Current Lines of Code : 1049
[Not Including Particle/Motion Blur System which is aprox : 323 lines]
Days til Pre-Crit : 4

Oh our presentation is getting VERY close. We’ve got a Pre-Critique on Monday, then the final presentation a week after that. Am I ready to present ? far from it. I’ve still got a fair amount to do, but I should manage to get it all done ( I hope ).

This is my plan for the next few days :

WED : Audio
THURS : Audio + Integration
FRI : Movement
SAT : Adding Elements
SUN : Adding Elements
FINAL WEEK : Adding more Elements and Graphic Effects, Tweaking Audio Integration

I’m actually ahead of this schedule. I’ve finished the audio, and integrated it into the whole project. It’s not that sophisticated, and the beat detection is still off, but it will do what it is told, which is what’s important. This means I can push EVERYTHING forward, and focus on Adding Elements and Movement. What are elements you ask ? Elements are things that can be displayed. Currently they are a Sphere, and a Cube. But they will include a particle array, stereogram, and whatever else I feel like coding and adding. As the framework GUI is complete, it’s relatively easy to add new elements as they should slot right in to the existing framework! ( Hopefully! hah ! )

What can go wrong from here ? *EVERYTHING*.  But I’ve dedicated the rest of the week to this, so fingers crossed it all goes according to my wonderfully planned plan.

First things first, thought I’d just mention the latest update to my blog, on the right hand side you can now see a list of what needs to be done in order to complete my prototype. Highlighted in green are the elements that are complete, highlighted in orange are the elements I’m currently working on. So you can keep track of my progress. And this leads in to my current problem.

In processing there are two options for GUI’s ( Graphical User Interfaces ).

1) Use a GUI Library
2) Code it all yourself from scratch

Option 2 would take a *long* time, so this leaves option 1. However, even option 1 has problems. Processing has 4 GUI Libraries ( that I am aware of ).
- controlP5
- MyGUI
- Interfascia
- SpringGUI
They all work fine by themselves. However add P3D or OpenGL, and they tend to break. MyGUI and Interfascia seem to die all together. SpringGUI works with P3D but not OpenGL, and controlP5 works with openGL, however the 3D elements always draw on TOP of the GUI. I tried running the GUI elements in a separate window, however that caused issues, and it seems to only work part of the time.

I have heard rumors of a way of re-coding MyGUI to work in conjunction with OpenGL, but I am not 100% sure of its authenticity ( or on the re-compiling process, I’d have to brush up on that ).

So I’ve gone to the processing forums for support, I’m hoping someone there can offer a suitable solution - Until then, I’m sort of forced to put everything on hold - so hopefully I’ll get a solution before then.

If I can’t get a solution, I will have to work out a possible solution. Even if this means ensuring no 3D elements move closer than 0 on the Z axis, and drawing all the GUI elements on that point. This will mess up perspective, but it may be the only compromise open to me.

- Anthony