A complement to Tufte

[Michael Brady]

No, not a compliment. Put his work on your shelf (physical or mental) next to Tufte's works, and bookmark this link:

http://benfry.com/

Click on the "/projects" link and then browse.

Ben Fry produces some amazing works that blend computer data analysis, information theory, graphic design, and aesthetics.



| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Michael Brady

[Carol F Majors]

thank you Michael -- this looks phenomenal.

here is a tufte style graphic i just ran into.

http://edudemic.com/2012/11/the-entire-history-of-congress-in-one-stunning-visualization/?utm_source=scribol.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=scribol.com

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[Thomas Olbrich]

It's worth to remind to these open source 'Processing' scripts:

http://www.generative-gestaltung.de

(english/french version: select "EN/FR")

- thomas




Am 23.01.13 23:29 schrieb "Carol F Majors" unter <cfma...@gmail.com>:

[Olav Martin Kvern]

Hi Mr Brady,

re: "No, not a compliment."

Thank you for that. Now, let's tackle "horde" vs "hoard" (this one is easy, which makes me surprised that a writer for the New York Review of Books--no less--just got it wrong) and "lose" vs "loose."

But, seriously, Ben Fry is awesome. His own work is good, but his involvement with Processing is even better. Processing is a cut-down version of Java for artists, and it spawned Wiring, which does the same for thing for C/C++ and microcontroller hardware. Wiring is the basis of the Arduino microcontroller (which I use to create musical instruments). Everyone who has been around this list knows that I think creative people can and should write code--Fry and Reas have done amazing work to lower the barriers to entry. Fry and Reas were, I think, students of John Maeda at MIT--Maeda's "Design by Numbers" is still a classic of creative uses of code.

Thanks,

Ole

[William Adams]

On Jan 23, 2013, at 5:29 PM, Carol F Majors wrote:

> here is a tufte style graphic i just ran into.
>
> http://edudemic.com/2012/11/the-entire-history-of-congress-in-one-stunning-visualization/?utm_source=scribol.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=scribol.com

Point to the original instead:

http://xkcd.com/1127/

William

--
William Adams
senior graphic designer
Fry Communications
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.

[Carol F Majors]

Yes, I found that but is that the actual source. That seemed unclear too.

Sent from my iPhone
919-559-1886

[William Adams]

On Jan 24, 2013, at 9:25 AM, Carol F Majors wrote:

> Yes, I found that but is that the actual source. That seemed unclear too.

Second sentence at your link:

``This infographic is from the must-follow XKCD and is one of the most elaborate things I’ve ever seen come out of that site.''

where XKCD is a link to:

> http://xkcd.com/1127/

Always refer to the primary source unless there's a reason otherwise.

[Carol F Majors]

I follow. I had corrected that link in my other references.

Still when I went to XKCD their site says "a collection of ....". So I'm am still unclear if they created the piece. Licensed under creative commons and all that.



Sent from my iPhone

[William Adams]

On Jan 24, 2013, at 10:26 AM, Carol F Majors wrote:

> Still when I went to XKCD their site says "a collection of ....".

It's a collection of (uncopyrightable) historical facts as an infographic.

> So I'm am still unclear if they created the piece. Licensed under creative commons and all that.

http://xkcd.com/license.html

should make it clear, ``and all that.''

[William Adams]

On Jan 24, 2013, at 10:26 AM, Carol F Majors wrote:

> So I'm am still unclear if they created the piece.

Here. Buy a copy from the artist:

http://store.xkcd.com/products/congress-poster

[Adam Jury]

On 2013-01-24, at 8:26 AM, Carol F Majors <cfma...@gmail.com> wrote:

I follow. I had corrected that link in my other references.

Still when I went to XKCD their site says "a collection of ....". So I'm am still unclear if they created the piece. Licensed under creative commons and all that. 

All of xkcd has been Creative Commons licensed since day 1! :-)

cheers,

Adam

--

Adam Jury | Graphic Design | Posthuman Studios
Read me: http://adamjury.com | http://twitter.com/adamjury
Talk to me: ad...@adamjury.com, AIM: AdamJury

[William Adams]

On Jan 23, 2013, at 9:20 PM, Olav Martin Kvern wrote:

> But, seriously, Ben Fry is awesome. His own work is good, but his involvement with Processing is even better. Processing is a cut-down version of Java for artists,

That would be:

http://processing.org/

?

