Overview
As a starting point, I decided to experiment with our class codes and test color palettes, and through that, I stumbled upon shades of blue and pink that immediately reminded me of a scene from the famous movie “Coraline.” With that in mind, I decided to recreate, or at least attempt to, the tunnel to the other world. In the movie, when Coraline is trying to escape the Other World, she notices that the tunnel feels longer each time she uses it, and steeper. That was my goal for this assignment, and using functions helped me achieve it.
Highlight
class RotatingPolygon {
constructor(centerX, centerY, x, y) {
this.centerX = centerX; //center x coordinate
this.centerY = centerY; //center y coordinate
this.x = x; //starting x coordinate
this.y = y; //starting y coordinate
this.angle = atan2(this.y - this.centerY, this.x - this.centerX); //calculate initial angle
this.speed = random(0.01, 0.03); //set random rotation speed
this.radius = dist(centerX-300, centerY-100, x+20, y-20); //calculate radius
this.sides = int(random(5, 10)); //randomize number of sides for each polygon
}
An aspect of the code that I take pride in is the usage of cosine, sine, tangent, and pi, along with the radius; they were very useful. Something new I learned was that atan() gives an angle value between -90 & 90, whereas atan2() gives an angle value between -180 & 180. I am also proud of how easy it has become to change the outcome with a simple adjustment, given that I have created a class for rotating polygons (I initially had circles/ellipses but that wasn’t accurate enough). Though I must admit that many of the elements have been the result of trial and error, and I am still exploring this very interesting idea of using OOP in creating graphics.
Reflection
Attempting to replicate the colors from the original scene was definitely challenging, especially since I had already included transparency/opacity components. I believe there is room for improvement in that aspect. In addition, it took some time to understand where and how to position all the shapes accordingly and in line with the original scene. Overall, I believe that I’ve created something worth sharing!