Ms Snake!

Even during the summer break there was the chance for doing some graphics: a lovely project for bringing new life to a nice character of years ago.

Using the hardware and software specifics of the first game console you can try to write a old fashion game ... we liked the idea and chose the snake classic as subject for a start, but with a small change compared to the original :)

Here is the link for the project:  Ms Snake!

Software Interface

It is a long time since the last post and a lot of things have happened. A new job most of which has to do with 2D graphics and softwares, and animations, and web sites...and a lots more :)

One of the first projects I worked on, was the interface for a new software the company was developing. It was an extremely interesting challange: as almost always in this kinds of tasks not only the graphic aspect has to be taken in consideration but even, and mainly the needs of operators and the functionality embedded in each object have to be planned and considered.

 

This month the software has undergone the first test with customers, and has become 'public'.
In this post there are the slides used as reference by developers for coding the new program.

 

So here you can see the starting screen with the name of the product, follows the log-in screen, and then three shots of the operator screen with different active tools.

 

The last two images are the revisor environment with its main tools activated.
The real object uses a web based interface and technology and this can give some limitation to the freedom of the graphics elements; more while developing some new requests were advanced and new needs recognised, so some implementations differs slightly from what is reported in this pictures. But the core objects and graphics are still these.

Filesman

Today I'm speaking of a small utility that can come very useful if you have to manage, for example, an images sequence.
This is Filesman a small program that you can download and ncopress into a folder and it is ready to use. Nothing to install, just unzip (or unrar), and you are ready to use it.

This is the main screen, this is the italian version but you can chose your preferred language at the first start of the application. Why am I speaking of this kind of software? For a simple reason, everyone who as rendered a sequence or have tried ordering a batch of photos, sooner or later, discovers that is missing the right tools for renaming the entire group of files.

Now that is one of the features of this program: you can select the files you want and decide to rename them, even changhing just a portion of the name of the files in the sequence.

There are even other useful options but Filesman is a very easy to use application and i don't think you'll need a real tutorial.
What is really important is that it is very small and portable.



Here you can see the screenshot of the files enumeration function (on the left), and the substitute string function on the right.

Hope this can come useful!

Wood Workshop for wood textures

Serching for textures is quite a common thing to do, but sometimes, if you are lucky, you can find something that is a bit more than you are searching for. This is the case of  Wood Workshop.

Infact Spiral Graphics released for free this small program, that is based on a subset of functions of Genetica software. Focused only on wood textures, just as the name says :), it gives you the chance of producing from scratch textures for furnitures and floors, tilables or not. There are a lot of effects you can apply, like weathering and bumps, and parameters you can adjust. If you need textures for your interiors rendering, it can be worth a try.

FlipBook Maker

Hi everybody!
I think that everyone owning more than few photos, is continuously tempting new and different ways of ordering, exposing and collecting the best shots. But even if is real fun composing a photo-book, printing a poster, or building a kind of slideshow, or a DVD, this solutions, can easily be bulky and difficult to manage for showing to distant people. So the solution is clearly seen: put your images online and let your friends see them from wherever they are. Right. But then the questions start: which kind of gallery? Thumbnails? Sliding? A slideshow into a virtual frame? 3D objects? Just 2D? And why not a virtual book with turning pages? The last kind of effect can be familiar and intriguing at the same time. But coding this effect from scratch, and achieving a good result can be a match for more than one, and time consuming. Are there some plug-ins or programs that can help us? Yes!
One of this is the Ncesoft Flip Book Maker: a small software handy and easy to use that can give you the chance of building your virtual photo-books immediately, without coding a single line.
A simple three steps process let you realize that.
The First Step is choosing and adding the pictures you like. Worth to note that you can import some of the most common raster format (like PNG, JPG and BMP), and even SWF, FLV files and PDF.

First Step  - Add Files: press the big green button in the center of the work area and start selecting your media files.

In this same stage you can add an MP3 files to your project.
You can even set an URL for each image you have chosen, linking in this way the pages of your photo-book to other sites or resources.

First Step  - Image Properties: select an image and press the properties button.

First Step - Image Properties: a new screen opens and here you can set an external URL for each page, or the same URL for all the pages.

Now you are ready for the Second Step. This is the stage where you create the actual shape of the photo-book. Numerous style presets are the starting point for your creation, then you can customize lots of characteristics like the background, which buttons will be visible, if the pages are rigid or soft, the navigation bars, just to say some.
There is even the Effects tab, where you can add an overall effect to the book, like snowflakes or bubbles,  that will appear over the pages while you flip them.

Second Step - Styles: chose a preset and instantly, on the right side of the work area you will see a preview of your book.

Second Step - Styles: pressing the Customize button a new set of options appears, and you can modify the project in many ways to reach the best result that suits your ideas .

In this step you can chose the type of buttons for the Navigation Bars, or the effects for the book. What is not clear is if you can add new types of buttons or effects designed and animated in flash.
And now it is time for the Third and final Step: publishing your creation.
This is the easiest of the three: just chose the kind of file you need and the Ncesoft Flip Book Maker will take care of the process. The most interesting feature, here, is that you can release your work in different ways as: SWF, EXE, HTML, SCREEN SAVER or SEND BY MAIL (for this last one you need a valid profile active in your Mail software). Chose your final Output, set the Output Directory and press OK. That’s all! You can collect your finished work and start using it.

Third Step - Publish: on the left side of the work area you can select the kind of output files you need. Press the appropriate button and then set the output directory and file name in the request window that will pop-up. Press Ok and you have done.

Note: the small button, high on the right side, you see in this picture, is always available, and opens the settings window where you can set the Output size and the Play and Loop options.

This was just a quick introduction to a small software that can save you a lot of time if you need a flipbook presentation, giving you good results in a very short time.
Hope could be useful!