(the hand-drawn screen images in the tutorial are very charming, reminiscent of Michael Harvey's _Creative Lettering Today_)

Interesting. What advantages does it have over nodebox?

http://nodebox.net/

Processing would be more interesting to me if the code sharing / archiving was better --- the Prototyp-0 gallery example I was interested in ( http://www.yannickmathey.com/prototyp ) is 404.

I'm still wishing someone would create a front-end for Metafont which would allow one to draw splines w/ a tablet, then manipulate the resulting code interactively and maintain a library of parts to re-use.

> and it spawned Wiring, which does the same for thing for C/C++ and microcontroller hardware. Wiring is the basis of the Arduino microcontroller (which I use to create musical instruments).

Just got an Arduino myself (mounted in a custom board to control the stepper motors of a Shapeoko CNC milling machine).

> Everyone who has been around this list knows that I think creative people can and should write code--Fry and Reas have done amazing work to lower the barriers to entry. Fry and Reas were, I think, students of John Maeda at MIT--Maeda's "Design by Numbers" is still a classic of creative uses of code.

added to my Amazon wish list.

[Olav Martin Kvern]

Hi William,

re: "Interesting. What advantages does it have over nodebox?"

I hadn't ever heard of nodebox--looks pretty cool. I'd say that the difference is that Processing is (or is part of) a complete programming language, whereas nodebox seems to be dedicated to graphics with a few additional features (MIDI, etc.) devoted to animation. I haven't looked at it deeply yet, though.

For me, the connection between Processing and Arduino (and pd, for that matter) is a pretty big deal.

re: "Just got an Arduino myself (mounted in a custom board to control the stepper motors of a Shapeoko CNC milling machine)."

Cool! I built a CNC machine a few years ago, but I was lazy and simply bought a stepper controller. If you ever need some scripts for converting InDesign paths to g-code, let me know--I do all of my CNC design in InDesign.:-)

 
Thanks,

Ole

[William Adams]

On Jan 25, 2013, at 6:35 PM, Olav Martin Kvern wrote:

> re: "Interesting. What advantages does it have over nodebox?"
>
> I hadn't ever heard of nodebox--looks pretty cool. I'd say that the difference is that Processing is (or is part of) a complete programming language, whereas nodebox seems to be dedicated to graphics with a few additional features (MIDI, etc.) devoted to animation. I haven't looked at it deeply yet, though.

Did notice one big difference to me, nodebox's editor supports Mac OS X Services.

I'd thought Nodebox was a specialized superset of Python (and that one could access all of Python)

> For me, the connection between Processing and Arduino (and pd, for that matter) is a pretty big deal.

Not understanding this --- could you provide a clarifying link?

> re: "Just got an Arduino myself (mounted in a custom board to control the stepper motors of a Shapeoko CNC milling machine)."
>
> Cool! I built a CNC machine a few years ago, but I was lazy and simply bought a stepper controller. If you ever need some scripts for converting InDesign paths to g-code, let me know--I do all of my CNC design in InDesign.:-)

Didn't make the custom board --- got it as part of a compleat kit. On the one hand, I'm glad of the elegance of a single board, on the other, I'm a bit bummed not to have the option to do other things w/ the Arduino.

I'd love to have the scripts to convert G-code to InDesign. Thanks!

I'm getting some jerkiness in the test file for my CNC mill and am wondering if a hand-coded file would be more efficient, w/ fewer instructions and might not have the fits and pauses of an automatically generated path which started as Quadratic B-Splines in a TrueType font, was converted into Beziér curves in a drawing program, exported as .dxf, and then converted to G-code.

William

[Evans, Rebecca]

I feel like I'm listening to Pee Wee Herman speak French by saying "bleh
bleh-bleh bleh-bleh." How does an InDesign file drive a milling
machine--do you draw the 3D object in InDesign, or does G-code drive the
milling machine and also interface with InDesign to produce a 2D printable
picture of the object?

Rebecca, who is feeling more than normally ignorant at the moment

[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 8:38 AM, Evans, Rebecca wrote:

> I feel like I'm listening to Pee Wee Herman speak French by saying "bleh
> bleh-bleh bleh-bleh." How does an InDesign file drive a milling
> machine--do you draw the 3D object in InDesign, or does G-code drive the
> milling machine and also interface with InDesign to produce a 2D printable
> picture of the object?

