Images and creating my own node

Jim Parker's Avatar

Jim Parker

01 Aug, 2022 07:46 PM

I am teaching a class about generative art, and I'd dearly like an image library. It appears to only function on Apple machines, so I am thinking about making my own. I am using Windows 10.

1. Is there one out there someplace??
2. Is there more comprehensive documentation on making nodes, using existing libraries, and generally getting into the source code?

Example: the suggested function ximport is not available anymore, I can use PIL.

  1. Support Staff 1 Posted by john on 01 Aug, 2022 09:47 PM

    john's Avatar

    Hi Jim!

    Welcome to the Nodebox community. I am delighted to hear that you are teaching gen art. I think NodeBox provides an excellent way to learn.

    I am not sure what you mean by "image library" or why you think it only functions on Apple machines. Nodebox works on both Macs and PCs. It is vector based, but I did create an image node that allows you to work with images as groups of colored square pixels.

    You can find this image node in my Cartan node library, available for free here on the forum:

    http://support.nodebox.net/discussions/show-your-work/493-cartan-no...

    This node does require that you add a python module, image.py (included with the Cartan library) to the code library of your Nodebox project. This node has worked successfully for both Mac and PC users. Here is some documentation:

    http://support.nodebox.net/discussions/show-your-work/400-image-node

    I suggest you give that a try and verify that the image node works for you.

    You can make your own nodes, either as subnetworks made entirely out of other standard nodes, or through external Python or Clojure code like image.py. I'm afraid there is very little documentation about this, but you can find many helpful clues by searching the forum or looking at all the nodes in my library and use them as templates.

    You can also always ask me questions. I try to answer within a day or sooner and am alway happy to help.

    John

  2. 2 Posted by jim parker on 02 Aug, 2022 01:15 PM

    jim parker's Avatar

    Hello!

    This is great. I have been having problems finding proper documentation
    and pages related to NodeBox. Personally, I have a PhD in informatics
    and have been programming for decades, but art students need a gentler
    intro to the subject. Nodebox seems perfect. I was working on a similar
    project when I would you folks.

    Images - my specialty, but documentation is thin IMO. Example: I found
    THIS page:

    https://www.nodebox.net/code/index.php/Core_Image

    Not only is this a Mac only system ,but the .zip link does not work.
    Similarly the download for PhotoBot does not work either:

    https://www.nodebox.net/code/index.php/PhotoBot.html

    I got the impression that this may be a different system with the same
    name. :-(

    I'll check out your stuff and get back to you. I have a LOT of
    experience in image processing and machine vision, and would be
    interested in helping with NodeBox if an old white guy would be useful.

  3. Support Staff 3 Posted by john on 02 Aug, 2022 06:57 PM

    john's Avatar

    Jim,

    Your impression is correct. Nodebox 1 was an early variant of what eventually became Nodebox 3, and although it still has a few adherents and a separate channel on this forum, no new work has been done on it for a decade or more.

    What you (and your students) want is Nodebox 3 - an entirely different animal. Nodebox 3 is also no longer under active development, but the forum is alive and well. A number of teachers around the world are still using it to introduce generative art, and some artists, like myself, use it as their preferred tool.

    There are now even a handful of Nodebox 3 gen artists minting and selling NFTs. You can see an exhibition in the metaverse here:

    https://oncyber.io/nodebox_artists

    Your expertise is most welcome. Ask questions here whenever you want, and please tell your students to do the same. I look forward to knowing you better.

    John

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