29 December 2008
I tested the toggle feature(mouse version) in Cocoa as soon as I reached the office. However it does not work as the Cocoa application doesn't read the mouse position from the Quartz Composition. Ming Hong said that perhaps mouse events are needed to be passed over to the Cocoa application. After much consideration, I decided to just work with the OSC version because the last time when I tested the 4PP(OSC version) on Cocoa, it was working.
After lunch, I ran the Cocoa application on the Mac Pro. However, the Cocoa application was unable to build. So I wasn't able to test it. I then decided to move on to the next feature, idle and remove. I used the stop watch patch as the timer. The idea for this function is when the laser is off the object, it will be in an idling state. After 30 seconds, the object will be removed from the screen.
I worked on this function and managed to finish it at the end of the day. I guess I'll do the testing tomorrow when I get back to the office.
30 December 2008
As soon as I got to the office, I integrated the idle/remove function with Ryan for testing. The integration took up most of the morning and when I finally tested, the function was working well. However, it interfered with Ryan's trashing/removing function.
After lunch, I went through the patches with Ryan and we managed to solve the problem. After a second round of testing, we found another problem. The thrashing/removing function only hides the object from view, not removing it. So the rest of the day was spent googling on how to remove the object.
31 December 2008
It's a half day today as it is the last day of 2008. I spent the day researching on how to remove the object. However, I wasn't able to find any helpful information. I guess I got to think of another idea on how to prevent the object from getting selected after it is removed from the screen.
1 January 2009
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2 January 2009
First day back at work for the year 2009! Kevin and Bernard is also back from their leave.
We updated Kevin with our progress then headed back to do our own stuff. I brainstormed on how to prevent the object from being selected after it is removed from the screen before going for lunch.
After lunch, I started to implement my idea on how to prevent the object from being selected after removal from screen and tested it. It was working fine. We then stop our work for a moment to discuss about how we were going to do the integration. However, Leonard's and You Hock's feature only near completion. So Ryan and I went to help Leonard and You Hock on their feature for the rest of the day.
Reflection for the week:
Moving onto a new year, the things I've done here at IHPC is still the same. However, the things I've learnt here at IHPC is just priceless. For example on the last day of 2008, besides the research done, I've also learnt about hardware interfaces and how it affects the performance of the computer.
Quoted from Harold, "What differentiates good programmers and programmers is their knowledge of hardware." This sentence made an impact on me as my knowledge for hardware isn't strong. I guess I'll start reading up about the different types of hardware and their functions.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Week
22 December 2008
It's either the Monday blues or it's the holiday season that made me feel rather lazy when I reached the 'working space'. Still, I managed to kick-start my engine and started working on the feature which I am assigned to - to toggle the application on/off.
I needed to get some help from Ming Hong as his 'Drawing Board' application is similar to ours. However, I found out that Ming Hong wouldn't be back till tomorrow. I guess I'll try to figure it out how he manages to toggle his application and ask him tomorrow.
I fiddled with Lightdraw and Ming Hong's application, I realized that Lightdraw was actually using X11 and when the application launches it uses OSC. I tried to figure out how he manages to change Lightdraw's mode to OSC when his application launches. You Hock then told me that one method was to use the application to set Lightdraw's mode to X11 first before launching.
After lunch, I went to help Ryan on his feature for the rest of the day.
23 December 2008
I asked Ming Hong about how his toggling logic work and he told me that his application was built on Lightdraw, using its memory. Therefore, there wasn't any mode switching. After asking, I went on to work on toggling the overlay. In the process of doing, I've also taught the rest how to store a variable by using the Maths patch as Quartz Composer itself was running on a while loop, which makes it almost impossible to store a variable.
Not too long after, I managed to complete my toggling feature and Ming Hong came in and taught us a little about 3D graphics before going for lunch.
After lunch, I tested my feature on the big screen with X11, which was working fine. I tried testing it with OSC and found out that the OSC receiver patch wasn't working as well as the coordinates for the laser could not be read. After debugging with Ryan, we realized that we forgot to copy 1 patch. Before we finished our day, we tested our applications and are pleased to say that it was working fine.