My apologies, I was getting off-topic until Ole brought us back w/:

On Jan 25, 2013, at 6:35 PM, Olav Martin Kvern wrote:

> Cool! I built a CNC machine a few years ago, but I was lazy and simply bought a stepper controller. If you ever need some scripts for converting InDesign paths to g-code, let me know--I do all of my CNC design in InDesign.:-)

The way it'll work (as I understand it) is:

- draw paths in InDesign (including converting text to outlines)
- run Ole's script which will convert the path information in InDesign into g-code, a set of command for CNC (Continuous Numeric Control) machines
- download the g-code to a controller which has a g-code interpreter and will send instructions to a set of stepper motors to move the machine's platform along the paths described in InDesign.

This as opposed to:

- starting w/ a font drawn using Quadratic B-splines in a vector drawing program
- converting the font to Beziér paths
- exporting the paths to DXF from the drawing program
- loading the DXF into a CAM program
- converting the DXF to G-Code and exporting the files
- send the converted g-code to the controller

[Roy McCoy]

Rebecca wrote:

> I feel like I'm listening to Pee Wee Herman speak French by saying
> "bleh bleh-bleh bleh-bleh." How does an InDesign file drive a milling
> machine--do you draw the 3D object in InDesign, or does G-code drive the
> milling machine and also interface with InDesign to produce a 2D printable
> picture of the object?

I like the 3D ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=32bUIa--6GM

> Rebecca, who is feeling more than normally ignorant at the moment

Supposably it's not only you and I.


Roy

[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 8:55 AM, Roy McCoy wrote:

> I like the 3D ones

Interestingly, the Shapeoko I built has a lot in common w/ 3D printing machines, and my control board has an empty socket for a 4th controller which can be used for an extruder / plastic printing head, so I'm going to try a Y-axis drive shaft instead of a 4th motor on the Y-axis so as to leave the socket open for the 3D printing option (or maybe a 4th axis to run a lathe, or maybe both w/ a switch to choose betwixt them).

[Andrew Brown]

On 28 janv. 2013, at 15:02, William Adams <will....@frycomm.com> wrote:

> Interestingly, the Shapeoko I built has a lot in common w/ 3D printing machines, and my control board has an empty socket for a 4th controller which can be used for an extruder / plastic printing head, so I'm going to try a Y-axis drive shaft instead of a 4th motor on the Y-axis so as to leave the socket open for the 3D printing option (or maybe a 4th axis to run a lathe, or maybe both w/ a switch to choose betwixt them).

When you have a moment, William, could you run me off a couple of replicas of the 1958 Bentley S1 Continental and fit them up with motors from the current Continental GT Speed ? Tasteful colours, please, nothing too flashy.

Thanks!

A.

[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 9:55 AM, Andrew Brown wrote:

> When you have a moment, William, could you run me off a couple of replicas of the 1958 Bentley S1 Continental and fit them up with motors from the current Continental GT Speed ? Tasteful colours, please, nothing too flashy.
>
> Thanks!

If I get it scaled up to the point where that's feasible and it can mill steel, I'd be glad too --- if you provide the raw materials, tooling and cover power expenses, and shipping and import / export duties.

Unfortunately, real world physics and availability of materials and the cost of the machine run time (which I still need to calculate) augur against any sort of zero-cost utopia (for the ultimate vision of that, look up Marshall Brain's novelette _Manna_ available here: http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm )

I am hoping to eventually use it to craft the parts for a Twike ( http://www.twike.com/ ) replica though (but what I really want is a PAL-V: http://pal-v.com/ ).

[Evans, Rebecca]

LOL! Don't forget to bulk up the sound wall between the engine and the
passenger compartment. I dated a man who put a Corvette engine into a
Model T. Lots of fun when surprising people driving muscle cars, but not
fun when idling at a red light.

Rebecca

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[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 8:53 AM, William Adams wrote:

> The way it'll work (as I understand it) is:
>
> - draw paths in InDesign (including converting text to outlines)
> - run Ole's script which will convert the path information in InDesign into g-code, a set of command for CNC (Continuous Numeric Control) machines
> - download the g-code to a controller which has a g-code interpreter and will send instructions to a set of stepper motors to move the machine's platform along the paths described in InDesign.

Turns out the script is already available on-line (I think --- if there's another one, I'd still be delighted to get it, esp. an AppleScript version):

http://www.siliconpublishing.com/resources/

IterativePathCuts: Converts InDesign paths to g-code for driving CNC machines. Comes in handy if you ever need to carve a sign from your InDesign layout.

