Nutcracker Effects Builder released

[smeighan]

better!
then i tried the following, and got the error...

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in /users/meighan.net/htdocs/nutcracker/effects/read_file.php on line 503


Maybe a more complex image needs more time...?

_POST
username Steve Gase
user_target SGMEG48W
effect_class spirals
effect_name barber2
number_spirals 9
number_rotations 4
spiral_thickness 7
window_degrees 225
start_color #1241FF
end_color #FF6F3B
frame_delay 50
direction ccw
sparkles 20
submit Submit Form to create your target model

This is a limit with my internet provider. I am on a shared server. To make sur eno one hogs the server, they kill anyone whose code runs longer than 30 seconds.

I am going to try and see if i could work around this by breaking the generation of the sequence from the generation of the animated gif.

Here i reduced the thickness that you had and i got the sequence to finish in 25 seconds.


_POST
username   Steve Gase
user_target   SGMEG48W
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   barber2sean
number_spirals   9
number_rotations   4
spiral_thickness   1
window_degrees   225
start_color   #1241FF
end_color   #FF6F3B
frame_delay   50
direction   ccw
sparkles   20
submit   Submit Form to create your target model



Elapsed time = 25.63657 seconds

For those who are interested, here is the specs on your target model
MODEL: SGMEG48W.dat
target_name   SGMEG48W
total_strings   76
pixel_count   85
pixel_length   252.00
unit_of_measure   in
topography   BOT_TOP



When i changed the thicknes value back to 7 (a value that would fill in all of the tree)
_POST
username   Steve Gase
user_target   SGMEG48W
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   barber2sean
number_spirals   9
number_rotations   4
spiral_thickness   7
window_degrees   225
start_color   #1241FF
end_color   #FF6F3B
frame_delay   50
direction   ccw
sparkles   20
submit   Submit Form to create your target model

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in /users/meighan.net/htdocs/nutcracker/effects/read_file.php on line 503

If i got a dedicated hosting box, then all limits would be gone. The problem is that is $60/month.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login is one of the best deals.
This includes 1000gb disk space and a 4 thread box.

Currently i have these limits, 10g disk space (i am using 3g), 30 seconds of runtime per page. I do not think that i will exceed the disk limits.

This dedicated server would cost me about $500 more per year and I dont think that will fly with my wife. I told her that i can build the tool with no additional cost to us.

For now, i will see if i can break the generation of the gif into a separate task.

Another solution is for people to download wamp onto their windows xp, 7 boxes. This is an Apache server, Mysql database, php 5 package. The down side is it is 300mbytes and requires that you set it up. Also , i make sometimes 4-5 releases per day. You would have to download and install this.

I like the web server approach of nutcracker there is nothing for the user to install or maintain. Just run it. It currently runs fine from my ipad device.
The entire Nutcracker code is 6.5 mbytes so far.

So, for most people, they will not hit this limit. 24, 32 or even 48 strand trees no problem. For anyone who comes close to the 80-100 strand tree, the time approaches 30 seconds.

sorry

sean

[smeighan]

Hi;

i have added timing statements to Nutcracker.

Remember, 30 seconds is the limit.

Steve, here is your big tree , again with thickness of 1. If we did not make animated graphs and instead just go for the xml files, you can subtract any gnuplot or imagick time from the total. In this case we would be ready for the xml output at around 11 seconds. The xml output is going to take around 3 seconds.

