Comatose Non-reaction

Updates

2008-03-05T19:06:00.002Z

Still here.

Much of my time has been dealing with Oxidizer, fixing bugs and adding stuff for the next release.
One issue that I can't fix is it's incompatibility with Shapeshifter. It appears that stuff complied on Leopard causes issues with Shapeshifter and I'm unlikely to attempt to fix any issues caused by haxies, especially when something as simple as opening a window causes Shapeshifter to crash Oxidizer.

The good news is that adding Oxidizer to Shapeshifter's exclude list is enough to stop the crashing.
The bad news is that it can cause people to think Oxidizer is an unstable piece of rubbish, of course these people never actually contact me, they just moan about it on software review sites.

For anyone actually wishing to be helpful here's a link to how to write a useful bug report.

planetGenesis has been sadly neglected recently, at least it has by me. SadWillow has been adding some fun new noises and functions. I'm working on a new version of Worley noise that I might check in one of these days :-)

Dear internet.....

2007-12-30T16:24:00.001Z

I recently was given a router, from work, for when I have to work from home.

For the last couple of days my internet connection has been crap, constant "You are not connected to the internet" errors, the mac version of the "cable unplugged" errors you get with Windows networking.

It appears the router, a Linksys BEFSR41 v.4.1 has a bug in the more recent versions of the firmware and disconnects when it attempts to use port forwarding on UDP.

To fix things switch off uPNP and only use the TCP setting in the port forwarding. It you really need to forward UDP (and yes bittorrent works fine without UDP, it's only needed for extra 'off spec' features) then I suggest you get a new router.

Oxidizer News

2007-12-02T14:45:00.001Z

I've started blogging Oxidizer specific suff at Rampant Mac The idea is that Scott's site becomes a 'Landing Pad' of all stuff Oxidizer. There's a forum too where you can get in touch with me.

Look out for a Oxidzer 0.4.2 release soon. This has a major flam3 bug fix in.

Dave

planetGenesis 1.8 released.

2007-09-30T16:00:00.001+01:00

I' ve finally got around to releasing pG 1.8.

The changes are....

The components are now highlighted by colouring them red. (Thanks to Sid D)

The properties of the noise are selected are displayed on the right hand side. (Thanks to Sid D)

The joins between components can now be dragged over functions and combiners to insert the function / combiner between the the two joined components.

There's a faster version of Worley noise call FastWorley. The cdownside of using FastWorley is that it is less random than CacheWorley, although I would imagine most people would not notice.

Linear Sand Dunes. An attempt at linear sand dunes. Note these are perfectly parallel, so need extra work to make them look good.

New function called Range. It is something like a combination between Clamp and Mask. All inputs below a lower threshold are painted to one value, those between the two thresholds are painted to another value, and those above the upper threshold are painted to a third value. It also has a ramp option which interpolates linearly between two boundary values, based on the input value, thus acting as a softer mask. (Thanks to Colin Paddock)

New Component Type - PostProcess
This type of component was designed to allow the use of algorithms that require the input noise to be calculated for all points before the algorithm can be applied.

16 bit Grey scale SGI output, for the Terragen 2 Tech Preview uses out there.

Help!!!

2007-09-23T20:37:00.001+01:00

I started work on a Help/Tutorial thing. It's early days and I really should be testing pG 1.7 before I release it, so it is definately a work in progress. C&Cs welcome.

http://oxidizer.sourceforge.net/OxidizerHelp

I told you it would be soon...

2007-08-20T16:19:00.001+01:00

I've just released Oxidizer 0.4 with a few changes to stabilize the Gene Pool. The changes are

Oxidizer 0.4.1 change log...

Oxidizer now generate genomes compatible with flam3 2.7.5

Applies a few fixes in flam3 CVS to fix issues with really stupid numbers of xforms. This should make the Gene Pool more stable.

Only keep the last three 'edits' information when breeding.

The Gene Pool would chose union method of breeding far to often leading to huge number of xforms in a genome. Its now even chances for each method.

