Audio Visualization Using ThMAD: Realtime Graphics Rendering for Ubuntu Linux

by Peter Späth

1. Introduction
Sound visualization is about capturing the sound coming from outside, using a microphone or the line-in jack of your sound card, or coming from inside if a sound file gets played on your computer. The software suite ThMAD allows for graphically building a sound pipeline, yielding realtime graphics rendering to produce beautiful and interesting output from that sound. The introductory chapter depicts such kind of a system, tells about the targeted audience, and gives some hints about text conventions and the preferred way of reading this book.
1.1 About Sound Visualization and ThMAD1.2 Targeted Audience1.3 Installation1.4 Conventions Used in This Text1.5 How to Read This Book
2. Sound Input
We deepen the knowledge of how the computer can be prepared to capture incoming sound or produced sound, how the sound gets represented internally, and how the data arrives at ThMAD. We distinguish between the obvious air pressure elongation versus time representation, and the power versus frequency representation or spectrum.
2.1 Prepare for Sound Input2.2 Understanding Sound Structure2.2.1 Time-Elongation Representation2.2.2 Frequency-Power Representation2.2.3 Input Data Taken From the Sound Card
3. Visualization Basics
This chapter is about the tool chain to be used for an audio visualization project, and presents two basic audio visualization samples using ThMAD.
3.1 Tool Chain3.1.1 Installing ThMAD3.1.2 Connect PulseAudio Sound to ThMAD3.1.3 Recording a Video3.1.4 Making a DVD From Your Recording3.2 Basic Samples3.2.1 Basic 2D Sample3.2.2 Basic 3D Sample
4. Program OperationThe ThMAD primarily consists of two programs, ThMAD Artiste and ThMAD Player. We describe how these programs can be started and stopped, including all possible options for controlling program operation. We furthermore describe faders, which conduct the transitions between several visualizations inside Player.
4.1 ThMAD Artiste Operation4.1.1 Starting And Using Different Modes4.1.2 Stopping ThMAD Artiste4.1.3 Starting With Errors4.2 ThMAD Player Operation4.2.1 Starting And Using Different Modes4.2.2 Stopping ThMAD Player4.2.3 Creating and Installing Faders
5. 3D Concepts
For an exhaustive reference to 3D computer graphics concepts lots of materials are available in the internet and book stores. Albeit OpenGL, the technology behind ThMAD, being huge as a concept and a complete coverage of all topics exceeding the scope of this book, we reckon an introduction with our special view on audio visualization should be worthwhile. In addition some of the peculiarities about how ThMAD handles some graphics sub-pipelines and own graphics concepts on top of OpenGL get described later in this chapter.
5.1 Coordinate Systems5.2 Space Mapping5.3 Spatial Translation, Rotation, Scaling5.4 Exposure to Light5.5 Eye And Camera5.6 ThMAD Meshes5.7 ThMAD Particle Systems
6. Stories
In this chapter we want to dive more into the art of audio visualization by more elaborated walk-throughs covering various aspects to be taken into account. We will by no means ever be able to describe all possible kinds of sketches, but it will be the aim of this Stories chapter to provide you with techniques which eventually will be apt to make you realize your own ideas.

372 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2017