Fpp Gui

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Caught by the typo-police... and guilty as charged.

Thank you for pointing out the error which I have corrected. ("forums" was typed "fourms")

Thanks again!

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

I managed to make 2 new video tutorials/showcases of how to make hotspots and how to use borders with FFC, and remade the dashboard video, since it is fully working now, and not lacking functionality as it was in the older tutorial. Changing the setup of the buttons is in real time now, and changing to other button layouts is done with a couple of clicks.

Things are moving... even though slowly...

You are welcome to have a peek HERE (http://www.flashificator.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=8)

[PauloGGPX]

Hi Tuddi,
any news about when will FFC be ready?

And how about a closed beta test? ;) ;) can't wait to try this :)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Hi Paulo.

1. No more guesswork dates from me on the release.
2. I am still trying to find programmers to work on the project's further development
3. The original developer has finished all the functions I wanted for the first release.
4. What's left, is to bug-clean, and tie up loose ends. That's from a list of "to do".... as of right now, 21 issues on the list HAVE to be taken care of before first release, 21 more issues are high on priorities, but could wait until after the initial release.

In my view, that's pretty damn close, but as I have found out earlier (over and over) a single issue may take a very long time to solve... while other issues only take less than a minute to fix.

I know that you and others are going to like working with it, and I also know that you will find issues that can be improved... and there is a lot to be improved and added to it... only problem is time and finding more programmers to work on the project, so that functionalities, tweaks and twists can be delivered faster.

Hope you see this as a positive info... I would like nothing more than tell you all that today was the day of the release... but unfortunately I have to wait with that for another day.

[PauloGGPX]

Thanks Tuddi,

any info is a positive one ;) I was just curious as you're strangely quiet about it :) and just noticed your new videos and FFC site.

Keeps us posted :)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Quietness is a virtue most politicians don't know of.
In my case: Not a politician (only political) and not quiet (normally) but rather busy for the time being. :)

I will absolutely keep informing about positive progress (never mind the setbacks... not so much fun reading or writing about those...)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

A 2nd programmer has been found for the project, starting tomorrow. I'm confident this means my hair will stop turning white, and the release date and consequent updates to it have moved into my hemisphere again.

I'm just happy to have found this guy, and am sure he will prove to be a good asset!

[PauloGGPX]

Great news Tuddi :)

Keep us posted as things unfold ;)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

End of day one for programmer 2.

I returned to the office after being caught up with a couple of clients. The new programmer had left... which was ok, but for some reason the whole flashificator project was IN THE TRASH folder of the Mac where he is to be working.

WHY that is... I don't know, and don't want to jump to the wrong conclusions, but obviously such a placement should NOT take place at all.

Tomorrow is another day... he is still mostly just reading up on how things work.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Following is what I posted on the FFC forums earlier today. Just trying to keep people in the information loop:

The new programmer started at the beginning of this month, and things are looking good. For the most part he has been reading up on things, but also coding.

A new FLV plugin has been made, based entirely on AS3 code, and not on Adobe Flash components, which are faulty. This eliminated the garbage collection problem when using the FLV plugin, and it is going to be customizable as time moves on, with some control buttons.
A new mp3 player has also been made, with play-/pause-, stop-, mute-, timer-, playlist-, volume-, next song-, previous song- control buttons. What is left, is to integrate it in FFC and make it so that it's interface can be completely re-skinned by the FFC users to match other buttons/hotspots used. It has been outfitted with drag & drop function, so that you only need to drag a mp3 file and drop it into the FFC toolbox, and a mp3 hotspot with relevant settings will be created automatically . Same drag & drop for FLV files is also to be implemented... and for hotspot image files. It will save a few clicks, and make panolife even more enjoyable.

There are still a few fixes to be made. One is: the mouse cursor disappears when it is over the toolbox if an animated (object movie) swf file is inserted in the panorama. Another is garbage collection failure when changing to a different dashboard image folder... and others. But the list is getting shorter, moving the release date closer.

This is what there is of update news for today. Hopefully you like the "sound" of things to come.

[gato]

Hi all theres,

Flashificator comes! But we dont know when. Loll. I will prepare the birthday party for the idea of Flashificator. Only some days left and then it was one year ago for this idea. In this time i had a lot of good ideas. I whould become a millionare if i had realized it. But...Im still sitting here and do everything with my tired hands.

So peoples out there, Flashificator is a good idea, but stil only an idea. My doughter is stil waiting for St. Claus. An he will bring her all thinks she had wish for....

Good luck to all of you and happy Christmas

gato

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Well, this "idea" is more real than santa and god combined :)

When I was asked in december last year if I thought it could be ready before christmas, I thought that impossible... yet the first free version made publication on december 24th... (with flaws and incompatibility with Mac).

A lot of code has been written since, and a lot of times I have burned my fingers with predictions and half-assed announcements of imminent release... only to make a complete fool out of my self, but that's ok, I can live with that part....

I have had discussions with my head developer, in which he wanted to have the initial release earlier, while I did not want it released before x-y-z had been implemented, or it would have been too raw in my view. One of my requirements was the dashboard implementation, another a better mp3 player and a few others. Now these have been done, only a couple of things more, some loose ends, buy a certificate from Adobe (to enable auto updates), send a package to Denis including the current version (1.9x) with instructions on what he needs to do in order for users being able to make use of FFC (insertion of weak references after all event listeners in his plugins)... and that I will do before the end of this weekend.

With the auto updating, you won't have to worry about making any visits to here or other places to get news of updates and to manually download and install what there is.

I am not going to make a public announcement here, saying that this or that date should be the one for the first full release... but from the above you can conclude that if I am sending Denis the package this weekend, and that all but 2 issues have been resolved to my accept, there really can't be that long until the first release.

Your sarcastic frustration is understandable... I wish it could be different, but I can't change the past... you know... I am not a neo-con revisionist historian :)

Having to pay 2 programmers, feed the family (and then some) fill my car with gasoline that costs over $6 per gallon, while it only gets me 12 km per gallon (7.5 miles per gallon) 31 liters per 100 km... it should be clear that it is absolutely in my top priority to get some income to recover the costs I have had already.