So, minus the graphs, we can fit i think anyones sequences. I'll think about a solution to how to get the animated graphs AND the xml file in under 30 seconds.

thanks




_POST
username   Steve Gase
user_target   SGMEG48W
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   barber2sean
number_spirals   9
number_rotations   4
spiral_thickness   1
window_degrees   225
start_color   #1241FF
end_color   #FF6F3B
frame_delay   50
direction   ccw
sparkles   20
submit   Submit Form to create your target model
Creating  Effect, spirals class:        : Elapsed time =    0.13534 seconds
Finished  Effect, spirals class:        : Elapsed time =    0.24950 seconds
Starting  Rotate image about Z axis     : Elapsed time =    0.24957 seconds
Finished  Rotate image about Z axis     : Elapsed time =   11.28429 seconds
Making  gnuplot command file:           : Elapsed time =   11.28435 seconds
Finished gnuplot command file:          : Elapsed time =   11.38652 seconds
Calling  Gnuplot:                       : Elapsed time =   11.38672 seconds
Finished  Gnuplot:                      : Elapsed time =   26.79310 seconds
Calling   Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time =   26.79319 seconds
Finished  Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time =   27.30974 seconds

[smeighan]

A suggestion for some more color prompts

Sean

wow this is really starting to come together.

Couple things for you from my experience playing just now.

- Calling your point of origin "pixel 1" is confusing to me even though you make it clear it's for internal use.
Maybe i should call them n1 to nxx. Something that makes sure there is no confusion with the pixel number on your strings?


- the start colour, end colour are describe as morphing top to bottom, playing with different numbers of spirals shows that is not how it currently functions.
This was a bug that i fixed last night, it should morph correctly now
- you went back to total string length rather than pixel spacing, seems a backward step when you collect the count.
I have always prompted for total length of string. I have displayed pixel spacing. This is probably confusing. Maybe i should just prompt for pixel spacing and total pixels??

- certainly for spirals it would be nice to specify each spiral colour and or the vertical colour change.
Taking that a step further making complex olour gradients both around the tree and vertically on a tree would be unreal
Yep, i have it on my plan. Here was my idea for expanded color prompts:

Do you want the same color scheme for all spirals?
if yes then prompt
    global_start_color, global_end_color
else
    Strand #1: start and end color
    Strand #2: start and end color
    ..
    Strand #Last: start and end color

With some people having 76 strands, i was thinking of also asking
Do you want to create color groups for your strands?
if yes then
    How many color groups? (Say they answer 3)
    Group#1 start,end color
    Group #2, start,end color
    Group #3, Start,end color
Then i would do
    Strand#1 uses Group#1 colors
    Strand#2 uses Group#2 colors
    Strand#3 uses Group#3 colors
    Strand#4 uses tgroup#1 colors
    Strand#5 uses Group#2 colors
 .etc until all strands have been assigned.

When I do amorphous blobs, i will be doing color gradients both vertically and horizontally and moving the color blobs around.


Cheers
Phil

[smeighan]

Hi, this is so cool thanks for all the work.
Any chance of having a background colour. i.e. tree green & spirals in red (or what ever colours you chose).
Thanks.

New Release Option for spirals class: background_color

Per the above request, i have added a new option the effect class.

If you answer yes u want a background color, every pixel of your tree will be set to that color. Next i take whatever animation you have and put it on top of the background.

Here is an example

_POST
username   f
user_target   ZZ_ZZ
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   background test
number_spirals   3
number_rotations   2
spiral_thickness   2
window_degrees   180
start_color   #0DFF05
end_color   #1C14FF
frame_delay   22
direction   ccw
sparkles   0
use_background   Y
background_color   #067306
submit   Submit Form to create your target model
Creating  Effect, spirals class:        : Elapsed time =    0.05011 seconds
Finished  Effect, spirals class:        : Elapsed time =    0.09783 seconds
Starting  Rotate image about Z axis     : Elapsed time =    0.09790 seconds
Finished  Rotate image about Z axis     : Elapsed time =    3.95531 seconds
Making  gnuplot command file:           : Elapsed time =    3.95537 seconds
Finished gnuplot command file:          : Elapsed time =    3.96694 seconds
Calling  Gnuplot:                       : Elapsed time =    3.96712 seconds
Finished  Gnuplot:                      : Elapsed time =    9.25005 seconds
Calling   Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time =    9.25013 seconds
Finished  Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time =    9.62273 seconds



MODEL: ZZ_ZZ.dat
target_name   ZZ_ZZ
total_strings   16
pixel_count   80
pixel_length   240.00
unit_of_measure   in
topography   UP_DOWN_NEXT
Total Elapsed time for this effect:     : Elapsed time =    9.77069 seconds

[smeighan]

I have added a gallery on the effects form screen.

