Emma NM-LO-06

Perlin noise was created by Ken Perlin in 1983 for a film he was working on, Tron. It helps to add randomness to CG renderings of natural elements like smoke, fire, and water. I admire that he created something most people don’t consider. When people watch movies, we don’t think to ourselves “hey that smoke looks random.” He created something that people “take for granted” as we watch movies and see realistic fire. The algorithms don’t use the random() function, but works to interpolate between random values which creating smoother transitions. The creator’s artistic sensibilities come through knowing when he/she has reached randomness that looks aesthetic, or in Perlin’s case, realistic.