24 December 2008
It's Christmas eve and we are here for half a day. I tried to integrate my application in Cocoa, but it could not be loaded. So I re-did the Cocoa application for the overlay which took up the rest of the half day. I guess I'll test the Cocoa application on Monday when we get back. At around 11.15am, we went to the pantry for a mini-celebration before leaving. It's going to be a long weekend!(Yay)
25 December 2008
Merry Christmas!
26 December 2008
We were given a day off by Kevin!(Woots)
Reflection for the week:
It has been a very short week for me. Luckily, I managed to finish the toggling feature(I will feel bad if I didn't). I had also learnt a little about 3D graphics, which is pretty interesting.
It's either the Monday blues or it's the holiday season that made me feel rather lazy when I reached the 'working space'. Still, I managed to kick-start my engine and started working on the feature which I am assigned to - to toggle the application on/off.
I needed to get some help from Ming Hong as his 'Drawing Board' application is similar to ours. However, I found out that Ming Hong wouldn't be back till tomorrow. I guess I'll try to figure it out how he manages to toggle his application and ask him tomorrow.
I fiddled with Lightdraw and Ming Hong's application, I realized that Lightdraw was actually using X11 and when the application launches it uses OSC. I tried to figure out how he manages to change Lightdraw's mode to OSC when his application launches. You Hock then told me that one method was to use the application to set Lightdraw's mode to X11 first before launching.
After lunch, I went to help Ryan on his feature for the rest of the day.
23 December 2008
I asked Ming Hong about how his toggling logic work and he told me that his application was built on Lightdraw, using its memory. Therefore, there wasn't any mode switching. After asking, I went on to work on toggling the overlay. In the process of doing, I've also taught the rest how to store a variable by using the Maths patch as Quartz Composer itself was running on a while loop, which makes it almost impossible to store a variable.
Not too long after, I managed to complete my toggling feature and Ming Hong came in and taught us a little about 3D graphics before going for lunch.
After lunch, I tested my feature on the big screen with X11, which was working fine. I tried testing it with OSC and found out that the OSC receiver patch wasn't working as well as the coordinates for the laser could not be read. After debugging with Ryan, we realized that we forgot to copy 1 patch. Before we finished our day, we tested our applications and are pleased to say that it was working fine.
24 December 2008
It's Christmas eve and we are here for half a day. I tried to integrate my application in Cocoa, but it could not be loaded. So I re-did the Cocoa application for the overlay which took up the rest of the half day. I guess I'll test the Cocoa application on Monday when we get back. At around 11.15am, we went to the pantry for a mini-celebration before leaving. It's going to be a long weekend!(Yay)
25 December 2008
Merry Christmas!
26 December 2008
We were given a day off by Kevin!(Woots)
Reflection for the week:
It has been a very short week for me. Luckily, I managed to finish the toggling feature(I will feel bad if I didn't). I had also learnt a little about 3D graphics, which is pretty interesting.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Overlay in QC/Cocoa
15 December 2008
We did our dry runs when we got to the office. Kevin arrived at 11.30am and we discussed about the "Drawing Board" application before we presented to him. Kevin gave us comments on our presentations and a few more tips before going for lunch.
After lunch, we collected the stuff from SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 from Kevin's desk and brought it back to our "working space". After bringing back the stuff, I studied the Overlay example to see how the overlaying is done in Quartz Composer for the rest of the day.
16 December 2008
It's a rainy day today, which made most of us pretty sleepy. We started the day by having breakfast in the pantry, where we met Kevin and his parents. After breakfast, we went back to our "working space" to continue researching on the overlay. Before lunch, we had a short discussion with Kevin regarding what we would be doing on Friday. It was decided that Ryan, Leonard and You Hock would be presenting to the kids while I toggle between the applications.
After lunch, Ming Hong got a call that the Lightdraw at Fusionworld had some problems. So we went there to get it fixed. After troubleshooting, we realized that the projector's setting was changed. Ming Hong adjusted the projector's setting and the application was working fine.