The wall street and global economical crash we are experiencing right now, does in many ways reflect my private economy due to this project having taken this long time... but there is no corrupt government coming to hand me billions from the public - for free - due to my "losses"...
I'll just have to accept not being a CEO of some failed trillion dollar capitalist enterprise, and try to survive on my own crumbs.

Anyways... I thank you Gato, for expressing yourself on the subject of "Where's that Flashificator anyways?". Your expression resembles my own attitude... which I have on a daily basis.

[gato]

Hai Dennis, uups, i mean Tuddi,

my car needs only 6 liters per 100 km, and my family is still alive.

Tuddi, im proud of making advertise for your business. Thank you. I hope this topic will initiate a graet discussion here at this forum.

Best regards, also to dennis.

PS: Dont drive so far. 31/100 is too much...


Download Flashificator, the free GUI for FPP.
Win-Mac-Linux compatible.

[gato]

"The wall street and global economical crash we are experiencing right now, does in many ways reflect my private economy due to this project having taken this long time... but there is no corrupt government coming to hand me billions from the public - for free - due to my "losses"...
I'll just have to accept not being a CEO of some failed trillion dollar capitalist enterprise, and try to survive on my own crumbs."


Sorry Tuddi,

i hadnt read to the end: It was you, who initiate the wall street and global economical crash?

Tuddi, I hear a very frustrationed man at this words. Whats going on with you? Do we have to worry about you?

Relaxe, walk your wife around your car and dont worry.
We all love you

gato

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Going for a walk with my wife... around the car... :)

Thanks for the suggestion!

And don't worry ... I'm just being serious in my own way.... after all it is quite a burden to carry... the whole world's crashing economy...

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Mail to Denis has been sent, including a copy of current version of FFC and instructions in regards to what he needs to do for making things good on FFC's end.

[PauloGGPX]

Tuddi thanks for your hard work :) now to wait for Denis response. Please keep us posted :)

PS: 31 liters per 100 km!!!! what the heck do you drive? a 18 wheeler?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Denis responded already, saying that he has no time right now to check things out, but he will try to do so during the week.

My car is obviously not EC (Environmentally Correct). It's an old Chevy Celebrity V6... ex police car which never had proper maintainance before I got it. How it can consume gasoline like that, is beyond my understanding. The engine has good compression, so it's not wasted through wear, but the carb is without electric mixture solenoid, and then it is equipped with a distributor from a Cadillac.... how things were made work together is beyond my imagination, but it works... with a lot of gasoline consumption.

In a way it is good, because I only drive it when it is absolutely needed... but it is horrifying to know that it is consuming more fuel than a big Hummer from generation 1.

[PauloGGPX]

With gas unleaded 95 at €1.398 times 31l that's about €43.338 for 100Km Wow, you better drive it only when it's absolutly, positively, a matter of life or death :P

Wow denis allready answered your email :) great.

What did you asked him to change/add to the FPP engine?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

What is needed for the FFC project, is to put weak references into the following plugins:
tooltips / smartscale / openFullscreen / Lensflare / Glassmeter / Borders / Autorotator

Because of the way FFC works, these will not allow garbage collection to take place without weak references. This is mainly a problem due to the program reloading (for seeing changes) many times during a project's composition.

All other plugins provided by him, are properly weak referenced for FFC.

I have listed the changes needed and where these are to be placed... and now all I can do, is to wait and hope for the best solution from his end.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Denis' blessings have been received (thanks, thanks, thanks).

Things are looking very good now!

[PauloGGPX]

:D Great news Tuddi,

when are you going to start accepting pre.orders? ;) ;)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

The only factors that can delay the first release to take place during next week (20-25th of October) are:

1. Time it takes to get the Adobe AIR certificate (needed for automatic updates, and is also a guarantee for people who buy the product that I am who I am, and not some hacking criminal).

2. Time it takes to get the shareit.com store activated and operational.

3. Denis providing the material needed for final tunes.

..............


Apart of these, there is NOTHING standing in the way of the release. Updates and upgrades of features and functions will be made as fast as possible... a lot of useful things to come, but I am also confident that what has been made until now, is a major step towards ease of use for new and experienced users.

Denis' latest move will make the whole process much much easier for installing and having FFC fully working (distribution of FFC will be with all but the essential core plugins (pano.swf, hotspots.swf, movDecoder.swf, cylconverter.swf).

Things are coming together very nicely now, both programmers working in tandem, elimination of bugs (kill one bug... discover 4 more... eliminate the 4... find 8 more... but none of the current bugs are of the serious kind.

Before first release, the only big thing to be done, is having the functions application improved.

It actually doesn't look as if you will have any time to make a pre-order... it's that close :)

[PauloGGPX]

LOL it's going to be a tough week for you and your two programers :)

best of luck, and don't forget to keep us posted :)

PS: you can count me in a soon as you release it ;)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Thank you Paulo.

I am too excited to keep quiet anyways. All is simply looking an working well. Lots of improvements being made, many items from the months old "to do" list have been done, today a whole bunch of new and good functionalities have seen the light... All because the heavy load of programming is over (for now) and loose ends are being tied up.

It's GOOD stuff coming true these days.

Drag and drop function has been enabled for mp3's, flv's, swf's, gif's png's and jpg's. Rigth from you have given your project a name, you can just drop files in.

I will try to make a little demonstration video to show how it works before the night is gone... if not, then tomorrow.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Point #3 is off the list, since I have received everything needed from Denis.

Videos later on today...

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Today is the day when the program is ready for publishing. The publishing itself won't take place until next week though, due to me not having gotten the adobe air certificate (financial backslashes that should be corrected next week ... that's just the sad truth of the matter).

It also gives us a few more days to test everything there is to test, and ensure a more reliable first release.

This has been a very long process (over 10 months), and way beyond anything I ever imagined it would become.... and still... this is only the beginning of the adventure. Months more of coding are already stacked up on the "to do" list, and no doubt, with the help of you, the users, lots of improvements and additions can be made available.

