New Free Software !!!

Hey everybody!

Check it out. My friend Dean Hammonds (dchammonds) has been working on this for about as long as I've been working with LaserBoy.

http://www.akrobiz.com/laserboy/laserwave/

He wrote this in VB and has kept it up to date so that it installs correctly in XP & Vista.

I just put it up on our akrobiz web server to get it out there!

Some of you saw it in action at SELEM and a couple of public ild files were extracted from it.

This thing actually comes with DOCUMENTATION !!! :eek::D

BTW Dean is the guy who designed the original schemo of the LaserBoy Correction Amp.

James. :)

I missed this at SELEM; what does it do? :confused:

Remember that super quiet guy that hardly anyone noticed who came with me? ;)

Dean C. Hammonds.

His abstracts, made with this software, were most of what was coming out of my projector.

This program puts out multi channel waves (for laser control). Dean integrated the same header and subcode information that I came up with for LaserBoy waves, so not only do these waves play in exactly the same way, but they also open in LaserBoy as color vector information in a frame set!

We still need to get together and hammer out all the kinks between them. That will make both of them much better!

James. :)

looks interesting! can you zip those files up into one download?

I guess.

I left them that way so someone could read the RTFs one at a time in the browser.

Here it is!

http://www.akrobiz.com/laserboy/laserwave/All_of_it/

James. :)

I got Dean on the phone...

Apparently there are some more files.....

Hang on!

James. :)

Once you get them into Laserboy you can save them as ILDA, right? So you can load them into Spaghetti and you've got abstract loveliness for the budding hobbyist!

Adam

yes, thats the case..

The way it works is that deans software saves the waves with laserboy headers.
so open the LaserBoy waves in LB and save them as ILDA (format WHATEVER) no problem.

now if i can just figure out how to use deans software.. This is almost as bad as no gui at all..

and he will get in trouble with bridge for the name of his program :D

Why do REALLY smart people have such a hard time with interface design.. Laserboy and LaserWave both have awkward interfaces..

They will try to tell you that once you learn why its that way it makes sense, i never buy that crap.. The fact is you have to learn why THEY think it should be that way for it to START to make sense..

This is why a good software development TEAM has each member of the team doing a specific job.. leaving interface design up to people like James and Dean is obviously not a good idea..

Dont get me wrong, LaserBoy is genius and im sure deans software is too, but the interfaces are SOOO lacking and the people who deigned the software are just not capable of seeing why..

keeperx, this is 3 times you have said that.

In the future, would you wait until all of the rest of us have had time to download the code before you comment? This way some of us might get to use it before the angry author pulls it, never to be seen again?

Thank you for your future cooperation! :-)

Steve

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Why do REALLY smart people have such a hard time with interface design?

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Because it's not something they're worried about when they build the software themselves. It's only when the product is finished, when they step back and try to show someone else how to use it, that the problem becomes evident. And by that time it would require a lot more work to re-vamp the interface. Plus there is the irritation factor to consider. Sort of the "I can use this software, why can't you figure it out?" kind of thing.

This is why there are published standards for interface design. It's also why software development teams try to standardize the interface early in the development period. (It's harder to make changes later.)

It's a common problem though. Common enough that companies have to institute policies and standards to combat it.

Adam

steve-
If i have an opinion about the software, im damn well gonna share it.

Besides, the interface has nothing to do with the genius of the software..

Like buffo said above, this is a common problem.


adam-
yeah i can see that being an issue. the problem is that if you have a developer that places the interface as the lowest priority, the software NEVER reaches its full potential and you end up with a incredibly useful and relevant application that nobody uses because the interface is awkward.

As much as i love laserboy (and i do) i loathe its interface..

Deans interface is very gui but my problem is that if i accidentally click on the background, the application disappears.

James and Dean and I have nothing to gain from a good GUI. We still get paid the same amount for our software.

There are a lot of things I want to improve about my GUI but there are more things I want to improve about non-GUI things. I do this in my free time so there is only so much I can do.

I totaly agree.. free software is awesome and i have no right to complain..

its more of an observation..

I HAVE ofeered MANY times to help james with a GUI but he just refuses to admit there is something wrong with the interface when i have CLEARLY and LOGICALLY Stated the case.. james is to GUI what ILDA is to proper format 3

Being a software guy myself, I do notice the little issues with making the software user friendly, but you have to think in terms of the development that takes place on such projects... The GUI is only a pretty face to the logic that lies behind the scenes. Most of the time, the GUI is made by the same person developing the back end, and as such, it falls victim to being the tool for the developer who made the software to simply test and use the software. I can't tell you how many times I make a piece of software and put it out, it works great, and seems to me (who's been using it all the time I've been developing the program) to be very functional and very easy. Yet, once I step away for a year then go back to it... DAMN! THIS THING IS COMPLICATED!

The proper way to develop GUI's is to have the backend separated from the frontend. GUI development should be done by users, or by someone else who is more detached form the backend, and more connected to users (i.e. via user feedback). This adds hassles and extra work not really affordable in 'FREE' software, or rapid prototype projects...

My current method for developing GUI's starts as soon as the program starts. Make the gui, play with it long enough, like it, leave it for a couple days, try it again... then once it's good, move on to the backend... ;)

Just my $0.02

On the flip side, thank you James for shedding some light on this new tool :D

--DDL

YES !!!

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The proper way to develop GUI's is to have the backend separated from the frontend. GUI development should be done by users, or by someone else who is more detached form the backend, and more connected to users (i.e. via user feedback). This adds hassles and extra work not really affordable in 'FREE' software, or rapid prototype projects...

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I SOOOO Agree

And yes i do think this new tool will do awesome stuff...

at least LaserWave comes with DOCUMENTATION ! ! ! !

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Originally Posted by keeperx

I HAVE ofeered MANY times to help james with a GUI but he just refuses to admit there is something wrong with the interface when i have CLEARLY and LOGICALLY Stated the case..

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I thought LaserBoy was open source so that anyone could work on it.

There are a few things that tie laserboy directly to the SDL platform.. once he breaks that tie i can help create a GUI in FLTK

Yes. I'm hoping to break all ties to everything, so I won't even need a computer pretty soon! :rolleyes:

It's a good thing I already know you're a dick KeeperX. Otherwise I might be offended.

James. :)

i made this in laserwave

OMG! :eek:

It really works ? :confused::D

James. :)