[Bret Perry]

On 1/28/13 7:57 AM, "William Adams" <will....@frycomm.com> wrote:

>On Jan 28, 2013, at 8:53 AM, William Adams wrote:
>
>> The way it'll work (as I understand it) is:
>>
>> - draw paths in InDesign (including converting text to outlines)
>> - run Ole's script which will convert the path information in InDesign
>>into g-code, a set of command for CNC (Continuous Numeric Control)
>>machines
>> - download the g-code to a controller which has a g-code interpreter
>>and will send instructions to a set of stepper motors to move the
>>machine's platform along the paths described in InDesign.
>
>Turns out the script is already available on-line (I think --- if there's
>another one, I'd still be delighted to get it, esp. an AppleScript
>version):
>
>http://www.siliconpublishing.com/resources/
>
>IterativePathCuts: Converts InDesign paths to g-code for driving CNC
>machines. Comes in handy if you ever need to carve a sign from your
>InDesign layout.

Does this require Chrome or how do I initiate the download?
Filling out the form and hitting return does nothingŠ
I tried in Safari 5 and even turned on java, but no luck.



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[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 1:28 PM, Bret Perry wrote:

(re: http://www.siliconpublishing.com/resources/ )

> Does this require Chrome or how do I initiate the download?
> Filling out the form and hitting return does nothingŠ
> I tried in Safari 5 and even turned on java, but no luck.

No problems downloading it in Safari 5.1.7 under Mac OS X 10.6.8 --- the link should take one to a form:

http://www.siliconpublishing.com/contact/indesignscripts.php

and filling in the four fields and the radio check box should then make the Submit button work.

[Bret Perry]

On 1/28/13 10:40 AM, "William Adams" <will....@frycomm.com> wrote:

>On Jan 28, 2013, at 1:28 PM, Bret Perry wrote:
>
>(re: http://www.siliconpublishing.com/resources/ )
>
>> Does this require Chrome or how do I initiate the download?
>> Filling out the form and hitting return does nothingŠ
>> I tried in Safari 5 and even turned on java, but no luck.
>
>No problems downloading it in Safari 5.1.7 under Mac OS X 10.6.8 --- the
>link should take one to a form:
>
>http://www.siliconpublishing.com/contact/indesignscripts.php
>
>and filling in the four fields and the radio check box should then make
>the Submit button work.

Thanks, Oops. Forgot I'm testing Mountain Lion, So it's Safari 6.0.2 and
Java 7.x
I have no submit button, (See screenshot)
I can't easily click the "Do you want to be on our mailing list" button
that is half cut-off... then nothing when I hit return.

Try again other Mac Lion, Safari 5, Java 6.x

Layout is still messed up, no Submit button, but filling out form and
hitting return worked

Does require enabling the huge security hole known as Java. :-)

[Carol F Majors]

Okay, I get this part. 

This piece of art does not look like the "comics" they put out there. So I still wonder if they create the piece or if it is collected from the Creative Commonsphere. 

Thats all folks. 

[steve harley]

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 12:39 PM, Bret Perry <BPe...@russreid.com> wrote:
> I have no submit button, (See screenshot)

same here (stock Safari on OS X 10.7.5)

i tweaked it with the Web Inspector to take the padding off a header
span and the Submit button popped into view

[steve harley]

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 5:40 AM, William Adams <will....@frycomm.com> wrote:
> I'd thought Nodebox was a specialized superset of Python (and that one could access all of Python)

yes, it seems to be so; and thus if you wanted to combine Nodebox and
Arduino, there's at least one Python-to-Arduino library

<http://code.google.com/p/pyduino/>

using Python also leaves open the possibility of communicating
directly with InDesign (via py-appscript) …

i did an Arduino workshop last summer as part of a confab some friends
of mine put together

<http://www.bmoca.org/2012/04/medialive-2012/> (the date is messed up,
it was actually in July)

and i've been looking for the right project, but honestly Processing
was a bit of a turn-off because it's environment is so closed

[Olav Martin Kvern]

Hi William,

Here are a few quick notes on how to use the IterativePathCuts.jsx script.

* Draw a path in InDesign.

* Set the measurement units of your document to mm.

* If the path contains curves, select the path and run the AddPoints.jsx script (which comes with InDesign and is installed by default) a few times. The idea here is to "flatten" the path--the script will create straight-line segments between the points of the path, ignoring any curves.