I am very happy to finally be able to announce the first full release, and a big sincere *thank you* goes to Denis for his full support to the project, especially in the last step where he provided the original source files for the plugins, so that these could be modified to work perfectly in FFC, and we also have his blessings to provide the altered plugins with FFC. This will make the whole installation process much easier, and users will only have to move a few of the essential FPP plugins (hotspots.swf, movDecoder.swf, pano.swf, cylConverter.swf... and a few others) to the FFC installation folder.

A massive thank you goes also towards all of those of you who haven't given totally up on the never ending story of "now it's going to be published"... and then it didn't.. :roll: I know that even though there is still much that can (and will) be better, then the first release will be considered a big evolutionary step in FPP work.. and the competition (all the other players) will have a major work to do in order to get their toes to where FPP's heels will be. Even a child can use the program without major problems, and still make a project that is fairly complicated if comparing to what is done in code or with other players.

Thank you for your time.

Ps.

The videos I had promised to try and make, had to be postponed due to me falling sick for 30 hours... then trying to catch up with my work. Will see what I can do during and after the weekend.

[gato]

Tuddi, Dennis, and all other Brasilians,

Flashificator for ever, the free and purchaseable GUI for FPP.

Tuddi, get well soon! Thanks

gato

[PauloGGPX]

Brilliant :D

Tuddi thanks for your hard work, now I REALLY can't wait to get my hands on this! now can we pre-order? ;)

I can code things up, I can and have built several multi-node tours with FPP by hand, made plugins, local connections etc, etc... but this can really speedup our work and make it simpler :)

You do realize that as soon as you release this thing we're going to flood you with bug reports and feature requests... hehe

PS: how much is a adobe air certificate costs? is it a one shot expense or do you need to renew it every year?
PPS: Hope you're felling better :)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Thanks guys. Feeling fine now, even mentally, since the program is good to go.

The certificate has to be renewed every year.

As to bug reports... yes, I am sure there will be an endless stream of bugs. All the things we never managed to encounter on our end.... but I am sure there is nothing seriously wrong.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

To keep you in the loop:

1. I will not get the certificate in time, therefore FFC's first version will be shipped without the certificate. It is a problem in terms of automatic updating not being available, but it's a problem that will be fixed.

2. Final instructions from the internet shopping service I will be using (shareit.com) arrived this morning, and I will be uploading the FFC package to their servers later on today. I recon that by thursday everything should be up and available for purchase.

3. I contacted Zephyr (Zleifr) and asked for permission to use his version of the tooltips (which might get some changes on our end), and he was kind enough to grant permission. (thank you again! ). As I understand it, there are some bugs related to the plugin... it would be very helpful to get information from those of you who know of the bugs, in order for my developers to try and find solutions.... also, suggestions for some additional features for the plugin would be welcome. Either post your suggestions/bug info here, through PM or email thank you.

4. Freddy (Discocandy) got a copy of FFC for testing less than 24 hours ago, and one of his remarks was: "I love it". What say thee now Freddy? Still in love... or has it worn off?

At least there is nothing threatening the publication to take place this week, and that is good. The work on the first release ended on Friday, while the work continues for the first update.

Hope all of this is good news to you.

[PauloGGPX]

Thanks for the update Tuddi :)

Can't wait for try this out :)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Flashificator version 2.0 files have been uploaded to the vending service (.zip and .dmg) I still count on everything to be ready by Thursday.

Before you buy, you should read the agreement:

http://flashificator.com/1/Flashificator_Software_License_Agreement/FlashificatorAgreement.pdf

If you know standard license agreements, you can jump to point 8 "Deal of decency" which goes beyond standardized texts, and onto the path of what life should be all about: Personal involvement and honesty.

It feels good to finally have it "out of the house"... couple of days more, and it could be yours as well.

[Jasper]

Thanks Tuddi, couldn't agree more with point 8. Respect!

Holding breath now.......

[rawtoast]

I'm really excited. As much as I have enjoyed my journey with panoramic photography and all the processing, rendering, etc. behind it - I just have not had the itch to learn action script/FPP code.

I am REALLY excited about thurs (or friday if it's a day late) ... you'll get my money - that's for sure!

WHOO HOOO !

[discocandy]

4. Freddy (Discocandy) got a copy of FFC for testing less than 24 hours ago, and one of his remarks was: "I love it". What say thee now Freddy? Still in love... or has it worn off?



Ok first. the bad part..

It is still needs a little bit of understanding on how to build the panoramas
But Tuddi already told me he would do some more video tutorials to make life more easy for you.

It is still a little CPU hungry when you add more and more functions.
Special when you add a lensflare (was always pretty heavy on my computer)
My suggestion was to build a new lensflare wich works a bit like the one in
pureplayer Later on.

For the good part.

So many functions already implented.
So simple to use if you know a little bit about functions.
I made a simple panorama including buttons in less than 10 seconds!!
The down part is, (will be implented later!!) you cannot save a template on your buttons as yet. But no worries it will take you a few minutes to implent your own images.
further more it is just a button click to add a FLV player, mp3 player, autorotator, borders, FPS, loadmeters, fullscreen buttons..

The list is long :)
Still work to do to make it perfect but this is a real treasure in the making.
It is silver now but could be gold very soon!

Yeah tuddi I still love it!!;)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Thanks Freddy! :) Good to be in love... isn't it?

Adding functions will of course add to the load of the CPU... there's no way to avoid that... except by not adding the extra functions. :)

I have not experienced it as a problem at all on this end, the PC being pretty well equipped in regards to memory, cpu and graphic card. The testing I have done on the laptop (2gb mem, 1.8 single core Intel celeron and some lousy graphic card) hasn't resulted in any serious or unexpected behaviour either. It goes up on the CPU usage, but fortunately we have been able to cut off all memory leaks and garbage collection issues.

Yes, I have to make the video tutorials, which will make things much easier for starting out. Maybe I am (sure I am) influenced by testing the program all the way through it's development, and therefore I don't see the pot-holes present in it.

The biggest and baddest issue is still the Functions area, but that is being made more accessible and easy to manage, plus, we will provide a library of preset functions for buttons and infoscreens etc... anyone willing to contribute settings for button behaviour is of course welcome to do so... it will make the product bigger and better for everyone.