These last two change significantly reduce the amount of memory Oxidizer needs to breed.

There is a preference option to change if the preview kindow is kept on top or not.

Oxidizer no longer attempts to breed 'empty' genomes if selected.

Bugs in Oxidizer 0.4

2007-08-16T14:06:00.001+01:00

Indirectly, as in I came across a forum where someone was whinging, I heard off an issue with 0.4 where it would 'crash' if you over breed.

Basically if you keep breeding the same Genomes over and over again after 6 to 7 generations you end up with a genome with over 128 xforms, which flam3 2.7.4 does not like.

The good news is that flam3 2.7.5 released barely hours after Oxidizer 0.4 fixes the issue, well moves it along until 65535 xforms.

The bad news is that it still crashes after 6 or 7 goes. I seem to been having a problem with file descriptors. I've got a feeling that using autoreleased NSPipes is leading to file descriptors not being freed in a timely manner.

Looks like there's going to be a 0.4.1 release soon.

Oxidizer 0.4

2007-08-14T16:23:00.000+01:00

Time for a long overdue release of Oxidizer 0.4.

A lot has changed under the hood so don't just moan that I've broken everything, tell me instead :-)

Here's a quick run down of the changes....

Oxidizer now generates genomes compatible with flam3 2.7.4

Lua scripting: Oxidizer can run Lua scripts to modify, create and render Genomes.

GUI changes to the Gene Pool to make it a little more obvious which genes are active.

GUI changes to progress window. The bar progress indicator was using stupid amounts of CPU.

The default value of many of the Environment options can now be set in the preferences window.

Oxidizer no longer compiles in flam3 source but runs executables included in the application bundle.

Greater stability as bad flam3 parameters should no longer crash Oxidizer.

More efficient use of multiple cores and processors.

A new prettier icon.

Credits in the about window.

Quick Oxidizer Update

2007-07-16T15:12:00.001+01:00

CVS now holds a version of Oxidizer that no longer uses the flam3 code as a library, but calls out to a copy of complied executables.

I reason I have done this is due to the the threading in flam3 breaking the threading in Oxidizer. It also has the side effect of removing most of the times that Oxidizer would just crap out due to dodgy parameters making the flam3 code do an exit(0) call. It still does the exit call, but that will no longer quit Oxidizer too.

I'd appreciate it if people would try and build the new version to check I have not let any path dependant build processing in. You should get 4 'errors' but the build will be successful anyway.

Oh, it would be nice if you checked it still works, and renders old saved flames the same as they were before.

Still here...

2007-04-27T11:21:00.000+01:00

So what have I been up to recently...
Development wise I not done a lot, initially due to be being busy at work, but now due to be not being busy at work.

Alright, I know...

Around 2 months ago my job was put under threat of redundancy. As the company in question was expecting to make over 100 people redundant in one foul they legally have to go through a 90 day consultancy period before formally giving notice. That day is still a month away, but I now know that I will definitely been amongst those 100 people. The whole thing has pretty much sapped any enthusiasm I have for coding especially the coupled with the flam3 code breakage (more below).

There as been some progress however...

I have rewritten the planetGenesis code that handles the links between components so now a user can drag a join over a component and then release it, inserting the component in the middle of the join.

I've also introduced a new type of component, a Post Processing component, this takes a complete terrain and processes it further. No actual useful components for it
yet though although I do have a Erosion component that shows some promise.

pG has had a lot more changes though as the project has gained a new developer, Sid Datta. He has added a persistent dialogue panel on the right of pG screen, and selected components are now highlighted.

So what about Oxidizer? I've took a break from Oxidizer since, as mentioned above, recent changes to the flam3 library have borked it. It’s to do with pthreads in a library, Cocoa event handling and memory management and how none of them work together very well. I may back out a version of flam3 and backport the variation changes to get a release out and give me some more time, and them think about
either forking or shelling out to flam3 instead of compiling in the code.

