Archive for the ‘preview’ tag
Ray tracing, Patterns, and the Web
(Caveat before I even say anything else: the ray tracer is unoptimized and really stresses the browser’s Javascript implementation. I recommend using Google Chrome for viewing it as Chrome is notably faster at the moment…)
I managed to reorganize the Javascript-based ray tracer such that it can be used as a JQuery plug-in: transform any CANVAS element into a ray traced scene. I then incorporated the 2D patterns library I’ve been working on for LxLang into the page. The result? An HTML page with multiple embedded ray tracers, rendering the various 2D procedural patterns onto a ray traced sphere. It’s really exciting seeing all these technologies working together.
Next up, I might work on using the HTML5 File API to add some image caching – the page load time for the below is a bit ridiculous.
Click here to view the ray tracing page. Or click the image below to get a static image of the results (admittedly, a much faster approach).
CSS Font Preview Tool
As I noted, I’ve been spending the last while doing a bit more web-oriented programming. It’s been fun dabbling a bit more towards the design-side of things (note: I do realize that a couple weeks playing with CSS does not qualify me as being a designer!). In any case, the low-budget local projects have given me a chance to work in areas where I certainly have less expertise. For example: choosing a good type face for a site and/or section of a site.
Being an engineer at heart, I naturally built a tool to help with the selection process. I know it’s not a unique tool (there are plenty out there like this one, though likely better than this one) but it also did not require much effort.
Without further ado, here’s the link to a simple JQuery-based tool for previewing various font styles:
Font Preview Tool