This is a course for artists who've never done any kind of programming before. It's not a basic programming course so much as an introduction to making art using programming as one of the primary artistic methods. Even artists who think they'll never become programmer themselves are likely to find themselves collaborating with programmers one day, and nothing beats hands-on experience with programming for learning what it can and can't do.

The curriculum will be centered on learning and using fluently a software called Max/MSP/Jitter, which has a graphical interface that visual thinkers readily understand. Max is a program for creating interactive artworks that is particularly suited for controlling and manipulating a mix of different media types. It is also designed for managing media in live performance situations. We'll be using it to construct automated, interactive and performance-based projects using still images, text, video, and/or sound. The precise mix of digital raw materials will be largely up to the students, who are encouraged to bring work they've done in other areas (digital imaging, video, audio) into this course.

Among the topics to be covered in this course are: the fundamental elements of programming; the principles of design for interactive projects; using Max to control specific types of media; and managing time, human participation, and other issues in interactive art.

Prerequisite: SA 1A-B-C and SA 65/65A; or consent of instructor.
Enrollment: limited to 24. May be taken for credit once.

• Readings: Students are expected to study and become conversant with the programming manuals outside of class time (especially Max and Jitter). Other readings will be assigned on an ad-hoc basis.
• Assignments: These will include several projects, in-class presentations of developing projects, tutorials, and class discussions of readings and artworks shown in class.
• Quizzes: Take good notes: there will be a midterm quiz and possibly a pop quiz sometime during the quarter.
• Complete all assignments and readings, projects, in-class presentations, and quizzes. Participate in class discussions, class experiments, labs, and critiques. Attend all classes.

You can gain up to 5 points of extra credit in this class in one of 3 ways, outlined below. All of these options are completely voluntary. Students do not have to take part in research or complete the papers. This is strictly for extra-credit purposes. For details about each option, see the Extra Credit page.
• Participate in a specified UCI research experiment.
• Write a short paper on the "Space, Surface, Interface" conference (May 15th).
• Write a short paper on an interactive or performative art project that used Max/MSP/Jitter.

• Grading will be based on projects, project presentations, quizzes, and other assignments (75%), class participation and discussions (20%), and attendance (5%). Projects will be evaluated on the functionality of the Max/MSP/Jitter code; on the project's visual/performative aesthetics, overall design, and central concepts; and on the relationship between all of these elements.
• Completing all course requirements satisfactorily will earn you a grade of C. To earn an A or a B, you must demonstrate a much higher level of work in terms of creativity, thoughtfulness, professionalism, engagement with the material, and/or progress made during the quarter.
• Attendance is mandatory at all classes; 3 "late to class" = 1 unexcused absence, and 3 unexcused absences = a grade of F for the semester.
• If you must miss a class for an exceptional reason, discuss it with the instructor beforehand or it will be considered an unexcused absence. Appointments that could be made at other times (such as doctor's appointments) are not a valid reason for missing class.
• You are responsible for making up any work missed while ill, on a schedule to be agreed with the instructor. If you are ill, make sure to let the instructor know as soon as possible or it will be treated as an unexcused absence. Illness is ordinarily an excused absence; however, more than 3 excused absences in one quarter for any reason may result in a grade of Incomplete.
• Only one assignment may be turned in late without penalty, and it must be handed in no later than the next class unless another arrangement is made with the instructor; otherwise late assignments will be automatically dropped 1 grade.
• Web surfing, emailing, and online chatting are not acceptable during class time and will equal 1 absence. Cell phones and pagers must be turned off during class.