Dave

planetGenesis

2007-02-08T14:15:00.000Z

I've been a little quite recently, this was due to a number of things.

I've been playing with the Terragen 2 Technical Preview

I bust my typing finger playing football (the type you play with a ball and feet).

So I've been giving my finger a rest.

I've also been giving Oxidizer a rest too, and had a play with planetGenesis instead. This has lead to the first release for 14 months...hoo-rah.

So the new bits are...

The Noise Menu has been split into differrent noise types.

New Noises
Worley noises now have a new distance metric, QuasiEuclidean.
There's a new Worley noise, BiasedWorley.
LinearSandDunes is a new noise that creates linear sand dunes.

New Combiners
- WarpX, WarpY and WarpZ.
These take the value generated by the left hand side noise and add it to
either the X, Y or Z co-ordinate feed to the right hand side noise.

Oxidizer has seen some action, it's been updated to the latest flam3 version, and there's also a start of lua scripting. All these are only available from CVS, and the lua scripting is very limited at the moment.

It's the time of year for gifts...

2006-12-24T14:59:00.000Z

So here's a gift....

Oxidizer 0.3 is now available for download at Sourceforge, no more of that pesky CVS stuff.

The URL as always is http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=159210

Ralf Flicker has been brave enough to use 0.3 from CVS, you can see what he has been up to at his website . His flames are quite lovely.

Dave

More yummy stuff

2006-12-02T16:56:00.000Z

Just to bring you up to date with the Gene Pool CVS check in's.

The Gene Pool now has a progress window which so keeps you informed of which genomes are breeding and how.

One or to little bug fixes to stop the breeding crashing.

There's a button to toggle the button state.

Finally there's an icon for Gene Pool on the tool bar.

For those who have used a previous version, you'll may need the new icon via the Customise Tool bar option. it should be a default button for new users.

A Spring Clean.

2006-11-23T20:36:00.000Z

Hopefully the blog's still here :-)

I decided that Oxidizer's main Nib file was getting a bit full, so I've moved the GenePool Nib Stuff into a new

Nib file. While I was at it I've also moved the GenePool source into its own sub folder.

The upshot of this is that any one following the CVS will have to make sure they update using

cvs -z3 update -dP

to make sure they get the new folders.

Let me know if there are any issues.

Dave

Quick update

2006-11-21T19:41:00.000Z

The two obvious bugs I mentioned below are now fixed and Gene Pool is now available in CVS.

Dave

Blogger Beta

2006-11-21T19:39:00.000Z

Another quicky, I just moved to blogger beta, lets hope I don't have any issues :-)

Splashing in the Gene Pool

2006-11-20T20:29:00.000Z

It's new Oxidizer feature time...

The current Breeding screen it a bit to intelligent design for me. You control who gets to breed, and how. Darwin would be disappointed.

So now I present The Gene Pool.

You have far less control, you still get to decide which genome's are fittest, but you do not get to decide which genomes breed with which other nor how they get to breed.

Here's a quick screen shot shoot or two and a user guide.

In Oxidizer click on the Gene Pool menu option, it's on the Window Menu.
Click on Fill and wait a while, soon you'll be presented with 16 random genomes.

It looks something like this.

Select a few of the nicest genomes. The surround will go white instead of grey.
These are the genomes that are allowed to breed, if you look at the screen shot you'll see I've selected four.
Press the breed button, and you get 16 new genomes breed from the ones you selected.

I got....

I think you can see the family resemblance.

Select the best ones again and click on Fill. The genomes you'll have not selected will be replaced with new genomes.
You can increase hybrid vigour this way, stop the genomes from getting too inbreed.

Click on Editor, and any selected genomes will be copied to the main editor.

Other features...

If you only select one genome and breed it, you'll get random mutations of that genome.
You can drag and drop from any of the genome list views on to a slot too replace that genome.

Known bugs...

If you attempt to breed with no genomes selected, Oxidizer will crash.
Attempting to replace the bottom right slot will replace the top right slot instead.

