Stage

Bringing up the speed and efficacity of AS3 to the power and flexibilty of Processing 2.0. Inspired by the Stage and DisplayObject relationship of Flash, Stage make it easier to create concrete application, using stunning effect and/or shaders, at a high framerate (it uses OpenGL out of the box).

Donwnload

The library doesn't have an official website for now. You can donwnload the distribution here : http://www.jmcouillard.com/Stage.zip

Overview

A custom manager that is meant to be used be end-user. Easy to install and configure. Can be used to list and mange nodes as well as terms.

First, you need to make sure that you are using the OPENGL rederer:

size(400, 400, OPENGL);

You can then create a Stage object:

Stage stage;
stage = new Stage(this, width, height);

Don't forget to update it and draw the stage inside the draw() function:

void draw() {
  background(0);
  stage.update();
  stage.draw(this);
}

From there, you can add object to your Stage, and they will be handled automatically:

Sprite layer = new Sprite(this, 200, 200);
stage.addChild(layer);

You will find most of the properties you expect. Just remember that you are using Java, so you need to use function layer.setX() instead of plain properties layer.x:

layer.setX(200);
layer.setY(150);
layer.setZ(20);
layer.setRotation(PI/2.0f);
layer.setRotation(200);
layer.setBlendMode(ADD);

Features

Each of the following features have one or multiple example(s) included in the library to help you understand and use it.

• Image : Create a sprite by loading an image.

• VideoPlayer : Create a sprite by loading a video. Use loop() or play() to begin playback.

• Shaders : Add shaders to any Sprite by calling addPass(). Shaders need to be compatible with Processing. Check the ShaderSimple example for more information.

• Blend mode : Change sprite blend mode by calling setBlendMode(). This is compatible with the same blend modes than Processing.

• Keystone stage : Allow you to create a basic deformation map (for projection on non-standard screen, or a non-optimal projector position)

• Config : Save and load settings easily.

• Tween : Tween properties such as position, scale and rotation easily by using to(). This require Ani library (see dependecies below). Check the TweenPosition example for more informations ont tweening.

• Events : Add event listeners like you espect them to be (MouseEvent, KeyboardEvent or CustomEvent). This allow communication between different children levels of the stage.

• Textfield : Textfield with color, size, font and align properties. Additionaly, a font manager utility (that runs silently) make sure that fonts are only loaded once, and saved correctly in memory. Limitations: there is not htmlText equivalent, or anything that allow you to mix fonts (ex. put a single word in bold).

• Websocket control : Control your stage using a simple API with Stage-Websocket plugin. Available at https://github.com/jmcouillard/Stage-Websocket.

Dependencies

Ani

You will need the Ani Library in order to use the to() shurtcut. This library is used to tween properties (greensock-like). It make it pretty simple to do things such as :

layer.to(1, "x:"+mouseX+",y:"+mouseY);

If you wish to use this feature, you will also need to initiate the Ani library, by calling this line on your setup() :

Ani.init(this);

You may find more information about the library here : www.looksgood.de.

Java Advanced Imaging

If you use KeystoneStage, you will need to have jai_core.jar in your classpath. It is included in the lib folder. If you want, you can have more information or download another version here link.

Compatibilty

Current version has been tested and updated for Processing 2.0.3. It is known to be working on Windows 7 and OSX 10.8.

Known issues

• I still don't have understood why, but if you do a background(0) (or any other color) before drawing the stage, you will get a wrong alpha compositing. So, in orther to avoid that, simply don't clear background in draw(). This has been noticed with Processing 2.0.3.
• There is an issue with Stage and all Processing versions prior to 2.1 if you are using Intel HD Graphics (at least on OSX). You will run into Processing issue #1983 issue, graphics will be messed up, and you sketck will be slower. To avoid it, simply user Processing 2.1 or higher.

Eclipse

I strongly recommand using Eclipse as IDE to get more of this library. The auto-complete and hot-swapping features make it amazingly fun to use! This library integrates correctly and easily with Eclipse.