Through the Interface

Creating a web-service to de-skew images using Google App Engine

As promised, I’m going to spend some time this week looking at options for moving the Python code we’ve seen in this series of posts – that de-skews perspective images using CPython or IronPython code running on your desktop – to “the cloud”. Which in this case I’m taking to mean Google App Engine (GAE), as it has native Python support and I hadn’t done anything with it, before. :-) As a first step – and I should probably say “at first glance” – it’s really quite easy to take some existing Python code and host it behind a... Read more →

Selecting an area of a perspective image to de-skew inside AutoCAD using HTML5 and JavaScript

So after several posts leading up to the big reveal, as it were, in today’s post we’re going to see the full “De-skew Raster” application in action – and give you the complete source to fool around with. The main addition over where we were in the last post is the HTML5 and JavaScript UI implementation, as well as the new C# command – called DESKEW – that loads and displays it: Our JavaScript code uses the new JavaScript API in AutoCAD 2014 to execute the other command (DESKEW_IMAGE, which we saw implemented last time) that drives the core... Read more →

Executing Python code to de-skew images inside AutoCAD using IronPython

In this previous post, we saw some of the issues around executing standard Python code to de-skew raster images inside IronPython (and the effects those differences can have on the results). In this post, we’re going to build the ability to execute our Python code from a .NET module loaded inside AutoCAD with the help of IronPython. The next step will be to add in an HTML5 user interface that calls into AutoCAD using the JavaScript API introduced in AutoCAD 2014. Things have changed a bit since we first saw IronPython inside AutoCAD, most notably the additional of the... Read more →

AutoCAD 360

I’m a few days late to the party (largely because I got a little distracted), but felt it was still worth posting on this topic: we’ve just launched AutoCAD 360, the successor to AutoCAD WS. It’s more than a straight re-branding, though: while the mobile apps for iOS and Android are updates to the existing WS-branded technology, there’s a brand new web app that’s currently in Beta. We’ve also taken the opportunity to roll out a true freemium offering, whereby the basic, free capabilities are complemented by “Pro” and “Pro Plus” mobile plans. Here’s a comparison of the offerings,... Read more →

Using augmented reality to preview the output of Project Pinocchio

In this previous post, we looked at using PointCloud Browser to visualize an AR scene containing a mesh generated by 123D Creature, a new iPad app from Autodesk. In this post, we head on over to Autodesk Labs to take Project Pinocchio for a spin. Project Pinocchio is an online character generator that helps you “create, customize, and download your very own rigged 3D characters from a catalog of over 100 body types, outfits, hairstyles, and physical attributes in a few simple steps.” Once you’ve signed in, it’s a simple process to create a character. You start by choosing... Read more →

A gamification experiment: Apollonian Obliteration

Gamification is happening all over the place. In case you’ve missed what it’s all about, this short video should help. To get even more background, here’s another from the same source on augmented reality games, which is a follow-on from this video on alternate reality games. After having managed to get Apollonian Packings brought into the very cool PointCloud Browser, I thought it’d be fun to integrate some of the code from another of the PointCloud Browser sample apps, creating a little augmented reality game. Here’s the basic idea: each level consists of a packing brought into PointCloud Browser... Read more →

An augmented reality view of an Apollonian packing using PointCloud Browser

After my initial (only partially successful) attempt, earlier in the week, to get 3D geometry from the Apollonian web-service into a PointCloud Browser session, I finally managed to get it working properly. Given the currently fairly light documentation available – especially for the Viper JavaScript namespace which gives access to the 3D rendering capabilities in the browser – I ended up posting a question to the PointCloud forum. The answer was very instructive – I was able not only to get spheres of different radii displayed using the same mesh… … but also to apply different colours to the... Read more →

Using SLAM-based Augmented Reality to visualize 3D geometry

I first became aware of the work being done by 13th Lab a couple of years ago, but just last week someone pinged me about it again and re-triggered my interest (thanks, Jim :-). 13th Lab is a small Swedish company that has created some really interesting Augmented Reality technology. Many AR systems make use of fiduciary markers (which often look like sections of QR codes) to make it easier to determine where the 3D content should be positioned and visualized in the 2D image of the scene being fed from your device’s camera. Ideally, though, you want a... Read more →

AU 2012 class recordings now available online

This week has so far had an AU theme to it, just as last week we talked exclusively about Leap Motion and AutoCAD. Perhaps I’m sub-consciously shifting this blog to a weekly-themed format? Hmm. Like many of you, I’m sure, I received an email over the weekend to let me know that the recorded sessions from Autodesk University 2012 are now available online (for anyone with a valid AU online account). I wasn’t sure which of my sessions had made it up there from this last year’s event (thank goodness I rarely have to write cheques anymore), and so... Read more →

AU 2012 Handout: Moving code to the cloud – it’s easier than you think – Part 2

After introducing the topic – as well as creating our basic, local web-service – in the last post, today we’re going to publish our MVC 4 Web API application to the cloud and see it working from a number of different client environments. Preparing to publish to Azure Now that we’re ready to publish to Azure, we need to add a deployment project to our solution. Right-click “ApollonianPackingWebApi” in the Solution Explorer and select “Add Windows Azure Cloud Service Project”. This will add a new project into our solution. We can now double-click the entry under the “Roles” folder... Read more →

