I read that it’s a problem on iPad. You can’t rest you palm on the screen since it will detect you palm as input and you’ll get unwanted line or gestures. There are some techniques to deal with this problem such as putting a thin foam under your palm or wearing a fingerless glove.

Luckily, the good thing about HP TM2 that it has palm detection or rejection. You can rest you palm on the screen while using the pen. TM2 is smart enough to turn off the touch sensor if you use pen.

I really love this device. Combine with Logitech Notebook Riser and …. voila!! Feels like working on Wacom Cintiq

Of course, the pen only supports 256 pressure sensitive, no tilt sensor, and the screen is not that sharp compare to iPad, but hey, it’s affordable and you get a fully-working mobile computer If you really want to do sketching professionally, maybe it’s better to buy Wacom Cintiq anyway (my dream device… drooling…)

Note: There is a software solution on Ipad (http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/07/demo-pressure-sensitive-sketching-on-ipad.html)

There is a good tutorial video at gotoandlearn on how to drag object using raw multitouch points using Actionscript 3 (http://gotoandlearn.com/play.php?id=122). I tried that example. HP TM2 only support maximum 2 touch points. The touch pressure is not detected but you can get the size of touch area. Dragging using touch feels rather slow but it was quite good!

You can try the demo here. Make sure your browser have Flash Player 10.1 installed.

However, I couldn’t find easy tutorial on how to setup the development for Flash player 10.1, unless you’re using Adobe Flash CS5 or Flash Builder 4. I am using FlashDevelop 3.2.1 and the free Flex 4 SDK (release version) and these are some steps that work for me and might also work for you.

1. Before you start, make sure that you have installed Flash player 10.1 plugins. You can also get the debugger version too.
2. Download playergolbal.swc from http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html#additional.
   EDIT (26 June): Adobe has remove playerglobal.swc from that page. You can download Flex SDK 4.1 and use it to develop for Flash player 10.1. Thanks michael
3. Create a new project on FlashDevelop. I picked AS3 Project
4. Go to Project properties, and change the Target to Flash Player 10.1
   
5. Just immediately compile the project. You will get and error: “C:\dev\flex_sdk_4\frameworks\flex-config.xml(53): Error: unable to open ‘libs/player/10.1/playerglobal.swc’”

Edit: If you’re using Flex SDK 4.1, you might not get this problem since it support development for Flash Player 10.1. You can skip all points below as well.

6. Create folder C:\dev\flex_sdk_4\frameworks\libs\player\10.1 (replace c:\dev\flex4_sdk4 with the folder of your Flex 4 SDK)
7. Put the playergolbal.swc into that folder.
8. Now you can compile and the auto completion should work too.
9. Try to add a line to import class flash.ui.Multitouch and compile. If auto code completion is not working or project cannot compile, just restart the FlashDevelop.
10. Enjoy and celebrate the world cup by blowing vuvuzela

As a bonus, you can download the source code here

For a demo, click the picture below

On previous post, I animated the MQO models using the old animator class. The code was based on one example from Away3D blog page. Now, I am using the new VertexAnimator class which I think is much better than the old one.

Click ‘read more’ for more the code details. This time, source code is available, including the latest Metasequoia loader for Away3D 3.5.0

I generated 9 MQO models which are the animation keyframes. The models are created using Metasequoia and the animations are generated using a great Metaseq plugin called Keynote.

First, load all models using my custom Metasequoia loader. All models and materials are embedded to make the loading process easier.

_models = new Vector.<ObjectContainer3D>();
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelStand01, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun01, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun02, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun03, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun04, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun05, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun06, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun07, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true} ));
_models.push(Metasequoia.parse(ModelRun08, {materials:myMaterials, pushfront:true}));

Once loaded, get the meshes from the model’s ObjectContainer. The number of meshes inside the model (ObjectContainer) is the same as  the number of layers in the MQO files. In this example, I have merged all MQO’s layers into one so I just load the first mesh.

var meshList:Vector.<Mesh> = new Vector.<Mesh>();
var tempMesh:Mesh;
for each (var model:ObjectContainer3D in _models)
{
    // only get the first layer from the MQO file, abandoning other layers
    tempMesh = model.children[0] as Mesh;
    meshList.push(tempMesh);
}

Insert one of the models to the Away3D Scene. This model will be the base of our animation. In the example above, I just add the model from the first frame of standing animation.