Went back to our "working space" to continue researching on the overlay. After much research, the overlay is actually done by making the application's window transparent. At the end of the day, I managed to find the codes to make the window look transparent in Cocoa. Shall implement the codes tomorrow.
17 December 2008
Reached the office as usual and continued with the overlay. We managed to make the application's window background to be semi-transparent and set it to full screen upon running before lunch. This was done with the help of this website.
After lunch, I tested the application to see if I could load a OSC-based Quartz Composer application in Cocoa with my 'CaterpillarOSC' application. However, it isn't working as expected. So I did some research and found out that I may require an OSC framework plugin to be added to the Cocoa application. Found the plugin from this website and downloaded it.
I tested the application again by loading another OSC-based Quartz Composer application, '4 Player Pong', in Cocoa to test it. This time it worked. However, the positioning of the application is off. So I guess we have to revise the positioning of the application.
At the end of the day, we were able to make the 'Overlay' application to be on top of all the applications by specify the window’s level to NSScreenSaverWindowLevel. We were also able to set the position for the Quartz Composer application in Cocoa by setting some properties in Cocoa.
On a side note, I've changed my wallpaper and the dock's position. Here's a picture of my new wallpaper and the overlay running on it:
18 December 2008
We planned for the 'Whiteboard' application when we arrived and here are our assigned tasks - Leonard is in-charge of the palette design, Ryan is in-charge of dragging the image, thrashing, idling and removing of image, You Hock is in-charge of integrating the application with OSC, the drawing and erasing while I am in-charge of toggling the application/overlay on and off. However, Leonard and I would help both Ryan and You Hock once we are done with our parts.
After the planning, we went ahead to do with our individual task(s). I brainstormed for ways for toggling the application and managed to come up with 2 ways before lunch. First way is by using Apple's hot spots, but we have to toggle 'Lightdraw' to X11 mode in order to make use of the hot spots. The second way is to assign a small space in the corner of the screen to just toggle the overlay. I guess I'll have to wait for Ming Hong to be back so that I could get a brief idea on how he toggle his 'Drawing' application.
After lunch, we experimented with out of body experience. However, we did not get the expected result. So we googled for some experiments and learnt more about the out of body experiences. Here's a video on one of the experiments:
A short while later, Kevin came in and informed us that all of us needed to present tomorrow instead of the initial 3 person. So we spent the rest of the day doing dry runs of the presentation and set up the applications needed for the demo.
19 December 2008
It's Friday and IHPC has a Project Reachout 'Back-To-School Celebration' with Beyond Social Services. Kevin came in early to pass us our name tags and taught us how we should present to them. We also received the schedule for the day, the first demo is starting at 10.15am. This timing was earlier than expected because the past demo are mostly after lunch. Luckily we did our dry runs for the presentation yesterday.
The kids reached around 10am and were seated in the Visualization Chamber Hall.
We demo-ed from 10.15am to 12.15pm(Kevin did most of the talking) and helped the kids with their crossword puzzle before going to the pantry for lunch. IHPC ordered McDonalds and it was delivered in a huge box. It's my first time seeing McDonald's Delivery delivering in boxes.
After lunch, we helped to transport the gifts for the kids down to the seminar room in level 15 and arranged them. We ushered the kids to the seminar room and the staff began distributing the gifts to the kids before watching the movie 'Surf's Up'.
We headed back to our lab because we wanted to rest. After the movie, the kids came back down to the Visualization Chamber Hall to take a group photo before heading to the pantry for tea-break. And this was how we spent the day.
Reflection for the week:
This week has been a rather fruitful week for me. I've learnt how to adjust the windows properties in Cocoa and even did an overlay in Quartz Composer. However, what left a better impression on me was what we did on Friday.
Unlike in secondary school, which community service was a compulsory thing, we hardly get to do community service work in Polytechnic. Luckily for me, I've done some community work through my 3 years in Polytechnic. This would be the first local community work as the community work I've done so far in my Polytechnic are overseas. One of the volunteers told us that we were very lucky to help out as this was a 'once-in-a-year thing'. I guess we are. We were also able to make use of this chance to work on our presentation skills by practicing and trying to pick up more tips from Kevin.
