The Last Days of Fire and Steel

The Last Days of Fire and Steel uses a stippling, pointillist technique to build up an image over three hundred and sixty frames of animation, pushing approximately half-a-million dots to the canvas in that time. Each point's position, size, opacity and hue is controlled by the algorithm, shaped by the manipulation and constraint of random numbers.

Five noise fields are selected, their density and influence on the final piece chosen from carefully-curated ranges. Structures, lighting, sky events and foreground structures are also generated using random values.

Sky

The main render—the overwhelming majority of the pointillist dots—can be weighted in numerous directions, lighting the sky to the left, right or perhaps centrally. Clouds are formed from the other four noise fields, which are rendered in smaller, tighter groups.

Water

The bottom half of the picture is dedicated to a body of water, usually in the same main colour as the sky. Dot-size and density are altered towards the bottom of the piece, providing a slight feel of perspective. Additionally, dimming effects are overlaid near to the centre of the piece to subtly enhance the feeling of depth.

Structures

The buildings—which include cuboids, spires, girders and domes—are shifted slightly over time to allow their edges to blur. Sometimes they are rotated slightly, sometimes the girders will feature small, pinpoint lights that activate towards the end of the render. Very rarely the landscape will be flat and featureless: all buildings gone. There's also a rare chance of a blurred foreground overlay of twisted girders, crooked fence posts or metal posts.

Sky Events

Comets, missiles, or falling satellites: whatever they are, they descend over the render, shifting slightly under the influence of gravity. Dark streaks may also traverse the sky: a seeking craft, perhaps, or something more sinister. They advance towards a central point. There is a rare chance of a meteor burst or what must be some kind of scramble: up to eight aircraft speeding to a common destination.
Stars, explosions, supernovae or distant moons illuminate the sky, sometimes as an inverted, dense point of light, other times as a halo of frosty moonglow. A rare chance of a full-spectrum rainbow star is there.

Sound

In a first for a Mandy Brigwell artwork, I've included a soundtrack for this piece. A moody, ambient layering of analogue synth and percussion can be activated by the viewer, enhancing the experience of the artwork. Sound must be activated by the user: press [I] for details.

Post-Render Effects

The render is complete after three hundred and sixty frames, but some render effects continue for a further two thousand or so frames, gently fading away to nothing. This prevents a sudden completion of the work, and is included with display in mind.

Interactivity

Press [I] for details. Double-click to go fullscreen.