Perlin noise is a form of mathmatical algorithm that produces semi-random values based on three dimensions of input. The algorithm is based on equations of sound developed by Ken Perlin in the late 90's and was originally invented to enhance the visual effects of the movie Tron. This program uses the values generated by the perlin noise algorithm with two dimentions(x, y) to set the direction that lines are drawn as they move over a canvas surface, while the z value remains at zero.
The default values can be input by clicking the "default" button, these are a good place to start when playing with different values. From there erasing the values in the text fields will show you what the value defines and can be changed to get varying results. Try setting the "a" value to 50 and the "g" value to 0 while keeping the other values at default, then click generate. You have just set the transparency value of the lines to 50 out of 255 and the green value to 0 out of 255. Also note that you can create the origin of a new line by clicking on the canvas durring or after the automatic generation.
The "Octaves", "Dropoff", "zoomX", and "zoomY" values will affect the flow of the lines. While the "r", "g", "b", "a" values affect the color and transparency of the lines, or background. The "offset-x" and "offset-y" set the distance between the origins of the lines in the x and y directions. The values of "speed" will affect how far each line travels every frame, setting this to a high value gives an jagged astetic. The "draw time" value changes how many frames each line is drawn for, note however this does not affect lines manually created by clicking the canvas. The final value is "weight", this affects how thick the lines are drawn.
Values can also be input in a range like this "0-255", or "100-230" to get reandom results in between your chosen values. (note that this only works for ball r,g,b,a values)
If you produce a result that you are particularly proud of you may save the result by clicking the save button. If you set the "width" and "height" values to that of your moniter these can be good computer backgrounds.