The lensflare issue is not really a flashificator specific issue.... as you know... but it did get much worse after installing Flash 10. In F9 you could feel and see that it was riding your CPU, but in F10 it is much much worse. In F9 I once loaded 10 lensflares in the same pano, and things were behaving better than with only one lensflare in F10. This is something that requires new infrastructure of the lensflares.... and your suggestion for png flares is an interesting suggestion which I hope to see realized.

And of course, many thanks for the thumbs up on the good things. Indeed the program is not perfectionized yet... rome wasn't built in one day and windows wasn't made perfect in ... what is it now .... 23 years... and they are still struggling with faulty issues in that company.

As the program stands now, anyone can get things done. And as you have tried (and of course succeeded) ... only in seconds you can make your pano with fully functional dashboard and ready to be uploaded to your domain.

Of course a basic job, but still...

There is so much more that can be done, and on this end we will do whatever there can be done, in order to make things as good as possible... which can only be done if you, the future users, air your opinions and suggestions for improvements etc. I am all ears and promise to take all suggestions into serious consideration.

You can check on the vending service here: https://secure.shareit.com/shareit/cart.html?PRODUCT[300263559]=1&DELIVERY[300263559]=EML&stylefrom=300263559 to check for the availability of the program. As of right now, it is not activated for sales. Reason being:

Your product has been entered, and now will be evaluated for sale approval.

I am confident that should be cleared up within 24 hours. It's out of my hands to make things any speedier now. It's totally up to the people at shareit.com

[PauloGGPX]

Hi tuddi any chance of a screenshot of the functions area?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Better...

I will have a couple of videos made, from a couple of methods available now. Will post it when ready (don't hold your breath... I'm terrible when it comes to screen captures).

[PauloGGPX]

LOL ok will wait then :D

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Found a bug... :(

Something that should not be there. Wasn't there before. Head programmer is digging into the issue now. It is to be possible to copy functions from already made functions (in your xml from previous projects) and once it's been copied, you click on a button to paste the text inside the xml of the project you are working on, and voila! it is attached to the hotspot of your choice.

For some reason it's not pasting the function... darny, darny... is to be fixed in minutes.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Copy/Paste full link https://secure.shareit.com/shareit/cart.html?PRODUCT[300263559]=1&DELIVERY[300263559]=EML&stylefrom=300263559

Sorry for not being able to make the link properly clickable in the forums, but it's due to it containing brackets [ ] , which will interfere with the way the forums work.

http://www.flashificator.com/images/FFCscreenCap.png (http://shortify.com/7984)

This link WAS SUPPOSED TO be free from shareit's deceptive marketing policy, where the "Extended Download" is selected as a standard option. Didn't work like that for long.

You folks do NOT need the extended download, since the program is updated frequently, and the customers can access the updated versions through FFC google groups.

The following are clickable links, but might be blocked by some servers...
http://tinyurl.com/ffc2-02
http://snurl.com/ffcsi
http://shortify.com/7984

[etegration]

is there a trial version to try?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Hi etegration.

The only trial version is the free version... which doesn't offer any of the more advanced features of the full version.

You can see how it works by taking a look at the current video tutorials, and read about the pros and cons in the forums (my signature link).

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

I might just as well post this info here:

A list over most of the things available right now (version.2.012)


In general terms the program can do the following:

Visuals:
Project: mov - cube faces - cylindrical - vertical stripe files with a click of the mouse.
Initial starting position can be set
Home position can be set
Frame rate can be set
Ratio can be set
Max and min zoom can be set
Horizontal and/or Vertical field of view can be set
Pan and/or Tilt can be disabled
Pan key, Tilt key, Zoom key can be activated
Visual quality: Segments, Static and Motion can be adjusted
Visual behaviour: Behaviour, Friction and Threshold can be adjusted
Shrinking can be adjusted
Leash can be adjusted
Keyboard keys can be assigned for Right, Left, Up, Down, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Home and Hold
Keyboard and Mouse sensitivity can be adjusted
Disabling of Keys, Wheel and Controls is available

Hotspots:
Creation of hotspots
Naming hotspots
Easy assigning of images to hotspots
Locking position of hotspots in the panorama
Linked/Unlinked availability
Projection of hotspots to a Cylinder, Sphere, Front, Back, Left, Right, Up, Down environments
Alignment of hotspots on x and y axis
Alignment of hotspots in static alignment
Rotation of hotspots on x y and z axis
Spot and Box properties are changed with a single click
Segments for hotspots on x and y axis can be adjusted
Pan and/or Tilt of hotspot can be adjusted
Depth of a hotspot can be adjusted
Alignment of a hotspot according to the corners and sides of monitor can be made
Static, Distorted, Scaleable, Block Mouse, Sound Panning, Use Hand Cursor, Cache as Bitmap, Button Mode, Smoothing, Visible can all be enabled/disabled
Sound radius, Volume and Pan can be adjusted
Distance of a hotspot can be set
Shrinking of a hotspot can be managed
Frame rate for a hotspot can be adjusted
Mouse Children can be enabled/disabled
Pixel Snapping can be managed
Opacity of hotspots can be managed
Hotspots can be applied Normal, Layer, Darken, Multiply, Lighten, Screen, Overlay, Hard Light, Difference, Alpha, Erase
Background colour for a hotspot can be chosen and/or transparency applied

Filters:
Hue, Brightness, Saturation, Contrast, Sharpness, Blur on x and/or y axis, Blur Quality, Tint Colour can be ajusted and set
Bevel, Distance, Angle, Quality, Blur x and/or y can be set
Bevel Highlight Colour and Shadow Colour can be chosen and adjusted
Inner, Outer, Full bevel filters properties
Knockout on/off
Glow filters:
Glow, Quality, Blur x and/or y, Inner Glow, Knockout and colour can be adjusted, applied and chosen
Shadow Filters:
Shadow, Distance, Angle, Quality, Blur x and/or y, Colour, Inner, Hide Object, Knockout can be adjusted, applied and chosen

