I would pay a lot of money for something like this that worked across platforms (Linux, Windows, OSX).
inkscape -> svg + cairo to write svg to image buffer.
Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
61–70 of 82 posts
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not talking about Webkit or streaming over HTTP. I'm talking within the context of true native apps. Blitting a cached PNG will always be faster than CPU based drawing code and I think the app size tradeoff is worth it.
But you just draw the image first from vector and blit that. Vector gets all the normal bitmap speedup tricks that way. Reading your PNG from the disk in the first place will be slower than reading a compact vector, rendering it and caching. Re-rendering from CPU can often be faster than GPU bus access times on PCs. Anyways, it depends on what you're optimising for. I was just illustrating how vector can be much bett…
Reading your PNG from the disk in the first place will be slower than reading a compact vector, rendering it and caching.
Got benchmarks for that?
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#63So basically we stop using graphics and start using code (UIViews) to draw the images. Does it do caching? A quick search for cache didn't turn up anything. If we have learned anything from using UITableViews with custom UITableViewCells then it is that drawing is expensive. The underlying idea of generating your images "programmatically" is not a bad one to start but performance wise, if the image (View) is going to…
When a uiview renders, it does so to a layer. Calayer caches its bitmap content. So, moving something on screen doesn't require redrawing. Most implicitly animated properties (opacity, transforms, etc) won't require a redraw. As mentioned below, it's fairly trivial to save a context to a png file if you must.
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#64The idea is cool, but I must say the app itself gives me the same feeling I get from Microsofts Expression Blend app. Or any Silverlight app for that matter. Non-native UI controls everywhere. :-/
I agree, the sample controls shown in the screenshots look very windows-y
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sometimes ideas are just floating around, aren't they? I think Opacity [1] was the first program with this feature (added in 2009 [2]). 1. http://likethought.com/opacity/ 2. http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/09/22/opacity
Opacity was so poorly executed as to make it pointless. http://loewald.com/blog/?p=1612
Opacity has problems and quirks, but I enjoy it a lot, actually.
Its concepts of factories + variables more it quite powerful indeed.
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah and this is becoming increasingly important. image.png, image@2x, image~ipad.png, image@2x~ipad.png...
From The Verge "While some of the apps have received additional features, it seems likely that the increase in size is mainly down to the huge graphics needed to fill the new iPad's 2048 x 1536 Retina Display. It's worth remembering that these are only download sizes, and once installed the apps may be even larger. Regular apps will likely receive a similar bump in size once developers update them with hi-def graphic…
I just don't understand how they could possibly be five times larger. There are 4x as many pixels, so by straight pixel count it could be 4x larger.
However, current PNG compressors are really good at optimizing flat color areas, gradients, and lines. It seems to me like most images would get only a relatively small increase in size due to this upsizing (1.5x-2x).
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure what you are accusing Apple of ... This developer does have a choice you know. He could have made a trial available on his own site. Apple does not disallow that.
Choice is a funny word. When all the customers are going to the supermarket to buy their fresh veg, you can set up your own puny little stall in the alley, but guess what, no one's buying because they can't even find you . Apple does not allow you to sell iOS apps outside its app store, and there's every reason to believe they are pushing the desktop market in the same direction. Why wouldn't they?
> Apple does not allow you to sell iOS apps outside its app store,
This is incorrect in a minor, but fundamentally important way, I think:
Apple does nothing to prevent you from selling outside their store. What they've done is make it difficult for the average iPhone owner to buy from you.
You need to target a specific demographic that can overcome those obstacles and will pay enough to make it worth your time.
In practice, that probably means enterprise.
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#68Other than dynamically-related colors, is this much different from designing in Illustrator and exporting to PDF, which I understand is well-supported in iOS and OS X?
It looks like to biggest extra is the ability to insert variables into the generated, so you can make e.g. a blue and orange button from the the same output.
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#69So cool, cant wait to test it out
Re: Vector based UI design tool that generates ObjC
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
From The Verge "While some of the apps have received additional features, it seems likely that the increase in size is mainly down to the huge graphics needed to fill the new iPad's 2048 x 1536 Retina Display. It's worth remembering that these are only download sizes, and once installed the apps may be even larger. Regular apps will likely receive a similar bump in size once developers update them with hi-def graphic…
I just don't understand how they could possibly be five times larger. There are 4x as many pixels, so by straight pixel count it could be 4x larger. However, current PNG compressors are really good at optimizing flat color areas, gradients, and lines. It seems to me like most images would get only a relatively small increase in size due to this upsizing (1.5x-2x).
A 1x version and a 4x version?