Unoffical empeg BBS

Quick Links: Empeg FAQ | RioCar.Org | Hijack | BigDisk Builder | jEmplode | emphatic
Repairs: Repairs

Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 >
Topic Options
#165983 - 15/06/2003 23:37 Original art assets used in XML interface?
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
I'm writing another application for the empeg that makes use of pictures of the remote control and of the empeg face. For the moment, I've lifted the art from CharcoalGray99's XML interface for this purpose. I would like to continue using this art because it looks really good, but I want to make sure I obtain the permission of the original creators before making this app public.

The image of the empeg is the one that's scaled so that the screen matches up with a 128x32 VFD screen capture. I believe it was originally lifted off of the Rio web site where animated GIF examples of the empeg visuals were being shown.

I don't know for sure where the image of the remote came from. I know it is also used in another HTML/Javascript remote control implementation similar to CharcoalGray99's web interface, but I don't know which is the chicken and which the egg, so to speak.

So who were the original creators of these images?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165984 - 23/06/2003 21:35 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
*BUMP*

Nobody?

I've realized that the face image is a resized version of the original pre-molding CAD renders when they were developing the Mk2 fascia. But I don't know where the Rio Remote image came from.

I'm really close to release on this software... And no one's even expressed a curiosity about it.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165985 - 23/06/2003 21:37 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
msaeger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
I figured you wouldn't tell us what it is until it's done anyway
_________________________

Matt

Top
#165986 - 23/06/2003 21:40 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: msaeger]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Well, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Either that or let you beta test it.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165987 - 24/06/2003 01:40 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
then I'd have to kill you. Either that or let you beta test it.

Depending on the quality of the software, these two might turn out to be equivalent .
_________________________
-- roger

Top
#165988 - 24/06/2003 10:30 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: Roger]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Depending on the quality of the software, these two might turn out to be equivalent.
Aw, hell, I'll just let you guys be the judge of that.


Attachments
165516-empegface.zip (37 downloads)

_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165989 - 24/06/2003 10:39 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Tony,

Bravo! This is fantastic! Exactly what I needed!

BTW, I'm running under XP and works like a champ.

- Jon

Top
#165990 - 24/06/2003 10:47 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: jbauer]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Thanks, glad you like it!

Looking at the program, it seems like such a simple thing. But you wouldn't believe what a pain it was to code. Mostly because of the UI design choices I made. For instance, getting the rounded corners on the windows is like pulling teeth. I could have drawn region windows specifying point-to-point coordinates, but that would have been a pain. I finally found some example code on the 'net which created a region window from the form's bitmap and used that. (Note how you can see daylight through the gap by the handle hinges; that was my primary goal. )

And then there was trying to deal with all of the permutations of long and short and double clicks, and drags, in such a way that it "felt right" to use. Sometimes it's hard to keep all of the event chains straight in your head.

I've just discovered another bug in the program I'll have to fix eventually... but I'll leave it up to you guys to find it.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165991 - 24/06/2003 10:58 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Cool. Works great here. One feature request and one bug report.

Is it possible to make it yield between refreshes though? It uses 100% CPU whenever I run it and on my laptop all of the fans suddenly kick in.

It's actually just a cosmetic bug but sometimes when I'm dragging the empeg or remote around the image jitters.

Top
#165992 - 24/06/2003 11:00 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
robricc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
I've just discovered another bug in the program I'll have to fix eventually... but I'll leave it up to you guys to find it.
Hitting the buttons without your empeg present on the network crashes 'Face'

Do I win?

EDIT: Seems to crash without hitting buttons after a while of being open without an empeg to talk to. I wish I could check it out. It looks pretty dope.


Edited by robricc (24/06/2003 11:03)
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736

Top
#165993 - 24/06/2003 11:02 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Another feature request: Can you add an option for the remote to be "always on top"?

Can you add that feature to my girlfriend as well???

- Jon

Top
#165994 - 24/06/2003 11:03 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tman]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Is it possible to make it yield between refreshes though? It uses 100% CPU whenever I run it and on my laptop all of the fans suddenly kick in.
It does yield between refreshes. This is talked about in the readme file. Check what it has to say there, first.

sometimes when I'm dragging the empeg or remote around the image jitters.
Yeah, I can't really do anything about that, it's the video driver. The same thing would happen on other programs if you activated the "show window contents while dragging" feature of Windows.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165995 - 24/06/2003 11:03 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: jbauer]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Could be annoying if you're trying to use the computer or watching TV though...

Top
#165996 - 24/06/2003 11:05 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: robricc]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Hitting the buttons without your empeg present on the network crashes 'Face'
Odd, it doesn't do that on my systems. I specifically tested that feature. Does it give you a specific error message when you do that?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165997 - 24/06/2003 11:07 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Doesn't crash here without any empeg.

