Transformations

Algorithms for transforming shapes

Transformations is a study on smoothly merging two arbitrary shapes. It started with the idea of animating the transition from a circle to a square - two rather distinctive curves with not a lot in common. The first solution focused on describing one as the "edge-case" of the other, or in other words: A square is just a pointy circle. While it produced great results, the algorithm was not a promising approach for transforming arbitrary lines without a uniform definition.
The final solution was built on the idea of describing a line as a set of points and calculating a specific path for each point of the line. Each point has its specific velocity according to its position so that the first one finishes earlier than the last one, creating an "unfolding" effect.

Interactive Sketch

You can try the algorithm with your own sketches in this interactive demo.

Press add and draw the first shape with your mouse. Press add again to draw the second shape and the animation between your two sketches will automatical start.
If you want to, you can stop the animation and add more shapes to your sketch.