This basically goes and finds every gif image that has been created and shows them. I will create a hyperlink that will allow you to click on an image and then copy that effect into your private library. This will save you from answering 20 questions.

Because i make so many releases per day, sometime > 20. I am going to start ending my posts with a summary of all changes. This readers digest version means you kind jump to the end of these threads and not miss anything.

we will see if this helps.

NUTCRACKER SUMMARY OF CHANGES

Effect builder now has new options:
1) sparkles: is a number form 0-100. This indicates what percentage of the pixels being drawn should have their color overwritten and instad be set to white.
0 means , do not have any sparkles.

2) window_degrees: Value 0-360 degres
this is how much of your tree will be displayed.
360 will show entire tree, 180 = half a tree, 90 = 1/4 of a tree.
thanks

3) Nutcracker now displays timing as it runs

Example:
Creating Effect, spirals class: : Elapsed time = 0.13534 seconds
Finished Effect, spirals class: : Elapsed time = 0.24950 seconds
Starting Rotate image about Z axis : Elapsed time = 0.24957 seconds
Finished Rotate image about Z axis : Elapsed time = 11.28429 seconds
Making gnuplot command file: : Elapsed time = 11.28435 seconds
Finished gnuplot command file: : Elapsed time = 11.38652 seconds
Calling Gnuplot: : Elapsed time = 11.38672 seconds
Finished Gnuplot: : Elapsed time = 26.79310 seconds
Calling Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time = 26.79319 seconds
Finished Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time = 27.30974 seconds

4) Two new options to set background color
use_background   Y
background_color   #067306

If you answer yes u want a background color, every pixel of your tree will be set to that color.
Next i take whatever animation you have and put it on top of the background.


5) Added the Gallery of effects
to the effects form. Now you can see all other users effects.

END OF SUMMARY

Thanks

[sebjsan]

Thanks for adding the user gallery it gives others more ideas.

[smeighan]

Thanks for adding the user gallery it gives others more ideas.

I soon will add the ability for you to click and copy the settings that made that image into your library. Then you can tweak it further

I will also then show for each image, how many times it was copied. This will give an idea of the popular effects.




thanks

[smeighan]

Doing the current meter, i found a bug in my color transformation code. Nutcracker never uses r,g,b anywhere except whenit is all finished. Everything is in HSV, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login.

The Hue allows me to morph colors easily. Well when i morphed from one color to the second, H1,S1,V1 into H2,S2,V2 i morphed the hue (H1=>H2)  but i set the S and V to 100%. Why? I don't remember. Maybe because at the time i liked bright colors. S=100% Indicates full saturation of the Hue, V=100% is full brightness.

I fixed the logic so now all three are morphing correctly.

What does this mean? It means before you could not do grays. You also couldnt fade a bright red down to black. Now you can.

Here is a gray color scheme

username   f
user_target   AA
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   GRAY_CHECK
number_spirals   4
number_rotations   2
spiral_thickness   2
window_degrees   360
start_color   #CFCFCF
end_color   #A3A3A3
frame_delay   22
direction   cw
sparkles   
use_background   n
background_color   #0B3802
submit   Submit Form to create your target model




And here is a color hue , leaving the hue and fading to black.
_POST
username   f
user_target   AA
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   GRAY_CHECK
number_spirals   4
number_rotations   2
spiral_thickness   2
window_degrees   360
start_color   #FA053E
end_color   #3D3637
frame_delay   22
direction   cw
sparkles   
use_background   n
background_color   #0B3802
submit   Submit Form to create your target model




Here is readers digest of all changes so far this last week:



NUTCRACKER SUMMARY OF CHANGES


Effect builder now has new options:
1) sparkles: is a number form 0-100. This indicates what percentage of teh pixels being drawn should have their color overwritten and instad be set to white.
0 means , do not have any sparkles.

