Flance Edit V1

Here is the first version of a FlanceDoor Routine Editor (windows only at the moment)

As it's a first version, you can only edit existing routines, and you can't add new frames (I'm working on V2, but wanted to get V1 out for people to play with)

Let me know how you get on, and please upload your new moves =)

FlanceEdit V1

Holy crap that's cool. Off to animate...

Thanks man!

As loren heads off to the LucasArts MoCap studios to don the ping-pong-ball leotard and dance the Macarena...

But then he would trip the Macarena filter in FlanceEdit... =)

Woo! This could keep me from work all day...

alrighty, i KNOW this is the first release and all... but i've already got some ideas on how to make the animation process faster...

Howabout an interface like this, where you select the part you wanna animate, then just click some arrows...



Or even better, just click and drag straght in the result area!

Nice work man. Just ignore me if i'm jumping the gun. =]

I'm sure he plans to eventually have WSIWYG dragging in the main display window...

I'm working on a point to select, drag to move interface... However, it's some way down the list of features at the moment... I hope to get a version out with the ability to add and delete frames in a couple of hours. Maybe it will allow you to add and rename moves, who knows... =)

Also in V2 (ok, my development version) I've set it to hilight the currently selected body part.

Talk about puting a fire under my ass. Mine is almost ready for release too. It's a race!.

Cool, the more the merrier... =)

Haha. This is awesome. I wish i didn't have actual animation to do for my stinkin' job right now. I could animate stick men all day. I'll wait until the interface is a little more refined so i can crank some out quick like.

Ahh... the empeg never ceases to excite.

on the animation list:

the worm
the cabbage patch
a backflip
walk like an egyptian

man. Too bad we can't have two guys interact... we could have stick figure theatre!

I could do some mime stuff with one guy though... my mind is reeling!

And if you really think about it, there's no reason that it even has to be stick figures....

But a collection of karate moves would be cool. "Ev'rybody was KUNG-FU FIGHTING..."

Except for the fact the lines are auto-connected in figure type formations. It would be cool if the format would allow arbitrary lines from any point to any point.

You could still get creative with it, even for other formations. You could make faces, animals, machines, just about anything.

I haven't done much with this yet but I do have my guys working some fancy footwork when doing the arm wave!!!

This is going to take up way too much of my time. Nice job!!

... Which turned out to be easier than expected...

However, it would seem that my server has disappeared, which means I can't upload the new version... =(

Ok, my server has reappeared, so here is V2...

This time we have click to select a body part, and shift drag to move it...
There is some other stuff, check the readme for details...

FlanceEdit V2

Small bugfix to V2

FlanceEdit V3

Sigh. Ok man, you got me. I give up, I have been seriously outprogrammed. You added that visual editing stuff very fast, something that took me many hours to get down correctly. Kudos.

One small suggestion that I put in my program; a copy and paste frame function.

Just out of curiosity, what language did you use?

I agree with the copy/paste frame thing. Also, you need to be able to delete frames.

I think he used Delphi?

Say what you want about Delphi and VB, but you sure can develop stuff FAST with them.

Both your delete frame and ninti's copy and paste suggestions are in V4

FlanceEdit V4

Yes, I'm using Delphi again... Hopefully I'll be able to produce a Linux X86 version in Kylix at some point...

#$@#$%@!!!! Rock man! That's on the level of Mlord timing! Nice.

Okay, i'm excited. I'll see if i can crank out some anims tonight...

Lemme see if i understand something. The Frame interpolation... is the number of frames it takes to interpolate from one to another? If so... would you mind changing the wording from Current Frame Number to Current KEY Frame number? That makes more sense from an animation standpoint. You set the keys, and the program does the interpolation in as many frames as you set in Frame Interpolation. Or am i way off....

I blinked and missed the 1st three versions

I tried out V4 and it looks pretty cool! I've got one bug to report and a couple features to request.