• My office hours will generally be Wednesday 3-6. I advise making an appointment ahead of time to make sure there is no unexpected scheduling conflict.
• The TA for this class is Alexis Disselkoen, adisselk@uci.edu, a graduate student in Studio Art.
• All Max/MSP/Jitter manuals for this project can be downloaded as PDFs (see links in the Schedule below, under the first day of class). It is your responsibility to acquire these manuals and have them with you for reference during class, either as printouts or as PDFs that you can bring up on screen (suggestion: keep them on a thumb drive with your other files).
• A class bulletin board has been set up on eee.uci.edu for you to help each other by exchanging information, posting problems, and offering suggestions.
• Computer code can fall under either copyright or patent law (or both) and thus is not necessarily in the public domain. Moreover, as you know plagiarism is strictly against university policy. Nonetheless, it is considered acceptable practice in programming classes for students to share small pieces of code with each other. Whenever you do this, you must credit the person from whom the code originated. It is not, of course, acceptable to take large chunks of code, or complete solutions, from other coders.
• All elements of your patches must be clearly labeled and commented so that the function of your program is clear at a glance.
• Open hours for the UCI digital labs are posted on the School of the Arts website.
• The UCI Disability Services Center provides and coordinates support services for students with disabilities.

• Links to the Max/MSP Jitter manuals (PDFs):
  * Max Tutorial Manual
  * Max Reference Manual
  * Jitter Tutorial Manual
  * Max Fundamentals
  * Max Topics
  * MSP Tutorial and Topics
  * MSP Reference Manual
  

• Download Max/MSP/Jitter manuals

• Max Overview (PDF)
• Patch Aesthetics (PDF)
• Using Randomness (PDF)

• Work on Project 1: see Projects page for details. Due Tuesday.

• Lev Manovich, Principles of New Media (for today, part 1)

• Project 1 due today.

• Lev Manovich, Principles of New Media (for today, part 2)
• Video Handling and Matrixes (PDF)
• Image and video resources:
  * Library of Congress digital collections
  * Nasa multimedia files
  * an open source video archive
  * Alexis Disselkoen's video archives

• Work through tutorials 1-11 in the Max Tutorial Manual by today (this is largely review).

• Amy Alexander, "The Multicultural Recycler"
• Vivian Selbo, "Vertical Blanking Interval

• Read and review Jitter Tutorial Manual, tutorials 1 & 2 for today.
• Visit the two websites whose URLS are at left and make notes for a class discussion today.

• Video Playback Controls (pt 1) (PDF)

• Collect video materials for Project 2 (details to come on Projects page)

• Video Playback Controls (pt 2) (PDF)
• Useful patches (zipped files):
  * Random number generator
  * Creating a slider
  * Playing a movie
  * Looping a movie
  * Controlling movie rate and volume
  * Scrubbing a movie
  * Crossfading a movie

• Read Video Playback Controls (pt 2)
• Review Video Playback Controls (pt 1)
• Review Jitter Tutorial 08 (Simple Mixing) and do Tutorial 13 (Scissors and Glue); we will be working with these in class next week and there won't be much time for explanations.

• Appropriation guidelines

• Due today: add a crossfade function to the matrix-slicing patch. Details on Projects page.
• Work on Project 2 due Tuesday; details will be posted on Projects page by Friday. Review material covered to date in preparation for midterm concepts review.

• Read Sharrock and Anderson, "The user as a scenic feature of the design space" (PDF)
• More sample patches:
  * Text generator 1
  * Text generator 2
  * Text generator 3
  * Crossfader with matrix-slicing
  

• Work on Project 2; details on Projects page. Bring in questions for midterm review.

• none

• Prepare for today's midterm test.

• Review material covered to date in MMJ Tutorial Manuals.
• Midterm solutions patch

• Project 2a due.

• Review material covered to date in MMJ Tutorial Manuals.

• Think about ways to improve and extend Project 2a.

• Review guidelines for appropriation art (link is above, under April 23)

• Proposal for Project 2b (revision/extension of Project 2a) due today.

• Audio record/playback patch
• Key control patch
• an open source audio archive

• Optional: Attend the "Space Surface Interface" conference on Friday. Details to be announced.

• TBA

• Be prepared to think about and ask questions about audio/sound/music in Max/MSP/Jitter.

• TBA

• Work on Final Project.

• TBA

• Final Project Stage 1 due today.

• TBA

• Work on Final Project.

• none

• Work on Final Project.

• none

• Work on Final Project.

• none

• All Final Projects due today, no extensions.