Quartz Composer – CINDER / plugin
There’s a big buzz on the internet about Cinder, a c++ framework for creative coding.
Some say it is much more complicated than openFrameworks,
so i decided to give it a go an check by myself if I could use Cinder’libs
to make some QC plugins.
And it just turned out to be much easier than doing the same with openFrameworks…
Here’s a snaphot showing QC running a Cinder-based plugin.
There’s actually a linker problem with the Boost library (with Cinder) that prevents me from using
ci::Rand functions, so I had to re-code Perlin-noise and Random functions by myself.
No big deal.
Stay tuned for more info, and a plugin soon.
1024 Architecture Blog / MadMapper, Video Mapping, Quartz Composer plugins, whatever ... 
July 23, 2010 at 17:27
Very interesting R & D . Cinder is going to be proving more and more useful to developers. I had been toying with some OpenGL cross platform screensavers recently.
I guess that the question regarding the exploitation of Cinder for a cross platform Quartz plugin, is, no doubt, totally redundant :-)
However utilising Cinder for a QC plugin had never occurred to me, after all, I couldn’t cross platform it, so it’s nice to hear that there are actually some advantages to be had by using this 3rd party API / Framework.
July 23, 2010 at 19:30
Cool. I checked out Cinder when it first came out, and was really put off by the coding style. What makes it ‘easier’, the flat file structure and lack of annoying pathing issues when working in XCode?
I found Open Frameworks a lot cleaner as far as actually working with the code.
Curious you found it the opposite.
July 23, 2010 at 21:00
awesome, great stuff.
P.S. congrats on http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/en-uk/creators !
July 23, 2010 at 21:21
@Memo : thanks mate !
I saw some stuff of yours for Mira Calix in the creators booklet, btw. Cool !
July 23, 2010 at 21:20
@vade
the flat file structure is nice, it allows you to pick just what you need (despite some boost lib problems ATM).
I also really enjoy the coding style. As I’m no coding-expert, and since I have very few experience on that matter, I find it much more readable.
August 16, 2010 at 15:38
This is very intriguing. I was thinking of investigating OpenFrameworks, when I get a chance to get back into QC stuff again, but maybe I’ll look at Cinder first. I’m intrigued you find it easier to work with, especially as the Cinder developers themselves seem to think OF is easier for beginners (like me).
Keep up the great work, anyway!
a|x
August 19, 2010 at 15:35
Great Work. Had the same thought, and from my perspective cinder is easier to work with. But also had troubles with the integration and the libraries. would be awesome if you could share the open plugin …
all the best from vienna, stefan