Hi list, hi chris.
Maybe a stupid question: What is this [pix_blur] for ? Hey, i don't want to be rude (mr. bad guy again....), but there already is a thing like [tv_biquad] that does very similar things (and more)
I think, Gem should follow pd's (vs. other libraries) object-policy: make a minimum orthogonal object-set, that let's you do "everything" you want. This implies, that there shouldn't be 2 objects, that do basically the same thing. basically [pix_blur] is a one-stage feedback-filter. [tv_biquad] is a two-stage feedback-filter.
I do see the point, that a 1-stage filter needs less CPU-power than a 2-stage filter.
well you sort of answered your own question, but here's the breakdown:
- pix_blur is faster, more direct and perhaps easier to use if you just want to blur something - tv_biquad is slower and may be harder to use depending on your understanding of filters
btw. [tv_*] was meant to "work (only) on series of images", while [pix_*] should work on single images as well. thus [pix_blur] should rather be [tv_blur] (but never mind)
this is not stated anywhere, and this is the first info on tv_* that i have seen. i have ignored them until now, especially after the too long yuv vs pix debate, where 'everything should be pix_' was the result.
And I would like to have more control over the filter-paramters: i prefer "y(t)=a*x(t)+b*y(t-1)" to "y(t)=a*x(t)+(1-a)*y(t-1)", especially, when clipping is involved.
that's a good suggestion. both can be used for [pix_blur] with only a small change to the code.
Ah, that leads to what i wanted to ask/state anyhow: Is it possible to make objects that perform "scientific tasks" (like convolution) rather than "folkloristic FX" (like smoothing) [pix_convolution] is far more powerful than [pix_smooth] could be. And of course, you can build a [pix_smooth]-abstraction with [pix_convolution] Maybe a bit of a thought before doing a "quick hack" could save programming-time in the long term. (ooh, this sounds really like mr. bad-guy. i don't want to insult anybody)
i do think, that pd is a programming language (with a lot of flaws (in terms of a prog-lang), sure) i do think, that Gem should be a language-extension, rather than a set of cool effects. That's why i thought it a good idea, to make this openGL-wrapping stuff (which is surely harder to use than all those ready-made Geos)
ok this is a HUGE difference in our approaches. i would never assume that anyone using GEM would know how to program a convolution kernel or openGL, and that shouldn't prevent them from using these things. i actually intend on making [pix_edgedetect] and [pix_sharpen] at some point because those are process that people like to do on images, whether or not they even know that they are just variations on the same mathematical formula.
this goes back to the reason i even got involved with GEM in the first place, which was to help make a high-performance Mac OSX version of the software for ARTISTS to use. that means 'ready-made' tools need to be available, most of these tools GEM lacks at the moment. you might consider something like photoshop's sharpen/blur to be 'folkloristic', but this is how these processes are referred to in common practice. i don't see any reason why both the lower level [pix_convolve] can't exist alongside the more abstracted [pix_sharpen/blur] objects. if anything the latter is more direct and understandable to the larger number of users. the abstractions are one way to go but the higher level objects C code can be optimized for each specific kernel.
any comments ?
always...
but i really really really would like to hear what users of GEM and people interested in GEM have to say about things like this.
cgc
mfg.as.dr IOhannes