Categories
Flash Flash experiments

Flash experiments: amazing tube

I was experimenting with Google SketchUp 6 and Pepakura designer v2 .1.2.
And I saw in the Pepakura a pattern when creating tubes.

Update: it not only creates tubes (example: 15 sides) but also cubes (4 sides) and prism (3 sides)

And off course I couldn’t resist building it in Flash:

And in this case it’s a flash application that creates flat, printable versions of cubes tube. Just print it, cut it out, glue it together and there you have it: the amazing cube tube:

[swf]http://www.matthijskamstra.nl/laboratory/swf_experiments/amazingTube_v01.swf,450,450[/swf]

I have made something similar: the amazing cube.
I’m working towards something????

Categories
Design Grumm Urban papercraft

Grumm update

Grumm has now it’s own page on this blog: visit Grumm and read more about download and custom Grumm papercraft.

I’ve not been working on Grumm for I while, but I did find some time to put different files online so you can build/customize it.

Grumm The Screamer Red can be downloaded here.
Grumm The Screamer Red

And for custom Grumm designs; there is also a blank template which can be downloaded here.
Grumm Blank

Visit the Grumm page for more information and downloads.

The page needs some work, but I hope this will start some feedback about the templates and design.
So start building/customizing Grumm…

Because I’m swamped with work I haven’t got time to create a nice page. This page is more an update for people who wanted to build a Grumm, and now they can.
Categories
Design Urban papercraft

Papercraft prototype: Spraycan – part 4

After I cleaned up the files produced by Pepakura with Illustrator I could test the prototype.

If you look closely to the previous post about this project, you see that I don’t have a screenshot from the rounded part on top of the can. This is because I couldn’t get it to work in Google Sketchup… So I decided to make a globe in 3d, make a flat version in Pepakura and edit it in Illustrator (cut parts away I don’t need).

Here a the different parts I tested:

The tube
Spraycan WIP Tube

The can
Spraycan WIP Can

The cap
Spraycan WIP Cap

The round part of the can…
Spraycan WIP roundtop
I don’t think I will be using this part: it’s to detailed for this project. And quite difficult to make, when printed on a A4 papersheet.

The Spraycan complete
Spraycan WIP Complete
So without the curved part, this will be the look.

Categories
Design Urban papercraft

Papercraft prototype: Spraycan – part 3

I imported the .KMZ file made by Google Sketchup, which I made in part 2 of this series, to Pepakura designer and I wasn’t totally happy with the end result:

Spraycan - Pepakura

I contribute the in some cases strange “decisions” from Pepakura to:
– my very basic modeling skills (I have none)
– Pepakura can’t think like a human… (It just works like a machine) and makes strange decisions.
– I made the 3d model in one part.

I tried to clean up the 3d model, but I was getting nowhere. So I decided to clean up the file in Illustrator:
Spraycan - Illustrator

Time to put it all together!

Categories
Design Urban papercraft

Papercraft prototype: Spraycan – part 2

Time to convert the illustration from part 1 into a 3d object in Google Sketchup:

First the bottom of the can:
Spraycan bottom
Created a separate cap:
Spraycan cap
Putting it together:
Spraycan in Google Sketchup

Time to convert this to a flat, printable version using Pepakura designer

Categories
Urban papercraft

Urban papercraft: e440 squirrels

e440Another Dutchman (Brickboy for example) who’s created a urban papercraft model: http://alle440.blog.com/

The name puzzled me for a while but e440 ‘explained’ it:
(sorry this is in Dutch…)

KLM Cargo heeft gisteren 440 eekhoorns die vanuit China op doorreis waren naar Griekenland laten afmaken. Daartoe is besloten omdat de vereiste export- en gezondheidsdocumenten ontbraken. ,,Dit is buitengewoon triest”, zegt een woordvoerder van KLM Cargo. ,,We hebben deze maatregel met pijn in ons hart moeten nemen.” [Trouw, dinsdag 13 april 1999]


And in good urban papercraft ‘tradition’ e440 has also a blank template. The only thing you need to do, is send an email and you will receive an .EPS which you can modify

You should of course visit e440 (at least to get the email address) or you can view a little gallery here:

Squirrel example 1
Squirrel example 2
Squirrel example 3
Squirrel example 4
Squirrel example 5
Squirrel example 6
Squirrel example 7
Squirrel example 8

Categories
Urban papercraft

Shin Tanaka: Mask Hoody [series 03]

You probably noticed it, if you’re a fan of Shin Tanaka: he updated the Mask Hoody series.
You can start to download (and build) Mask Hoody [series 03]

You can download them, and the nice guy I am: this is what you get in Series 03:

Shin Tanaka papertoy series are only active for a short time and you missed it 🙁







Categories
Design Urban papercraft

Papercraft prototype: Spraycan – part 1

I don’t know exactly how I came up with this idea:

But it really don’t matter, I’ve been working on a papermodel in the shape of a spraycan.
I started with collecting images, and made a illustration of a spraycan.