_mainModel = meshList[0];
_mainModel.rotationX = -90;
_mainModel.rotationZ = 15;
_mainModel.scale(1.5);
_scene.addChild(_mainModel);
_camera.lookAt(_mainModel.position);

Init the VertexAnimators. In the example, I created 2 animations: standing and running. Assign the main model’s vertices to all animators.

_animationRunning = new VertexAnimator(_mainModel);
_animationStanding = new VertexAnimator(_mainModel);
var theVertex:Vertex;
for each (theVertex in _mainModel.vertices)
{
    // init the vertex of the main model to the animators
    _animationStanding.addVertex(theVertex);
    _animationRunning.addVertex(theVertex);
}

Create the animation frames. Each frame will contain vertices value for every animation frame. The frame vertices are corresponding with the vertices from the main model. The code below is how I initiated 8 frames for running animation.

// init running animation
var frames:Array;
var j:int;
for (j = 1; j <= 8; j++)
{
    frames = new Array();

    for each (theVertex in meshList[j].vertices)
    {
        frames.push(new Number3D(theVertex.x, theVertex.y, theVertex.z));
    }
    _animationRunning.addFrame(frames);
}

Play the animation by calling the method play.

_currentAnimation = _animationRunning;
_currentAnimation.loop = true;
_currentAnimation.interpolate = true;
_currentAnimation.fps = runSpeed.value;
_currentAnimation.play();

Click here to download the complete source code. The MQO models are included and the source code requires Flex 4 SDK and the latest Away3D to compile.

Feel free to ask me question Enjoy!

• I give up German windows. Fortunately, you can install English language without having to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate Edition. I used a hack tool Vistalizator and I didn’t get any problem installing English language to my German Windows 7. The UI changes, the folder name, everything without having to re-install! Just be careful and use it at your own risk.
• The pen has only one button and weight much lighter that any Wacom pen that I ever had (Graphire 2 and Bamboo). and it feels cheap
• The pressure sensitive is only 256 levels, compare to 512 levels on small Bamboo tablet. If you really paint professionally, this limitation might bother you. For me, this is just fine. I just adjust the pen to lighter pressure.
• ArtRage 2.5 works pretty well including the pressure sensitive!
• Sketching on the screen is much better than using the Tablet (well, except the Wacom Intuos )
• The Corel Paint It! Touch (bundled software) is nice. You can paint using your finger or the pen.
• The keyboard is really nice. It does not have this cheap-plastic feeling but it does not have backlight
• The screen can detect pen or touch mode, but only one can active at a time. So your palm will not be detected even if it touch the screen, as long as you are still using the pen (at least still hovering the pen tip on the screen). This is useful when you use the laptop as a tablet (with folded keyboard and only using the pen)

bonus: here’s my quick megaman sketch using ArtRage2.5

meet my new HP TM2

My options were between Sony Vaio VPC-EB1Z1E and HP TouchSmart TM2. Why did I pick TM2?

• Saw it on Project Runway! I was immediately sold when I saw the designers were sketching using HP TM2. “That’s what I want!”
• Beautiful laptop. I always complain how uncreative laptop manufacturers with their texture/color. HP TM2 is different although its floral pattern might not suitable for everyone.
• I love to sketch! Tablet PC or Wacom Cintiq have always been on my dream gadget list. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive. HP TM2 is quite affordable tablet (899 EUR) and its screen supports pressure sensitve pen and multi-touch too!

It wasn’t easy to get this laptop since I want the English version. I called HP office Germany. The guy on the phone couldn’t speak English and he said that you can only get German version. I checked the UK website for HP and found out that they cannot send the laptop outside UK.

Generally, it’s quite hard to get English laptop in Germany. I went to Sony and other laptop stores and they recommend me to buy from Internet and have it sent from UK. German laptop means QWERTZ keyboard and German Windows 7. Unless you pay extra 150 EUR for an upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate, you cannot change the Windows language to English.

After long time browsing around, I gave up and decided just to buy the German laptop. From the Internet, I found out that the laptop was available at CyberPort store Berlin. For me, it’s always nice to buy directly from a real shop.

The pen works really fine, it has pressure sensitive although not as good as my Wacom Bamboo. The touch screen works really good. The monitor has glare but it’s unnoticeable when I’m too busy reading, writing, coding, or even sketching. I also don’t have any problem with its small screen. I’m still having problem understanding the German Windows but it’s really fun to sketch and playing around using the pen.

