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Show HN: PolyGen App, turn gradients and photos into pretty low poly patterns

polygenapp.com

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Re: Show HN: PolyGen App, turn gradients and photos into pretty low poly patterns

#22

Post by welshguy »

nbartlomiej wrote: post #10
KnightHawk3 wrote: post #7

Why did you decide to make this mobile only? Personally I would use it the most from my computer, considered a port ;)

I'll be happy to make a desktop version if users want it. Comment here, reply to this tweet ( https://twitter.com/polygenapp/status/560846810735206400 ) or let me know in any way if you're interested. Edit - And as for "why mobile-first", I wanted to make the app casual and approachable. You can take a photo of your teacup and have a cool low poly version of it in an instant. Or generate a pretty colourful wallpaper…

Me too :-)

Re: Show HN: PolyGen App, turn gradients and photos into pretty low poly patterns

#23

Post by ctdonath »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #11

It's nice, good work. I wonder if you might be better off without the ads though. Not much revenue, and without them you can possibly build a bigger user base as a reputation point for your resume.

$1 may be too much friction at this point. Not something most people consider must-have, but willing to put up with ads to fiddle with.

Re: Show HN: PolyGen App, turn gradients and photos into pretty low poly patterns

#26

Post by kaoD »

I can't try the app (stuck on a Gingerbread phone) but it seems fun. I'm eager to try it.

As far as I can tell, the user chooses the location of triangle vertices, right? It would be interesting to try a genetic algorithm there though it probably fits best in a desktop version.

Also, did you experiment with Voronoi diagrams instead of triangulation?

Re: Show HN: PolyGen App, turn gradients and photos into pretty low poly patterns

#27

Post by nbartlomiej »

ctdonath wrote: post #25

The regenerate button seems to cycle (inconsistently?) thru the grain sizes. Undesirable; if I pick a grain size and regenerate, I'm looking for a suitable arrangement at that size. Otherwise, nifty!

The "refresh" button randomises as much as it can, but you can prevent a section from being randomised by "locking" it (clicking on the tiny lock icon).

So you can pick a size, lock it and hit "refresh" as much as you wish. I'm glad that you like the app, cheers!

Re: Show HN: PolyGen App, turn gradients and photos into pretty low poly patterns

#28

Post by nbartlomiej »

kaoD wrote: post #26

I can't try the app (stuck on a Gingerbread phone) but it seems fun. I'm eager to try it. As far as I can tell, the user chooses the location of triangle vertices, right? It would be interesting to try a genetic algorithm there though it probably fits best in a desktop version. Also, did you experiment with Voronoi diagrams instead of triangulation?

For abstract patterns, points are chosen "randomly" (grid with randomised offsets). For photo-based ones, I'm using JSFeat's YAPE06 (http://inspirit.github.io/jsfeat/#features2dcorner), plus some own customisations. I'm constantly looking for ways to improve generating photo-based patterns; if anyone has some ideas here, I'd be happy to listen.

I've played with genetic algorithms, but without anything practical. Indeed, this might be more appropriate for desktops.

I've experimented with Voronoi too, but the results weren't as pretty. The cells were more rounded; and the low poly style was gone.

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