Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PixiJS VS Pure Data

Compare PixiJS VS Pure Data and see what are their differences

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PixiJS logo PixiJS

Fast and flexible WebGL-based HTML5 game and app development library.

Pure Data logo Pure Data

Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical...
  • PixiJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-25
  • Pure Data Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-18

PixiJS features and specs

  • Performance
    PixiJS provides high performance through the use of WebGL, offering fast rendering capabilities that can handle complex scenes and animations efficiently.
  • Cross-Platform
    PixiJS is compatible with various platforms, including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices, ensuring a consistent experience across different environments.
  • Rich Features
    It comes with a variety of built-in features such as sprites, filters, masks, and support for different shapes and textures, which makes it powerful for creating interactive graphics.
  • Ease of Use
    The library offers a user-friendly API and extensive documentation, making it easy to learn and integrate into projects, even for developers who are new to WebGL.
  • Community Support
    PixiJS has an active community and a wealth of resources including forums, tutorials, and GitHub repositories, which help users troubleshoot issues and improve their projects.

Possible disadvantages of PixiJS

  • Size
    PixiJS can be relatively large in terms of file size, which may affect load times and performance, particularly for users with slow internet connections or limited bandwidth.
  • Browser Compatibility
    Since PixiJS relies heavily on WebGL, it may face compatibility issues with older browsers or devices that do not support advanced WebGL features.
  • Complexity
    While powerful, PixiJS can become complex when building more advanced applications, requiring a deep understanding of 3D graphics and WebGL concepts.
  • Limited 3D Support
    PixiJS is primarily a 2D rendering engine and lacks comprehensive support for 3D graphics, which might be a limitation for projects requiring 3D rendering.
  • Memory Management
    Handling memory efficiently can be challenging, especially in complex scenes with many textures and sprites, leading to potential memory leaks or performance degradation.

Pure Data features and specs

  • Open Source
    Pure Data (Pd) is open source, which means it is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This encourages a vast community of users and contributors, fostering innovation and collaborative development.
  • Cross-Platform
    Pd runs on multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, Linux, and even mobile platforms. This makes it highly accessible and versatile for users across different environments.
  • Visual Programming
    The visual programming environment of Pd allows users to build programs graphically, making it easier for those who may not be familiar with text-based coding.
  • Extensible
    Pd supports a variety of externals and libraries, allowing users to extend its functionality. This enables it to be used for a wide range of applications from audio and visual arts to scientific research.
  • Active Community
    Pd has an active and supportive community, which makes it easier for new users to find help, tutorials, and additional resources.
  • Real-Time Processing
    Pure Data is capable of real-time audio and visual processing, making it suitable for live performances and interactive installations.

Possible disadvantages of Pure Data

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Despite its visual nature, Pd can be challenging for beginners to learn, especially those without a background in programming or signal processing.
  • Limited Documentation
    While there are many community-driven resources, the official documentation can sometimes be sparse or outdated, making it difficult for users to find reliable information.
  • Performance Issues
    For very complex projects, Pd may experience performance bottlenecks. This can be a limitation for users looking for high efficiency in audio and visual computations.
  • User Interface
    The user interface of Pd can feel dated and less polished compared to modern software development environments. This may deter some users who are used to more contemporary interfaces.
  • Compatibility
    While Pd is highly extensible, certain externals and libraries may not be compatible with all operating systems or may require manual compilation, complicating the setup process.

Analysis of PixiJS

Overall verdict

  • PixiJS is an excellent choice for developers looking for a versatile and efficient 2D rendering engine. Its features and community support make it suitable for both beginners and experienced developers needing a reliable and performance-oriented solution.

Why this product is good

  • PixiJS is a popular 2D rendering engine for creating interactive and visually appealing graphics. It is highly efficient and built on WebGL, which allows for high-performance rendering. PixiJS is also valued for its simplicity, flexibility, and ease of integration with other libraries and frameworks. It has a large community and a wealth of documentation and tutorials available, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot issues. Furthermore, PixiJS supports a variety of rendering needs, such as games, web applications, and other graphic-intensive projects.

Recommended for

  • Developers creating 2D games or interactive applications
  • Projects that require high-performance graphics rendering
  • Web applications needing complex animations and graphics
  • Developers looking for a library with extensive community support and resources

Analysis of Pure Data

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Pure Data (Pd) is considered a good tool for those interested in multimedia processing and audio-visual programming. Its strengths lie in its open-source status, active community support, and the ability to handle a wide range of projects from small scale to complex installations.