We did our dry runs when we got to the office. Kevin arrived at 11.30am and we discussed about the "Drawing Board" application before we presented to him. Kevin gave us comments on our presentations and a few more tips before going for lunch.
After lunch, we collected the stuff from SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 from Kevin's desk and brought it back to our "working space". After bringing back the stuff, I studied the Overlay example to see how the overlaying is done in Quartz Composer for the rest of the day.
16 December 2008
It's a rainy day today, which made most of us pretty sleepy. We started the day by having breakfast in the pantry, where we met Kevin and his parents. After breakfast, we went back to our "working space" to continue researching on the overlay. Before lunch, we had a short discussion with Kevin regarding what we would be doing on Friday. It was decided that Ryan, Leonard and You Hock would be presenting to the kids while I toggle between the applications.
After lunch, Ming Hong got a call that the Lightdraw at Fusionworld had some problems. So we went there to get it fixed. After troubleshooting, we realized that the projector's setting was changed. Ming Hong adjusted the projector's setting and the application was working fine.
Went back to our "working space" to continue researching on the overlay. After much research, the overlay is actually done by making the application's window transparent. At the end of the day, I managed to find the codes to make the window look transparent in Cocoa. Shall implement the codes tomorrow.
17 December 2008
Reached the office as usual and continued with the overlay. We managed to make the application's window background to be semi-transparent and set it to full screen upon running before lunch. This was done with the help of this website.
After lunch, I tested the application to see if I could load a OSC-based Quartz Composer application in Cocoa with my 'CaterpillarOSC' application. However, it isn't working as expected. So I did some research and found out that I may require an OSC framework plugin to be added to the Cocoa application. Found the plugin from this website and downloaded it.
I tested the application again by loading another OSC-based Quartz Composer application, '4 Player Pong', in Cocoa to test it. This time it worked. However, the positioning of the application is off. So I guess we have to revise the positioning of the application.
At the end of the day, we were able to make the 'Overlay' application to be on top of all the applications by specify the window’s level to NSScreenSaverWindowLevel. We were also able to set the position for the Quartz Composer application in Cocoa by setting some properties in Cocoa.
On a side note, I've changed my wallpaper and the dock's position. Here's a picture of my new wallpaper and the overlay running on it:
18 December 2008
We planned for the 'Whiteboard' application when we arrived and here are our assigned tasks - Leonard is in-charge of the palette design, Ryan is in-charge of dragging the image, thrashing, idling and removing of image, You Hock is in-charge of integrating the application with OSC, the drawing and erasing while I am in-charge of toggling the application/overlay on and off. However, Leonard and I would help both Ryan and You Hock once we are done with our parts.
After the planning, we went ahead to do with our individual task(s). I brainstormed for ways for toggling the application and managed to come up with 2 ways before lunch. First way is by using Apple's hot spots, but we have to toggle 'Lightdraw' to X11 mode in order to make use of the hot spots. The second way is to assign a small space in the corner of the screen to just toggle the overlay. I guess I'll have to wait for Ming Hong to be back so that I could get a brief idea on how he toggle his 'Drawing' application.
After lunch, we experimented with out of body experience. However, we did not get the expected result. So we googled for some experiments and learnt more about the out of body experiences. Here's a video on one of the experiments:
A short while later, Kevin came in and informed us that all of us needed to present tomorrow instead of the initial 3 person. So we spent the rest of the day doing dry runs of the presentation and set up the applications needed for the demo.
19 December 2008
It's Friday and IHPC has a Project Reachout 'Back-To-School Celebration' with Beyond Social Services. Kevin came in early to pass us our name tags and taught us how we should present to them. We also received the schedule for the day, the first demo is starting at 10.15am. This timing was earlier than expected because the past demo are mostly after lunch. Luckily we did our dry runs for the presentation yesterday.
The kids reached around 10am and were seated in the Visualization Chamber Hall.
We demo-ed from 10.15am to 12.15pm(Kevin did most of the talking) and helped the kids with their crossword puzzle before going to the pantry for lunch. IHPC ordered McDonalds and it was delivered in a huge box. It's my first time seeing McDonald's Delivery delivering in boxes.
