A New Year's resolution for me is to learn both the HTML5 Canvas and the Android Canvas API. (I do a lot of Swing scientific graphics stuff and need to branch out) How similar are they in concept and execution? Are they similar enough that is makes sense to try to learn both together at the same time? Or are they really different and I should probably focus on one at a time to avoid confusion?
I've used Swing's Graphics, HTML5's Canvas and Android's Canvas extensively and they are very similar. If you know how to use one of them, you'll quickly learn how to use the other two. The concepts are pretty much the same. The biggest difference is how Android stores some of the graphics state (it uses a Paint object you pass to the draw functions instead of setting the state directly on the Canvas.)
I would advise you to focus on one of them first, just to make things a bit easier.
I can tell you this...
They are of course similar, the most obvious difference being that HTML5 Canvas is designed to be cross platform where as Android Canvas is highly specialized, proprietary even. But just to get down to it..
HTML5 Canvas is web/server based and uses web language javascript to draw on the canvas.
Android is javascript and relatively the same.
I've been working with HTML5 Canvas and its very flexible and powerful. Im enjoying the color rendering system, with my experience the color normalization across systems helps a lot (especially with color sensitive charts). I've been experimenting with text animations and particle effects lately and I think its great for small screen applications! The easy of physics also makes it a great choice for more advanced implementations. Good Cross compatibility for my app/web hybrid apps (SaaS/SaP/B2B solutions)
HTML5 is young so its not without its problems, but I think with a properly coded website & SaaS/SaP/B2B Application any desired result is achievable. But there is plenty of information on stack about issues with loading HTML5 Canvas on Android phones & etc.
I read somewhere else on stack that PhoneGap might be a solution for you.
Here is a great chart that could help you: Mobile Frameworks
Hope this helps you!
Related
I have built a web based light SVG editor with simple functionalities such as (resize, rotate, dragging, coloring) using HTML canvas and fabricJS. Now just by curiosity i want to create a mobile app to this web based platform. started searching for alternatives or something similar to fabricJS in flutter but i had no luck.
Also searched for many solutions and i have never found something to serve this need in flutter or Native Android nor Swift, But I know it's possible there is canva who made something with the same approach but i couldn't find a way to know there secret sauce.
So, my direct question is if there an html canvas like in flutter and even a canvas-svg (and svg-canvas) parser.
Flutter doesn’t have SVG support and will never officially support it due to its performance.
Your best bet is to use CustomPaint for rendering the vector, then use SVG.js with js interop when it comes time to export the SVG. Not a simple solution since you’re having to work around lack of official support, but for basic functionality it should be completely feasible.
If you’re wanting to support importing vectors, you might want to check out flutter_svg’s code to take a look at how they handle SVG. This library only supports rendering SVGs, not manipulating or exporting them, but it may have some helpful code to point you in the right direction.
I'm trying my hand at making a platform game and have been thinking about what I would use to design levels.
I was thinking of using a tile palette that would contain the graphic tiles and their properties. And a similar palette that would contain sprites.
This way I could drag and drop tiles/sprites onto a grid and specify property values. This could all be saved to some kind of file that would be read by the game.
Without getting too into the details, is this a sound overall strategy? Is there anything major that I'm forgetting? Or perhaps there's a better method?
This is a rather open-ended question, but I don't think there is anything wrong with your approach. You might have to try a few things to find out what works for you.
When I make platform games I find it useful to be able to edit levels while I'm playing them, by adding in code to the game which allows me to select a graphic tile from a palette and paint it onto the screen. The behaviour is usually linked to the graphic for my games but you could paint behaviour as well. You then need code for your game to save levels as well as load them. Obviously, you would probably want to remove the editor before releasing the game.
I don't know how much experience you have with game dev, but if you're thinking about making a tile-based platform game then your best bet is leveraging existing libraries/tools to avoid "re-inventing the wheel". I highly suggest looking into open source libraries/tools because you can modify them to your liking. I've had some good experience with libgdx and AndEngine in which case both have TMX support which is a file format that can be used in conjunction with Tiled map editor. I personally like libgdx because it has javadoc and very actively developed, and also that it's a framework rather than engine which gives you more flexibility (although more coding in some aspects).
I would like to develop or use an existing platform that will allow me to view custom vector data and use it as a map on mobile phones such as Android/IPhone (Maybe even WP7).
I'm hoping that there's already a good infrastructure for what I need so I would not need to develop a whole infrastructure by myself.
In Conclusion -
Is there any existing platform that may answer my needs?
If not, how would you guys suggest I should begin? How should I save my vector data? How could I read it? Should I view it with a graphics engine like OpenGL? Is there any chance this solution could be cross-platform?
I know that it's possible since it was already done with apps like Waze. And it works the same on iOS and Android.
Thanks!
After much research I found a solution that fits most of my needs.
At the moment I decided to go on Android only so I'm using AndEngine (In the future I guess it would be pure OpenGL).
AndEngine can read .svg files and turn them into PNGs at runtime, and also has a built in support for ZoomCamera which allows me to pan and zoom the map very easily.
I'm converting the SVG to PNG because apparently mobile devices do not have a very good anti-aliasing support, and rendering curved paths can also be a problem.
I am an android development beginner with some experience in other object oriented languages like java, python, c#. So I have created various games before in Java, using buffers and graphics to draw lines and stuff. How do I do that stuff in android? I looked at some online guides, and they all seem to create a class to extend a View object, and the class will overrule the onDraw method, where they can cause the Canvas or something to draw a line.
But what if you want to draw a line based on user input? That method wouldn't work then would it?
For example, what is the simplest code for which I could draw a circle where the user touches the screen?
Also, i was wondering what books people would reccomend for beginners, especially one that includes stuff on graphics? I user the developer site for android, but I feel a book would also help a lot to understand android? Any suggestoins?
Thank you for your time, I greatly appreciate it!
There you go, this book is definitely what you need to read: http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Android-Media-Developing-Smartphones/dp/1430232676
what is the simplest code for which I could draw a circle where the user touches the screen?
Either use SurfaceView to draw or create a custom View handling onDraw() and onTouch()
Here is a suggestion ... load the API Demos app into Eclipse and explore the Graphics demo source code. There are a large number of graphics demos.
To load the API Demos app, in Eclipse click File > New > Other > Android Sample Project.
Then select your build target such as Android 4.2.
Then from the list of sample apps select the API Demos app.
And finally click Finish.
There are over 300 demos in the app, so it can be difficult to navigate. You want to look in the Graphics section.
"Android 2D Graphics with Canvas API" by Yevgen Karpenko is pretty good for beginners.
It explains basic concepts like coordinate systems and transformations, shows how to work with text and use different graphics primitives (lines, paths, circles, etc.). It also shows how to use multiple threads in graphics apps.
Below is the link for eBook version on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Android-Graphics-Canvas-API-ebook/dp/B00DKIAVK8/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374420538&sr=1-8&keywords=android+2d
I am embarking on a project (game) and I have a question about the implementation, will be developed specifically for Android and want to know which is better (easier, faster to develop and portable). canvas or OpenGL ES
Unless you already have a good working knowledge of OpenGL, then using a Canvas will be easier and faster. In terms of portability it really isn't as clear cut.
That said you should probably consider using one the pre-existing game engines, if you really only about Android then you should check out http://www.andengine.org/ its a great engine with a strong community and lots of great little example games.
Actually I'm not really sure where I read this,but when it's about developing game if you have any knowledge of OpenGL, you better use that,because the system is separating more space for your application so it can run without lagging or crash.So you can't get an Memory Full error. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)