I confess, I’m addiQted. You obviously think it’s normal (you’re not reading this blog by accident, aren’t you?) but it wasn’t always like this: I’ve liked some previous versions, but the upcoming Qt 4.6 really rocks!

The Fotowall case

As I shown previosly, Fotowall already uses some features of Qt 4.6. How much?
Qt 4.6 is referenced in 32 places, for example in snippets like this:

    // center the path
    QPointF pathCenter = path.boundingRect().center();
    #if QT_VERSION >= 0x040600
        path.translate(-pathCenter);
    #elif QT_VERSION >= 0x040500
        path = QTransform::fromTranslate(-pathCenter.x(), -pathCenter.y()).map(path);
    #else
        QTransform tx;
        tx.translate(-pathCenter.x(), -pathCenter.y());
        path = tx.map(path);
    #endif

From simple path translations to more complex property manipulations, everything got better. See this code snipped about extending QGraphicsObject in 4.6 versus 4.5 and 4.4.

    #if QT_VERSION >= 0x040600
    class AbstractContent : public QGraphicsObject
    #else
    class AbstractContent : public QObject, public QGraphicsItem
    #endif
    {
        Q_OBJECT
    #if QT_VERSION < 0x040600
        Q_PROPERTY(QPointF pos READ pos WRITE setPos)
        Q_PROPERTY(qreal rotation READ rotation WRITE setRotation NOTIFY rotationChanged)
    #endif
    #if QT_VERSION < 0x040600 && QT_VERSION >= 0x040500
        Q_PROPERTY(qreal opacity READ opacity WRITE setOpacity)
    #endif

Do you feel the pain?

I Need it

I need a world with Qt 4.6 only, because:

• It’s too much of a pain to support older versions in the same codebase
• It’s not even fair, because non-4.6 users won’t enjoy the program as it’s meant to be
• I can’t use A TON of new features because they’ll either simplify too much the code, or just because they don’t have a pre-4.6 equivalent
• and because I’d like to finally use
  • QGraphicsEffect for Fotowall’s content
  • QVector3D to say goodbye to enricomath.h
  • QGesture for multi-finger interaction
  • QPropertyAnimation to its full potential!

More 4.6 TEASING

1. As you seem to like videos, here is a preview of something we’re working on for Amarok Qt 4.6 only!!
   

   Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Also, since I’m soooo much a giver, see the new Fotowall’s Word Cloud feature, coming in 0.9

See you @ Munich

I’m packing for the DevDays 2009 Munich. See you there

Indirect Benefits, or ‘what you get for free’

• Improved quality and better speed in the OpenGL QPainter
• Better speed in the GraphicsView framework

Direct Benefits

• Animation Framework: this simply r0cks! I don’t know about the whole Kinetic stuff, I just mean the ability to create simple property animations.
  I don’t have a video to show you but just take a look at the Fotowall’s Top-Bar, the tabs appear and disappear with a nice and smooth grow-shrink animation, that make the program look soo 2009-ish! finally!
• QNetworkReply::isFinished(): thanks to this method I could implement a smart time-saver: when the user starts to drag a flickr picture, Fotowall starts downloading it. It can happen that, upon drop, the content has already been completely downloaded (so it can be placed in the canvas) or partially downloaded (so the used only needs to wait for the missing percent)

Drawbacks

• There are some graphics glitches when animating the opacity property of a QGaphicsProxyWidget (in OpenGL)
• Even by setting the QGraphicsItem::ItemSendsGeometryChanges flag, the previous behavior is not perfectly restored (we used itemChange, and the new behavior doesn’t allow Fotowall’s mirrors to sync properly to the objects)

Movie Time!

I’ve tried hard to record a screencast about the Cuteness & Performance of Qt 4.6, but in the end I had to use my camera.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks Nokia for this great release!

[1] Fotowall is a creative program to mix local and online graphics content and build original work.

Cherry picked  features from the delicious 0.8 release:

• Now you’ll be able to deform text changing the shape of its baseline visually (see the “Fotowall” string in the image above and its Bezier control points)
• Pictures can be cropped to a certain area, for example to select a single person from a group. Also picture’s transparency can be adjusted, to create nice fading effects
• A lot of work has been put into enabling OpenGL acceleration, really useful if your canvas has 100+ semi-transparent objects
• You can now work with a transparent window (or blurred, on Vista)
• The top-bar is now context-sensitive. We’ll move more and more content properties to that instead of the old content configuration window

Plus a lot of user suggestions and fixes have been implemented to make Fotowall always easier and intuitive to use. The 0.8 release now ships in 6 different languages: english, italian, french, german, brazilian, polish. You can even contribute your own translations.