2) window_degrees: Value 0-360 degres
this is how much of your tree will be displayed.
360 will show entire tree, 180 = half a tree, 90 = 1/4 of a tree.
thanks

3) Nutcracker now displays timing as it runs

Example:
Creating Effect, spirals class: : Elapsed time = 0.13534 seconds
Finished Effect, spirals class: : Elapsed time = 0.24950 seconds
Starting Rotate image about Z axis : Elapsed time = 0.24957 seconds
Finished Rotate image about Z axis : Elapsed time = 11.28429 seconds
Making gnuplot command file: : Elapsed time = 11.28435 seconds
Finished gnuplot command file: : Elapsed time = 11.38652 seconds
Calling Gnuplot: : Elapsed time = 11.38672 seconds
Finished Gnuplot: : Elapsed time = 26.79310 seconds
Calling Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time = 26.79319 seconds
Finished Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time = 27.30974 seconds

4) Two new options to set background color
use_background   Y
background_color   #067306

If you answer yes u want a background color, every pixel of your tree will be set to that color.
Next i take whatever animation you have and put it on top of the background.


5) Added the Gallery of effects
to the effects form. Now you can see all other users effects.

6) Added current meter to show how much DC current is being drawn by your animation

7) Fixed color bug. In H1,S1,V1 => H2,S2,V2 transformations, i was only modifying the hue.


END OF SUMMARY

[smeighan]

Sorry for the feature creep, but I think an option to change the helix from left hand, to right hand would be cool.  For instance, I've attached two trees.  The left hand tree (first one) is in the gallery, but the right hand tree (second one) can not be created.  This is different from rotation.

New release of Nutcracker has spiral class option: handiness

The choice is L or R indicating which way the spiral goes down the tree.

Here is a right handiness tree


here is same tree but with left handiness


And here are the settings for the models
LEFT
_POST
username   f
user_target   AA
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   left_TEST
handiness   L
number_spirals   4
number_rotations   2
spiral_thickness   2
window_degrees   180
start_color   #FF147A
end_color   #FFF712
frame_delay   5
direction   cw
sparkles   
use_background   n
background_color   #FFFFFF
submit   Submit Form to create your target mode

and the RIGHT model

_POST
username   f
user_target   AA
effect_class   spirals
effect_name   RIGHT_TEST
handiness   R
number_spirals   4
number_rotations   2
spiral_thickness   2
window_degrees   180
start_color   #FF147A
end_color   #FFF712
frame_delay   5
direction   cw
sparkles   
use_background   n
background_color   #FFFFFF
submit   Submit Form to create your target model

And I finish with summary of changes to Nutcracker.



NUTCRACKER SUMMARY OF CHANGES


Effect builder now has new options:
1) sparkles: is a number form 0-100. This indicates what percentage of teh pixels being drawn should have their color overwritten and instad be set to white.
0 means , do not have any sparkles.

2) window_degrees: Value 0-360 degres
this is how much of your tree will be displayed.
360 will show entire tree, 180 = half a tree, 90 = 1/4 of a tree.


