Andrew Larking's Blog

Even more Applescript.

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:34:25 +0100

I promise this will be the last of this for a while, but it seems people want to know more and more about it. The latest task I’ve had is to control projectors over a network without using any special software. This called for scripted mouse moves and mouse clicks, which is a common Applescript request on various forums. I came up with the following, which makes use of ‘Extra Suites’ available on kanzu.com. It’s only $10 and earned it’s money with me instantly. The code:

tell application “Safari”

activate

delay 8

tell application “Extra Suites” to ES move mouse {100, 100}

delay 1

tell application “Extra Suites” to ES click mouse

delay 2

tell application “System Events” to keystroke “q” using {command down}

end tell

This code simply opens up Safari which has the projectors internal server as it’s home page. It then moves the mouse cursor over a button in the Safari window and clicks it. It then quits Safari for me. This is only a small section of the final script, but it shows you how to control the mouse cursor in Applescript.

OK, enough of the scripts, I’ll start posting cool stuff again soon.

More Applescript

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:23:11 +0100

I’ve been getting quite a few e-mails from people asking how to auto launch and full screen a SWF file on start up, instead on a Quicktime movie. Here’s my Applescript code to make it work:

tell application “Flash Player”

activate

open alias “Macintosh HD:location:to:your:file.swf”

tell application “System Events”

keystroke “f” using command down

end tell

FLARManager

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:59:21 +0100

Hello.

I don’t normally like to post code updates without a screen shot or a link to the file, but sadly my hosting ability is down for a day or two whilst I migrate it. I’ve been working with the good old FLARToolkit and FLARManager, and my research showed that quite a few people are having issues getting FLARManager to work. Why would you want to use FLARManager? It allows you to easily use standard event listener code when working with marker detection, and it allows you to work easily with more than one marker at a time. The following code will move two squares around on the stage when two markers are seen. To use it you’ll need FLARManager:

http://words.transmote.com/wp/20090718/flarmanager-v05-for-flartoolkit/

and TweenMax:

http://blog.greensock.com/tweenmaxas3/

My document class code:

package {
import com.transmote.flar.FLARManager;
import com.transmote.flar.marker.FLARMarkerEvent;
import com.transmote.utils.time.FramerateDisplay;
import flash.display.MovieClip;

import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.ErrorEvent;
import gs.TweenMax;

public class FLAR_BCard extends Sprite {
private var flarManager:FLARManager; //create a new instance of the flarmanager
private var bSquare:blueSquare = new blueSquare(); //these are the two little squares and will be replaced by much cooler shit
private var rSquare:redSquare = new redSquare();

public function FLAR_BCard () {
this.init(); //the defacto empty constructor running the init method
}

private function init () :void {
this.flarManager = new FLARManager(“resources/flarConfig.xml”); //tell the flar manager instance where it’s config file is
this.flarManager.addEventListener(ErrorEvent.ERROR, this.onFlarManagerError); //these are flar manager events, the first is a simple error handler
this.flarManager.addEventListener(FLARMarkerEvent.MARKER_ADDED, this.onMarkerAdded); //these three are like mouse down, mouse move and mouse up
this.flarManager.addEventListener(FLARMarkerEvent.MARKER_UPDATED, this.onMarkerUpdated);
this.flarManager.addEventListener(FLARMarkerEvent.MARKER_REMOVED, this.onMarkerRemoved);
}

private function onFlarManagerError (evt:ErrorEvent) :void { //simple error handler
this.flarManager.removeEventListener(ErrorEvent.ERROR, this.onFlarManagerError);
}

private function onMarkerAdded (evt:FLARMarkerEvent) :void { //this function simply adds the squares and moves them to the location of the seen marker
addChild(bSquare);
addChild(rSquare);
TweenMax.to(this.getMarkerByPatternId(evt.marker.patternId), 1, { x:evt.marker.centerpoint.x, y:evt.marker.centerpoint.y, rotationZ:evt.marker.rotationZ *-1 } );
}

private function onMarkerUpdated (evt:FLARMarkerEvent) :void {
TweenMax.to(this.getMarkerByPatternId(evt.marker.patternId), 1, { x:evt.marker.centerpoint.x, y:evt.marker.centerpoint.y, rotationZ:evt.marker.rotationZ *-1 });
}

private function onMarkerRemoved (evt:FLARMarkerEvent) :void {
TweenMax.to(this.getMarkerByPatternId(evt.marker.patternId), 1, { x:25, y:25, rotationZ:0 });
}

private function getMarkerByPatternId (patternId:int) {
switch (patternId) {
case 0:
return bSquare;
case 1:
return rSquare;
case null:
return null;
default:
return null
}
}
}

}

You’ll need to make an .fla file with two movieclips called bSquare and rSquare. I use the markers, xml and camera data parameters file that comes with FLARManager. Nice tweened 2D control of movieclips with tracked markers.

Applescript Code Number 2

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:17:00 +0100

Hello.

Following on from my previous post, I thought I’d share this also. It seems to be a common question on Applescript forums, how to quit an app without save. Here’s how to shut down TextEdit then shut down the machine, all without saving anything. Of course you can replace TextEdit with an app of your choosing:

tell application “TextEdit” —tell our application

quit without saving —to quit without saving

delay 5 —wait 5 seconds to allow for full app quit

end tell

tell application “Finder” —tell Finder

shut down —to invoke the shutdown command

end tell

Applescript Code

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:18:39 +0100

Hello.

