Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jan 31, 2012, 8:57 am
As promised, arrowed (quadratic) arcs are now in the Freehand Drawing Library.  They use the same two-point stroke as arrowed lines, but a different drawing engine.  Since three points are required to draw a quadratic arc, the free constraint is automatically computed based on a curvature paramete...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jan 26, 2012, 9:27 am
Drawing lines does not sound very interesting, but in addition to my own app. development, another user expressed a desire for animated arrowed lines.  So, a new two-point stroke has been added to the library.  The TwoPoint class is the base for a family of classes in which a stroke is defined onl...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 31, 2011, 9:23 am
A new LineUtils class was added to the Beta 0.9 distribution of the Freehand drawing library.  This class is a repository for methods involving line simplification and related utilities.  Lang Simplification is the baseline algorithm in the class and more sophisticated algorithms will be added in ...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 24, 2011, 11:44 am
Paul created a cool demo to explore some of the new features in TinyTLF V2.0 (still in beta).  The circular region demo (yes, we can do the equivalent of CSS Regions right now in Flash) has been expanded. Check out the blog post here and enjoy! Update:  For those who have asked, a new version of...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 11, 2011, 8:51 am
Interestingly, I’ve received three inquiries on this problem in the last month; how do you draw a quadratic Beizer with arrows at each endpoint (pointing in the direction of the Bezier curve)?  Drawing an arrow is pretty simple and everyone interested in this problem posed it as an issue with com...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 6, 2011, 10:20 am
You may like this one as well.
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 4, 2011, 10:23 am
I’ve given several Freehand drawing demos on my iPad-2 here at MAX, but one of the things I’ve failed to mention is the impending release of TinyTLF V2.0.   You can read about the new features and implementation details here. Paul and I recently collaborated on another organic text layout dem...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 30, 2011, 8:59 am
This is my last post before MAX.  Thought I would end the Freehand Drawing Library set of posts with some screenshots of it running on my iPad-2.  I’m running the debug version of the MobileFreehand test and I’m rather satisfied with the performance from Air 2.7. Sorry for the poor picture qu...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 28, 2011, 9:19 am
The top two requests from prior beta users of this library were stroke transforms and the ability to serialize strokes to SVG or FXG format.  The intent is to use the library to create a handrawn stroke as part of a logo, for example, then use a stroke editor for fine tuning.  The stroke is then c...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 26, 2011, 8:10 am
A new beta version of the Freehand drawing library (version 0.9) is being released this morning.  As always, it’s a free upgrade to beta customers.  It’s also the first beta release that leaves the drawing algorithm intact and greatly expands the capability of the library as a whole. Followin...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 21, 2011, 8:11 am
Continuing my series of posts on business topics, one of the things you find as a solo freelancer is that everyone has a story.  Everyone.  Sometimes stories are straight from the heart and other times they are complete facades.  Reality is most often somewhere in the middle.  Part of the challe...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 13, 2011, 9:04 am
Paul Taylor and I collaborated on a TinyTLF demo for 360|Flex last fall that used a quadratic Beizer spline to form left and right vertical constraints for dynamic text layout.  After the demo, a few people said it would be really cool to see the text scroll.  The idea scroller, however, should be...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 12, 2011, 10:15 am
I’m going to switch gears for a while.  Don’t worry, I’m still working on open-source stuff and you’ll see some new posts shortly.  I’ve received several inquiries about the general process of doing business as a solo freelancer.  I can’t claim to have a lock on the perfect strategy f...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 8, 2011, 9:07 am
I received a nice email this morning about a new post detailing the top 50 feeds for math geeks.  I really enjoy following a lot of these people on twitter and found some new feeds to add to deal with my daily math addiction. http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/09/07/the-50-best-twitter-fe...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Aug 27, 2011, 2:14 pm
My time on this gig is almost over and I’ve really enjoyed working with this client.  It’s also been great to work with a top-flight Flex architect.  My responsibilities included overhaul of a massive legacy Flex 3 application using PureMVC and a new Flex 4 learning game. I’ve mentioned the...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Aug 9, 2011, 8:47 am
If you live in the D/FW area, the Hilton D/FW Lakes is hosting the Texas Tennis Open in less than two weeks!  This is an exciting women’s pro tour event, featuring a number of well-known top-100 players in the world, and about a dozen of the top-50. For more information and tickets, visit the to...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jul 22, 2011, 8:30 am
I’m insanely busy on a gig right now, plus devoting time to taking care of parents, so once again I apologize for the lack of posts.  Hopefully, things will die down going into the latter part of August and I can get back to regular posting. In the mean time, I often have to wait a considerable ...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jun 19, 2011, 4:44 pm
