Does this sound like you?
If so, you're in the right place! ABOUND tries to make it as easy as possible to create an algorithm, but you'll still need fundamental programming skills to get started.
Every algorithm running on ABOUND is uploaded as a Docker image. The program should read configuration from the JSON-formatted file located at the ABOUND_CONFIG_PATH environment variable, and write its image output to the location referenced by the ABOUND_OUTPUT_PATH file.
Each algorithm can take in a customized field configuration, which artists provide when creating their algorithm. When running, a tinkerer gives the fields their values.
ABOUND handles everything else, including running the algorithm on our infrastructure, processing payments, and downsampling the results so that users don't get the full size for free.
This means you can use whatever set of technologies, programming languages, or approaches you want to create art from code - it just needs to take in a JSON object, and output an image file.
This documentation (much like this site) is very new, so please contact us if there are pieces of this that we can make clearer.
Every algorithm is reviewed by our team before it can be published on the site. Some basic rules for how your code must work.
Input is specified in a JSON-formatted file stored on disk. The location of the config is given by the ABOUND_CONFIG_PATH environment variable. The input format is specified as a series of key-value pairs, using native JSON types.
Output should be written to the path given by the ABOUND_OUTPUT_PATH environment variable. If you've specified that your algorithm outputs SVG files, this will end with ".svg". If you've specified that your algorithm outputs PNG files, this will end with ".png".
To make programming a new algorithm for ABOUND as easy as possible, we've created a number of starter repositories that you can use as a jumping off point. Each implements the Lorenz Attractor (a simple art algorithm), and contains detailed instructions for how to run, test, and deploy your algorithm.
Posting an algorithm on ABOUND is free.
You (the artist) retain all intellectual property rights over your algorithm, and we will not give anyone access to your code or your algorithm's docker image. When your algorithm generates a piece of art, you retain rights to that art up until it is sold. When a piece of art is sold, the purchaser becomes the owner of the art work, and can do with it what they wish.
When art is sold, ABOUND collects payment from the purchaser, which is then distributed as:
If the purchaser is the artist or tinkerer, they receive an equivalent discount.
As more and more of your art is sold, your on-platform balance will increase. You can cash out your balance at any time by initiating a transfer to your bank. There's no minimum balance to cash out, but cashing out a balance $10 or less will incur a $2 fee, which helps us offset transaction fees from our payment processor.
You can check your current earnings in your profile , and withdraw earnings here .
We're new here - have any questions? Please shoot an email to questions@abound.art, we'll be happy to answer them and update this FAQ!
Once you're happy with your algorithm, and want to share it on the platform, read through our interactive guide to uploading it to the platform.