[Request] Glow Effectlet file

I'm trying to modify some old effects/effectlets to combine them into a super effect of my liking.

I'd like to use the "Glow" Effect, but the file I have (glow.effect) looks like a bunch of garble-de-gook when I open it in Notepad or any text editor.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

#298763

the glow effect is not scripted, but it's coded - you would need the source code. I'm afraid you need to rewrite that part, creating a smooth animation ( you can get code for the smoooothness from my Slide effect ) that modifies the Desklet.ColorMatrix property. The ColorMatrix property should be a 5x5 matrix... there are samples around for GDI+ that explain how to use it for various effects, otherwise you can try here on msdn

#298811

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to take a longer look at it when I'm not working or spending time with the girlfriend (new relationships are great... ).

I just noticed though (after installing your slide effect) that it uses no CPU cycles whatsoever! I'm floored! If I can get this kind of thing going with glowing I'm gonna be really happy.

EDIT By the way... would you mind if I ended up asking you for some help once I've got something more concrete? I'll probably need someone experienced to help me find the problems in my script...

#298823

Yeah, there are two types of effectlets:

- DLLs renamed to .effect

- Scripts, renamed to .effectlet

I'll do a scripted glow effectlet after soccer tomorrow

#298841

I just noticed though (after installing your slide effect) that it uses no CPU cycles whatsoever! I'm floored! If I can get this kind of thing going with glowing I'm gonna be really happy.

• continuos sliding (setting the Rebouce option) is around 25% - CPU consumption is directly proportional to the smoothness value
  
• glowing can take up to 100%, but it's proportional to Speed. At 50% speed the CPU is around 20%.
  

They both need redrawing, the glow could be a bit more cpu-intensive since it needs matrix operations, but I'm not sure

By the way... would you mind if I ended up asking you for some help once I've got something more concrete? I'll probably need someone experienced to help me find the problems in my script...

#298976

@Andreas - *hugs* You're awesome! Where would the world be without you... (I know... still stuck in the days of regular icons )

@dreadnaut - Yeah, I haven't tried with a 256x256 desklet. My desklets are all 96x96 and when I used your slide effectlet, the CPU usage stayed at zero for me.

I'll be sure to release it once I'm done with it of course! I guess since all the effectlets are "Open-source" it's only fair that I share with the rest of you.

#299021

Not to sound like a nag... but have you had a chance to look at the script for the glow effect yet, Andreas?

I've had a look at the GDI+ link that dreadnaut gave me, but it's a little bit over my head. Are there any examples of how you might incorportate this into a script?

#301037

diggin' deep down in my filesystem, I've just found this file... it's like... a glow effectlet ?! I really don't know where is it from, and it does not work really well, but it tells you how to use the colormatrix property ! should be much easier than the msdn examples I think

(I added a .txt extension for the upload, just get rid of it!)

EDIT: unattached glow.effectlet - it's the same that comes with Avedesk 1.2

#301041

oops forgat totally about this. I blame the good weather (was at the beach actually today ):

basically, a glow is done by modyfing the colormatrix in this way:

		m->m[4][0] = m->m[4][1] = m->m[4][2] = (REAL)lpData->counter / (lpData->numFrames*(100.0f / (float)lpData->maxGlowLevel));

If you want a full effectlet, I'll do it tonight or annoy me thru PM otherwise

#301043

ok, so my effectlet of unknown origin was correct. The glow effect can be achieved changing positions [4,0] [4,1] and [4,2] of the color matrix

#301047

@dreadnaut - that's the effectlet file that comes with AveDesk 1.2 I think... for some reason when I run the original copy I have, I get the little boxes flying around, but no glowing. With the verison you sent me, I get an error message... :S

If you want, I can show you a video of what I mean.

Thanks for the explanation of the colormatrix (both of you)... it makes a bit more sense now as to where the actual changes were taking place.

#301074

mmmh I get the floating boxes too... but I haven't played around with the settings enough probably !

and maybe I put my hands into that effectlet and ruined something a long time ago, and I don't remenber

#301079

*poke again* Hey Ave... I PM'ed you but no reply... maybe you're enjoying the view at the beach too much to bother with the script... I can't blame ya if you are...

I've got some code that I think should work... but it doesnt... I can't post it right now since I'm at work and the code is at home, but I'll see if I can post it up later tonight.

#301638

Ok... so I've been playing around with this a bit - mostly just learning from what I see in the files I've got since the examples that herd posted aren't properly linked...

I'm wondering about the functions within the scripts. Are they active whenever one of the parameters is "active"? For example, in the original Glow.effectlet file we see this:

Function OnBeforeDraw(IsMouseOn, IsSelected, IsPreview)

Does this mean that the OnBeforeDraw function is called and running whenever IsMouseOn==true?

Like I said, I've got some code, but it's not doing very much, and to be quite honest, I'm not familiar with the scripting language, so I have no idea how to parse through the code by myself.

Thanks in advance!

#301882

sorry, I have been busy with stuff lately:

OnBeforeDraw() will always be called when the desklet is redrawn.

The parameters can be true or false.

For example:

  Function OnBeforeDraw(IsMouseOn, IsSelected, IsPreview)

		// we only want to do something when the mouse is over or when the effectlet is

		// is in preview mode

		if(IsMouseOn = True Or IsPreview = True) then 

				// TODO add code

		end if

  end function

I'm diggin up my glow-effectlet example right now for you - it's on an old HDD.

#301886

#301888

w00t!!!!

Thanks soo much for this! I'll be studying this stuff a little bit more - hopefully I can contribute more to this stuff (and work on the smooth magnification once I get comfortable) when I learn from the masters.

Andreas = programming god dude... and stuff :D:D

#301914