[haiku] Re: Would anyone like to see Tave Imagination open source?
- From: Kit <kervas@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:54:49 -0600
2010/10/20 Kevin Ar18 <kevinar18@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> You know, I just noticed it... is WonderBrush a vector image editor (as
> opposed to a bitmap editor)?
>
WonderBrush is a bitmap editor, but it has the capability of being able to
use some vector tools.
> I must admit I know little about WonderBrush.
>
As I said, it is a bitmap editor. At first glance, it does not seem so
remarkable, and I've seen 1 or 2 people comment on some ways the interface
could be improved.
But once you get to work with it, you will find that WonderBrush has some
really solid features:
- First of all, it's one of those peculiar apps that works on pretty much
every variant of BeOS out there: R5, Zeta, Haiku, and that other one ;). It
was also featured up for sale at the Zeta store way back when.
- It can take advantage of advanced features of drawing tablets, like
sub-pixel tracking. This feature, together with Shemanarev's Anti-Grain
Geometry technology for anti-aliasing, makes WonderBrush a very capable
application, comparable in some aspects to behemonths like Autodesk's
Sketchbook Pro. I am not sure if Linux has software that can take advantage
of such features too. I know that Krita was working for sub-pixel rendering
a while ago, but I am not sure how far along they've got this integration.
- Like I said above, it has some vector tools, even though it is a bitmap
editor (ok, Photoshop does that too)
- It also has other typical features of image editors: layers with opacity
controls, filters, typical drawing tools (I think it is the only image app
I've seen in the BeOS world that has a bezier tool, though). You can also
make it full screen, like Photoshop.
- It can export to Adobe Illustrator. This feature is far from perfect.
- There's an awesome feature that allows you to change the language of the
interface without having to restart the app.
Yes, just like it sounds, it changes interface language at runtime! I have
not seen any other application be able to do this on Linux or Mac. (I have
seen it done in Windows software, but only about one of about a hundred
thousand apps can do that).
- There are more obscure features, like being able to "share" properties
between drawing tools.
- In my experience, it has been fairly stable.
- Stephan has ceded a license of WonderBrush to Haiku users. I personally am
very thankful for this, and I use WonderBrush, among other tools, to train
people about concepts of graphic design.
By the way, WonderBrush's author has a very good understanding of BeOS/Haiku
internals. For instance, I believe that WonderBrush uses Haiku's translators
for importing and exporting graphics.
Stephan is a very active contributor to Haiku, VLC, and is the author of
Icon-O-Matic and inventor of Haiku's very own super efficient icon vector
format.
However, WonderBrush is not perfect.
- As I said, it has an interface design which is a tad different from
conventional image editors. It has only two menu bar entries, and almost
zero options for configuration. Gobe Productive's Drawing module has more.
- Personally, I still prefer WonderBrush's interface to the Gimp's. However,
I believe better interfaces exist, like Photoshop, Photopaint or Paint Shop
Pro.
- The toolboxes cannot be undocked.
- I have lost work to WonderBrush (or was it Haiku as a whole? I'm not sure
so I won't give it too much heat for that)
- There is no way that I know to save selections, import or export filters,
or some sort of plugins. (Again, I know I cannot be too demanding, either).
Wonderbrush is not the only image editor for Haiku/BeOs.
There are also Refraction, Pixel32, ArtPaint, and even the Gimp, if you can
get it to work.
As shown above, I have a lot of respect for both WonderBrush, and a lot of
admiration for its author, Stephan. WonderBrush is an excellent product, and
Stephan is a great developer and community member.
That said, I do support Kevin's proposal of getting Tave's application.
Heck, not only could it promote competition and improvement, but it could
even be that if it were to be released with a license like AGG's, Stephan
could integrate some of Imagination's better features, or interface into
WonderBrush.
Or, it could be vice versa and get Imagination to grow. Or both.
I believe only positive things can come out of getting new software
available to the community, open source or not.
Cheers,
- Kit
To learn more:
An overview of some of WonderBrush's features:
http://www.yellowbites.com/wonderbrush_features.html
McSeem's AGG here:
http://www.antigrain.com/doc/introduction/introduction.agdoc.html
Also, check out the demo examples at:
http://www.antigrain.com/demo/index.html
User Guide page on Icon-O-Matic:
http://www.haiku-os.org/docs/userguide/en/applications/icon-o-matic.html
Icon-O-Matic tutorial:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2008513940874112547
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