Parameter Faders (Sliders)
  
  When you click on a function box in the structure (any except for the final output box), parameter faders will appear below the structure display. 1 - 3 faders appear depending on the type of function. The Random Path controls enable you to change all the parameters of all functions at once.
  
  The parameters themselves are simply labeled A,B, and C. What they control depends on the nature of the selected function. For example, a simple rotation would have A controlling the angle of rotation. A Sine function may have parameters for amplitude, phase and frequency.
  

Bottom tool set

Buttons are listed in order of appearance from left to right.

• Zoom Out
  Moves the picture away from you. Zooming is continuous while you press the button. Pressing the "-" or "/' " keys will zoom out by 50%. In ArtMatic, the picture is always recomputed from the system equations. The resolution does not have a limit, and you can zoom continuously. Clicking and dragging in the picture preview area allows you to offset the current view as well.
  
  Shortcut: Command-option click and hold in the image display zooms the image out.
  
  Note: In Sound mode, the Zoom tools affect the sound output's pitch. To return to the key specified in the Preferences window, click on the Center View button at the top of the user interface. To move up by one octave, click on the "-" or "/ " key, and to move down by one octave, the "+" or "*" key.
  
  
• Zoom In
  Moves the picture closer to you. Zooming is continuous while you press the button. Pressing the "+" or "*" keys will zoom in by 200%.
  
  Shortcut: Command click (and hold) in the image display zooms the image in.
  
• Zoom slider
  Click and drag over this button to gradually move the picture closer to or further away from you.
  
  
• Color Hues
  Click and drag over this button to gradually change the colors in the picture. By clicking and dragging with the option key down, you can modify the color saturation.
  
• Color Contrast
  Click and drag over this button to gradually change the picture's contrast. By clicking and dragging with the option key down, you can blur the whole gradient.
  
  
• Record Parameter Set 1
  Records the current parameter settings as Set 1 (start position). To restore the settings to this parameter set, option-click the button. A second parameter set can be recorded with the Record Parameter Set 2 button (see below).
  
  
• Animate Parameter Sets
  Plays an animation which moves from Parameter Set 1 (start position) to Parameter Set 2 (end position). All parameters are then linearly interpolated.
  
  To stop the animation, click anywhere or press the space bar of your keyboard.
  
  ArtMatic Tip: The resulting trajectory is simply a line in the N dimensional parameter space from position A (set 1) to position B (set 2).
  
  
• Interpolate Parameter Sets
  Clicking and dragging on this button allows you to scroll forwards and backwards through the animation from Parameter Set 1 to 2.
  
  
• Record Parameter Set 2
  Records the current parameter settings as Set 2 (end position). To restore the settings to this parameter set, option-click the button.
  
  
  
• Random Path Animation
  Plays an animation in which all parameter values change according to a random path. The speed at which they change can be modified in the Preferences window with the "Animation Delta Time" field. The larger the value, the slower the movement along the curve, as "delta" here is the rate of change of the parameters.
  
  Shortcut: To start the animation, press the space bar of your keyboard.
  
  To stop the animation, click anywhere or press the space bar of your keyboard. Pressing the space bar is equivalent to pressing the Pause button (see below).
  
  Note that the Random Path Time is displayed as the animation plays.
  
  ArtMatic Tip: The random Path is a parametric random curve in the N dimensional parameter space path (t)=VP, VP being a point in the N parameter space and "t" being the Random Path time ranging from 0-200.
  
  
• Random Path Scroll
  Clicking and dragging on this button allows you to gradually move forwards and backwards along the random path to find a starting point for the random path animation. All parameters of the system will be changed simultaneously. It is a fast way to find interesting locations and explore all the graphic possibilities of a system. Parameters are changed relatively fast (0.5 steps along the path). To move in smaller increments, you can press the option key while you click and drag on the scroll icon.
  
  ArtMatic Tip: The Mutation dialog, introduced in 1.1, gives an alternate and powerfull way to further explore possibilities.
  
  
• Stop
  Stops the animation and resets the Random Path time to zero.
  
  
• Pause
  Pauses the animation, keeping the current value of the path time. To continue, press the spacebar or the Random Path Animation button.
  
  
• Random Path Time
  Displays the current location (in "parameter time") along the random path. You can click on this display and type in a start position. Using the Random Path scroll to travel along the curve will modify the current Random Path Time.

Menu Commands

File Menu

• New
  Opens a new window and displays the default system.
  
  
• Open (command-O)
  Opens a saved ArtMatic file. Also see .
  
  Tip: ArtMatic comes with a wide array of example files. Open these files to explore the myriad possibilities. Most of these files have also had interesting locations saved in parameter sets 1 and 2. So don't forget to option-click the buttons to visit the stored locations.
  
  
• Close (command-W)
  Closes the current window.
  
  
• Save (command-S)
  Saves an ArtMatic file. Also see .
  
  
• Save As
  Saves the current file under a different name.
  
  
• Export Movie
  Exports a QuickTime animation derived from the current system. This is the same as clicking in the left hand tool bar. Click here to read more about this feature.
  
  
• Quit (Command-Q)
  Quits the program. This feature is seldom used as quitting is the most difficult task when using ArtMatic.
  

Edit Menu

• Undo
  Reverses the last change you've made.
  
• Preferences
  
  
  • Animation delta time
    Controls how fast an animation moves along the random path, or from Set 1 to Set 2. The smaller the delta time, the faster the animation will be.
    
    
  • Pict size
    The resolution/dimension (in pixels) used when the Save Pict button is pressed.
    
    
  • Sound Preferences
    These settings apply to Sound mode and affect the way that an animation is translated into sound (see Sound).
    
    • Tempo (in bpm or sample per pixel) The tempo is used when sequence or rhythmic modes are chosen. The option to set tempo in samples per pixel is handy for generating a sequence to be synchronized with MetaSynth.
      
    • Tuning key: This will be the reference pitch when the view is centered.
      
    • Sound In sensitivity (in percent) - this setting determines how responsive the animation is to the sound input when Audio In control is used.
      
      
• Mutations (command-m)

This is one of ArtMatic's most powerful tools for exploration. When you choose this menu item, the Mutations dialog box appears. At the upper-left of the dialog box is the image that appears on ArtMatic's canvas. This is the "parent" image. 30 thumbnail images, which are mutations of the parent image, are displayed. Clicking on a thumbnail makes it the new parent and generates a new series of mutations. Note that you may click on the "parent" itself to generate another series using the same "genes".
Clicking the OK icon button (the check mark icon) sets the ArtMatic canvas to the parent image. Mutations are generated by randomly shuffling the parameters of the current structure.

 

• Mutation Rate
  This slider changes the rate or degree of mutation. At the maximum value (the rightmost setting), the mutations can vary quite radically. At the minimum value, the mutations are more subtle.
  
  
• Record to set 1
  Clicking this button will record the current parent image parameters to parameter set 1. To learn more about parameter sets, click here.
  
  
• Record to set 2
  Clicking this button will record the current parent image parameters to parameter set 2. To learn more about parameter sets, click here.
  Note that animation from set 1 to set 2 assumes the system of functions is the same. Use "Mutate function type" with caution, mainly when you want to discover new systems.
  
  
• Mutate function type
  Selecting this check box randomizes the function assignments within the structure. This option generates the most radical mutations possible. Changes to this setting take effect when you next click a thumbnail image.
  
  
• Mutate color
  Selecting this check box randomizes the color gradation and eventually the main color mapping algorithm. Changes to this setting take effect when you next click a thumbnail image. If you accept an image with this setting, the current gradation will change when you click the OK icon button (the check mark button).