I’ve been extremely busy with a gig the last couple months, so posts have been sparse.  This is a quick preview of some work with Paul Taylor’s TinyTLF – www.tinytlf.org.  Paul and I have collaborated in the past on spline-constained text layout and dynamic scrolling with quad. Bezier spline...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 28, 2011, 11:18 am
This example derives from a couple questions.  The first was how to create a Slider track with sort of a blue pearl look, a permanent ‘highlight’ in the middle, and corresponding changes to the look of the data tooltip.  The second question pertained to using a custom Path to draw a new Slider...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 22, 2011, 1:37 pm
I wanted to contrast different implementations of the same concept in the TRON clock, so welcome to V2.  My intent in the first version was to always display an analog-style clock with a circular theme and varying background quadrant graphics for the minutes.  The former was considered part of the...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 19, 2011, 11:35 am
This demo derived from one of many conversations at 360|Flex.  Suppose an artist provides an FXG file, probably exported from another graphic package, for use in a Flex component or item renderer.  This particular example focuses on the latter scenario.  Suppose the FXG is to be re-used one or mo...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 8, 2011, 1:16 pm
I had a bit of spare time before leaving for 360|Flex, so I wanted to create a Spark component example.  The original TRON played on cable a few nights ago, so a TRON clock seemed in order.  I wanted to illustrate integration of artist-generated assets and animation along with what I do best – p...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 5, 2011, 10:01 am
I didn’t think this was going to happen, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good  I’m looking forward to attending 360|Flex in Denver next week.  If you’re attending, make a note to say hello (to the geek that dresses like a tennis player). I’m also coming available for new gi...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Mar 23, 2011, 11:52 am
This example derived from a recent conversation involving the Spark animation classes and interpolation.  The question involved whether or not it was possible to use the Spark animation classes to perform a path interpolation based on a cartesian spline.  Interpolators aside, Spark animations are ...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Mar 21, 2011, 1:48 pm
Just a quick blurb about some interesting work I’ve been doing lately for which I retain complete code and IP interests.  I’ve received several inquiries over the last six months regarding freehand line drawing.  My general tendency is to refer people to the FlashAndMath example since that’s...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Mar 10, 2011, 10:14 am
One of my favorite background projects at this time is arc-length parameterization of general paths.  Think of a path informally as an ordered collection of planar, parametric curves that may be both spatially discontinuous and discontinuous in first derivative at the end of one curve and the begin...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Mar 7, 2011, 10:47 am
I’m in the process of creating permalinks to some significant recent projects, so I would be remiss not to include what I consider to be the most extensive project I’ve worked on in the last couple years (not to mention the most fun).  The AS3 function graphing class library allowed layout and ...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Mar 3, 2011, 12:04 pm
This is a brief overview of a project I’ve been working on for an Agency client.  This client does a lot of work with interactive applications involving navigation between ‘views’ and ‘frames’ of individual views.  Sometimes, the views correspond to geographic maps, although the images...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Feb 22, 2011, 10:47 am
I really enjoy interactive math and science education.  Recently, I enjoyed an opportunity to work with ExploreLearning on some science Gizmos.  My actual science background is marginal at best.  Because of my math/engineering experience, I can handle trajectories and Netwonian mechanics.  I hav...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Feb 21, 2011, 11:59 am
I just finished the preliminary version of a quadratic Bezier curvature explorer that expounds on the principles discussed in this post.  The two primary aspects of the explorer are interactive identification of geometric constraints yielding monotone curvature and computation of the natural parame...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jan 11, 2011, 9:22 am
Sorry about the lack of recent posts.  I spent the better part of Q4 2010 taking care of family issues.  I’m very glad to be starting two new gigs.  Future income is always nice, but it implies no background projects for some time.  I’ll post updates on Degrafa, arc-length parameterization, ...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Dec 1, 2010, 10:51 am
I’ve been working with curvature of parametric curves and quadratic Beziers in particular as part of the project on arc-length parameterization of a general path.  A few recent emails have broached this topic.  Differential geometry often discusses both extrinsic and intrinsic curvature.  Intri...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Nov 16, 2010, 11:18 am
De Casteljau subdivision is a procedure by which a Bezier curve is defined.  It is also used to subdivide a quadratic Bezier curve into two distinct quadratic Beziers representing individual segments of the original curve.  The first Bezier segment is in the interval where t1 This is an infreque...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Nov 15, 2010, 1:27 pm
