At the very least, I wanted to make a rain cloud with lightning, which I think I was successful in. I remember initially setting out to make some sort of landscape so that I could become more comfortable with making classes, but I used a few classes without it anyways. I remember also wanting to include a sound/audio element to the piece so that when clicked, thunder would sound as well as lightning would appear. However, it was taking me some time to figure it out, so I dropped it. Arrays were my biggest challenge with this project and so I binged a lot of Shiffman videos/tutorials. I had the hardest time linking arrays successfully between classes and the original sketch, and just overall understanding the concept of arrays. After spending a few hours trying to figure out how to incorporate rain with an array, Shiffman actually had a great tutorial on it; it helped me make my rain more detailed by giving it an illusion of depth. His tutorials series on arrays also helped with creating my other “wisp” clouds. I also went through a few different iterations of lightning, before deciding to work with a line rather than a shape, as it might’ve be the easier/more concise option. If I were to do this project differently, I would take the time to actually add sound since I think it could add a lot to the sketch’s concept. Also, after looking through some of my classmates’ pieces, I might also want to make it more interactive, maybe by having a person with an umbrella and the rain ceasing to fall when it hits the umbrella.
Link to sketch: https://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/516567