Topic: Exploding Head

[meandean]

  Let's see... Viagra, Levitra, Cialis- I'd be happy to have 0.001% of that market; I'd never have to work again.

[James]

I know.....

It seems like years since the last release. 

MAN!

I have ripped this thing apart....... again!

It's still not doing exactly what I want, but when it does, it will be well worth the effort.

I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this C++ thing... 

Oh yeah... and this laser art stuff too....

It's all starting to make sense now.....

I think....

UPDATE:

MAN! I am so freaking close! 

This is gonna' be AWESOME! 

James. 

[meandean]

  Let me guess... Now you're saving framesets to an interactive 3D web page (including palette support).

[James]

Actually, I'm back into the nitty gritty of optimization for wave; specifically what goes on in the "undocumented" areas;

like dwelling at the origin and moving at a safe velocity to the entry point of the first frame,

connecting the last_lit_vertex of a frame back to its first_lit_anchor for multiple scans of the same frame,

connecting the last_lit_vertex of a frame to the next frame's first_lit_anchor to transition from one frame to the next,

and connecting the last_lit_vertex of the last frame back to the origin and dwelling there.

Right now the code is set up to color these elements and unblank them so I can strip the current frame set of all color and when I save it to optimized wave and open it I can see these bits in different colors.

I'm still chasing my tail around.

Recently I changed the way optimization works. It used to pick the first lit segment in a frame with either end closest to the origin before it rearranged the order of the remaining lit segments. Now it picks the first lit segment based on which one has an end closest to where the previous frame left off.

It's not possible to know first or last of anything, if the frame is not already optimized!

James. 

[meandean]

I'm still chasing my tail around.

  You've said it!

[James]

It shouldn't be quite as complicated as it might sound.

If I reorder the segments in each frame starting with the first one and going in natural order to the last one, then each frame should know the last_lit_vertex of its previous frame.

But for some reason, it screws up somtimes.

The dreaded somtimes; the worst word in engineering!

James. 

[James]

I'm going nucking futs here trying to figure out the last few tiny details of this stuff.

Think of a single frame as a page of sheet music.

It is not time based information yet because no one is reading and playing it.

When it is being played is when it comes out in-time.

What you get when you open an ILDA file is only the verse.

There are three other elements associated with the frame that are not stored in an ILDA file.

They are intro, bridge and coda.

The intro for the first frame is different from all the rest in that it dwells at the origin and moves toward the entry point of the first frame. Every other intro is a blank line that leads from the exit point of the previous frame to the entry point of the frame itself. All intros are always all blank.

The bridge is the dwell that ends the last lit vector of a frame and a blank line to the entry point of the same frame. This segment is needed for repeating a single frame.

The coda, in all cases but the last frame, is just the dwell on the last lit vector in every frame. In the last frame it is this dwell plus a blank line leading back to the origin and some dwell there.

Now every LaserBoy_frame is-a verse and has-a each one of these parts.

When I optimize the "timeless" information that is in LaserBoy Space, these additional parts get populated with color vector information. When it comes time to save this information to a wave file, it is already all calculated and all I have to do is put all the little pieces together end-to-end.

I have also added switches in the UI visuals menu to show or hide these elements in the vector display. Since these elements are calculated, they are outside of the editor and can not be selected or modified with any of the drawing tools.

There is always somewhere to go and there is always a way to get there! 

James. 

[BlinkenLights]

FYI the BRIDGE only exists so it can be reused in the optimization process. it makes sense (trust me) but is actually just a coda+intro. Each frame of data contains all the info it needs for optimization.

basically it works like this.

there are 4 frames A B C D
all frames contain ALL elements. So frame A contains a bridge (used when repeating the same frame) a coda (calculated based on the next frame) and an intro (based on the span from the last point in the previous frame to the first point in the current frame)

When optimizing and writing a wave, you only uses the parts you need for any given frame.

So if you happen to repeat each frame (A B C D) 20 times, you dont have to calculate the coda and intro 20 times. its already been done.  its called the bridge.

you just slap all the parts together and your done.

makes wave writing much faster and optimization universal
 

[Fanny Pack]

Sounds like a nice plan.  My plan is just to insert some points from the last point of Frame A to the first point of Frame B.  That way I don't have to hire a conductor or an orchestra.

[James]

That way I don't have to hire a conductor or an orchestra.

Tell me about it! These union rates are killing me! 

Hmmmmm. It sounds like a four hour phone conversation didn't quite pound the idea into Alec's brain quite hard enough....

I guess it's OK. He probably was never taught how to read sheet music.

If you've ever played Pomp and Circumstance for 2 hours, non-stop, at a graduation, you know all too well how this works!

The bridge is NOT coda + intro!

It sort-of looks like coda + intro.

But it is specifically there for the purpose of joining the end of a frame back to its own beginning. The coda + intro only happens between consecutive frames; NOT between consecutive scans of the same frame.

intro_a verse_a bridge_a verse_a bridge_a verse_a coda_a intro_b verse_b bridge_b verse_b coda_b intro_c.....

It's coming along... I just figured out last night that the reason I couldn't get past a certain problem was not the problem, but the way it was being displayed on the screen! Oh well. I got past that.

THE MAIN concept that I want to keep intact within LaserBoy Space is that it is above and in control of TIME.

There is an advantage of not having to calculate the same data over and over, but more importantly, now you can fully optimize your frames and see all of the new data that was added before you use that data to make a wave or whatever. It is done, but not yet committed to time.

James. 

[BlinkenLights]

i get it.. but we describe it differently..

a bridge IS a coda and an intro... its just a very a coda+intro that serves a specific purpose..

a bridge is a special coda+intro designed to be used when repeating the same frame, so it uses its own frame as a reference,instead of using the next frame .. i get it

[James]

That's OK.

I'm still gonna' kick you in the head when I actually meet you in person! 

James. 

[BlinkenLights]

i get it.. kick in the head... same thing as a punch only you use your foot, serves the same purpose,,, trust me i get it...

[James]

All right then....

I'll split your nostrils, rupture your spleen and remove your liver.

Then I'll nail your head to a table.

After that, I'll buy you a beer and we can hang out for a while.

James. 

[James]

I have come to realize that my current view of LaserBoy Space and its relationship with time are as yet irreconcilable.

This is not a bad thing. This is just a much more accurate view of finer details.

Apparently there are other dimensions to consider in this universe.

It might be some time before the next release of LaserBoy.

The seed that is LaserBoy has not yet broken the soil.

Happy New Year everyone!

Thanks so much for being a part of The LaserBoy Forum !!!

James.