Module Code - Title:
CS4049
-
VISUAL CODING
Year Last Offered:
2025/6
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
N
Prerequisite Modules:
CS4061
CS4072
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
To develop students' engagement with the history and principles of algorithmic motion visuals, in order to develop their practice of creative coding.
Syllabus:
1. History and aesthetics of direct film (early animation).
2. Generative art and its relationship to technology.
3. Stochastic and iterative coding techniques.
4. Coordinate systems: transformations, polar coordinates, 2D and 2.5D.
5. Particle systems and object-oriented methods of representation.
6. Data transduction/representation.
7. Selective artist studies (historical and contemporary)
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of direct film as a historical practice in relationship to motion graphics.
2. Critique algorithmic visuals in terms of aesthetics, evaluating their effectiveness.
3. Analyse contemporary visual works in terms of their implementation.
4. Apply principles of object-oriented code to particle systems, stochastic algorithms, 2D and 2.5D environments, and other implementations.
5. Harness data for the generation of visuals.
6. Develop a programmatic short film from inception to delivery.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Embrace programming as a useful tool within a broader creative practice.
2. Justify design and coding decisions in the context of the audience's experience.
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
n/a
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
Lectures introduce concepts, technical information, and historical context. Labs focus on developing code in Processing (a Java environment oriented towards visuals). Screenings of short films provide a critical context. A blog provides students with daily content relating to intriguing projects (past and present), as inspiration for their own work.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Reas, Casey and Ben Fry (2014)
Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists
, MIT Press
Shiffman, Daniel (2015)
Learning Processing: A Beginner's Guide to Programming Images, Animation, and Interaction, second edition
, Morgan Kaufman
Shiffman, Daniel (2012)
The Nature of Code
, self-published
Other Relevant Texts:
Fry, Ben (2008)
Visualizing Data.
, O'Reilly
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
BSMMPTUFA - MUSIC, MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Spring
Module Leader:
robin.parmar@ul.ie