Why this product is good

  • Pure Data (Pd) is a graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing. It is highly versatile and allows users to create complex sound and media processing algorithms without needing to write traditional code. Its open-source nature encourages customization and community collaboration, making it a favored choice among artists, researchers, and developers who appreciate its modular and flexible design.

Recommended for

  • Musicians and sound artists looking to create interactive audio applications.
  • Multimedia artists wanting to combine audio with video or other graphical elements.
  • Researchers exploring sound synthesis, digital signal processing, or interactive media installations.
  • Developers interested in creating custom audio-visual applications through a visual programming interface.

PixiJS videos

PixiJS Part 3: Renderer, Ticker, & Stage

More videos:

  • Review - Learn PixiJS in 20 Minutes

Pure Data videos

Introduction to Pure Data

More videos:

  • Review - Pure Data Guitar Pedal
  • Tutorial - How to Design Sound Art Installations with Pure Data (Part 1)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PixiJS and Pure Data)
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
3D
0 0%
100% 100
Flowcharts
100 100%
0% 0
Music Generation
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PixiJS should be more popular than Pure Data. It has been mentiond 72 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PixiJS mentions (72)

  • Trying to Replace the DOM with Canvas — And Failing
    To improve performance, another team built a POC replacing standard DOM elements with a canvas managed by a library called pixi.js. The idea was to boost rendering speed. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Building an AI Powered Camera for David Bowie
    We can now decide how we want to display the data.image result back to our user. You can simply throw it up in an tag or generate a reveal video on the fly like I’ve done using Pixi.JS and MediaRecorder. Perhaps a topic for another dev blog. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Tattooing The Black Keys Fans Using MediaDevices and PixiJS
    For this application, we gain access to the user’s camera using MediaDevices and then place it onto a PixiJS canvas as a video sprite. Then, we load the tattoo as an additional sprite and give it a bit of opacity and blending to bleed it into the user’s skin. Simple controls are added to allow the user to rotate, scale, and position the tattoo for the perfect inking. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Chapter 1: Boring SVG Manipulation
    And canvas felt almost natural and invoked heavy nostalgia from the first time I touched keyboard and wrote primitive program to draw a house out of lines utilizing Basic. Later on I had a chance to broaden my expertise, when I was doing my hobby game project with Pixi and small bits and pieces on FindLabs pages. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • JSON Canvas – An open file format for infinite canvas data
    The canvas in Obsidian is as the whole app very well made. I wondered what they are using as well. My guess is https://www.xyflow.com/, which is for drawing nodes. More general purpose would be http://fabricjs.com/. Or very low level https://pixijs.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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Pure Data mentions (38)

  • Python Notebooks for Fundamentals of Music Processing
    My most recommended method for beginners has always been PD (https://puredata.info/) combined with The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music: (https://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques/latest/book.pdf) and this book (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262014410/designing-sound/). Eli's tutorials on SuperCollider are also very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/@elifieldsteel Of course, my project Glicol can also be helpful for... - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • AI can now master your music
    For node based workflows, check out Max or Pure Data. https://cycling74.com/products/max https://puredata.info/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • New To Lighting Design, Looking for guidance
    Tools like Ossia Score, Chataigne and PureData (pd) can also help a ton in building interactive art and triggering other A/V software. Source: about 2 years ago
  • WebPd 1.0.0 alpha released !
    WebPd is a highly modular compiler for audio programming language Pure Data allowing to run .pd patches on web pages. It converts the audio graph and processing objects from a patch into plain human-readable JavaScript or WebAssembly which can then be integrated directly into any web application. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is there any alternative to sonic pi?
    You might also be interested in the very different Pure Data (http://puredata.info/) environment, which is also free and open-source. It uses a visual programming approach, which many people like but if you are already a programmer it might seem inconvenient in comparison. Source: about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PixiJS and Pure Data, you can also consider the following products

Three.js - A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

SuperCollider - A real time audio synthesis engine, and an object-oriented programming language specialised for...

Phaser - Desktop and Mobile HTML5 game framework. A fast, free and fun open source framework for Canvas and WebGL powered browser games.

VCV Rack - A cross-platform modular synthesizer.

Paper.js - Open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas.

MadMapper - The Mapping Software