It's a bit rough and ready but it's fun.

Dave

Just a quickie

2006-11-11T16:05:00.000Z

Just a small Oxidizer CVS update.

You can now lock the scale of the image to the height of the image. i.e. if you toggle the lock on, change the height of the image (and the width), and hit preview, the new preview will look the same as it did before rather than zooming in/out of the flame.

It's in the trees....it's coming, it's coming

2006-10-29T14:07:00.000Z

Hoo-rah, its release time.

Yep, for those who can't be bother with all that CVS stuff, in order to celebrate a 1000 downloads, I've finally released a new version of Oxidizer to the general public.

So go get version 0.2 from the usual place at SourceForge. Binary and Source releases as usual.

Dave

Yes, Oxidizer is still feeding flames

2006-10-21T15:44:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the lack of updates recently. Lara Croft and My Name is Earl have been far to distracting recently ;-)

So more CVS changes have finally made there way in to the respository.

The preview window is now called the render window. It's now a floating window, and has a button for you to update the window, if you change any settings.

I've fixed a bug where it you add an xform, the variation parameters could not be set.

The second colour co-ordinate in an xform is now obsolete and has been removed.

The new rotation centre parameters have been removed. The addition of them to flam3 was a mistake.

Have fun.

Dave

2006-10-02T19:50:00.000+01:00

More CVS updates...

Flam3 2.7 final code incorporated into Oxidizer.
Flam3 2.7 new features now available from the GUI, i.e. motion_exponent and spatial filtering.
The oddbug fix here and there.

I though you might like a screenshot of the near mythical toolbar, so here you go...

More Oxidzer stuff in CVS

2006-09-13T21:41:00.000+01:00

The toolbar now has icons for Still and Movie rendering.

You now have an option to automatically display a newly rendered still in a Preview Window.

You can render direct to the Preview Window without going though the save dialogue using the cleverly named Render To Window option.

You can drag the image from the Preview Window to the Finder/Desktop to save it.

All the rendering options (Still, Movie, To Window)are available from a Render Menu.

BTW... All the toolbar icons except the Breeder icon are taken from the Tango Desktop Project. They are really designed to standardize the look of the Linux desktops, but seem to go quite while with Aqua too. The Breeder icon comes from the Open Clip Art Library. Its a modified version of this SVG picture. As you can see its been simplified, rotated and the colours changed to match the Tango standards.

Enjoy...

1, 2, 3, 4. Keep them waiting at the door

2006-09-08T18:05:00.000+01:00

More check in's...

There's the initial start of a tool bar, just open, save and breed at the moment, more to come.

There's now an option to save thumbnails with flam3 files, which was feature request 1526772.

The file path in displayed on the main table view, editing the flame name has now moved to the edit screen.

Oh, and multithreaded still rendering is out as it was slower than single threaded rendering. It still renders in a seperate thread to the GUI though.

I forgot to mention in the last release I've reduced the priority of the rendering threads so that you can actually do something else with your Mac when rendering an animation :o).

Oxidizer 0.1

2006-08-28T14:46:00.000+01:00

Well, after a day of server errors from SourceForge I've finally managed to get Oxidizer 0.1 released.

The changes for this version...

Multithreaded renders for all still and animations.
Palette number is remembered if a user switches between colour map and palette.
Attempt to use a 'batches' value of less than one results in a warning sheet.
Oxidizer how has a version number.
Fixes for the following bugs

1526625 Variations tab freeze on coefficient edit
1526613 Batches variable >= 1
1526599 color maps not saved

Colour map bitmap displayed when loading a flam3 xml file using a colour map.

Potential plans for the next version are...

Bug fixes.
Update flam3 code if necessary.
Add a Toobar optionally a floating one.
Do some of the feature requests at SourceForge.

Oxidizer news

2006-08-24T14:55:00.000+01:00

I've just checked the fixes for all the bugs raised at SourceForge into CVS.

I'll have a play and then do a new release this weekend or the next.