Dolphins

Relaxing animation, using a simple 3D model of something that resembles a dolphin, based entirely on mathematical functions.

License: CC BY 4.0

Android implementation (2021)

In production on Google Play.

HTML5 implementation (2016)

You can see it in action here:

https://helderman.github.io/dolphins/html5/dolphins.html

Scratch implementation (2016)

You can see it in action here:

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/115870836/

Notes and Credits

I designed a simplified 3D model of something that resembles a dolphin, entirely made up of spheres and stadiums, and reproducible by relatively simple mathematical formulas, making it straightforward and efficient to be drawn by pen.

Tuning the formulas that represent the 3D shape, I spent many hours studying this drawing of a dolphin’s body:

http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/104_2012_web_projects/Daniela_Wilner/Images/dolph_shape.gif

The image is part of the article “Marine Mammals & The Physics of Aquatic Life” by Daniela Wilner, April 9, 2012.

http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/104_2012_web_projects/Daniela_Wilner/1_Home.html

According to the article, the figure came from a scientific paper by Fish et al. from 2008.

‘Dolphins’ title and scrolling background have been generated by GIMP 2.8.10 through Script-Fu (TinyScheme version 1.40). I used gradient ‘Horizon 2’, font ‘Sans’ and a lot of filters; see the makefile.

Special thanks go to these tutorials:

Music: soundscape1-freesound.wav by Thoribass. Licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Thanks to Wikipedia for most of the trivia.

I got the idea for this project after receiving an invitation for the art contest for Void of the Ocean by @nickydroids.