Functions:
You record your functions. You activate the recording with a click, apply shadows, glow, change of positions etc. etc. etc. and make functions that way. When you finish the recording, all you recorded has been put into a list. You can also manually type actions to make and paste it into the list of recorded things.
You can use Equals, Increased, Decreased, Multiplied, Divided by - give it a value, decide the time in milliseconds, choose the following transition effects: Regular, Smooth, Easy In, Easy Out, Elastic Bounce
You can attach the function to Global, Panorama and Hotspot
In Global you can determine when it fires: On Click, Load, Over, Press, Release, Start, NewPano, Activate, Deactivate, TransitionStart, TransitionEnd, EnterFullscreen, ExitFullscreen
In Panorama you can determine when it fires: On Press, Release, KeyPress
In Hotspot you can determine when it fires: On Click, Load, Over, Out, Press, Release
In reality the possibilities of created functions are endless

Plugins/Presets
Autorotator can be enabled/disabled, Quality, Speed, Pause and Interval settings can be adjusted, or (FPP) Default settings can be applied
Borders can be set in real time with a single click

Dashboard consists of following navigation buttons: Infoscreen, Move Left, Move Right, Move Up, Move Down, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Auto Rotator, Fullscreen, Contrast up/down, Brightness up/down
The position of the buttons can be changed with simple dragging and dropping in the toolbox of Flashificator.
Buttons can be enabled/disabled
3 standard placements are provided: left lower corner, central bottom, right lower corner
You can provide your own customized buttons to be used with Flashificator at the click of the mouse.
Tooltips are provided for the buttons and can be enabled/disabled.
Glow color is also available, where you can change the colour.
Smartscale is present in the Dashboard as well.
Enable/Disable dashboard

FLV video player:
A new video player was made for Flashificator. The interface for controlling it consists of the following:
Selecting the player
Selecting the video(s) to use
Locking position
Choosing of single button control (if the FLV control component is not chosen)
Adding additional videos
Loop, AutoStart, Hide on Stop, Show in Video list, Disable Clicking Video can be activated/deactivated for any or all videos.
Pan alignment
Tilt alignment
Scale on x and y axis
Static x and/or y axis alignment
S-Alignment for x and/or y axis alignment
Alignment component for placement of videos on the screen's corners or middle sections in edges or center
Frame rate for video can be adjusted
Rotation on x y and z axis can be adjusted
Video scaleable/non scaleable tickbox
Distance can be adjusted
Sound settings for directional sound: Radius, Volume, Pan
Enable/Disable Sound Panning

FPS:
Enable/Disable FPS

Fullscreen:
Enable/Disable Fullscreen plugin that comes with standard FPP "Open/Close" button
There will come a replacement for this plugin, where a preset will be made, enabling users to use their own "Open/Close" button images.

Lensflare:
Select one or more lensflares from a collection of 9 lensflares
Lock Position of the lensflare
Add Another Lensflare
Blend Mode options to choose: Normal, Layer, Darken, Multiply, Lighten, Screen, Overlay, Hard Light, Difference, Alpha, Erase
Change flare colour and adjust the strength of the colour
Change the blinding colour and it's strength

Loadmeters:
FPP Normal (displaying percentages)
FPP Circular (displaying percentages)
FPP Glass (displaying progress bar with KB loaded)
FFC Glass (displaying progress bar with KB loaded and info on this being an interactive panorama with basic info on how to move and zoom in the pano
Text Denied (for changing the "Denied" message)
Text Failed (for changing the "Failed" message)
Bandwidth can be determined for the load of the pano
Loading attempts can be determined if loading fails
Text colour for the Normal loader can be changed
Loading background can be changed (from the standard green/red/grey)
Pano loading background can be made transparent
Loading of pano can be enabled/disabled
Consecutive Load can be enabled/disabled
Streamed Mode can be enabled/disabled

MP3:
Choose between 2 different mp3 players.
mp3 Hotspot:
Select the source (mp3 file)
Add online radio station
Add another mp3 (as many as you want)
Lock position of the music
Sound Settings: Radius, Volume, Pan, Repeats can be adjusted
Sound Panning, Autostart, Show Controls can be enabled/disabled

mp3 Plugin is made for Flashificator and is highly flexible
Enable/Disable
Autostart/Manual start
Drag&Drop mp3 files into the playlist and manage the list by moving songs up or down or delete them from the list
Change the mp3 button
Browse for the new button
Enter URL of an mp3 song to use
Add Radio station
Sound Settings: Volume

Tooltips:
Select the hotspot you want to add hotspot to
Type in the text
Choose the font you desire, with all fonts on your computer available
Set the size of the text
Fade tooltip in/out ... or not
Position your tooltip on x and/or y axis
Select stroke, font and background colour for the tooltip

Poorificator (the poor-mans version of Tourificator which encountered problems with loadPano inside of the AIR platform Flashificator is built on)
This is a tool to link a hotspot (or many) to another pano or a website
First you make a hotspot and assign an image (or transparent png file) to it
Then you type in the name of your function. For example "Google"
You type in the url that should open when the hotspot is interacted with (example: http://google.com)
Click "Create as Function"
Go to "Functions" tab and decide how the hotspot should be interacted with (on Click, Load, Over, Out, Press, Release)
Click once on the function named "Google"
Click an arrow button to move it to the "Functions Attached" list
Refresh the panorama and that's it. Clicking the button in the pano will open Google in your browser.

Preview:
Enable/Disable Preview
Select Image
Select Button - to load the preview
Preview Changes (you will see how it looks)
Use original size of the image or change the size with Width and Height measured in Pixels
This plugin may require of you to change your Flash security settings locally, while everything will work well online without any Flash security settings being changed.

