Yet Another Spirograph Generator

[tribble]

OK, here's attempt number 1.

Usage Caveats:

This is my first Java GUI, so I'm sure it has some rough edges.

You can change the numbers in the edit boxes, but you have to hit enter to make the change!

Each time you export a frame or animation, "out.txt" and "out.ild" will be OVERWRITTEN.

Known issues:
- Image is inverted on screen vs. in ild file.
- Scaling preview is not exactly the same as output file

Future feature list:
- Ability to set default color
- Color modulation
- Blanking modulation, a la "chopper wheels"
- Better GUI behaviors
- Better cycle detection for preview window

Let me know if there are glaring bugs or errors. Have fun!

I had to attach a .zip because the forum does not know what a Java .jar file is. Unzip the .zip to get the .jar. Double-click on the jar file or use "java -jar spirograph.jar" at your command prompt.

Tribble

spirograph.zip

[dchammonds]

Good start!

Your approach is interesting... Not sure I get it, but that's probably a good thing. Thanks for sharing!

[rodman1369]

I had to attach a .zip because the forum does not know what a Java .jar file is. Unzip the .zip to get the .jar. Double-click on the jar file or use "java -jar spirograph.jar" at your command prompt.

Not working for me...I used 7- zip to unzip the spirograph.zip
got folders called com and META-INF and a file called spirograph (which is an Executable jar file)

I tried Double-clicking on the jar file, but just get an error message: could not find the main class, program will exit.

I'm on a pc

[tribble]

Not working for me...I used 7- zip to unzip the spirograph.zip
got folders called com and META-INF and a file called spirograph (which is an Executable jar file)

I tried Double-clicking on the jar file, but just get an error message: could not find the main class, program will exit.

I'm on a pc

Hmm, be sure NOT to unzip the .jar. If you get com and META-INF folders 7-zip went too far. I downloaded the jar, unzipped it once with 7zip, and double-clicked the jar and it worked fine.

What version of java do you have installed? I'm on 6; I may need to update to 7.

>java -version
java version "1.6.0_23"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_23-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 19.0-b09, mixed mode)

[tribble]

It's a pain to get the exact numbers you may want with the mouse; once you click on a slider you can use the arrow keys to manipulate the slider in fine increments.

You can use tab and shift-tab to move between sliders.

Both the control window and the preview window are resizable.

[james]

It's a pain to get the exact numbers you may want with the mouse; once you click on a slider you can use the arrow keys to manipulate the slider in fine increments.

You can use tab and shift-tab to move between sliders.

Both the control window and the preview window are resizable.

Wait a minute. You're dismissing the mouse and relying on the keyboard for greater accuracy of user input?

What is this, the Dark Ages?

Some ideas:

a reset button to return everything to a default state.

text input boxes at the ends of each slider so you can type in a number

Also, it would be cool if the up and down arrows switch between the sliders.

The next big step would be some sort of color modulation techniques.

James.

[rodman1369]

Hmm, be sure NOT to unzip the .jar. If you get com and META-INF folders 7-zip went too far. I downloaded the jar, unzipped it once with 7zip, and double-clicked the jar and it worked fine.

What version of java do you have installed? I'm on 6; I may need to update to 7.

>java -version
java version "1.6.0_23"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_23-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 19.0-b09, mixed mode)

Got it! Thanks Playing with now...

[tribble]

OK, new version posted in the Original Post. Fixed a few bugs, added a few features.

Bugfixes:
Some RPM combinations would not draw at all. Most of these have been fixed.

New features:
Changed RPM readouts to editable text boxes (per James' suggestion). Much easier to get exactly the RPM you want now.
Keyframe sequences can now be loaded from a text file. This makes animating frames in a tweakable, yet repeatable fashion much easier. A sample csv file is included.
Number of keyframes in the list is now shown in case you lose track.

[rodman1369]

Unzipped Spirograph-v2
got two files: keyframes and spirograph executable jar file
but when I double-click on spirograph...I get an error message: could not find the main class. Program will exit.
I have java 6 on a Windows 7 machine.
I got the original spirograph to work. Thanks!

[tribble]

rodman1369, thanks for checking this out... obviously I can't reproduce that error on my end, but I would like to get you running.

What happens if you try running it from the command line?

java -jar spirograph.jar

??

Sorry for the trouble!