After lunch, we helped to transport the gifts for the kids down to the seminar room in level 15 and arranged them. We ushered the kids to the seminar room and the staff began distributing the gifts to the kids before watching the movie 'Surf's Up'.
We headed back to our lab because we wanted to rest. After the movie, the kids came back down to the Visualization Chamber Hall to take a group photo before heading to the pantry for tea-break. And this was how we spent the day.
Reflection for the week:
This week has been a rather fruitful week for me. I've learnt how to adjust the windows properties in Cocoa and even did an overlay in Quartz Composer. However, what left a better impression on me was what we did on Friday.
Unlike in secondary school, which community service was a compulsory thing, we hardly get to do community service work in Polytechnic. Luckily for me, I've done some community work through my 3 years in Polytechnic. This would be the first local community work as the community work I've done so far in my Polytechnic are overseas. One of the volunteers told us that we were very lucky to help out as this was a 'once-in-a-year thing'. I guess we are. We were also able to make use of this chance to work on our presentation skills by practicing and trying to pick up more tips from Kevin.
Friday, December 12, 2008
SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Week
8 December 2008
No work today as it's a public holiday. Selamat Hari Raya Haji!
9 December 2008
Met up with Kevin after breakfast to discuss about our plans for this week as Kevin, Ming Hong and Bernard would be busy with SIGGRAPH Asia 2008. We would be working on our presentation slides as well as brainstorm for our new application. Leonard and You Hock would be learning Quartz Composer too.
After the planning, we received the installation disc for iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac so that we could work on our presentation slides. After the installation, we went over to try out the Smartboard to get inspiration for our new application. Here's a picture of what we drew on the Smartboard before going for lunch:
After lunch, we watched videos on Steve Jobs on iTunes because Leonard did not watch it with us the last time. We were told to take note especially on how Steve Jobs present. Here's on of the video we watched:
Passed my Quartz Composer notes to Leonard after watching the video so that he could start picking up Quartz Composer as soon as possible. We then brainstormed for our new application for the rest of the day. Will share what we had brainstormed on our new application to Kevin next week after SIGGRAPH Asia 2008.
10 December 2008
We worked on our presentation slides for the entire day. I decided to use Keynote instead of Microsoft Powerpoint because:
11 December 2008
Attended SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 at Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. It is the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia. There were lots of projects there, mainly animations and visualization. I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking:
12 December 2008
Worked on our presentations for the entire day. I finished doing my presentation slides before lunch and did a dry run of our presentations. After the dry run, I realized that I should prepare a script. Wrote my script and practiced it for a few times before we ended our day.
Reflection for the week:
It had really been an eye-opening experience for me at SIGGRAPH Asia 2008, experiencing some of the technologies which I haven't had the slightest idea of. I had learnt quite some stuff about computer graphics such as rendering of 3D models and how NVIDIA® Quadro® is build for providing better rendering in Adobe® Creative Suite® 4.
Presentation-wise, I've chosen to use iWork Keynote to Microsoft Powerpoint. Keynote provides better animation, visual effects and is user-friendly. The animation and visual effects from Keynote would help in my presentation by allowing my listeners to remember what I had presented better.
On a side note, I think I'm becoming more a an Apple fan after using the iMac for almost 2 months. iMac's OS have always kept me amazed. Here's a screenshot of the interface which amazed me:
The UI for Mac is simply good. It's no wonder the UI for Microsoft's latest OS, Windows 7, looks exactly the same as the Mac's UI.
No work today as it's a public holiday. Selamat Hari Raya Haji!
9 December 2008
Met up with Kevin after breakfast to discuss about our plans for this week as Kevin, Ming Hong and Bernard would be busy with SIGGRAPH Asia 2008. We would be working on our presentation slides as well as brainstorm for our new application. Leonard and You Hock would be learning Quartz Composer too.
