5 ms·

Meeting Mr. Kid Pix (2019) [video]

56 points by panic 6y ago

zachrose 6y ago
Yes! Craig Hickman was a professor of mine, and his class "Programming for Artists" is where I got into programming.
- qbert 6y ago
  He was one of my professors too. I tried to get into "Programming for Artists" but was never able to get into that particular one because the waitlist was always full.
barbecue_sauce 6y ago
One of the first computer programs I was ever exposed to.
mlacks 6y ago
This was installed on every school computer growing up. My first go at content creation!
mikeyanderson 6y ago
Thank you for making this. Kid Pix was the beginning of my design journey 30 years—wild. Would love to see a new version for the iPad.
- johnzim 6y ago
  There is one on the iPad my daughter was playing with it last week. Think it’s an up front purchase of ~$20
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
hed 6y ago
This was fun. A lot of those setups reminded me of computers in my youth :)
c789a123 6y ago
Is this the same MAC app: kid pix delux 3D? That is really great software. Only pity is it is not compatible with new MAC OS versions, hope it could get some upgrade.
jbackus 6y ago
I had the privilege of seeing Jeffrey do multiple live performances of his software (demoed @ 9:20) at different Internet Archive events while he was the artist in residence. Each time, I got the delightful feeling that I was witnessing something special (and, of course, very weird in a good way). The performance is legitimately "live" in that he's creating new images from scratch, and it seems clear that he's able to build up this rich imagery from what seem like a handful of solid composable building blocks in his software. I always found those performances inspiring in a similar way to how I feel the times I have visited DynamicLand. A wonderful blend of the physical medium and alternative ways of thinking about computers that produce such an interesting result, making me glad people like this exist in the world.
germinalphrase 6y ago
I can still hear the sound effect for the “delete everything bomb”.
- duskwuff 6y ago
  Not to mention the undo button. "Oh no!"
jrussino 6y ago
Can anybody recommend a good spiritual successor to KidPix? I have a four year old and would love to give her something like this to play with (perhaps on an iPad). There are sooo many drawing apps targeted at kids and it's hard to know if any of them are any good.
- donut 6y ago
  I actually want KidPix as it was back then, for my kids to use today. On an iPad. Like https://jspaint.app/ https://jspaint.app/ but ... I mean, KidPix kinda figured out all the details in such a good way the I don't see a need to have successors. Maybe it's nostalgia.
nonbirithm 6y ago
Here is the "paint or no" software if someone wants to try it. https://nopaint.art/ https://nopaint.art/ HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23546706 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23546706
slmjkdbtl 6y ago
Love every thing in the video, love Kid Pix, love Jeffrey's works, they all inspired my a lot, and nice to meet you Prof. Craig! Some takeaways from Kid Pix, on game design: 1) no "no fun zone" - a 3 year old accidentally hit the menu button and don't know how to go back? then at least the menu screen should be fun! 2) every button press and input should trigger some instant audio and visual treatment 3) everything inside a game, should be a game (like every tool in kid pix is a game on its own)
jnaina 6y ago
Craig was my professor at UofO, teaching his Digital Arts class in 1986. Eternally thankful to him for allowing me access to a range of wonderful machines, including Dec, SGI and Sun, for graphics programming.

56 points by panic 6y ago

zachrose 6y ago

Yes! Craig Hickman was a professor of mine, and his class "Programming for Artists" is where I got into programming.

qbert 6y ago
He was one of my professors too. I tried to get into "Programming for Artists" but was never able to get into that particular one because the waitlist was always full.

barbecue_sauce 6y ago

One of the first computer programs I was ever exposed to.

mlacks 6y ago

This was installed on every school computer growing up. My first go at content creation!

mikeyanderson 6y ago

Thank you for making this. Kid Pix was the beginning of my design journey 30 years—wild. Would love to see a new version for the iPad.

johnzim 6y ago
There is one on the iPad my daughter was playing with it last week. Think it’s an up front purchase of ~$20
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

hed 6y ago

This was fun. A lot of those setups reminded me of computers in my youth :)

c789a123 6y ago

Is this the same MAC app: kid pix delux 3D? That is really great software. Only pity is it is not compatible with new MAC OS versions, hope it could get some upgrade.

jbackus 6y ago

I had the privilege of seeing Jeffrey do multiple live performances of his software (demoed @ 9:20) at different Internet Archive events while he was the artist in residence. Each time, I got the delightful feeling that I was witnessing something special (and, of course, very weird in a good way). The performance is legitimately "live" in that he's creating new images from scratch, and it seems clear that he's able to build up this rich imagery from what seem like a handful of solid composable building blocks in his software. I always found those performances inspiring in a similar way to how I feel the times I have visited DynamicLand. A wonderful blend of the physical medium and alternative ways of thinking about computers that produce such an interesting result, making me glad people like this exist in the world.

germinalphrase 6y ago

I can still hear the sound effect for the “delete everything bomb”.

duskwuff 6y ago
Not to mention the undo button. "Oh no!"

jrussino 6y ago

Can anybody recommend a good spiritual successor to KidPix? I have a four year old and would love to give her something like this to play with (perhaps on an iPad). There are sooo many drawing apps targeted at kids and it's hard to know if any of them are any good.

donut 6y ago
I actually want KidPix as it was back then, for my kids to use today. On an iPad. Like https://jspaint.app/ https://jspaint.app/ but ... I mean, KidPix kinda figured out all the details in such a good way the I don't see a need to have successors. Maybe it's nostalgia.

nonbirithm 6y ago

Here is the "paint or no" software if someone wants to try it. https://nopaint.art/ https://nopaint.art/ HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23546706 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23546706

slmjkdbtl 6y ago

Love every thing in the video, love Kid Pix, love Jeffrey's works, they all inspired my a lot, and nice to meet you Prof. Craig! Some takeaways from Kid Pix, on game design: 1) no "no fun zone" - a 3 year old accidentally hit the menu button and don't know how to go back? then at least the menu screen should be fun! 2) every button press and input should trigger some instant audio and visual treatment 3) everything inside a game, should be a game (like every tool in kid pix is a game on its own)

jnaina 6y ago

Craig was my professor at UofO, teaching his Digital Arts class in 1986. Eternally thankful to him for allowing me access to a range of wonderful machines, including Dec, SGI and Sun, for graphics programming.