Preloader:
Enable/Disable preloader
Simultaneous loads (decide how many files are loaded at the same time)
Once the Tourificator's problems have been solved, all panos in the tour would appear in the list, where you can decide which images/mov's/mp3's/videos/xml's/png's/jpg's/swf's etc. would load first and in which order.
Using this in combination with Poorificator is absolutely possible, and you can provide the URL to the images/files you want to preload.
This enables next pano to load in the background, while the user is viewing the first pano, cutting short the time people have to wait before the next pano is ready.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Continued from above:

A few other plugins/presets that are not quite ready, but which will be made/are made will be implemented in the near future:
FPP Camera plugin
FFC Context menu
FFC Compasses
FFC Leashed Mouse
FPP Limits
FFC Nadir Cap
FFC Place an Image
FPP Smartscale
FFC Zoomificator
FFC Slideshow
FFC Tourificator
FFC Auto Presentation
FFC Google Maps implementation
Paulo's FPP Google Analytics plugin (Flashificator will be prepared for it, users have to buy it)
David's SmartVRController (SVC) plugin (Flashificator will be prepared for it, users have to buy it)
.... and more that I have stored away for later....

Tomorrow version 2.013 will be released, with a specialized context menu that can include image thumbnails (should be possible for the images to resize to bigger thumbnails with additional coding by my programmers), and if my will is done, it will also be possible to make the context menu carry hotspot functions, where the other panos in a tour could be activated like any other hotspot in the pano itself. That has NOT been made possible as of now, but I would like to see it implemented. The original Flash context menu is deactivated with this FFC context menu in supported browsers. Browsers that are not supported (Opera and Google Chrome as an example) will display the standard Flash menu, that can be changed out with a second customized context menu you could put links and info into.

Tourificator should also be ready for release tomorrow... or so I hope... With it you can make complete tours with ease, without the need to put a dashboard and logo and music etc into every single pano independently. It will be EASY life.

Later on, we will hopefully have some ready to use html templates, where your pano will be published into, and you can edit the text fields and add photos etc in your html editor of choice.

Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of Flashificator, and it would be great if Tourificator could be published, since it is a very important ingredient of the project.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Periodically my programmers are working on encryption for the program, and lately they have made great leaps forward, and have several possible paths to follow.

One that is already in place is encryption of the xml file... but it is very limited, and still allows for theft of images and plugins.
Another method is to encrypt everything, including all used plugins (FPP, FFC and other plugins supported by Flashificator, such as David's SVC (http://www.davxmedias.com/smartvrcontroller/) which could be automatically encrypted in every project, even if the rest of the project is not encrypted... and therefore his SVC should not HAVE to be sold on one domain license only... if theft is the main concern causing the one domain purchase policy. With that method no images, plugins, music, videos etc could be stolen... well, except people would take the time to make screenshots of multiple angles from a pano, and stitch it back together.... which would be too bothersome a process for most people... and thiefs are thiefs because they are lazy, and therefore they would give up before starting.

The second method has the potential of delivering everything in a single swf file that can not be decompiled or easily decrypted.

To make the second method work, Denis will have to add a little code in the pano.swf enabling the encryption method as an additional function (so people could still have open projects when working without FFC). It would absolutely be in Denis' interest to apply the needed code, in order to prevent thieves from stealing his product, and therefore I hope he will be open to the suggestion. It would also serve as complete security for the panographers, keeping their work safe and secure. Another possibility for the encryption would be for the FFC user to provide a URL from where the panorama project could be accessed.... meaning that if someone lifted the one file project and put it on his/her domain, it would not work at all, because the provided URL would not be authorized.

This is all in the preparations phase, and only basic tests have been done sofar. I can therefore not promise anything but that more work will be put into it when time allows, but I would like to hear from users/potential users what they think of this.

[phberlin]

Hello Trausti,

I'd vote for the second option: The possibility to pack all (!) the files of an FPP tour (cubes faces, the pano core SWF, all the plugins, additional graphics like buttons and so on) would make me buy Flashificator if though I would probably only use it for this packing purpose then (and even though I'm a bit short on money at the moment -- but who isn't, haha).

Would it mean that literally all files could be packed (for example: giving it a whole directory with stuff to be included)? Would it make initial loading process (the time before you see something) longer (because it would mean to load one big file instead of several small ones)?

Best regards and keep up your good work!
Philipp

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Hi Philipp. I knew I could trick you onto the path of sin when holding this apple of Eden up for grabs :)

As I understand my programmers, the whole folder strucure with all files would be encrypted and contained inside the swf. The loading time should not be affected at all. Since this is only in the initial steps (small tests of individual files), I really don't know how it will play out with everything inside the one file.... will it have to download all panos in the tour plus videos plus music plus anything else before starting? I don't know.... but according to the programmers, it should behave like any other open tour. They may be wrong.... since it's not been done yet... so I can't really say for sure. I hope they are right, and also hope they can pull this through.

[phberlin]

OK, so let's just wait and see how the whole thing turns out :-)

I just hope I don't miss your announcement as soon as the feature is implemented...

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Don't worry, I will probably be overly happy and spam with the annoucement everywhere if/when things are working .... you know me :)

IF the whole file would have to load before being able to start, it would clearly be a problem when having more than just a simple pano without video/mp3 and other potentially big sized files. There are always solutions to be found for every problem, so I would just have to find a different solution in that case.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Here a first look/feel of the path I sincerely believe to be the best solution:

http://flashificator.com/1/ffcUIexample/FFC_UI_Example.swf

You can either view it in your browser or right-click the link, save it to your computer and play around with it.

As I stated elsewhere, FFC is a big toolbox that has all the tools, but it's all a big mess, and too much clicking back and forth.
With this interface, you can set up your own workspace and organize the tools as you want, AND you will be able to save your setup for next project, eliminating the need to organize your tools again if you have found the perfect setup for the work you normally do.

The workspace in this example is expandible. You can drag the sides/top/bottom to make the toolbox bigger and move the tools around at will, but we will probably end up with 2 models, one where there is a toolbox containing everything inside (like this example) and one where you can move the individual tools all over your monitor, over the preview window while in fullscreen mode and therefore not block view with empty space of the toolbox background.

If you never use "Shrinking, H-FOV, Shrinking, Leash, Keypbard Key Assignment, Sensitivity of keybaord and mouse" etc, etc, etc, you don't have to spend time looking at those tools if you don't select them for your standard setup.

This way you can have ALL the tools you need for your project visible, and having no need to click back and forth and look for the tool that does this or that.

Have a look at it and present me with your honest opinion. This is just a rough first sketch, but should be enough to give an idea about the individual freedom people will have with the UI.