Spraycan examples

Time to put it in Google Sketchup.

Categories
Extending Flash Flash

XML Reader Flash panel

When you’re working with Flash and dynamic content your no stranger to XML.
And how to access the data in the XML.

There are a couple of ways you can access and manipulating XML documents in Flash:

  1. the nerdy way (XML DOM): my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[2].childNodes[1].attributes.x
  2. the xPath way using xfactorstudio XPath classes: xmlDoc.selectNodes("/bookstore/book[price>35]/title")
  3. the Flash XPathAPI class: XPathAPI.selectNodeList(xml.firstChild, "/rdf:RDF/item/title")
  4. the XML2Array methode: Novel[0].Description[0].value

Before I discovered option 2 /3 /4, I had to work with XML DOM. This was also in the periode I was still programming in the Flash IDE and the XML DOM methode cost me a lot of time: I couldn’t find the correct node, or attribute, etc.

Until I started programming in SE|PY, because it has a XML Reader. The XML Reader could check if my XML was correctly formatted, and I could just point to the node I wanted to use and it gave me the correct node path.
I don’t know when it started (probably for a while, because I started to use different methodes to access XML) but sadly this reader has some errors, which makes it difficult to use.

But why do I care? I needed to use the XML DOM because I didn’t want to add to the kb of a dynamic banner I was building. It was programmed it in Flash IDE and the SE|PY XML Reader didn’t work….

Download:

Without more blabla: here is the first version of XML Reader.

XML Reader Flash panel XML_Reader_v0.1.zip (52kB)

In the zip is also a readme.txt with more info about XML Reader.
Doubts? Test drive it here!
Let me know what you think of it, what’s wrong with it, what could improve, bugs, etc

Description XML Reader

XML Reader is a Flash window panel where you can load XML files into.
This is useful in situations when you are writing an XML parser, and need to view the XML your parsing, but don’t feel like toggling back and forth between Flash and another program.
As a Flash panel, you can simply dock it inside of Flash with your other panels, and have it always available while you code in the Flash IDE.

This XML Reader does more: it has color syntax highlighting, indentation and XML DOM(*) to access and manipulate XML Documents WYSIWYG style.

I hope this will help to increase my productivity, and perhaps yours?

(*) The XML Document Object Model (XML DOM) defines a standard way for accessing and manipulating XML documents.

View XML Reader

So I created XML Reader, based upon the one in SE|PY

Because the open XML button only works in Flash a example XML is loaded.

Thanx to:

This project is based upon some work of other developers:

  • The XMLHighlighter class developed by R.Arul Kumaran (at the moment of writing this post I couldn’t visit his site).
    This class is used for highlighting the XML file and my modification makes it possible to ‘trace’ the XML-nodes.
  • The XML and Text Viewer Panel developed by Jesse Randall Warden. This example showed me how to build a panel.
  • The MXI File Creator by Muzakdeezign. This free program is used to create and edit the Macromedia Extension (.mxi file).
  • The XML reader from SE|PY by Alessandro Crugnola.
    This is my free code editor when I’m not using the Flash IDE editor. And the only (as far as I know) wysiwyg XML Reader. Sadly this reader has some errors, which makes it difficult to use. So to fix this, I wrote this panel.
Categories
Flash Flash experiments

Flash experiments: omtrek cirkel

I have to do this in Dutch because I have no idea what’s it called in English, sorry.
It not really important, and will be used in a project which has little to do with this explanation.

Een klein testje om de omtrek en de oppervlakte van een cirkel te berekenen.
Het moest van ver komen dus heb ik het ff opgezocht:
wiswijzer.nl
wisfaq.nl

Omtrek = pi * diameter = 2 * pi * straal
Oppervlakte = 1/4 * pi * diameter2 = pi * straal2

[swf]http://www.matthijskamstra.nl/laboratory/swf_experiments/omtrek.swf, 450, 250[/swf]
Update #1: For my English readers:
(more about circles here)
“omtrek” = circumference
“oppervlakte” = area (read more: circle area)
“diameter” = diameter (diameter)
“straal” = radius
(look more math stuff up at at Math Open Reference)