Bug: the vertical offset in the Result view seems to be a bit off... When I drag a point to Y=255, it's not visible. When dragging a point down to Y=0, there's a gap below it (probably the same size). (see attachment)

Feature requests:
- Undo
- Drag without holding shift
- Clicking RMB (or pressing ESC) while dragging releases drag and the point snaps back to its original location (same effect as let go then undo)
- Move -> Repeat checkable menu option (when checked, F9 plays continuously)
- Move -> Stop (only necessary if above is implimented)
- Frame -> Cut (lazy man's Frame -> Copy; Frame -> Delete Frame)
- Can Add New Frame copy the current frame and insert it after the current one?
- Can Delete Frame stay on the same frame number?
- Move -> Delete Move
- File -> Save As...

although, if you don't like any of these suggestions, just ignore 'em Just having an editor at all is a big help!

Ok, here's one that isn't people. It's only got two moves and is pretty cheeze, but I thought I'd take your idea and not stick to stick figures

I tried installing it with a new name, but it never got used. Then I wrote over the default breakdance.raw with this one that I modified and it works. Is there any way to add more .raw files to the list that Flance Door chooses from?

Top work!

Bug: you can change moves while the anim is playing and it sorta gets confused a little
What would really rock is a set of slides of the keyframes along the bottom. clicking a keyframe edits that part of the move.
Listing 'moves' of keyframes is a bit further away, I guess.

Can I request frame insert?

Better version here. It's got three moves now

Still could use a lot of work. I just eye-balled the placement and it would be better to do it with calculated numbers, but I don't really feel like it... someone else can modify it

Ok, found a couple more things that would be nice to change:

Bug:
- Frame Displacement appears to be relative to the previous frame on the empeg, but relative to frame #1 on the editor. For an example, compare the "Walk" move in my previous post as it plays on the empeg to how it plays in the editor.

Feature Requests:
- Allow multiple pastes from a single copy
- Enter without Tab in Rename Move dialog
- Drag whole person option (ALT+drag?)
- Select multiple points to drag at same time (CTRL+click; drag?)
- Copy Move
- Frame -> Add New Frame goes to the new frame
- More keyboard shortcuts (e.g. CTRL-X, C, V for cut, copy & paste)

Further down the line, it'd be cool to be able to rotate the figure on all three axes and strech on both X & Y. Ok, so rotating on X & Y is really the same thing as stretching on Y & X, but it's easier to do if you can type in degrees (or radians) without needing to use trig funcs on a calculator to figure out how much to squish before it looks like a 30 degree rotation.

Yeah, I know... one thing at a time. I'm just trying to think of things that can be added at various points over the next 45 versions

The Y Offset was designed in, but I can't remember why now!
I've removed it in V5 (to be released later today)

I might make "drag without shift" an option, but in testing it was possible to select a part, then whilst attempting to select another part cause a drag (it only takes a pixel difference in any direction). So the old part moved instead of the new part being selected...

Let me see how far I get with the other requests... =)

V5 (to be released later today) locks the edit controls whilst a playback is in progress.

Frame Insert is a good idea, I'll see what I can do... =)

That's what I do for interpolation, I assume the player does it in the same way... =)

I've renamed that box to "Current Key Frame"

I think I found another minor bug. It's hard to tell for sure, but this is how it looks to me. When you set frame interpolation to 1, the empeg uses that as 1 frame of interpolation between the two key frames. On the editor's preview, it seems to be off by one so that 1 and 0 have the same effect of no frames inbetween the key frames.

Maybe it's just my eyes going buggy, but that's how it looks to me.

In V5 (on it's way soon, honest... =) I've changed the behaviour as you suggest, so that a value of 1 means 1 frame between the two key frames (and so on).

Thanks for the report.

The Y Offset was designed in, but I can't remember why now!

Ah, I think I know why now... because when the figure is standing on it's head, your offset leaves enough room to see the head below the zero line. Maybe make the preview window two head-diameters taller? That way the whole head will show when the sholders' Y-coord is 0 or 255.

Maybe have faint lines (just slightly darker than the grey background) at Y=0 and Y=255 to show where you can't drag points outside of... only the head would be able to stick past the line.

Only cosmetic tho... I'm sure you're busy working on other things.

Here's some misc figure moves. I call them: Clock, Serve, Star, Geometry and JackInTheBox. Most of these were me just playing around to see what kinds of shapes I could make with the 11 line segments and 1 circle.

Sometimes, the Star one grows and colapses while keeping the same center point, but other times, it keeps one side lined up and lets the center move.... strange.

Sounds like a sensible plan...

I'm going to have to stop this feature creep and release something, or else V5 could take another few days... =)