[phberlin]

Not even having purchased Flashificator, I'd say something about it though, if I may: Would it be nicer if the various floating windows would "snap" when moved close enough towards each other? That would make the workspace organization easier. It could also be helpful to have them in different colors (color shades), maybe user changeable. Just an idea...

Philipp

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Thank you Philipp.

My programmer also asked me that question (on snapping the windows like winamp)... but we already have that in the dashboard buttons, and sometimes it messes up (buttons may group together if moved rapidly).... so I prefer avoiding possible problems, and thereby also allowing full freedom of movement.

As to being able to have user defined tinted windows... that might indeed be helpful.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Flashificator 2.014 is out, with the Tourificator in error free version (I hope).

Here is the video tutorial (http://flashificator.com/1/ForumsVideoTutorials/TourificatorAndTransitionTutorial/TourificatorAndTransitionTutorial.html)

And here the finished project files (http://flashificator.com/1/ForumsVideoTutorials/TourificatorAndTransitionTutorial/index.html)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Version 2.023 is out. Path-maker for the Mapper will be ready for next version.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Version 2.032 is out with a major improvement... which should have been there a long time ago... but sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain sight.

Earlier, when you would Flashificate, you would not be able to do any more editing of your project. With this and future releases, you can Flashificate at any point in time to check out how things look and feel in your browser, and still be able to do more editing.

If you name your project "MyProject" and you save it to the default (or a specific) location on your computer, the first Flashificated project will be named "MyProject", the second time you Flashificate, the projetct will be named "MyProject(1)", and you will still have the first project intact. The third time you Flashificate, the project will be named "MyProject(2)" etc. No overwriting will take place, only a new folder with the latest changes will be made. When you are finished and want to make a new project, you just cancel the project with the red double arrow button next to the "Flashificate" button, and you can start a new project.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

How does pathmaker look in action?

This is how: http://flashificator.com/1/PathmakerDemo(1)/

I put 4 different locations on the map, connecting the paths with the pathmaker. So if you are watching the pano made in Lima, then choose Trujillo, a dotted line will appear during the transition, leading FROM Lima to Trujillo. If you go from the Trujillo pano to Nazca, the dotted line will go FROM Trujillo and to Nazca... etc. The dotted line will go from the pano location you were at, and lead to the one you are going to watch.

Admitted: I have not used this function (regardless of all the time and money put into it's development)... but it is a nice feature to use for tours (thanks to the original author of the idea!!!)

To make this, I used my programmer to do the whole thing while watching over his shoulder. It is a bit confusing... for me... so I am sure it can be made more simple to manage. The main problem is the clicking back and forth in the current interface layout.

I put the paths to finish drawing in 9 seconds.... so it's not at the lightning speed of the default 1 second.

Note: The paths will NOT appear within FFC, but if you Flashificate the project and test it in your browser, you will see it there.

Hopefully this sheds a little bit of light on the functionality of the Pathmaker.

[jordi]

WOW !!

the path making curves it's really nice and can give a good chance to do advanced 3d maps...
How do you determinate the path, you have a swf with the bezier curve?

Two things that I don't like, but I imagine you can change them by the configuration :

- too small radar (can't even see it)
- the pano should be loading while the path is being "walked"...that would deacrease the feeling of waiting for the next pano...but now it's like a doble loading...

Great pluguin ;)

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

WOW !!

the path making curves it's really nice and can give a good chance to do advanced 3d maps...
How do you determinate the path, you have a swf with the bezier curve?

Two things that I don't like, but I imagine you can change them by the configuration :

- too small radar (can't even see it)
- the pano should be loading while the path is being "walked"...that would deacrease the feeling of waiting for the next pano...but now it's like a doble loading...

Great pluguin ;)

Thanks :)

Too small a radar... well, you can make your own radar with whatever design and colours and size as you like. No limitations there at all.

Letting the pano load while the path is created (kind of having the path act as a load meter) was what I had in mind initially, but the work on this took months, involved several people in the process, including math professors from the best (?) engineering university in South America (UNI). In theory (according to my programmers during the development) one could use an animated image to move along the path (airplane, walking person, car etc). When you make the paths, you have the possibility of making a straight line, or drawing it in curves. If you make a straight line, you click point "A", then you click point "B" and a straight line will be made. If you make a curved line, you click point "A" holding the mouse button down and draw up the path you like over to point "B". You can also make multiple straight lines... could be useful if you are making a path from a room in a house to a room in the other end of the house, letting the path go through door openings, corridors and around corners.

This is a unique plugin, and understandably so... considering the math problems/solutions/time involved.

If the pathmaker is used in a tour where the preloader is used, the next pano in the tour "might" be fully loaded, so the only waiting could be the path being drawn. One can set the time for the paths to be drawn up, from one second and up.

Of course there is space for improvements, and personally I would like the pathmaker to act as the loadmeter for the next pano... unless the next pano is already loaded... then let the timer decide the drawing time.... Changing the size and colour of the lines in the path would also be a good option.... but everything takes time... and in this plugin things have proven to take a LOT of time... and there are still other things to be done for Flashificator... so at least for the time being, things are this way.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Flashificator version 2.038 is finally out, now with Tommy's (allSaints) LogoMeter incorporated, plus a few fixes.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Version 2.044 BETA is finally out, with a SAVE function built in. Now it is possible to save a project, open it for further additions or editing later on. It has taken a long time, something that should have been possible from the start. There will be made some needed changes in the coming days, that will enable making templates, that again can be shared between users. Making creation of whole tours an extremely simple operation.

If nothing else, I am truly happy that this is finally out and (seemingly) working.

[Paddy2a]

Hi Tuddi,
Now that is very good news.
It was the only reason I gave up using it.
Great !
Paddy

[terrycm]

I had made a statement that FFC had saved me serious time and $. Now with the save feature I am creating virtual tours at BLAZING speed. TWO THUMBS WAYYY up for your software. :-D

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Terry... are you waiting for me to hire you as a marketing promoter? :)

Later tonight I will upload the NON beta version of the program... first I have to respect my promise to take my family AND the programmer out to eat at a nice meat restaurant.

