L3K Software Project
As part of the L3K development process, we are currently creating a software-based pattern generator for the color ring. The software is being developed on Mac OS X v10.4 using the Cocoa framework.
The basic premise of the software is that you create a 2D image, that then gets mapped onto the 1D ring. The vertical axis represents the light pods (from 0 to 100% of the total ring circumference). The horizontal axis represents time (in seconds). Several basic tools are available for creating lines, rectangles, circles, and bezier curves.Support is also available for loading existing images (including things like Photoshop files, PDF files, and numerous other image formats), although images are scaled to fit into the rectangle you specify.
When creating shapes, you can specify a stroke and fill color for the path and the area it contains. Colors can be solid, partially transparent, fully transparent, or use gradients. (Note, gradients are supported for both stroke and fill colors.) Colors can also be strobe colors, which means the path generates a strobe effect once a second for a brief period of time.
You can move, resize, and rotate shapes in the main window. To move, just click on the shape and drag it. To resize, select the shape and drag one of the handles. To rotate, select the shape and click and drag in between the handles.
After you create your image, you visualize it using the Ring View. This window provides a god's eye view of the ring. Generate your pattern and the pattern will automatically start playing in the ring view window. L3K has enough bandwidth to update each pixcell 24 times a second, which should be fast enough to fool most people's eyes.
You can save the pattern files you create and load them again for later use in the normal ways. You can also Export your pattern files into an object file that can be loaded directly by the controller software.
Development of this software is still ongoing, so check back to this page periodically for updates.
Revisions
August 22, 2007 |
Pathogen v3.0.5d |
Final version of the Pathogen program. This program is a Universal binary and requires Mac OS X v10.4 or later to run. |