About monorail widget (Merged threads)

[KAN]

Originally Posted by DVkid07

What are you lookin' for Kan? Let me know what you want to see and I'll drop back with some links later. I haven't actually solved the 10.4 compatibility issue yet so everything else is sort of broken until I fix that.

I sort of meant when changes are made...

[KAN]

Hooray!!!


I made a slider for the back!

Still need to JS it up though so it controls the color of the monorail...


Also still working on the slider.

[DVkid07]

Originally Posted by KAN

Hooray!!!


I made a slider for the back!

Still need to JS it up though so it controls the color of the monorail...


Also still working on the slider.

Sorry I haven't said much. I've been preparing to go out of town (DISNEYLAND!) so I've been staying late at work lately.

When it comes to connecting the slider to the QC, you need publish the input in QC and then bind to it in JS. This Apple doc should help:

Enhance Your Dashboard Widgets with Quartz Composer Compositions

I do have a near-work, front-based user interface but I don't know when I'll have a version ready. The 10.4 doors compatibility issue is still high on my list...

[Nautilus]

Good news! Photos of Monorail Orange have surfaced and my original art for the widget was a good guess so the graphic won't need to be redone!

[DisneyImagineering]

How's the project coming?

[DVkid07]

Hey everyone!

Sorry its been so long since I've popped in on this. It's sort of slipped off my desk for a while as work has ramped up in preparation for the holidays. However, I still have plenty of notes and sketches to put into action just as soon as I can make the time. I'll try and get at least a little something done every week or so just so this thing isn't totally stagnant.

[KAN]

DisneyImagineering, I think the project is going well!

DVkid07: Don't worry about it

To all, I may have found a way to connect the slider to the model... It may be a while before I can ¡Fin! though... I'm sort of stumbling through JavaScript now, picking up pieces like sharp rocks. That link was very helpful, DVkid, but I am still confused about the values, although I am most likely to figure it out soon, as I am doing a paper about JS...

Good luck, everyone!

[DVkid07]

Haha sounds good. Basically what I would look towards is scaling the Interpolation for the Hue value to between 0 and 1. Then set the max value of the slider to 1. From there the JS should be basic mostly on what was in the Apple doc I linked to. I think. Again, most of my binding experience comes from standalone apps. Could come in handy when it comes time for me to devote a month to building that Monorail simulator :P.

[KAN]

Originally Posted by DVkid07

Haha sounds good. Basically what I would look towards is scaling the Interpolation for the Hue value to between 0 and 1. Then set the max value of the slider to 1. From there the JS should be basic mostly on what was in the Apple doc I linked to. I think. Again, most of my binding experience comes from standalone apps. Could come in handy when it comes time for me to devote a month to building that Monorail simulator :P.

Wait?

Isn't the interpolation the control to change the color every "x" seconds, not the color? After modifying your QC I disconnected HSL Color from interpolation, and it stopped the cross fade not the color. Don't we want to change HSL Color's hue?

Did you simply misphrase your statement, or did I not catch something?

[KAN]

Oh, and by the way, my unfocused mind finally found the library and inspector buttons. Those would have saved soooooo much time!

[KAN]

So, how's everyone doing?

[DVkid07]

Originally Posted by KAN

Wait?

Isn't the interpolation the control to change the color every "x" seconds, not the color? After modifying your QC I disconnected HSL Color from interpolation, and it stopped the cross fade not the color. Don't we want to change HSL Color's hue?

Did you simply misphrase your statement, or did I not catch something?

If for some reason you need to scale the Hue value (for example for a 0 to 1 slider and a -1 to 1 value) you can use an Interpolation with external time and duration set to one to make 0 equal to -1 and 1 equal to 1 and scaling everything in one. THATs what I was referring to. Though, now I can't think of why that would be necessary in this case.

[KAN]

I have kind of made a decision. Although I do like the changing color of the monorail, it has turned out to be too complicated and buggy. I may just opt out for the plain 3 color model. I do like the opening doors, though. I was at the DLR not too long ago, but I was having problems with the video camera for the background... I think this was mentioned before, but it would be cool if we kept the console idea, and had it honk, change the speed/direction of the background, and have it open/shut the doors. I think another cool thing would be if the monorails shimmered every couple of minutes. Just typing out loud...

But, once again, good luck every one...

[KAN]

So, Last night I did some experimenting, and I came up with the idea of using the keyboard patch. I set up hot keys: 'red', 'orange', 'yellow', 'blue', 'green', and 'purple' plus '[space]'.

The only problem, QC does not recognize the keyboard strokes...


Help please???

[DVkid07]

Originally Posted by KAN

So, Last night I did some experimenting, and I came up with the idea of using the keyboard patch. I set up hot keys: 'red', 'orange', 'yellow', 'blue', 'green', and 'purple' plus '[space]'.

The only problem, QC does not recognize the keyboard strokes...


Help please???

There is a keyboard patch inside QC that allows you to use any key as a binary value. When # key is pressed, the value is 1. When its not pressed the value is 0.

However, in the Dashboard, it becomes very difficult to use keystrokes. My understanding is that the mouse would have to be over this particular widget in order for the keystrokes to be received by the code.

A simple solution might be to use the left and right passenger cars as control areas that let you cycle through the available colors. If the order was ROYBGP and the widget was showing red then pressing the right car would make it orange. Pressing again would make it blue, again green, again purple. The same would work in reverse using the left car.

I've seen this sort of thing done on widgets, where the "instructions" are overlaid on the layout when the widget first loads (when dashboard is initiated each time) for a second or two before fading. That way, each time you see the widget you're reminded of the controls.

I can implement this on the QC side pretty quickly and upload the .qtz somewhere.

I still like the console idea, though implementation on a widget might be tough.