Electronic and Time-Based Art
Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance, Purdue University

Resources

Technical Workshops

This is a constantly growing list of workshops introducing some of the techniques and technologies used in Electronic and Time-Based Art:

Visit our video workshops on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpRduIvkIUO3YgaESyjpokw

Electronics/Robotics
Basics of Electricity/Electronics (.pdf, 4.3MB): Introduction to electronic circuits for artists, includes circuit examples and a useful appendix of conversion tables and component symbols.

Open circuits: most complete selection of techniques, circuit building blocks, components, etc. - http://www.opencircuits.com

Solar Sound Module (.pdf, 700KB): A sun powered circuit that emits buzzing, chirping and whistling noises, similar to the sounds of birds or insects.

Robotics 01: DC Motor cotrol (.pdf, 752KB): a basic introduction to DC motor control with the Arduino board and the SN75441 IC.

Robotics 02: low-cost robot platform (.pdf, 9.4MB): instructions to turn an inexpensive RC toy tank into an autonomous robot using the Arduino board and the SN754410 IC.

Arduino/Processing
Honors College Design Garage: Multimedia graphics programming with Processing (.pdf, 784KB): combining an introductory Processing workshop with foundational principles of 2D design and color.

Arduino/Processing Workshop (.pdf, 284KB): a collection of circuits and code interfacing the Arduino board with Processing, from simple push-button interactions to more advanced media control with analog sensors. Download a folder with media for the examples in the workshop: media_for_Processing_examples.zip (.zip, 2.2MB).

Physical Computing (.zip, 6.4MB, contributed by: Yagiz Mungan): this is an introductory workshop series to a range of physical computing projects with the Arduino and Processing, e.g. working with temperature sensor, email clients, LED displays and servo motors.

Max/MSP, PureData
Introduction to algorithmic composition in PureData (.rar, 979KB, contributed by: Yagiz Mungan): algorithmic composition is defined here as a system, a set of rules or a function to create music. The process introduced in this workshop works well for Max/MSP, too.

Vision to Sound (.rar, 212KB, contributed by: Yagiz Mungan): this workshop uses Max/MSP to create interactive sonic artifacts that are triggered by movements in front of a webcam.

Max/MSP to Unity3D (.rar, 78.7MB, contributed by: Yagiz Mungan): this workshop connects Unity3D to the audiovisual processing power of Max/MSP allowing Max/MSP to trigger events in Unity3D and vice versa.

Unity3D/3D Game Development
Pong (.rar, 553KB, contributed by: Yagiz Mungan): an introductory workshop to Unity3D 4.x recreating the classic computer game Pong.

Introduction to Unity3D, vers. 4.2 (.pdf, 1.8MB): a basic introduction to Unity3D's interface, and basic concepts creating a bouncing ball, a terrain and a first person controller.

Scripting in Unity3D, vers. 4.2 (.pdf, 2.2MB): an introduction to scripting with JavaScript in Unity3D creating interactive trigger zones.

Creating Bullets, vers. 4.2 (.pdf, 1.8MB): a basic example of how to create bullets in Unity3D using the conepts of prefabs and instantiation.

Raycasting, vers. 4.2 (.pdf, 1.6MB): a basic tutorial on raycasting in Unity3D, also introduces a lineRenderer component to draw line of sight vectors.

UV Texture Mapping (.pdf, 2.2MB): a basic tutorial using the free modeling program Wings3D and Unity to create textures for gameobjects. Download texture files here: textures.zip (.zip, 139KB).

Unity/Kinect Integration (.pdf, 41KB): a short guide written by Christian Barret in 2011 on how to connect the Kinect to Unity3D.

Sound
How to build a contact microphone: please see Collins, Nicolas. Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking. New York: Routledge, 2006. Chapter 7, pp. 27-36 (Purdue HSSE library has a copy of the book - call number: 786.71923 C695h).

Audio Recording (.pdf, 636KB): Introduction to recording digitial audio, either with the Zoom H2 recorder or your own computer using Audacity.

Sound Editing and Distribution (.pdf, 464KB): workshop on how to edit recorded sounds with Audacity and introduction to sound distribution in form of Audio CDs and as mp3 files with iTunes.

Digital Video
Introduction to the Digital Video Camera (.pdf, 308KB): a general overview of the functions of a digital video camera, how they work and what they do.

Final Cut Pro 6 Workshop – Digitizing (.pdf, 3.6MB): Introduction to Final Cut Pro 6 with a focus on digitizing video material from mini-DV tapes (SD) and flash memory (HD).

Video conversion with MPEG Streamclip (.pdf, 788KB): A workshop on converting digital videos from a variety of different formats to Final Cut Pro compatible files.

Basic editing in Final Cut Pro (.pdf, 1.9MB): An introductory workshop to editing video in Final Cut Pro applying strategies of montage theory.

Sound editing for video (.pdf, 2.1MB): a workshop on editing sound along with images in Final Cut Pro, making use of diegetic sound and crossfades.

Final Cut Pro stop frame animation (.pdf, 932KB): introduction to using Final Cut Pro for animating a series of still images. Download folder with sample sequence of still images: Money_animation_still_720x480.zip (.zip, 9.1MB)

Keyframe-based Animation in Final Cut Pro (.pdf, 1.6MB): loosely based on Oskar Fischinger's "Kreise" (circles) animation this workshop animates a series of Photoshop images using keyframes. Download a folder with sample still images: circles.zip (.zip, 272KB)

Exporting Quicktime videos from Final Cut Pro (.pdf, 492KB): exporting a standalone Quicktime movie for further conversion in Compressor / DVD Studio Pro.

Compressor (.pdf, 472KB): Converting Final Cut Pro Quicktime videos for inclusion in DVD Studio Pro projects.

Introduction to DVD Studio Pro (.pdf, 3.1MB): an introductory workshop on authoring a video DVD with a simple menu structure.

Non-linear narratives in DVD Studio Pro (.pdf, 2.4MB): create non-linear storylines and database narratives using the scripting features in DVD studio Pro.

Digital Still Images
Photoshop CS3 - Basics (.pdf, 3.3MB): Introduction to Adobe Photoshop - pixel resolution, working with layers, image formats. Download test image: surf_xl.jpg (.jpg, 536KB)

Scanning (.pdf, 1.9MB): Integration of Photoshop and Canon CanoScan LiDE 600F (available in the ETB Mac lab, STEW B31).

Color Printing (.pdf, 456KB): Printing digital still images from within Photoshop using color printing resources on campus.

Batch Processing in Photoshop (.pdf, 456KB): Using Photoshop Actions to process a large number of still images in preparation for a stop frame animation. Download folder with sample sequence of still images: Money_animation_stills_highres.zip (.zip, 8.8MB)