After the planning, we received the installation disc for iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac so that we could work on our presentation slides. After the installation, we went over to try out the Smartboard to get inspiration for our new application. Here's a picture of what we drew on the Smartboard before going for lunch:
After lunch, we watched videos on Steve Jobs on iTunes because Leonard did not watch it with us the last time. We were told to take note especially on how Steve Jobs present. Here's on of the video we watched:
Passed my Quartz Composer notes to Leonard after watching the video so that he could start picking up Quartz Composer as soon as possible. We then brainstormed for our new application for the rest of the day. Will share what we had brainstormed on our new application to Kevin next week after SIGGRAPH Asia 2008.
10 December 2008
We worked on our presentation slides for the entire day. I decided to use Keynote instead of Microsoft Powerpoint because:
- I wanted to try out Keynote.
- I prefer the animations in Keynote to the ones in Microsoft Powerpoint
- Keynote is not as complex as Microsoft Powerpoint
11 December 2008
Attended SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 at Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. It is the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia. There were lots of projects there, mainly animations and visualization. I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking:
12 December 2008
Worked on our presentations for the entire day. I finished doing my presentation slides before lunch and did a dry run of our presentations. After the dry run, I realized that I should prepare a script. Wrote my script and practiced it for a few times before we ended our day.
Reflection for the week:
It had really been an eye-opening experience for me at SIGGRAPH Asia 2008, experiencing some of the technologies which I haven't had the slightest idea of. I had learnt quite some stuff about computer graphics such as rendering of 3D models and how NVIDIA® Quadro® is build for providing better rendering in Adobe® Creative Suite® 4.
Presentation-wise, I've chosen to use iWork Keynote to Microsoft Powerpoint. Keynote provides better animation, visual effects and is user-friendly. The animation and visual effects from Keynote would help in my presentation by allowing my listeners to remember what I had presented better.
On a side note, I think I'm becoming more a an Apple fan after using the iMac for almost 2 months. iMac's OS have always kept me amazed. Here's a screenshot of the interface which amazed me:
The UI for Mac is simply good. It's no wonder the UI for Microsoft's latest OS, Windows 7, looks exactly the same as the Mac's UI.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Completion of 4PP(4 Player Pong)
1 December 2008
Arrived the usual time, but was unable to access the office because the time I reached was not within 'office hours'. Luckily, the pantry auntie saw me and opened the door for me. So I continued doing with the scoring feature of 4PP(the short form for 4 Player Pong). Not long after, the rest arrived. I asked them if they had any problems accessing the office, and they said no. I test my card again during lunch and it works fine. So I guess that our card could only access the office after 8.30am. I guess I need to go find the person in charge to change the card's timing.
For the rest of the day, I worked on checking which paddle has the last touch of the ball.
2 December 2008
In the morning, Ryan and I set up Lightdraw using You Hock's MacBook Pro so that Ryan could continue working on his part.This is because Leonard and You Hock needed the Mac Pro for the 2x3 Tile Display. We used the DV cam instead of the webcam because the webcam is not able to change its settings. After setting up, I continued working on the score function for the rest of the day.
3 December 2008
Showed Kevin our progress for 4PP and continued to work on the score function till lunch. As I was not progressing much due to the limitations of Quartz Composer, I decided to ask Kevin for help. So after Kevin finished his meeting, he came over and taught me how to debug my application by displaying the value. With Kevin's help, I managed to finish the score feature. I also proceed on to display the winning message. You Hock and Leonard suggested that I make the winning message flash. So I managed to make the winning message flash by the end of the day.
4 December 2008
Ryan and I integrated our parts together as soon as we arrived in the morning. We managed to integrate our parts successfully before lunch. Bernard and Ming Hong also tested it before we head out for lunch.
After lunch, Ryan and I help You Hock to set up Lightdraw at the 2x3 tile display as Leonard wasn't here due to his National Service medical check-up. After setting up and testing You Hock's work in the 2x3 tile display side, Kevin called us over and shared about how he presents his work. He also showed us how Steve Jobs influenced him in his presentation by letting us watch a video on how Steve Jobs presented.
After the sharing, Ryan and I showed our integrated 4PP to Kevin. Kevin gave us some comments on how to improve the gameplay. Ryan and I agreed to make the changes and finish it by tomorrow.