AU 2012 Handout: Moving code to the cloud – it’s easier than you think – Part 1

After posting the handout for my Wednesday class, now it’s time to start the one for Tuesday's - CP1914 - Moving Code to the Cloud: It's Easier Than You Think (I have a lot else going on on Tuesday, but this is the only class on that day for which I needed to prepare material). Attendance for both classes is looking fairly good: there are currently 138 attendees registered for the Cloud session and 62 registered for the one on WinRT. Why all this talk of the cloud? The software industry is steadily adopting a model commonly referred to... Read more →

Updated version of WinRT Apollonian Viewer for Windows 8 RTM

As part of my preparation for AU 2012, I’ve been working on updating the various Windows 8 samples I’ll be showing to work with the RTM version of the OS. The first to be migrated was the Apollonian Viewer for WinRT, which is part of the cloud & mobile series from earlier in the year. The project was easy enough to get working: I mostly had to update to version 2.3.0 (or 2.3.1, as this was the latest available) of SharpDX and made a few minor code changes (there was previously a SafeDispose() function that seems to have disappeared... Read more →

Debugging an OpenGL ES 2.0 application using a virtual Android device

With my AUv recording out of the way, I’ve been starting to think more seriously about my AU sessions, over the last few days. The “big one” (with 100+ registered attendees and counting) is about moving code from a desktop application to the cloud, and will basically summarise the process I followed in my “cloud & mobile” series of earlier in the year. Which means I’ll go through the process of pulling some code out of a desktop-based application and placing it behind a web-service, before calling the service from a variety of platforms/environments (AutoCAD via .NET, iOS, Android,... Read more →

Thinking about AU 2012 (and vacation)

Last week, I received confirmation that I’ll be presenting a few different classes at AU 2012, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas from November 27-28. My main sessions, this year, are in some way focused on cloud & mobile technologies. The subject matter of the first lecture is the recently completed cloud & mobile series, where we’ll look at moving desktop functionality to the cloud and using it from a variety of mobile environments: CP1914 – Moving code to the cloud – it’s easier than you think! It has a companion roundtable session... Read more →

Cloud & Mobile DevBlog

To complement the DevBlogs for AutoCAD, Infrastructure Modeling, AEC and Manufacturing (and in case you missed them, here are their respective announcements), the ADN team has now launched a DevBlog focused on Cloud & Mobile development. You might consider this another “horizontal” blog, in the sense that over time it will prove to be a valuable resource for people using our products (and, I suspect, many people who don’t) in all the industries we serve. I’ll drop a note to Gopi, to suggest he adds a link to my own cloud & mobile series, for future reference. It seems... Read more →

The latest on Windows Azure

A few things have happened over the last week or so that have got me looking, once again, at Windows Azure: Firstly, there was an exciting release announced last week (I attended the webcast online from San Francisco, where the event happened to be taking place), prior to this week’s TechEd. Among the key features were: Support for Linux instances These will presumably be cheaper, given the lack of OS licensing costs Virtual Machine capability IaaS for those that prefer it over PaaS (something no doubt learned from the popularity of AWS) Select from the online Image Gallery or... Read more →

AutoCAD API wishlist survey

Hot on the heels of my last post regarding this year’s API wishlist surveys, Stephen Preston has announced on the AutoCAD DevBlog the launch of this year’s AutoCAD API wishlist survey. The survey will remain open until June 22nd, but don’t delay – you’ll find it very quick to complete. This year’s survey has a somewhat different format: it has a number of questions dedicated to understanding your needs around AutoCAD WS and developing for the cloud. This doesn’t mean we’re no longer interested in the desktop – nothing could be further from the truth – so be sure... Read more →

Cloud & mobile series summary

As we reach the end of this long series of posts on moving code to the cloud – and a look at ways to use the functionality from a wide variety of applications, many of them on mobile devices – I felt it was worth putting together a quick summary post to reinforce the overall message (which may have been a bit lost in the sheer volume of information). Firstly, here are the posts in this series, including those looking at the original creation of the “desktop” application functionality: Creating the core desktop functionality Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating... Read more →

Creating a 3D viewer for our Apollonian service using WinRT – Part 2

In the previous post in this series, we saw the code for an initial, basic implementation of a 3D viewer for our Apollonian web-service developed for Windows 8 using WinRT. In this post, we extend that code to provide support for a few basic gestures, particularly swipe-spin, pinch-zoom and tap-pause. To properly show the gestures in action, I recorded the app working inside the Windows 8 emulator (which in turn was running inside Windows 8 running inside a Parallels VM, so fairly far from “the metal”, as it were). Here’s a quick video of the updated app in action:... Read more →

Creating a 3D viewer for our Apollonian service using WinRT – Part 1

After tackling the implementation of a basic 3D viewer for our Apollonian web-service using a variety of technology stacks – AutoCAD, Unity3D, Android, iOS & HTML5/WebGL – I felt as though I really needed to give it a try with WinRT, the new runtime powering Windows 8. All of the previous stacks had some “object” layer I could use above the base graphics engine – Rajawali provided it for Android/OpenGL ES, iSGL3D for iOS and Three.js for HTML5/WebGL – but for WinRT all bets were off. The general guidance for developing Metro-style 3D applications (typically that means games) is... Read more →