Stay tuned for more review

Xain'd Sleena, image courtesy from www.mamedb.com

This reminds me of myself, who also grows up playing arcade games. Thanks to MAME, I can play again all those games. Unfortunately, there is one game, which is really really my favorite but not playable in MAME: SKY ROBO or Tatakae Big Fighter. A shooter game with a mecha-robo.

Tatakae Big Fighter (Sky Robo), image courtesy from www.arcadeflyers.com

I don’t really know why I love this game. Maybe because the amount of coins I spent playing it, how suck I was in shooting game, the memory, or maybe just the nostalgia factor

So what’s your favorite arcade game?

Actually since April 2009, I’ve been planning to change my blog design. The theme dilectio was used just for temporary. Unfortunately, I was always get distracted and never start it

Last Friday, while she was doing some maintenance of her blog, she offered me help to design my blog themes. I gave her some directions which basically the style and color schemes  from my portfolio page.

Then on Sunday morning … tada!

For celebration, we went out that afternoon and had a nice crepes with Italian ice cream

Currently, Away3D supports bone animation using Collada. Collada would be great for animation but I don’t have any 3D editor to generate Collada file. Unfortunately, I’m kinda allergic to Blender

Luckily, Away3D is also able to do vertex animation using MD2 or the Animator class. After reading the frame/vertex animation tutorial (http://away3d.com/tutorials/tutorial-how-to-use-the-animator-class), I decided to give it a try.

I still have the Mikoto animation files that I created for Tokusatsu Agent. Haven’t used Mikoto for very very long time but it just take me 30 minute to get used to it again. I took the running animation and saved some keyframes into 6 MQO files. Using my Metaseq library, I load all 6 MQO files, get the vertices data, and pass them to the Animator class.

The result is quite satisfying. Just click the pic below for demo. The source code still look ugly but just e-mail me if you’re interested.

More experiments and optimizations will come so stay tuned

Lately, we’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed 2 together. We played and finished the first series and really enjoy it. The second Assassin’s Creed (AC) has Italian Renaissance as the settings which makes us love it even more!

AC2 only supports 1 player so we take turns, just like how we played AC1 or Prince of Persia. There is no rule how we divide our turn. Basically, we both play every game mode: assassin missions, exploration, or race. Then I notice how different me and my wife play the game.

My wife prefer dueling or fighting the guards directly while I prefer assassinating my target silently. She has no problem facing several guards at a time and got the No-Hitter trophy/achievement easily. On the other hand, I’m not that good in direct duel. Maybe that’s because I am more impatient in fighting and loves to bash the button aggresively.

But when it comes to kill the target without being noticed or escaping the guards, my wife usually pass the controller to me

It’s a good thing that in AC2 you can play the game anyway you like.

Two weeks ago, I started playing with Away3D and working on parser for Metasequoia. There were some codes for that (from sleepydesign or libspark) but they didn’t work with the new version. I have been changing the code so it can change the materials/texture of the model once loaded.

FinallyI made it. Click the picture below to see the demo

Click the ‘read more’ below to see the and download the code. It is still in very early version, buggy and some MQO models are not displayed correctly. I am still working on it. But if you want, feel free to use it

Note: The code is only work with the current trunk version of the Away3D version 2.4.0/3.4.0 FP10 (tested on rev. 2039)

Download

Metasequoia.as

Just copy this file to folder Away3D\src\away3d\loaders

Loading model From File

var loader:Loader3D = Metasequoia.load(filename, {scaling:2.0, rotationX: -90});

Loading model From Embedded asset

var mainModel:ObjectContainer3D = Metasequoia.parse(EmbeddedModel, {scaling:2.0, rotationX: -90});

Overwrite Material when loading model

Both loading model (from file or embedded model) will automatically load the texture file. You can overwrite the materials by setting the property materials

var wireMaterial:WireColorMaterial = new WireColorMaterial(0x00aeef, {wirecolor: 0xcccccc});
 
var loader:Loader3D = Metasequoia.load(filename, {scaling:2.0, rotationX: -90,materials: { hair:wireMaterial, skin:wireMaterial, face:otherTextureMaterial }});

Code above is overwriting the materials named hair, skin, and face. Make sure you know the material name before.

Change the Material after loading

You can change the material after loading the model by using MaterialLibrary.

var targetMaterial:MaterialData = mainModel.materialLibrary.getMaterial("head");
if (targetMaterial != null)
{
    targetMaterial.material = wireMaterial;
}

Code above is changing the material ‘head’. All the faces which use this material will be changed to the new material.

Enjoy the code and feel free to ask question

Stay tuned since I am going to work on animation