NodeBox

Throughout the years, art has developed many forms, from paintings to sculptures and abstract designs. The computer brought about even more ways, especially on a visual level. Apart from painting utilities, art can be derived even from some complicated and complex activities like math, and is exactly what NodeBox wants to prove.

The application doesn’t take too much of your time to install. The only thing you need to make sure is whether or not the computer you’re installing and running it on is equipped with Java Runtime Environment, because it was built on this platform.

On the visual side of things, the application is pretty polished, with an intuitive overall look and feel. The main window is split into several sections. One is used to display everything you create, another to place and combine elements, while the other shows all management options for a selected node.

The way in which things work is by creating sets of data the application transforms into visual representations. These sets of data are nodes, added from a separate list. Organized in categories, you can choose from an abundance of math, string, color, list, data, geometry, network, core, and other node types.

Depending on the type of node you create, sets of options become available. These are used to define the visual aspect of the node, as well as its behavior. For everything to go as planned, you need to connect nodes together, but make sure to check order, and where connections are placed.

It’s also possible to create animated art. Although it requires some training and time, you can get acquainted easier by studying some of the built-in presets. You can export the design either as static art under different image file formats, or directly as a movie to play on your PC or phone.

Bottom line is that art really can be obtained out of almost anything, and NodeBox quickly convinces you. It takes some time to get to know how nodes need to be created and combined, but with the help of an intuitive interface, as well as different examples, accommodation becomes a joyride. Either to express data sets or create abstract art, this application does just fine.