Short and to the point.  Paul Taylor just posted some demos, one of which shows the quadratic Bezier spline used in advanced layout and another showing the organic, spline-based scroller in action.  I’ve pretty much decided to write a white paper on the math behind the scroller at some point in ...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Nov 2, 2010, 9:51 am
I have received several questions regarding the organic scroller preview.  The code will be released when Paul Taylor releases the final set of TinyTLF demos (layouts are currently being refactored).  Our collaborative work will illustrate html text laid out respecting a spline boundary with the r...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 26, 2010, 12:24 pm
Just a quick note to say hello from Adobe MAX in LA.  This is a short preview of a project I’ve been working on with Paul Taylor.  At 360|Flex, we showed a demo where TinyTLF was used to layout text respecting a spline boundary.  Paul showed scrolling with TinyTLF here at the 360|Flex Unconfere...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 18, 2010, 10:52 am
Well, I’m leaving Saturday for my very first Adobe MAX.  While I’m not too excited about going to LA, it’s going to give me a chance to visit family in Phoenix.  If you’re attending, look for the guy in the tennis gear and say hello Paul Taylor and I are working on another demo.  This o...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Oct 4, 2010, 9:42 am
For those who did not attend 360|Flex, Paul Taylor and I collaborated on an organic text TinyTLF demo.  We are used to thinking about organic text in terms of path deforming, that is, arranging the letters in the text along a general curve or path.  While I’ve illustrated that process for a sin...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 13, 2010, 9:42 am
If you’re going to 360|Flex, I’ll be meeting with Paul Taylor (guyinthechair) for tennis some time during the conference.  Just casual hitting.  If you are a tennis player or are interested in some exercise, trying out tennis, whatever, send me an email at theAlgorithmist[at]gmail[dot]com.  W...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Sep 8, 2010, 9:52 am
One of my best clients, an agency in Houston, has an opening for an AS3 developer.  If you are available and in the Houston area (locals strongly preferred), then send me an email at theAlgorithmist[at]gmail[dot]com.  You should have the following background. A firm foundation in OOP and event-dr...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Aug 27, 2010, 1:34 pm
If you haven’t been following Paul Taylor’s work on TinyTLF, then check out the latest example of his work here.  Having wrestled with the Adobe TLF in the past, I’m a big fan of TinyTLF.  You will also find some good introductory tutorials on the FTE at Paul’s blog, so plan on spending so...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Aug 23, 2010, 6:00 pm
Thanks to everyone who attended my talks at Dallas TechFest and D-Flex.  For anyone who is interested, here is a link (PDF) to the presentation on Computational Geometry in Degrafa.  Lots of links to demos (with View Source).  Enjoy http://www.algorithmist.net/Degrafa.pdf
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Aug 2, 2010, 10:59 am
On the heels of Dallas TechFest, I was honored to be asked to speak at the local Dallas Flex User’s group on computational geometry in Degrafa.  If you are in the D/FW area and want to learn new and interesting geometry buzzwords, please join us the third week in August. More about the talk here...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jul 12, 2010, 8:52 am
I was really pleased to be in a position to sponsor this year’s tournament.  Although the single’s final was not as dramatic as last year, I’d actually have to rate the overall action as better than the prior year.  Numerous improvements to the organization and process lead to a smoother ope...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jun 17, 2010, 10:06 am
If you’re in the D/FW area and are interested in attending Dallas TechFest, then I hope to see you at the session on computational geometry in Flex and Degrafa. Little knowledge of Flex is required; only a desire to add cool geometry buzzwords to your vocabulary. I’ll introduce Degrafa...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Jun 12, 2010, 8:58 am
I wanted to postpone this review for a couple weeks in order to hit with the strings for a substantial amount of time under a variety of conditions. My prior configuration was a hybrid of Pro Hurricane Tour 17/VS Team Gut 17. I replaced that with RPM Blast 17 on the mains. Tension is 53lb on a Pr...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - May 16, 2010, 7:41 pm
Continuing from Part I of this series, there is still a bit more work to do in terms of project setup using the styles.css file from the standard Degrafa Template.  In the project settings, edit the Flex Compiler settings to ensure the Halo theme is used, -locale en_US -theme=${flexlib}/themes/Hal...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - May 11, 2010, 10:13 am
One a personal level, this is pretty exciting.  The Grapevine Tennis Classic Women’s $50K Pro Circuit event returns to the Hilton DFW Lakes again this year, July 5-13.  I was excited to be a volunteer at last year’s event and was working the court during the Dubois-Tetreault final.  W...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 29, 2010, 8:47 am
Continuing from Part VI of this series, I did make some other minor changes from the original tutorial such as removal of the Dictionary. This seemed like a bit of overkill given that it’s easy to assign a String ID to an item and use the Object hash to quickly look up items by id. There are...
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Jim A. posted an article on The Algorithmist - Apr 28, 2010, 9:57 am
Continuing from Part V of this series, the last view in the application is the ImagesView. In the original tutorial, images were displayed in a small grid with a back button. Clicking the back button returned the viewer to the URLView. There are too many images to display in a small space, so the...
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