Vuo 0.4.9

This release focuses on improving the Vuo Manual and SDK documentation. We added example projects so text programmers can easily create Vuo nodes and port types. We also improved port popovers, added a new example composition, and expanded the Blend Image and Render Scene to Window nodes. This is an alpha release. Alpha releases may include changes that break compositions you made with previous versions.

Changes

Here’s what we’ve done in the last week and a half:

Documentation

• Reorganized and rewrote the Vuo Manual. (There are still a few sketchy areas, to be fixed next release.)
• Reorganized and rewrote the SDK documentation.

Examples

• Added example composition ExploreColorSchemes.vuo. It demonstrates colors, 2D-like drawing (circles and rectangles) with 3D objects, and mouse interaction.
• Added example projects for developing nodes.
• Added an example project for developing a port type.

Vuo Editor

• Modified port popovers to exponentially approximate the time since last event (so they’re less distracting).
• Modified port popovers to show a dot briefly when an event is received, conducted, or fired.
• Clarified event descriptions on port popovers.
• Improved speed and responsiveness of port popovers.
• Fixed occasional crashes when working with port popovers.

Built-in Nodes, Types, and Input Editors

• Added new blend modes to the Blend Image node: Lighter Color, Darker Color, Saturation, Luminosity, and Color.
• Improved the Render Scene to Window node:
  • The requestedFrame trigger port now fires events in sync with the screen refresh rate (so compositions no longer have to rely on an approximation using Fire Periodically).
  • The requestedFrame trigger port now provides a timestamp indicating how long the window has been visible. (Thanks, @George_Toledo, for requesting this!)
  • The requestedFrame trigger port now provides a running count of the number of frames requested.
• Fixed issue where graphics rendered in the scene window turn black or flicker while resizing the window or switching between spaces.
• Composition graphics and console windows are now implemented with Cocoa instead of Qt. (This is work toward reducing the size of the Vuo Framework and compositions built by Vuo. Thanks, @lov, for requesting this!)

SDK

• Included the Signika font in the Vuo Framework, for use by the vuo-render command-line executable.
• Enabled the --verbose option of vuo-compile and vuo-link to work without providing an input file, and added module search paths to the output.

Known Issues

Documentation

• The Vuo Manual has not yet been updated to cover some new and changed functionality.
• The Vuo Manual is incomplete.
• Some nodes are not well documented.

Examples

• WalkCaterpillar.vuo and PlayTennis.vuo only get correct mouse positions if the composition window is the same size as the screen, since there’s not yet a way to convert between screen and window coordinates.
• RunImageFilter-Cocoa-NewProcess leaks textures.

Vuo Editor

• The editor may hang when attempting to display a port value popover while the composition is being reloaded (after being modified while running).
• When a cable is disconnected while a composition is running, the input port does not keep its most recent value.
• Collapsed type-converter nodes aren’t selectable.
• On some systems, the incorrect font is used to render node and port titles.
• For some port types, the constant flag displays its value in quotation marks or with backslashes.
• When a Discard Data from Event (dataAndEvent -> event) node is collapsed and attached to an input port, it covers up the input port’s constant flag.
• The composition gets recompiled too many times if you drag the handle on a list drawer while the composition is running, slowing down live coding.
• When a cable is disconnected from an input port, the input port’s constant value is not set to the most recent data from the cable.

Built-in Nodes, Types, and Input Editors

• Some values of type VuoImage are not properly released when the composition is modified while running.
• Data editor source code is currently classified as proprietary, making it difficult for 3rd-party developers to create data editors.
• Scenegraphs with many child objects render too slowly.
• Graphics rendering in the scene window pauses while a menu is open.
• The scene window’s full-screen arrows (in the top right corner for OS X 10.7 and up) cause the window to fade out as it goes full-screen and to handle shortcut keys incorrectly.
• The VuoColor input editor is not positioned over the port being edited.

Vuo Compiler

• There’s hardly any error checking during the composition compiling and linking process. If compilation fails, the compiler may crash. Currently some messages may be printed on the console, so check there first if something isn’t working.
• Vuo Compiler crashes if nodeInstanceData returns a bool type.
• Vuo Compiler crashes if nodeInstanceData returns a struct type. (Workaround: Return a pointer to a struct.)
• Vuo Compiler crashes when a port has certain struct types with few members, such as a struct with two int members. (Workaround: Add some unused members.)
• Vuo Compiler adds unnecessary dependencies to built compositions.