Top
#165998 - 24/06/2003 11:07 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: jbauer]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Another feature request: Can you add an option for the remote to be "always on top"?
I had considered this, but I thought it would get really annoying after a while, since the window is so large.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#165999 - 24/06/2003 11:11 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
I actually read the README just before you replied to me. I'll read it first next time
Yeah. It jitters quite a lot even though I'm not moving the mouse. As I said, it's just a cosmetic thing anyway.

Top
#166000 - 24/06/2003 11:13 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
So large? On my screen, the remote is pretty small...

I'm at 1280 x 1024... plus, at home, I use dual monitors and want to put it in the upper right corner of my "utilities" display always...

- Jon

Top
#166001 - 24/06/2003 11:20 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tman]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
It jitters quite a lot even though I'm not moving the mouse.
I thought you meant that it sometimes left graphics blitter behind when you drag it across another window.

It shouldn't jitter at at all when you hold the mouse still, it doesn't do that on any of my systems. The only way that should happen is if the mouse itself is sending jittery data to the application (lots of one-pixel mousemove commands even when you're not moving the mouse).
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#166002 - 24/06/2003 11:22 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: jbauer]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
plus, at home, I use dual monitors and want to put it in the upper right corner of my "utilities" display always...
I don't have dual monitors to test against, I'm curious to see if it correctly remembers its screen position (after exiting and restarting) on a second monitor. I'm guessing it won't. I'd be curious how to code for that instance, since I don't have a way of testing it.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#166003 - 24/06/2003 11:24 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
I'll test it when I get home tonight. So how tough is it to add that "always on top" feature?

- Jon

Top
#166004 - 24/06/2003 11:25 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
The cursor is not moving at all and it doesn't happen in anything else. It's not important anyway and it's probably something to do with VB itself.

Top
#166005 - 24/06/2003 11:27 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: jbauer]
loren
carpal tunnel

Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
I'm sure there's not much that can be done about it, but even with the refresh at 1000ms, it's taking up 97-100% CPU time on a dual 2.4 GHZ Xeon machine. =o

oh, and that is pimp!! very clean Tony. Nice work.
_________________________
|| loren ||

Top
#166006 - 24/06/2003 11:30 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
robricc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
I swear it crashed twice. Face was getting 'Not Responding' but ImageGrabber would continue to run after killing 'Face".

No error message.

I will try and break it again. I'm running XP Pro by the way.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736

Top
#166007 - 24/06/2003 11:44 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: loren]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
I'm sure there's not much that can be done about it, but even with the refresh at 1000ms, it's taking up 97-100% CPU time on a dual 2.4 GHZ Xeon machine.
Right, all it's doing is sitting in a loop with a bunch of VB "doEvents" commands waiting for the other app to tell it what to do.

Y'all are putting too much stock in what the Task Manager is telling you. The only reason it's saying it's consuming 100 percent CPU is because it's the only app that's doing anything. As soon as you do something else on the PC, it'll automatically drop to lower than whatever the other app is doing. As soon as that other app goes idle, it'll start back into its loop again.

I agree, I know it can be coded more efficiently. It's on my to do list.

oh, and that is pimp!! very clean Tony. Nice work.
Thanks!
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#166008 - 24/06/2003 11:46 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tman]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
The cursor is not moving at all and it doesn't happen in anything else.
That's odd. It shouldn't do that. I haven't seen that happen on any of my systems. Is it only when you're holding down the mouse button on the window?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#166009 - 24/06/2003 11:49 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: jbauer]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
So how tough is it to add that "always on top" feature?
Dunno, I'd have to look at her code first.

Oh, you mean in my app. Not tough. I just have to decide how to incorporate it into the UI. Should it be on the menu or in the dialog box?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#166010 - 24/06/2003 11:58 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Yeah. Like if you were trying to drag the window but not actually moving it. It only happens sometimes though.

- Trevor

Top
#166011 - 24/06/2003 12:06 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
Mach
old hand

Registered: 15/07/2002
Posts: 828
Loc: Texas, USA
Hey! Very cool. Thanks!

Top
#166012 - 24/06/2003 12:13 Re: Original art assets used in XML interface? [Re: tfabris]
Mach
old hand

Registered: 15/07/2002
Posts: 828
Loc: Texas, USA
Any way to make it skin-able? Allow a user to supply theire own gif or bmp of the fascia/handle? I'm asking because I've got 303's polished face but it'd be fun to see what folks come up with. I changed Charcoalgray's interface to match my player below.





Attachments
165558-face.jpg (208 downloads)



Edited by Mach (24/06/2003 12:15)

Top
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 >