Another Ilda view tool

I present to you... a belated Christmas gift. It's an Ilda file viewer/fixer. It can load in all Ilda files and export to an Ilda file format of your choice. This makes the program an useful tool for when you just want to convert some palette files to RGB files or vice-versa, which is very useful for the ones who have an SD card projector which can only play one file type. It can rotate 3D frames (just the camera, not the actual frame orientation), and play back at variable speed.
It also has a fully-featured palette editor, which allows you to fix wrongly-coloured files. Palettes can be exported as images that are one pixel high and loaded in again. When exporting to Ilda, there are options to include the palette in the Ilda file, and to convert RGB frames to the best fitting colour.
Also included is a little Amiga-inspired frame creation tool, which draws a series of dots at your mouse position.
And last but not least, it comes with a Pro Laserist button which will make you a true laser legend!

In the future, things like DAC output, a real frame creation and editing tool can be developed, but that's for another time.

So enough with the introduction, download it here!
Windows 64 bit: Attachment 54071
Windows 32 bit: Attachment 54072

(Needs Java 7 or higher; the source code is very easy to compile on Windows, OS X and Linux with Processing)

To run, extract where you want it and double click IldaViewer.bat.

I'm a beginner at programming, so any feedback is welcome regarding functionability, bugs, GUI design, remarks, ...
The program is open source and made with Processing, which means anybody can download Processing and edit and compile the code. This also means that you can compile it on a Mac, or any OS that supports Processing! To compile, rename the "source" folder to IldaViewer, copy the "data" folder into this folder, and open IldaViewer.pde in Processing. You also need to install the libraries "PeasyCam" and "ControlP5", which can be done from the Processing IDE (Sketch >> Import library >> Add library... and then download and install the two libraries).

Of course, I can't be hold responsible for damage to your system and/or eyes, as a result of the usage of this program.


Preview images and sneak peek of development!

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...1391814612.png

Import all Ilda files.

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...1391814629.png

Advanced palette editor.

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...1391814649.png

Export option with the ability to include a palette and fit RGB colours to the best matching colour.

Old versions:
v1.0.0 Attachment 41697 (Windows)
v1.0.1 Attachment 41715 (Windows)
Mac OSX: Attachment 41913 thanks to BlueFang

i have verified this code works under osx with processing and ilda files exported from LSX.

way to go cmb.

schwing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

I present to you... a belated Christmas gift. It's an Ilda file viewer/fixer. It can load in all Ilda files and export to an Ilda file format of your choice. This makes the program an useful tool for when you just want to convert some palette files to RGB files or vice-versa, which is very useful for the ones who have an SD card projector which can only play one file type. It can rotate 3D frames (just the camera, not the actual frame orientation), and play back at variable speed.
It also has a fully-featured palette editor, which allows you to fix wrongly-coloured files. Palettes can be exported as images that are one pixel high and loaded in again. When exporting to Ilda, there are options to include the palette in the Ilda file, and to convert RGB frames to the best fitting colour.
Also included is a little Amiga-inspired frame creation tool, which draws a series of dots at your mouse position.
And last but not least, it comes with a Pro Laserist button which will make you a true laser legend!

In the future, things like DAC output, a real frame creation and editing tool can be developed, but that's for another time.

So enough with the introduction, download it here! Attachment 41697 (Windows 64 bit only, needs Java 7 or higher)

To run, extract where you want it and double click IldaViewer.bat.

I'm a beginner at programming, so any feedback is welcome regarding functionability, bugs, GUI design, remarks, ...
The program is open source and made with Processing, which means anybody can download Processing and edit and compile the code. This also means that you can also compile it on a Mac, or any OS that supports Processing! To compile, you also need to install the libraries "PeasyCam" and "ControlP5", which can be done from the Processing IDE (Sketch >> Import library >> Add library... and then download and install the two libraries).

Of course, I can't be hold responsible for damage to your system and/or eyes, as a result of the usage of this program.

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This sounds like an important program, likely to be used the way web coders use more than one browser to check how their work will be rendered. As such, you'll need to steer toward porting this to as many systems as possible. Restricting to 64 bit Windows and the latest Java virtual machine is going to look like shooting yourself in the foot when you look back on this some day. :)

There may be many answers to porting easily, but aiming at cross-platform is the core of any answer as it's like a sea anchor, it gets some kind of grip in many places at once. Have a look at pure C coding (because it compiles on more stuff than pretty much any other code), and also wxWidgets (because you get a fast API for graphics that Linux and Windows of all varieties can use well). You may well settle on something different, but check those out, and the earlier you make your decisions the easier they will be so long as you keep this broad view in mind. If you limit your choices now (or go for the 'latest' development system instead of the most established and broad-based), you limit where you can go later, and also who might pay for work done.