But our favorite news is that Fotowall now has it’s official website

What about next: we’re working hard on the 0.9 release and we already have lots of new features! You’ll be surprised by what you’ll be able to achieve with the next version

A final special thank to Zack Rusin who created the Text on path example that was the basis of our shaped text.

New features in Fotowall 0.7. In the top left area you can see the web image selector.

With this release Fotowall integrates with the deep web. You can now search the network with the embedded flickr search pane and add the images to the canvas. This opens up an infinite can of content, all available for your pleasure .

Other relevant features include:

• support for Qt 4.6 (brings animations and transparencies)
• usability fixes (rubberband selection, deletion, etc..)
• cleaner design (new icons, loadable frames, better property dialogs)
• italian, french and german translation
• check for updates and web links

Don’t hesitate to ask for missing features and always remember that you can rotate pictures by dragging corners with the right mouse button

Enjoy your Fotowall!!

Nuove caratteristiche presenti in Fotowall 0.6

Se non vi sono bastate le tonnellate di migliorie della 0.5 ecco che arriva una 0.6 che quasi raddoppia la base di codice e introduce una serie di caratteristiche che danno un taglio professionale senza intaccare la facilità di interazione e la libertà di giocare con Fotowall E ancora non avete letto nulla…

Integrazione con PosteRazor

Non ci vuole un pennello  grande, ma un grande pen Fotowall 0.6!

PosteRazor, di Alessandro Portale, è un programma che consente di stampare a casa propria dei poster grandi a piacere con una stampante comune.In pratica divide l’immagine in tanti fogli che una volta ritagliati ed incollati vanno a formare un Poster.  La capacità di Fotowall di sintetizzare immagini in altissima definizione e l’esportazione con PosteRazor permettono di creare composizioni grafiche di risoluzione notevole in uno spazio piccolo, quale lo schermo del PC.

Oltretutto, l’unione di Fotowall e PosteRazor, rappresenta un avvenimento davvero raro nel panorama opensource. Sono infatti frequenti i fork, quando gruppi di persone vogliono evolvere un software in modo diverso dalla linea prestabilita e così si finisce con più programmi che fanno la stessa cosa, ma i join, come questo caso, sono davvero rarissimi!

Oggetto Video, o Specchio

E” un oggetto manipolabile (come le Foto o il Testo) che contiene il video ripreso dalle webcam collegate al PC. E’ detto anche specchio perchè spesso i portatili sono dotati di una webcam che ti riprende, quindi è un po’ come inserire degli specchietti in Fotowall

Export Guidato

L’assistente consente di esportare la scena attuale in 4 modi: impostando lo sfondo del desktop, salvando un’immagine, creando un poster (vedi PosteRazor), o stampando su carta. Ci sono tutte le opzioni necessarie per divertirsi Consiglio anche di vedere il modo “Dimensione Esatta” (accessibile dalla finestra principale di Fotowall), che consente lavorare a schermo all dimensione fisica specificata (tipo 15x6cm) e stampare alla medesima dimensione. WYSIWYG

Formato XML

La scena può essere salvata e recuperata (quasi, ehm.. esattamente..) nel nuovo formato XML, che assicura compatibiltà in avanti. Da oggi in poi potrete mettere via le vostre scene Fotowall preferite.

Selezione, Prospettiva &  altri 50 commit

E’ possibile selezionare più oggetti, spostarli o cambiare le proprietà in gruppo, cambiare la prospettiva degli oggetti (rotazione attorno agli assi X ed Y ), riscalare il testo come si roto-scalano le immagini, c’è l’effetto Seppia, e molto altro ancora

Enjoy your Fotowall!!

update: this article is really outdated, we have a website now!
see the new cool stuff @ www.enricoros.com/opensource/fotowall

You always wanted to create quick graphics composition from a bunch of photos you have.. and now your dream came true! With Fotowall you can drag some pictures in the canvas, place them as you like, put a title on them, change the colors and the gradients the way you like and finally render a poster-sized graphical composition of them!

Take a look a this quick video tour. In less than 2 minutes you will see the whole process, from installation to the rendering of a wallpaper.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can find the source code on the website. The program runs on every Linux or Windows (XP, Vista) out there! (So even Ilan will be able to do a “two hands saw” in his awesome OS!! )

Thanks goes to David Eccher for his suggestions!
You rock man

Say you’re writing an application and you want to let the user to change the color of an item; what will you do?

The standard approach is to popup a color dialog with the standard HSV selector and all the sliders and values and buttons and confusion. Another approach is to pop down a combobox with a selection of default colors where the user won’t find the colour she is looking for (unless it’s RED, of course ).
Both approaches need you to get shocked by another window appearing right in front of you, so you loose the context and move the mouse far away from where it was.

Let’s take a look at this new approach:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 2d (yet perspective transformed) dialog smoothly fades in when hovering the color and your favorite hue is just 1 or 2 clicks apart!