Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Avatar Core Issues are open
If you haven't already noticed (and some have), Issues are now open for the Avatar Core Project. The issues list will show you what's currently being worked on, or what thoughts are going into future development, as well as gives you an opportunity to log bugs or feature requests (that are within reason).
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Avatar Core 0.5.5 Released
Avatar Core 0.5.5 Released is now available from the Avatar Core project page. As mentioned in the previous post, this update includes some bug fixes and some minor changes to the API. More information on what was changed can be seen in the release notes.
Also included in this update is a small JSFL command for users of Adobe Flash Professional. This command can read the contents of the current timeline and the selection in the Library in Flash and generate XML based on their contents. When I get a chance, I'll try to write up some more information on how it works including providing a sample FLA.
I do feel this release is starting to shape up, and I feel more comfortable with how things are coming together. There are still a few more additions I would like to make before hitting 1.0, though. These additions should not affect any work being done with Avatar Core now, so I think it should be pretty safe to work with it now without having to worry about breakages.
Despite the past few months being slow, I hope to spend some more time working on the framework this spring.
Also included in this update is a small JSFL command for users of Adobe Flash Professional. This command can read the contents of the current timeline and the selection in the Library in Flash and generate XML based on their contents. When I get a chance, I'll try to write up some more information on how it works including providing a sample FLA.
I do feel this release is starting to shape up, and I feel more comfortable with how things are coming together. There are still a few more additions I would like to make before hitting 1.0, though. These additions should not affect any work being done with Avatar Core now, so I think it should be pretty safe to work with it now without having to worry about breakages.
Despite the past few months being slow, I hope to spend some more time working on the framework this spring.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
New Avatar Core minor release coming soon
I've made some changes and improvements to the Avatar Core framework. There are some bug fixes, some API changes, and most notably, the ability to easily create copies of most objects via clone methods. Before, you could do this by writing and reading XML, but this way is a little easier. I'll have to update all the documentation, demos and samples to make sure they'll still work with the changes, then I'll post the update to the project page.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Avatar Core 0.5.0 + My Avatar Editor Lite
Avatar Core 0.5.0 has now been released on the project page (both SVN and ZIP download). The release notes have more information about the changes made.
It should be noted that the SVN repository has been redesigned to also include documentation, examples, and a library SWC for the framework. The location of the source files have moved a couple of directories deeper as a result, so you may need to make some changes with respect to classpaths/source path references. The ZIP download also reflects this restructuring, though it only includes the source code and the same selection example as before.
"My Avatar Editor Lite" is now a new demo example. The source is currently only available through SVN, though you can browse the demo source files through the project page. A live version of My Avatar Editor Lite is also viewable online. It's a great example in that it uses a lot of the features of the framework.
I've also combined the two new demos from before (with Fred) into one demo now listed in the SVN examples. It modifies position, scaling, and rotation using mouse interaction. However it doesn't go so far as to incorporate Constrain behaviors. The original demos will probably remain on the wiki for now unless they end up becoming incompatible with new releases.
So what's next? For one, the documentation will need updating. I don't think it covers a lot of the new changes very well and is pretty lacking in other areas too. With that, also more attention given to the documentation on the wiki. Then, its just a matter of tying up and loose ends preparing for a 1.0 release for production use.
It should be noted that the SVN repository has been redesigned to also include documentation, examples, and a library SWC for the framework. The location of the source files have moved a couple of directories deeper as a result, so you may need to make some changes with respect to classpaths/source path references. The ZIP download also reflects this restructuring, though it only includes the source code and the same selection example as before.
"My Avatar Editor Lite" is now a new demo example. The source is currently only available through SVN, though you can browse the demo source files through the project page. A live version of My Avatar Editor Lite is also viewable online. It's a great example in that it uses a lot of the features of the framework.
I've also combined the two new demos from before (with Fred) into one demo now listed in the SVN examples. It modifies position, scaling, and rotation using mouse interaction. However it doesn't go so far as to incorporate Constrain behaviors. The original demos will probably remain on the wiki for now unless they end up becoming incompatible with new releases.
So what's next? For one, the documentation will need updating. I don't think it covers a lot of the new changes very well and is pretty lacking in other areas too. With that, also more attention given to the documentation on the wiki. Then, its just a matter of tying up and loose ends preparing for a 1.0 release for production use.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Avatar Core Rendering My Avatar Editor Characters
I recently got an example using Avatar Core to render My Avatar Editor character heads up and running. It uses the same visual assets but none of the original codebase (My Avatar Editor does not use the Avatar Core framework; it was created before work on Avatar Core started).
Clicking on the head will get you a new random variation.
This will ultimately become another demo, but I still want to add controls for modifying characteristics - almost to parity with My Avatar Editor, but lacking anything that would unnecessarily over-complicate.
In doing this exercise, as expected, a number of additional bugs and limitations were addressed. They will be fixed in the next release due out with the completion of this demo.
Clicking on the head will get you a new random variation.
This will ultimately become another demo, but I still want to add controls for modifying characteristics - almost to parity with My Avatar Editor, but lacking anything that would unnecessarily over-complicate.
In doing this exercise, as expected, a number of additional bugs and limitations were addressed. They will be fixed in the next release due out with the completion of this demo.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Avatar Core 0.2.1 (SVN Only)
The svn repository for Avatar Core has been updated with the 0.2.1 changes. There shouldn't be anything broken, per se, in the current 0.2.0 download, so you can continue to use it for testing purposes. That download will get updated for the next release.
The next release will probably be a 1.0 release candidate. I'm going to sprucen up the documentation a bit more and try to make a 'lite' version of My Avatar Editor with the framework to see 1) if its possible, and 2) if it's easy, to moderately easy to use. Any problems found in that attempt will be fixed for that build.
If anyone has any bugs to report or feature requests, now's the time to do it. (And doing so through the blog is fine for now.)
The next release will probably be a 1.0 release candidate. I'm going to sprucen up the documentation a bit more and try to make a 'lite' version of My Avatar Editor with the framework to see 1) if its possible, and 2) if it's easy, to moderately easy to use. Any problems found in that attempt will be fixed for that build.
If anyone has any bugs to report or feature requests, now's the time to do it. (And doing so through the blog is fine for now.)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Avatar Core Updates
A bunch of new Wiki pages have been added for Avatar Core, adding a little more in terms of explanation for the different parts of the framework. When I get around to it (though probably not any time soon), I'll try to include some additional visual aides and maybe demos, or links to demos that cover each specific topic.
Speaking of demos, the source code for the previously mentioned demos have also been posted there (Demos wiki page). However, there have been some problems with the hosting for myavatareditor.com where the files are hosted, so they might not be accessible at the moment.
When writing up some of the additional wiki documentation, I ended up adding a few more things to the framework. In other words, version 0.2.1 is looming. But I also just ran across another issue which is a little more serious and something that could require some additional changes to the API (never fun). I'll have to think about how to solve that problem and weigh in convenience vs. performance and all that jazz. Without getting into too much detail, the problem essentially boils down to art being loaded far often than it needs to be.
Speaking of demos, the source code for the previously mentioned demos have also been posted there (Demos wiki page). However, there have been some problems with the hosting for myavatareditor.com where the files are hosted, so they might not be accessible at the moment.
When writing up some of the additional wiki documentation, I ended up adding a few more things to the framework. In other words, version 0.2.1 is looming. But I also just ran across another issue which is a little more serious and something that could require some additional changes to the API (never fun). I'll have to think about how to solve that problem and weigh in convenience vs. performance and all that jazz. Without getting into too much detail, the problem essentially boils down to art being loaded far often than it needs to be.
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