I can't comment on the actual code because there's no way I can run it, so what I said just now is the best I can offer. I might have said nothing, but I think your aim is an important one so it's worth taking the time to say this.

Well, this is made in Processing which is cross-platform by default. It will work on Windows, OS X and Linux, only you can only natively export for the operation system you currently own (which is in my case Windows 64 bit). When you open my code in Processing on another supported system and compile, it should run equally well. The requirement for the latest Java version is implied in Processing. It's a little more effort for the end user, but this is a hobby project after all...

I chose Processing because it does a lot of the work for me. There's a ready-made library for the 3D orientation, and placing a point in 3D space is as easy as "point(x, y, z);" and voila, you have a dot. I don't have to care for a lot of things I don't want to care for. There are also libraries for audio analysis, video and pixel processing, DXF and OBJ files, and then I'm not even talking about the external libraries for more advanced 3D control, easy GUI's, MIDI, OSC, SVG, etc., and somebody even made a library for the Enttec Usb Pro! And since it's java, you can use all of the existing java libraries as well.

Anyway, thanks for believing in this project :) I'm not sure where it's going, we'll see where it ends up.

The next challenge will be to actually make the code readable for other people. Some of the hard work is done (proper im- & export of ilda files, a Processing-like framework for laser art) so all that remains is the fun of developing functionability. Since Processing is easy to use, I expect (hope?) others might catch interest and help with the development.

since your code was made in processing, you do do ilda->pixel pusher!

imagine using ilda files to drive LED strings and arrays. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

Well, this is made in Processing which is cross-platform by default. It will work on Windows, OS X and Linux, only you can only natively export for the operation system you currently own (which is in my case Windows 64 bit). When you open my code in Processing on another supported system and compile, it should run equally well. The requirement for the latest Java version is implied in Processing. It's a little more effort for the end user, but this is a hobby project after all...

I chose Processing because it does a lot of the work for me. There's a ready-made library for the 3D orientation, and placing a point in 3D space is as easy as "point(x, y, z);" and voila, you have a dot. I don't have to care for a lot of things I don't want to care for. There are also libraries for audio analysis, video and pixel processing, DXF and OBJ files, and then I'm not even talking about the external libraries for more advanced 3D control, easy GUI's, MIDI, OSC, SVG, etc., and somebody even made a library for the Enttec Usb Pro! And since it's java, you can use all of the existing java libraries as well.

Anyway, thanks for believing in this project :) I'm not sure where it's going, we'll see where it ends up.

The next challenge will be to actually make the code readable for other people. Some of the hard work is done (proper im- & export of ilda files, a Processing-like framework for laser art) so all that remains is the fun of developing functionability. Since Processing is easy to use, I expect (hope?) others might catch interest and help with the development.

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Thank you for the gift!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swamidog

since your code was made in processing, you do do ilda->pixel pusher!

imagine using ilda files to drive LED strings and arrays. ;)

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Sure, send me one with some strips and I'll see what I can do! :cool:
Are you looking for another medium to display your celebrated abstracts?

my electric acid squid abstract looks great in your app. i'm sure it would be amazing on a giant LED panel. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

Sure, send me one with some strips and I'll see what I can do! :cool:
Are you looking for another medium to display your celebrated abstracts?

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I'd never heard of 'Processing', just goes to show that I'll never know the whole gamut. Got to say though, Googling that name would be a bitch. >:) 'wxWidgets' is far less noise-prone when hunting.

I didn't do much 3D work if any, beyond a proof that the vector maths I found would work. I stayed with rotating polygons in 2D for my examples a few years ago, then I quit to work with audio once I cut to the chase and went with C and Win32 API. (In itself limiting but I make sure my code will be modular enough to port sometime..) While there is no base API for three-axis plotting on a screen, I learned that the maths for three-axis plotting was so extremely similar to 2D anyway, that you can back-convert fast with a few dedicated fast functions then use the standard 2D API to render it. Which could be worth your while because of the freedom you'll get. Not to mention the reduction in risk of someone else's code borkage in future making it look like your program broke. Also, if you can do this to fast-render to 2D you get all the blitting and other fast memory tricks to make rapid image changes.