3) Nutcracker now displays timing as it runs

Example:
Creating Effect, spirals class: : Elapsed time = 0.13534 seconds
Finished Effect, spirals class: : Elapsed time = 0.24950 seconds
Starting Rotate image about Z axis : Elapsed time = 0.24957 seconds
Finished Rotate image about Z axis : Elapsed time = 11.28429 seconds
Making gnuplot command file: : Elapsed time = 11.28435 seconds
Finished gnuplot command file: : Elapsed time = 11.38652 seconds
Calling Gnuplot: : Elapsed time = 11.38672 seconds
Finished Gnuplot: : Elapsed time = 26.79310 seconds
Calling Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time = 26.79319 seconds
Finished Imagick to make animated GIF: : Elapsed time = 27.30974 seconds

4) Two new options to set background color
use_background   Y
background_color   #067306

If you answer yes u want a background color, every pixel of your tree will be set to that color.
Next i take whatever animation you have and put it on top of the background.


5) Added the Gallery of effects
to the effects form. Now you can see all other users effects.

6) Added current meter to show how much DC current is being drawn by your animation

7) Fixed color bug. In H1,S1,V1 => H2,S2,V2 transformations, i was only modifying the hue.

Handiness option now on spiral class. You can specify which way the spirals are drawn as they go from top to bottom on your tree.


END OF SUMMARY

[Steve Gase]

//FEATURE CREEP ON

A reminder that overlaying effects would be a great addition.

I saw the left/right spiral and I thought:  Wouldn't it be cool to mix left AND right spirals?

//FEATHURE CREEP OFF

[smeighan]

//FEATURE CREEP ON

A reminder that overlaying effects would be a great addition.

I saw the left/right spiral and I thought:  Wouldn't it be cool to mix left AND right spirals?

//FEATHURE CREEP OFF

I want the effects generator to be feature rich AND easy. It is probably an oxymoron.

I will probably make the effects generator start with a question "do you want defaults", then identify a few of the prompts that are most used (ie number of spirals and colors). This way people could still start and later customize.

Layers are on my to do list.

It is better to add these features into the effect classes, because all the work can be done for you and you get an xml file. I really dont want to tocuh anything that is rgb device related, it will be just too much work.


so that means, i dont view it as feature creep but as feature enhancement. keep them coming

[smeighan]

I have a quick question can i use your tool for my pixel mini tree i showed how my layout is in picture.

Yep, i just need to be a target modeler for it. This would be just a few hours to do.

This is the basis of all Nutcracker RGB effects.

The top of the model is always Nutcracker Pixel #1
Going around the model , the vertical direction is called strands.

Whether a rgb device like u show, a mega-tree  a horizontal or vertial grid, lights wrapped around the spheres of a snowman. The top is always 1, vertical bars are strands .

By keeping this internal form, all of my effects can be applied to any rgb device.

This is why earlier i had said that the target modeler was the key to getting all the cool effects.

I plan on some mini trees. I will take two strings, 120 pixels each. I will wrap each string 10 times, up and down. Each strand will have 12 pixels or 36".  I will build a 180 degree, half tree.

So with just two strings I will have a minitree that is 35" high, i can get these effects







I want to think of how to get some greate effects with only a few rgb strings. This will allow entry for more people.

thanks

[smeighan]

One user has imprted a sequence and has got the profiler working in Vixen. he made a movie.

Take a look at this screen video of how one of the effects looks on the Vixen adjustable preview. The preview was created by the RGB profiler.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Is looking Good!!!!

[Mike Hill]

Thats awesome.....I can't wait to get to that level.  With so few of strings starting out, this is going to happen sooner than I thought.

Thank you for the awesome opportunities.

[dcwehw99]

FYI

• I've tried the new release with 3 different browsers on 2 different computers
• IE and Chrome work OK
• Firefox (V10 & V11) doesn't display the animated GIF and the "click on" Hyperlinks in the effects generator.  Everything is displayed as straight text.  Prior to the new release the animated GIF did appear OK in the effects generator.
• The animated GIF is being generated because it shows up in the gallery of others users if you check it after submitting the form.  So there is a work around but it's a pain to switch back and forth.

Since this is an alpha release should we be using the same browser that you area using to test with?  That would reduce some of the anomalies you'd have to deal with for now.

Thanks Sean for all the time you're devoting to this project.

Denny