Alright folks, let’s dive into my recent project, “Pisces Thong.” It wasn’t exactly what you think, thankfully. This wasn’t some scandalous endeavor; it was a coding project, a fun little challenge I set myself. The name? Yeah, I know, a bit weird, right? It just kinda stuck.
First, I started by outlining the whole thing. I wanted to create a simple, yet visually appealing, 2D animation of a…well, a stylized fish, if you will. Think less realistic, more cartoonish. I figured I’d use Processing, as I’m comfortable with it and it’s great for visual stuff.
Next came the design phase. I sketched out a few ideas on paper – different shapes, fin configurations, even experimented with some goofy expressions. I settled on a pretty simple design: a sleek, almost elegant fish shape with exaggerated, flowing fins. It was definitely not going to be photorealistic.
Then came the coding. This is where things got interesting. I began with the basic shape of the fish using ellipses and curves. I spent a good hour or two tweaking the parameters to get the shape just right. Getting the proportions and smoothness perfect took some trial and error. Honestly, I struggled a bit with making the fins look natural. They kept coming out looking stiff and unnatural. I ended up using a combination of curves and triangles to get the look I wanted.
The animation itself was relatively straightforward. I used simple trigonometric functions to control the movement of the fins and tail. I wanted a graceful, almost hypnotic swaying motion. It took me a while to fine-tune the timing and amplitude of the movements to achieve that effect. I also added a subtle shimmering effect to the scales by slightly altering the color values over time.
Color was also something I put a lot of thought into. I wanted a palette that was vibrant but not overly flashy. I ended up going with a combination of blues, greens, and a touch of gold for the scales. It’s pretty subtle, but it added a certain depth to the animation.
Once I was happy with the animation, I started working on the background. I kept it simple: a deep blue gradient to simulate water. A few subtly moving bubbles added a touch of realism, without being distracting.
Finally, the last step was rendering the whole thing. I experimented with different export settings to get the best quality without making the file size too huge. I ended up with a pretty good looking animation that’s not too demanding on resources.
Overall, it was a fun little side project. It certainly wasn’t a monumental achievement, but it was a satisfying experience from start to finish. I learned a few new tricks with Processing, honed my animation skills, and, well, I made a silly little fish animation. The name stuck, and I guess I’ll always remember it as “Pisces Thong,” a coding project that started with a random name and ended with a rather cute and elegant animation.