I'll stop there because if I don't I'll be out of my depth.

Well Processing has been around for a while and shows up as the first result in Google :P

To each their own. You have your reasons for C, I have my reasons for Processing. Yes, my program is a bit memory intensive, but in times where everybody has four gigs of ram, does it matter?
Again, Processing is very simple to use. They use it sometimes in elementary schools to get children in touch with programming. It lowers the bar for people to get into programming. I hope people will expand on my program (though maybe not on this release, might want to clean up my code a bit), and I think that's going to be much less likely if I had done it in C.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! I especially like the idea of the Amiga-inspired painter...could be fun!
I Loved my Amigas when used regularly...alas...no room to have them out and up...yet! The Amiga 1000 with Live Framegrabber and a camera at a rave! Would Still be great today! When I get my personal Lasarium completed! Watch Out!

Well, I never owned an Amiga, that frame editor tool is based on this post: http://hamoid.tumblr.com/post/653839...ogram-inspired but "Amiga-inspired" has a better ring than "Tumblr inspired" :P
(By the way, The_Doctor, there is a link there that explains how this was done in Processing in case you want to know more)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

Well Processing has been around for a while and shows up as the first result in Google :P

To each their own. You have your reasons for C, I have my reasons for Processing. Yes, my program is a bit memory intensive, but in times where everybody has four gigs of ram, does it matter?
Again, Processing is very simple to use. They use it sometimes in elementary schools to get children in touch with programming. It lowers the bar for people to get into programming. I hope people will expand on my program (though maybe not on this release, might want to clean up my code a bit), and I think that's going to be much less likely if I had done it in C.

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By which you know I didn't look. :) There was a time when I would have, like a shot. To me, though I hated C, it was always the core, the fastest way short of assembler which is very CPU specific, while C isn't. Once I finally cut to that particular chase, I stayed. Too late for me to change now. C will outlive me too. Got to say though, 4GB of RAM is a lot! I have 1GB, and a lot of that is spare, used as a RAM disk for temp stores that I want erased at shutdown.

Remember that mobile devices usually have many more restrictions. At some point I think you'll want to explore those, and embedded stuff, or Raspberry Pi or whatever fits. (That Pi is also used in education now, running a basic Linux kernel and compiler, or perhaps code is compiled externally first). The reason for my angle on this is this: For years I saw the big development stuff, and failed to get into it, it always looked like huge occupied territory to me. That's a big psychological barrier to me. It was only when I found a very minimal compiler and learned to code things in small text files that could do the kinds of magic I'd beleived for years required the big stuff, that I got some real liberation. It's too damn good not to share. Most people never realise it because they get into the usual big development-suite accesses, all the library code. That last bit I need to look at actually, no point trying to reinvent every wheel, but the reality for me was that only when I build most of my wheels do I actually build much of anything. I may add wxWidgets to C code if I ever figure out how. I think it is wise to work out a final choice as early as possible, rather than get caught in an upgrade cycle, to prevent being at the mercy of other developers. Pick something futureproof. :) Not easy, but long-term past establishment is a good guide. C is still widely used. C++ even more so. I don't think the language will be your main obstacle to sharing development, but the raw code size. If the project gets big, uses many files, that will be the toughest barrier. Even from a compiler's point of view, if it can all sit in one file, the output code is usually faster, more reliable and compact too. I don't know if 'Processing' resolves all that but it's worth looking into before making a long-term decision.

I just noticed, among other things, that when exporting to Ilda V0, blanking isn't correct... So here's an update that fixes that!
More importantly, I restructured a bit of the source code and added a lot more comments, so anyone who cares to add more functionability should have it easier.

Changelog for version 1.0.1:
-Fixed nullpointererror when selecting an invalid file to import (ild and palette image)
-Fixed palette colour n° 256 not being exported (they said max 255! D: )
-Improved Easter egg a little bit (has anyone found it yet?)
-Fixed "Show information" not remaining active when going to another tab
-Ilda V0 blanking fixed (woops!)
-When entering palette editor tab, colour sliders now get the value of the first colour instead of white
-When loading in an ilda file, the text informs you about the number of Ilda headers found which is a more accurate description

Attachment 41715

Thanks for developing and posting this, cmb!