* Position the zero point where you want X 0, Y 0 on your CNC machine to be. I tend to use the lower-left corner of the page, and I tend to move my paths so that they start around 3 mm x 3 mm.

* With the path selected, run the IterativePathCuts.jsx script. The script will display a dialog box.

Here's a quick listing of the options:

Start Z: The height, measured from Z 0, to which you want to lower the router for its initial pass. I generally place this just above the surface of the material--it can help to do a "dry run" pass before you actually start cutting anything. Typically, when I'm cutting 1/4 inch acrylic, I'll start at 6mm, just above the surface.

Start X and Start Y: Best to leave these at zero, for now.

End Z: The vertical ending point for the cut. Set this to 0 to cut all of the way through the material, or some other value to create an indent.

Interim Z: The point to which to raise the rounter between passes. Usually, this should be some point above the surface of the material you're cutting.

Step: The vertical distance between passes. The point of this setting is to avoid (expensive!) broken router bits. The smaller (in diameter) the bit, the more passes it will take to cut the piece. In addition, the smaller you make the vertical step, the smoother the edges will typically be. I usually cut 1/4 inch acrylic in 1 mm passes with a 1.588 mm (i.e., 1/16th inch) bit.

* Once you've got the settings the way you want them, click the OK button. The script will display a standard file dialog box.

* Select a location and enter a name for the g-code file, giving it the file extension ".nc", then click the OK button to save the file.

At this point, you have a g-code file you can send to your CNC machine.

I typically have a first pass that cuts the outline of the shape to around 1 mm. Then I have another file that cuts *most of* the last 1 mm, but leaves a few "bridges" to keep the shape from moving. Then I have a third g-code file that cuts just those bridges away. Before I run the last file, I put duct tape over the shape to keep it from moving as the last bits of material are cut away. I'm mostly making pretty small pieces, and having them sucked up by my homemade ShopVac dust extractor is no fun.

The script does not compensate for the diameter of the router bit, so the cutting path you want should be offset from the original path by half of the diameter of the bit. I do this by making circles that are the same diameter as the router bit, then positioning the circles around the original path. I then run another script that connects the centers of the circles to create the cutting path.

Hope all that makes some sense!

Here's my newest "extended instrument". This video was made before I built the control circuitry onto the front of the guitar--it was all on a breadboard. I can now pick it up and improvise with different picking patterns. It's really fun to play with. I'm working on a controller that will make it easier for the right hand to change patterns, speed, and so on (right now, I have to hit keys on a laptop).

http://youtu.be/ee-wHcjO1lU

Please pardon the 10 seconds of "dead air" at the start of the video. I tried to edit it out with Adobe Premiere but ended up with a video that looked and sounded much worse and took up twice the space on disk. Typical.

Earlier versions hammered on the strings using solenoids as actuators--this one uses small gearmotors to push picks back and forth. Timing accuracy seems good to about 360 beats per minute (with 16th notes). The video above is at around 40 bpm.

Thanks,

Ole

[Olav Martin Kvern]

Hi Rebecca,

We're just drawing 2D objects in InDesign--just the usual paths. We're then using a script to convert the paths to g-code, which can drive a computer-controlled router (a CNC machine). The script lets us add a little bit of 3D--where, on the Z (vertical) axis to start a cut, and where to stop. Some people call this 2.5D, rather than 3D.

When I draw a path in InDesign for use with my CNC machine, I'm thinking of it as a sheet of plastic or plywood, typically between 1/16th inch and 1/2 inch thick. By controlling the depth of the cut (the Z axis), I can control whether a particular path cuts all of the way through the material, or whether it makes an indent in the material. It's as if I'm drawing a line on the plywood with a marker, then cutting along the marker lines with a band saw--but it's quite a bit more precise.

