Show IH: generative.app - transform your images into eyecatching artwork
I run a small tech/design outfit in Singapore, supporting clients in design & development work. Occasionally we will create generative art for them, e.g. in interactive installations, largely to attract eyeballs.
We built https://www.generative.app in about a month in our spare time, to see if it can gather interest as a web tool. With generative.app, you upload an image, choose an algorithm and tweak parameters, and the system will generate the artwork.
You can use them as feature images for your social media or blog posts, or maybe as a background for your landing pages. It is largely free to use and you can export as many images as you want. We only charge a small fee if you want to export as a vector file e.g. for printing purposes.
Please let me know your feedback and if you have any questions or suggestions!
I tried a photo, then i gave up because the site is so laggy. What did you use to calculate the rendering of the image? I am only asking because i wanna see if i can brainstorm some ideas to make your algorithm more efficient.
Thanks for trying it out! We are building with Paper.js - some of the algorithms are quite computationally expensive especially for the Arcgram algorithm, probably because they are predominantly vector-based with multiple elements.
May I know what browser/OS you are using? So far we tested with Safari/Firefox/Chrome on Mac as well as on our iPhone 7s but didn't have the chance to test on Windows or Android.
Also does it lag badly for the Spiralgraph algorithm (which should require the least computational power)?
Appreciate your feedback!
The spiralgraph is much faster.
I am using chrome on ios 10.3. The lag actually cascade down to the menu selection, so I think the computation is very intensive on the browser? I am currently using svgjs on my other project, but I am not sure if it can replace paperjs in your use case, though i think svgjs is much more efficient.
The first thing comes to my mind is your patterns are filled with so many elements to begin with. For example, try to reduce the amount of triangles in one of your patterns to see if it improves the speed.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Will check out svgjs and do some tests, the speed test results on its homepage seems promising. Actually I had to fork my own version of paper.js to optimise some of the vector functions to my use case but still speed is a bit of an issue especially on mobile. I am using quite some raster functions in paper.js though so maybe the ideal solution will be a combination of both.
Yes it is quite computationally expensive, and actually the tool do have some parameters (via the dropdowns) to reduce the number of elements but that also means that the resulting graphics are less detailed.
Regarding the details of the resulting graphics, thats another thing you have to consider.
I usually can't figure out what's in the photo of the resulting graphic, and I took the photo myself. I havent tried to look at it from far away, maybe i should, but no one looks at a screen like that. So you have to decide whether this is an art piece that is supposed to be obscure or clear. If it's supposed to be obscure, then you are on the right track.
Yea that's the part I am figuring out too. From an artist's point of view, I like it to be obscure and I think the current algorithms might be a bit too edgy but my hope is that it helps in creating some publicity for launch, to build the audience.
Next steps I am thinking of creating algorithms which are more generally popular e.g. halftone, like things you will find in popular Photoshop tutorials