Although I have a few other ILDA viewing and manipulation tools, your lightweight tool is especially helpful for watching point counts in long ILDA animations and for looking at 3d frames quickly from any angle. I like seeing the blanking points too, as it makes overly-complicated frames obvious.

Again, thanks for sharing!

-David

Quote:

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Originally Posted by turbohead

Thank you for the gift!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by cfavreau

Thanks for sharing!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dkumpula

Thanks for developing and posting this, cmb!

Although I have a few other ILDA viewing and manipulation tools, your lightweight tool is especially helpful for watching point counts in long ILDA animations and for looking at 3d frames quickly from any angle. I like seeing the blanking points too, as it makes overly-complicated frames obvious.

Again, thanks for sharing!

-David

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You're welcome, glad you liked it :)

How do i get this to run? I double click the IldaViewer.Bat file and it opens a CommandPrompt Window which closes almost instanstly :confused:

I got it to open i had wrong java installed lol but when it opens it comes up with errors :confused:
Attachment 41716

Ah, I guess this is what The_Doctor was talking about :P


Looks like you also need to upgrade the drivers of your graphics card. What video card do you have? Go to the manufacturer's website and install upgraded drivers.

If that doesn't work, try this: if you have Processing installed, you can try to change the renderer and recompile. To do this, rename the "source" folder to IldaViewer and copy the data folder into it. In this folder you can now open IldaViewer.pde in Processing. Search for this line: size(600, 600, OPENGL); and replace it by size(600, 600, P3D); . Before you can compile it, you need to install the libraries PeasyCam and ControlP5, which you can easily do by going to Sketch >> Import libraries >> Add libraries... and download and install the two libraries.

Hope this solves the problem!

Haha updated video card driver and voila it opens perfect, now to have a play cheers colouredmirrorball ;)

Nice! Hope you like it :)

So I had some time today to play around a bit with Processing, and I must say that it's quite impressive. It's kind of what Java should have been like from the beginning. The Ilda viewer app from cmb worked without a hitch in OS X. The drawing API seems really clean and well thought out and even has anti aliasing turned on by default. I think I would get frustrated pretty quickly with the built in IDE but it looks like it is quite easy to use your favorite Java IDE though I haven't tried with IntelliJ yet. It has support for native libraries via JNI so anything you can compile on your system can be used from within Processing. It also looks like it has quite a vibrant user community. I am impressed and surprised that this is the first I have heard of it. Fun stuff!

True, the default IDE is good enough for little programs and quickly trying out things, but as it grows I'll have to find an alternative. The downside is that I'll have to code in "proper java". I didn't bother with declaring each variable and method as public or private since that's not required in Processing (when exporting to java, everything is public by default).

Good to hear it still works on OSX. If you upload a compiled version I'll put it in the first post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

True, the default IDE is good enough for little programs and quickly trying out things, but as it grows I'll have to find an alternative. The downside is that I'll have to code in "proper java". I didn't bother with declaring each variable and method as public or private since that's not required in Processing (when exporting to java, everything is public by default).

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A few years ago I was working on something that required the processing libs + a whole bunch of other heavy-duty stuff. It was a snap to use the processing libraries from within eclipse. When you're using processing from outside of their own IDE, you really get a feel for how much they've abstracted made life "easy"*retardo

cmb, there is no need to be afraid of "proper java". You are 95% of the way there. So what if you have to decide whether a method is public or private. Unless you are writing an API that will be used by third parties and you really want to obfuscate some inner code, just make everything public. No one will care. And when you start using an IDE, it fills in most of the extra verbose stuff automatically.

The problems with Java have nothing to do with the syntax of the language - the syntax is actually quite nice (though maybe a bit verbose) - the problem most people have with Java is over promising on it's goals and it's simplicity. It was suppose to be this great "write once run anywhere" solution - the first true multiplatform programming language. But it turned out that creating something that actually runs everywhere on every OS was much, much more difficult than it originally seemed. It's better now, but realize that we are 20 years into its lifespan.

Another big gripe is that Java is typically burdened with a dependency nightmare of libraries. Let's say your project needs a Java library called 'A'. Well 'A' depends on 'B' and 'B' depends on 'C' - but only version 3.32343 of 'C' and 'A' only works with version 2.42343 of 'C'... That sort of thing. You spend half your time trying to figure out compatibility problems, and not actually programming.

