Particle Designer support - what's with Windows?

Solar2D Daily Builds and Public Releases
#1

As far as I know Particle Designer 2 which is now supported in Corona SDK in recent daily build is MacOs based application. Then there is my question: what with developers using Windows to develop Corona apps? Are you only allowing Apple users to use this tool (which is kind of strange!) or there are some alternative plans to target also Windows owners?

#2

There’s nothing magic about Particle Designer – one of the Windows developers out there will probably come out with something soon that generates the JSON needed for using the new API call in Corona. (Not me, I don’t write things that are Windows-only.)

If I were rolling out this new feature I would have said, “Here’s how to do particles; make a JSON file with these kinds of parameters. And btw, if you’re a Mac user here’s a tool that can generate the kind of file needed: PD 2.”

That puts the focus on the new API call and not the 3rd-party tool. (Or, I could be completely lost with what CL is doing and it *is* an API call specifically to support that one tool.)

 Jay

#3

emitterParams (required)

String. The decoded parameters as outputted by Particle Designer in JSON format.

It’s telling me that:

 it *is* an API call specifically to support that one tool

If so, then  I’m also lost what CL does :frowning:

#4

Here’s a cross-platform particle editor that exports JSON:

http://games.v-play.net/particleeditor/

The code it exports isn’t 100% compatible with what display.newEmitter() needs – one of the big differences I see are that colors in the  V-Play version are specified using CSS-style colors (“startColor” : “#c2401f”) where Corona wants three different color values, for example:

        “startColorBlue”:0.8,

        “startColorGreen”:0.498,

        “startColorRed”:0.372,

I would imagine a person could (fairly easily) create a converter that takes the V-Play output and massages it for use with the new API call in Corona SDK. 

Someone get cracking!  :)

 Jay

#5

piotrx55 - We chose to support Particle Designer because it is a very popular and capable tool. Unfortunately, running their client does require a Mac. But I can think of a couple of options for someone on Windows:

  1. Use MacinCloud for a short period of time to design your JSON file

  2. Borrow a Mac for a short period of time for the same

  3. As Jay said, there may be a way to use the JSON output from another tool as input to our API

#6

I know that there is always workaround but I just wanted to express that I see it a bit unfair for non-mac users. 

#7

Hi Corona Staff,

have you ever looked at the Particle Editor TimelineFX. I just had a look at the trial versions of Particle Designer and TimelineFX (http://www.rigzsoft.co.uk/timelinefx-particle-effects-editor/). 

My first impression is that TimelineFX is much more advanced than Particle Designer. And it is available for MAC and Windows. Despite that it is also cheaper. In my opinion it would have been the better choice for Corona

#8

@Everyone,

I just wanted to let folks know that I’ve nearly finished a particle editor (see video) which will come in these flavors:

  • Simulator Version - You’ll be able to buy this version at a reasonable price and run it in either the Windows or OS X Corona SDK simulators.  (Note: I have not decided at this point whether the code will be obfuscated or not.  I’m leaning towards not.)
  • iOS Version - Very similar to above but designed to run on iPad and also capable of running on iPhones in a pinch.  You will be able to edit particle emitters on-the-go and then to e-mail the Corona compatible emitter data and particle to yourself (or your team).
  • Android Version - Same as iOS version in functionality.  As with the iOS version this will be best used on Tablets.

For now, here is a video of the (unpolished) version of the tool, running on an iPad and recorded on my PC user AirServer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKPnyA5ZzvY&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Cheers,

Ed

#9

nice

#10

Very nice!

#11

Cool!

#12

I whipped up a PEX importer that allows us windows users to use the Starling Particle Editor instead of Particle Designer 2.0

Code here:

https://github.com/ponywolf/pex4corona

Cross Platform Particle Editor here:

http://onebyonedesign.com/flash/particleeditor/

#13

There’s nothing magic about Particle Designer – one of the Windows developers out there will probably come out with something soon that generates the JSON needed for using the new API call in Corona. (Not me, I don’t write things that are Windows-only.)

If I were rolling out this new feature I would have said, “Here’s how to do particles; make a JSON file with these kinds of parameters. And btw, if you’re a Mac user here’s a tool that can generate the kind of file needed: PD 2.”

That puts the focus on the new API call and not the 3rd-party tool. (Or, I could be completely lost with what CL is doing and it *is* an API call specifically to support that one tool.)

 Jay

#14

emitterParams (required)

String. The decoded parameters as outputted by Particle Designer in JSON format.

It’s telling me that:

 it *is* an API call specifically to support that one tool

If so, then  I’m also lost what CL does :frowning:

#15

Here’s a cross-platform particle editor that exports JSON:

http://games.v-play.net/particleeditor/

The code it exports isn’t 100% compatible with what display.newEmitter() needs – one of the big differences I see are that colors in the  V-Play version are specified using CSS-style colors (“startColor” : “#c2401f”) where Corona wants three different color values, for example:

        “startColorBlue”:0.8,

        “startColorGreen”:0.498,

        “startColorRed”:0.372,

I would imagine a person could (fairly easily) create a converter that takes the V-Play output and massages it for use with the new API call in Corona SDK. 

Someone get cracking!  :)

 Jay

#16

piotrx55 - We chose to support Particle Designer because it is a very popular and capable tool. Unfortunately, running their client does require a Mac. But I can think of a couple of options for someone on Windows:

  1. Use MacinCloud for a short period of time to design your JSON file

  2. Borrow a Mac for a short period of time for the same

  3. As Jay said, there may be a way to use the JSON output from another tool as input to our API

#17

I know that there is always workaround but I just wanted to express that I see it a bit unfair for non-mac users. 

#18

Hi Corona Staff,

have you ever looked at the Particle Editor TimelineFX. I just had a look at the trial versions of Particle Designer and TimelineFX (http://www.rigzsoft.co.uk/timelinefx-particle-effects-editor/). 

My first impression is that TimelineFX is much more advanced than Particle Designer. And it is available for MAC and Windows. Despite that it is also cheaper. In my opinion it would have been the better choice for Corona

#19

@Everyone,

I just wanted to let folks know that I’ve nearly finished a particle editor (see video) which will come in these flavors:

  • Simulator Version - You’ll be able to buy this version at a reasonable price and run it in either the Windows or OS X Corona SDK simulators.  (Note: I have not decided at this point whether the code will be obfuscated or not.  I’m leaning towards not.)
  • iOS Version - Very similar to above but designed to run on iPad and also capable of running on iPhones in a pinch.  You will be able to edit particle emitters on-the-go and then to e-mail the Corona compatible emitter data and particle to yourself (or your team).
  • Android Version - Same as iOS version in functionality.  As with the iOS version this will be best used on Tablets.

For now, here is a video of the (unpolished) version of the tool, running on an iPad and recorded on my PC user AirServer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKPnyA5ZzvY&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Cheers,

Ed

#20

nice