Off for now.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

2.045 is out, and out of beta. Templates can be built for using with future projects, sharing with others etc.

I better try to put something together that can serve as a template... rather than just talk about it.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Version 2.053 is out, with clocks.

http://flashificator.com/1/Clocks/

There are some errors in it, but nothing that will survive a short meeting with the programmer next time he returns to work.

Clocks can be distorted into place, or be static on the screen.
Digital and analog.

Digital clocks can be AM/PM or 24 hour systems
Colours of time digits can be selected, AM/PM can be a different colour
Double dots between numbers ( : ) can be static or blinking
Bacground is transparent, therefore the user can provide a customized background for the digits.
Seconds can be de-selected
Font size can be changed

Analog clock are made up by the following elements:
Background (frame)
Face
Hour hand
Minute hand
Seconds hand
Glass

Each component can be replaced and assembled as one likes.
Every component can be used to make up a clock, or one can have a clock as hours and minutes only (that's the minimal configuration).
A background WITH face can be used, thereby eliminating the need for a separate face file.
Glass can be made with light reflections... or reflection of the surrounding area (if need be).

Lots of possibilities.

Putting one of 2 standard clocks into a panorama is 2 clicks away for users.... aligning the clock on a wall or floor or ceiling or ... where-ever, contains a few additional clicks.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Version 2.056 is out, with Tommy's PicMenu in a very basic and simple version.

THANK YOU TOMMY min svenska brorson med helgonens дra och koder i hjдrtat!

But even so, this latest addition enabled me to make a 31 pano tour in a total time of 5 minutes and 30 seconds... and I was not trying to be fast at all. Of course there is a hidden catch to this short work... and you can read more about it here (http://www.flashificator.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1187&p=3155#p3155)

But the fact of the matter is that massive tours can be done in a few minutes, edited in real time, saved, used for future projects... all by using Flashificator.

Of course there are problems with many aspects of the software, I don't think I ever PROMISED perfection from the start... well... maybe I hinted at it somewhere...but I admit without blushing, that there will always be problems of one kind or another in software, and sure as heck, when the software is in active devolopment, there will be a LOT of problems, and that is the case with Flashificator. But it does work, and the users can testify to that.

Procedures will be made better/faster/easier... once everything planned has been implemented. But due to the structure of the program, not everything CAN be made perfect... that will have to come in version 3 of the program, which is going to be a completely different design internally and externally.

Here you can visit the "330 seconds project (http://insope.com/apt/Aug10th2009/)"

I will spend maybe 15 minutes more on the project to make it "perfect" ... adding proper descriptions to the files (not only numbers) add everything to the preloader/cache (that's a two click operation) add a clock (2 clicks and a few seconds to put it in place)... and some other things.

Other goodies to be made and implemented soon.

[tcoursey]

Many thanks for your input Klaus.

I can tell you that most of your wishlist will be in the first version.... and then some.... if everything goes in the right direction.

Another thing I would like you people to help out with:

What format do YOU (the reader) normally use when making your panos, and which formats would you most likely be using with the upcoming FPP GUI:

1. 6 cubic faces (pano_u.jpg, pano_d.jpg etc)
2. 1 image for a cylindrical pano in a .jpg format
3. previously rendered .mov files
4. different system of file naming (numbers or otherwise)
5. different file extention
6. something totally different.

I need input on the above in order to put the most used format support in the GUI.

Personally I only use .jpg images when rendering for panos. Be that cubic or cylindrical.... and obviously I am also going to repack old .mov panos into FPP.

This is a small request, but will help a lot, so please take the time to inform of your preferences.

Thank you!

Tuddi,

we work with 6 individual faced JPG images mostly. We "render out" our 3D images into 6 different slices. When we use "Photographs" we stich them together with PTGui and then use their new feature to split into 6 cubic face images as well. So if we are working with 3D gemoetry we create or real life photography we end up using 6 cube face images in JPG.

Originally we used .MOV packaged up. But we have seen that JPG's load quicker without extra plugins etc.

$.02

Thanks.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Cube faces are absolutely the best format to use in my opinion.... I had .mov panos from earlier stone-age times, that I did drop into FFC-FPP and thereby getting a flash output. I wouldn't touch .mov's with a monopod these days :)

Stripes are a convenient format to use, but these hit the Flash limit (8190 pixels) very quickly, leaving the individual cubefaces in the vertical strip at only 1365x1365 pixels, and that is extremely small for todays monitors and resolutions.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Version 2.066 is now available, including auto-update-checker. If a newer version than you have installed is available, the program will inform you of it, providing a link to the download section.

Surely an improvement.

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Surprisingly many people seem to think that Flashificator (FFC) is only fit to make simple tours or single panos. It isn't limited to simple things. No other panorama creation software offers as many tools for custom projects, and in such an easy way to do things. Sure, there is absolutely space for improvements, and the work in that area is in constant development. NO coding experience is needed, but due to a great number of 3rd party plugins for FPP (most notably by Tommy Wirestam), hand coding knowledge could come in handy when applying such 3rd party plugins to projects that have been made and published with FFC, and that have not been integrated in the user interface yet.

So... back to the title of the thread: What does Flashificator look like?

You are welcome to visit the following page that contains around 50 screenshots of the interface as it looks in the current latest version:

http://flashificator.com/1/FFCScreenshots/

Several of the screenshots will be obsolete when the next update is released, due to simplified procedures and added features.

FFC is the Swiss knife of panorama creating software. Capable of more than any other pano GUI.

Hope this helps people to see that FFC is suitable for more than only making simple projects.

Simple to use because the changes take place in real time, in a pano you can interact with in the same way you interact with any other pano online.

Current version (2.067) is partially in real time (most part), while next version (2.068) will be completely in real time.

Thank you for your time.

[terrycm]

I can attest to the complexity of FFC. The following tours have been created entirely in FFC. They are fairly complex but even these have just scratched the surface of what FFC can do.

http://www.regal360.com/index.php/the-news/83-the-majestic-hearst-castle.html

Looking forward to the continued development of FFC,
-Terry

[Astroman]

Hello Terry, great tour congratulation!
I love the outside shot - lucky guy ;)