These are the kind of problems that it seems Processing has solved. They have an approved list of libraries to choose from which just work. No questions asked. Also, the simple "Export Application" menu item of Processing is genius. It just works. Again, even though Java promises this simplicity out of the box, it really is much more difficult to produce a runnable application than Processing makes it seem.

With regards to IDEs. I have spent quite a bit of time in all of the major Java IDEs. Without a doubt, IntelliJ is handsdown the best out there. Netbeans would probably be my 2nd place, followed by Eclipse. Eclipse is just super slow and overburdened. I like the GUI of Netbeans the best, but the speed, usability, and awesomeness of IntelliJ easily makes it the best Java IDE out there to date.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

Good to hear it still works on OSX. If you upload a compiled version I'll put it in the first post.

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Here is a version compiled for OS X.

Attachment 41913

Thanks! I added a link in the first post, in the hope it's useful for anyone.

A quick WIP version to fix the export bug. I hope to find some time this week to cook up a decent release. Most new things don't work yet.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9p...it?usp=sharing

Any update on this ?

I tested it on my win7 64 bit. all I got is a white screen.

I'm working on an update. The reason it takes so long is because there are quite a few new exiting features. I think it'll be worth it.

A white screen is probably caused by OpenGL 2.0 not being used on your system. Try upgrading your video card driver. Some computers have more than one video card but only one supports opengl (for example an intel video card and an nvidia one but only the nvidia has opengl). You'll have to do a search to see if this is the case on your system and how to solve it.

Maybe you should change the name of the program. As, from what I can tell, it does much more than just view ilda files. A bit underselling :)

I actually got ilda viewer 1.0 to work just fine :)

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Originally Posted by Grix

Maybe you should change the name of the program. As, from what I can tell, it does much more than just view ilda files. A bit underselling :)

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That is true, but in the core it's still that same program that could just view ilda files a year ago. I actually see it more as a playground for me to develop my skills. I don't think I'll do a lot of development for it after I release the next version, apart from small upgrades and bug fixes and stuff because it's really annoying to work with. I still use the Processing IDE which is simply not fit for such a big project but porting to proper java in a good IDE would require a rewrite...

As you know, I too have had problems with not being able to make it run on my PC.

But I have seen it in action in some of your videos.

I really hope you keep working on it for your own interest and enjoyment.

It looks great!

It's absolutely an original concept.

When I get my new computer I really want to be able to use it.

James.

Updated first post with newest version, 1.1.4 Beta. It doesn't have all the features I'd like it to have, but I won't continue updates to it due to time constraints and having a lot of other projects to work on. This was one of my first programming projects and it shows in the code. It's becoming increasingly harder to work with the structure in an IDE that is clunky to use. I'm working on and off on something that reuses the concepts that have grown inside of IldaViewer. At this rate I'll have something finished in about five years :P

Also, here's a long overdue video tutorial. I hope it gives some insight in how to use some of the more powerful features...

https://youtu.be/9xk67Gz6ZPo



Edit: I made a mistake! For the Fit RGB to Palette button (in sequence editor), the 64 colour palette needs to be selected in Palette Editor.

All steps for fixing an ilda file with a wrong palette:

* Load in the palette with the original colours in the palette editor (eg. 256 Ilda.png)
* Load in the faulty Ilda frame. If the palette that was used in creating the frame is active in Palette editor, it will automatically use the correct colours. If not, select the correct palette and click Recolour Frames
* In the Palette Editor, select the default 64Ilda.png palette (I skipped this step in the tutorial)
* In Sequence Editor, select all frames and click Fit RGB to Palette
* In Export to File, export as format 0, don't include palette

you bloody legend! this software is fantastic!!

Been trying to get some ilda files out of Laserworld Showeditor all day to play on an sd card on my laser projector with no success! until i found this program!!

This program let me convert the ilda files out of Laserworld into the Ilda Type 0 format which is the only one that works with my laser.

THANKS CMB, YOU ARE A LEGEND.

For anyone else with that is trying to do the same as me, here are some instructions I wrote for myself.


"Prepping ILDA files

1. open laserworld showeditor by selecting a HEB File
2. select a figure
3. go file -> save figure as ilda
4. when asked would you like to optimise, say yes
5. choose a filename and select ilda file type 5
6. open the file in ilda viewer
7. export as a ILDA FORMAT 0"