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The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990) [pdf]

algorithmicbotany.org

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Re: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990) [pdf]

#3

Post by gdubs »

I love L-Systems. I somehow obtained a couple of VHS tapes in the 90s when I was a kid of early computer graphics, and was really taken by the generative artists — like Karl Sims. This was also the heyday of big bookstores like Borders, and I’d spend hours in the “Computers” aisle, where I found “Advanced Animation and Rendering”, which covered L-Systems.

These are fun things to code because they can surprise you. Even when you understand the rules, it can be delightful to see what grows.

Re: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990) [pdf]

#8

Post by codetrotter »

gdubs wrote: post #3

I love L-Systems. I somehow obtained a couple of VHS tapes in the 90s when I was a kid of early computer graphics, and was really taken by the generative artists — like Karl Sims. This was also the heyday of big bookstores like Borders, and I’d spend hours in the “Computers” aisle, where I found “Advanced Animation and Rendering”, which covered L-Systems. These are fun things to code because they can surprise you. Ev…

Speaking of creative coding, check out this thing I came across on Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/creativecoding/comments/ezcaie/proc...

Someone coded procedural swimming with simulated tentacles. The post itself is a video and then they tell a little bit about it in the comments section also.

Re: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990) [pdf]

#9

Post by texuf »

codetrotter wrote: post #8
gdubs wrote: post #3

I love L-Systems. I somehow obtained a couple of VHS tapes in the 90s when I was a kid of early computer graphics, and was really taken by the generative artists — like Karl Sims. This was also the heyday of big bookstores like Borders, and I’d spend hours in the “Computers” aisle, where I found “Advanced Animation and Rendering”, which covered L-Systems. These are fun things to code because they can surprise you. Ev…

Speaking of creative coding, check out this thing I came across on Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/creativecoding/comments/ezcaie/proc... Someone coded procedural swimming with simulated tentacles. The post itself is a video and then they tell a little bit about it in the comments section also.

I used to frequent a website with nearly a hundred experiments like this, almost all interactive and very beautiful. They were all created with Flash/ActionScript. There were lots of tree visualizations, fluid simulations, and one specific demo with randomized bugs that walked around using inverse kinematics. I've since lost the link, does anyone remember what I'm talking about, maybe could provide a link?

[Edit] found it http://levitated.net/daily/index.html http://levitated.net/daily/levWalkingThings.html

Re: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990) [pdf]

#10

Post by taneq »

I first read this book back when I was just starting programming, learning about fractals and chaos and graphics and recursion and all those good things. I got the hard cover version out of the library several times (just to show how long ago that was!) and implemented a few of the things in it. Very happy to see it available online!
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