03. SOP and POP laboratory

Introduction

Today we'll structure things slightly differently in order to facilitate you starting to gain more agency in your own projects.

What we'll look at today

note that we'll try to work in this way of starting with existing files. Hopefully it is clear that presenting someone else's work, wholesale as your own is plagiarism.

Today we'll look at SOPs and POPs and noise again. SOPs are Surface Operators (that is to say three dimensional) and POPs are Particle Operators (also three dimensional, but dealing with, as the name implies, particles).

I will structure this portion of class a little differently. First, I will walk you through one of the main differences between TOPs (Texture, or two dimensional operators) which is that SOPs and POPs must be rendered. This may be familiar if you've done 3D/cameras in After Effects or used a software like Blender. What rendering means in this context is that the three dimensional information must be converted to two dimensional information before we can see it on a two dimensional screen.

Your work in class

After I discuss this in principle, I will point you to two files, one for SOPs, one for POPs. You will divide into groups. Your tolerance and patience for groups may be slightly different today if we are talking about the readings and discussing the "A.I." project in groups, so you are not required to collaborate, this is mainly so that different folks have different concerns.

Here is the POP file

Here is the SOP file

Each group whether individually or in groups will do the following:

  • start with the SOP or POP file, noting its contents, and the part that renders it.
  • change elements like the camera, light, or other parameters on the surface or points in order to get SOME sense of what they do.
  • you may need or want to ask me or members of the group questions, start to work through them knowing there may not be an immediate or fun answer.
  • take (at least one) element and connect it to a slider or button. Remember you may need math to change the range of values.
  • Tweak the parameters to make your file feel like autumn; whatever that means to you personally.
  • add names of anyone you worked with to your .TOE file and place your file in the folder linked in the homework.
  • we'll walk around the group and look at the results.

Homework

(If you upload this in class you do not have this for homework.)

Week 06 (09/28/2026)

  • HW →