CNC machines are *subtractive*--they use a router bit or plasma torch to cut away pieces from a piece of material (typically plastic, wood, brass, or aluminum). These are different from 3D printers, which use an *additive* process to build up material to make something. I haven't built one of those yet.:-)

Thanks,

Ole

[Valter Viglietti - Frame Studio]

Il giorno 28/01/13 16.02, William Adams ha scritto:

> Unfortunately, real world physics and availability of materials and the cost
> of the machine run time (which I still need to calculate) augur against any
> sort of zero-cost utopia (for the ultimate vision of that, look up Marshall
> Brain's novelette _Manna_ available here: http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

Thank you William!
The Manna novel itself, and many resources on Brain's website, look
promising. :-)

[steve harley]

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 6:45 PM, Olav Martin Kvern <okv...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> http://youtu.be/ee-wHcjO1lU

that is very cool, Ole; reminds me in an oblique way of Pat Metheny's
Orchestrion, which is amazing to see in person but is also (especially
compared to your device) a huge waste of actuators and machinery; next
you'll need to see about transcribing Conlon Nancarrow's compositions
for guitar

[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 4:24 PM, Carol F Majors wrote:

> This piece of art does not look like the "comics" they put out there. So I still wonder if they create the piece or if it is collected from the Creative Commonsphere.

If it was ``collected'' then it would still have to be attributed.

Why are you so unwilling to accept that Randall Munroe drew this?

[William Adams]

On Jan 28, 2013, at 8:45 PM, Olav Martin Kvern wrote:

> Here are a few quick notes on how to use the IterativePathCuts.jsx script.

Thanks!

> * If the path contains curves, select the path and run the AddPoints.jsx script (which comes with InDesign and is installed by default) a few times. The idea here is to "flatten" the path--the script will create straight-line segments between the points of the path, ignoring any curves.

Oh.

I'd thought that G-Code had a Beziér curve option and was hoping this would be a way to access that.

Guess I'm back to looking for a good tutorial.

[Roy McCoy]

I was kind of hoping it would break into "Eight Miles High".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH6UnvSlahc


Roy

[Carol F Majors]

I am not reluctant to assume. I want to Know to whom to credit this marvelous example of info graphics.

> --
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[William Adams]

On Jan 29, 2013, at 1:35 PM, Carol F Majors wrote:

> I want to Know to whom to credit this marvelous example of info graphics.

Randall Munroe, as I've been telling you since this came up:

https://plus.google.com/+YonatanZunger/posts/NCuza9KHxmK

[Olav Martin Kvern]

Hi William,

I get quite smooth curves using AddPoints.jsx--you might give it a try.

G-code does not have much support for curves--you can do circular arcs (with G3 and G2), but that's about it. From the point of view of the general CNC audience, it doesn't matter too much, given that the most common file formats for input to g-Code are DXF and STL--both of which flatten curves into polylines. My approach, for better or worse, leaves the polyline generation parameters up to the user.

I guess I could make a version that does the point addition/flattening as part of the export process, thereby leaving the original paths alone.

Thanks,

Ole

[Carol F Majors]

thank you. I didn't know about randall's work before this. 

[William Adams]

On Jan 29, 2013, at 3:29 PM, Olav Martin Kvern wrote:

> I get quite smooth curves using AddPoints.jsx--you might give it a try.

I tried a drawing w/ a felt tip pen, and was quite taken aback at how the line would be darkened at different points by the machine slowing down at what seemed to be the begin / end points of different instructions.

> G-code does not have much support for curves--you can do circular arcs (with G3 and G2), but that's about it.

Obviously I misunderstood the Beziér curve support angle.

> From the point of view of the general CNC audience, it doesn't matter too much, given that the most common file formats for input to g-Code are DXF and STL--both of which flatten curves into polylines. My approach, for better or worse, leaves the polyline generation parameters up to the user.

I was aware of the DXF and STL limitations --- that's why I was hoping for something better.

> I guess I could make a version that does the point addition/flattening as part of the export process, thereby leaving the original paths alone.

That would be a big win on the usability / safety aspect.

I wonder if there couldn't be a better option here though. I've come across some different code implementations for approximating a B-spline as a series of arcs, and one forum thread advocated doing so as a way to get a smoother machine path and result / finished part.

I guess I'll just start w/ the G-code tutorials and see how far I get w/ hand-coding. At a minimum, I need to work up a testing / calibration file which does circles in different directions.

[Thomas Olbrich]

Am 25.01.13 15:24 schrieb "William Adams" unter <will....@frycomm.com>:

>On Jan 23, 2013, at 9:20 PM, Olav Martin Kvern wrote:
>
>> But, seriously, Ben Fry is awesome. His own work is good, but his
>>involvement with Processing is even better. Processing is a cut-down
>>version of Java for artists,
>
>That would be:
>
>http://processing.org/
>
>?

Yes. Not tired to point @:

http://www.generative-gestaltung.de

- thomas