I thought I’d share this as I couldn’t find how to do this anywhere online. It’s a little Applescript which sets Quicktime to load on boot, play a file of your choice full screen and loop forever. Quite handy if you use Mac Minis as A/V players.

The code:

tell application “QuickTime Player”

activate

open alias “Macintosh HD:Users:%username%:%path to movie file.mov%”

present document 1 scale screen

set the looping of document 1 to true

end tell

Stick that in the Applescript app, edit to suit, and save it as an application with ‘Startup Screen’ un-checked. Then just drag it to the startup items for the user account of your choice.

Hand Modelling Time Lapse

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:49:04 +0100

Hand Modelling Time Lapse

New Wings3D model, built in about 90 minutes. I’ve screen...

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:57:00 +0100

New Wings3D model, built in about 90 minutes. I’ve screen captured the build and will make an animated GIF soon, I’m away for three weeks though so it may take a while. I’d like to work on reducing the build time to about 30 minutes.

Low resolution body topology video.

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:55:04 +0100

Low resolution body topology video.

I decided to try and use Wings3D for a new base mesh for...

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:31:00 +0100

I decided to try and use Wings3D for a new base mesh for character development. This mesh is based upon one Elron did a few years back, I haven’t been able to find his tutorials online so came up with this, I take no credit for the flow. Depending upon requests I may make this into a beginners tutorial for Wings3D. It’s simply extrusions and tweaking of the resulting points, build time is about 15 minutes.

EDIT: I’ve just noticed that two frames from near the end of the file appear in the middle, not sure why though. I’ll try exporting another from Photoshop, if that fails I’ll cut something together in Final Cut and upload a .MOV.

Some more ears, that’s should be it for a while unless I...

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:10:08 +0100

Some more ears, that’s should be it for a while unless I decide to do another video. These took about 30 minutes for the three, now I know some of the other tools in Wings I think I could repeat the procedure in about 5 minutes, the same speed as I work in Silo. For all you 3D folks who haven’t tried Wings3D, you really should give it a go.

Moving on from how I model rocky environments for Unity, here is...

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:42:28 +0100

Moving on from how I model rocky environments for Unity, here is a link to a PNG which shows how I am currently building architectural pieces for the same game. It’s a little high-res for an iPhone game, but it does mean we can release the game on Mac and PC too…

Link to modelling the ear video.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:27:13 +0100

Link to modelling the ear video.

20 minutes spent in Wings3D resulted in a not too clean ear, but...

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:29:06 +0100

20 minutes spent in Wings3D resulted in a not too clean ear, but an ear none the less. I wont do any more with it, it was simply to see how Wings3D works. I quite like the method, not as fast as using Silo but more relaxing, so good for possible hypertension sufferers who work with 3D. :)

Full-res Sketch to Unity Pipeline image

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:15:52 +0100

Full-res Sketch to Unity Pipeline image

Hello. I’ve had some requests for a more detailed example...

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:24:00 +0100

Hello. I’ve had some requests for a more detailed example of how we are getting assets ready for Unity, I hope this explains it. A full resolution file is hosted here.

A quick and messy update showing how the ZBrush rock sculpts are...

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:39:18 +0100

A quick and messy update showing how the ZBrush rock sculpts are assembled into a complete environment. Next up is texturing and exporting the entire set as game engine assets.

Here is a larger picture of a rock face asset in ZBrush.

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:03:45 +0100

Here is a larger picture of a rock face asset in ZBrush.

Art work starts a new. Now the technical tests, file export...

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:58:03 +0100

Art work starts a new. Now the technical tests, file export tests, animation tests and tri count tests are complete, we are starting work on the art for Invaders. The first level, which contains the training aspect of the game, is set in a mountainous region of some cliché’d out back US town. After some (miserably horrid) test models I built in Silo, I decided that ZBrush may come in handy, even for teeny hand held game assets. The picture above shows my workflow for creating rocky surfaces.

1: In ZBrush, create a terrain, or plane object. I use a minimal number of divisions in it to keep the surface blocky.

2: Using the move and standard sculpting tools, I warp and twist the mesh into something that vaguely resembles a rock face. As these assets will be tiny, I tend to overdo the shapes.

3: I then subdivide the mesh 4 times, with smooth turned off. With the rake tool I go in and carve away the obvious straight lines between the polys.

4: I then have fun with alpha masks. I have a set of rock face alphas which I stamp over the model, rotating them so that large cracks in the alpha follow the edges on the model. Again, as these models will be about 150 pixels high, I tend to go nuts.

5: I use the Rake tool again to add random strokes to anything that looks too man made. If any poly edges are still too visible, I mash them at this point.

6: The final rock face, from new document to finished asset in 7 minutes. I then AUV Map, create displacement and normal, and export to Maya with the fantastic GoZ button. In Maya the pieces are scaled to suit our game engine, then exported as an FBX file.

The entire process from nothing to FBX file in Unity takes 10-15 minutes.

These are a very small collection of assorted street photos....

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:36:57 +0100

These are a very small collection of assorted street photos. Like the Cuba Collection they are joined by many many more which are awaiting the arrival of a new scanner. These were shot with either a Contax G1 with 45mm lens, Olympus 35SP or OM-1n on Fuji Neopan 1600 or Acros 100.

These were captured in Havana, Cuba. These were shot on a...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:23:52 +0100

These were captured in Havana, Cuba. These were shot on a mixture of film types, mainly Fuji Acros 100 developed in Rodinal. My film scanner has died leaving me with a large backlog of pictures to scan, these were the last it managed. The camera used was a Contax G1 with 45mm lens.