5 December 2008
Ryan and I worked on the changes agreed yesterday. We started by doing the display score function. I displayed the score in front of the paddles as suggested by Kevin. However, Leonard and Ryan suggested that the game would look better if we display the score in the 4 corners and use the paddle colors to identify the scores. So I did as what they suggested. While doing so, Ryan and I discovered a bug in our application, the score for the blue paddle was wrong. Spent the whole morning debugging and we managed to solve the bug before lunch.
After lunch, we worked on getting the game to start once the laser is shone on the ball. We managed to finish this feature by mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day compiling the applications needed for SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Conference next week. Here's a picture of our final application:
Reflection for the week:
I've learnt how important it is to know how to debug, regardless of the IDE and programming language. For example, if I knew how to debug in Quartz Composer earlier, I could have help Ryan on his part and finish the whole application faster.
I had also picked up quite a handful of tips on how to do a presentation. Apart from what we had learnt in CMSK(a module in school) and the practices we had after every module, what Kevin shared with us would help me in how I am going to present in the future - less words on slides, more talk.
Arrived the usual time, but was unable to access the office because the time I reached was not within 'office hours'. Luckily, the pantry auntie saw me and opened the door for me. So I continued doing with the scoring feature of 4PP(the short form for 4 Player Pong). Not long after, the rest arrived. I asked them if they had any problems accessing the office, and they said no. I test my card again during lunch and it works fine. So I guess that our card could only access the office after 8.30am. I guess I need to go find the person in charge to change the card's timing.
For the rest of the day, I worked on checking which paddle has the last touch of the ball.
2 December 2008
In the morning, Ryan and I set up Lightdraw using You Hock's MacBook Pro so that Ryan could continue working on his part.This is because Leonard and You Hock needed the Mac Pro for the 2x3 Tile Display. We used the DV cam instead of the webcam because the webcam is not able to change its settings. After setting up, I continued working on the score function for the rest of the day.
3 December 2008
Showed Kevin our progress for 4PP and continued to work on the score function till lunch. As I was not progressing much due to the limitations of Quartz Composer, I decided to ask Kevin for help. So after Kevin finished his meeting, he came over and taught me how to debug my application by displaying the value. With Kevin's help, I managed to finish the score feature. I also proceed on to display the winning message. You Hock and Leonard suggested that I make the winning message flash. So I managed to make the winning message flash by the end of the day.
4 December 2008
Ryan and I integrated our parts together as soon as we arrived in the morning. We managed to integrate our parts successfully before lunch. Bernard and Ming Hong also tested it before we head out for lunch.
After lunch, Ryan and I help You Hock to set up Lightdraw at the 2x3 tile display as Leonard wasn't here due to his National Service medical check-up. After setting up and testing You Hock's work in the 2x3 tile display side, Kevin called us over and shared about how he presents his work. He also showed us how Steve Jobs influenced him in his presentation by letting us watch a video on how Steve Jobs presented.
After the sharing, Ryan and I showed our integrated 4PP to Kevin. Kevin gave us some comments on how to improve the gameplay. Ryan and I agreed to make the changes and finish it by tomorrow.
5 December 2008
Ryan and I worked on the changes agreed yesterday. We started by doing the display score function. I displayed the score in front of the paddles as suggested by Kevin. However, Leonard and Ryan suggested that the game would look better if we display the score in the 4 corners and use the paddle colors to identify the scores. So I did as what they suggested. While doing so, Ryan and I discovered a bug in our application, the score for the blue paddle was wrong. Spent the whole morning debugging and we managed to solve the bug before lunch.
After lunch, we worked on getting the game to start once the laser is shone on the ball. We managed to finish this feature by mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day compiling the applications needed for SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Conference next week. Here's a picture of our final application:
Reflection for the week:
I've learnt how important it is to know how to debug, regardless of the IDE and programming language. For example, if I knew how to debug in Quartz Composer earlier, I could have help Ryan on his part and finish the whole application faster.
I had also picked up quite a handful of tips on how to do a presentation. Apart from what we had learnt in CMSK(a module in school) and the practices we had after every module, what Kevin shared with us would help me in how I am going to present in the future - less words on slides, more talk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)