![]() We're going to use the "text_fx.ndbx" example: NodeBox2, meet Fieldįirst, let's download the beta of NodeBox from here. This can only mean one thing - it really is time to get Field's hooks into NodeBox and start tracking their beta releases. Let's assume that that NodeBox's spline code remains as well developed, tested and documented as it has been even as their team goes through this complete rewrite. Thankfully, we didn't bother figuring any of this out, because the latest beta version of NodeBox has taken a very interesting and unexpected twist - it's now a Java/Jython project (just like Field) with an all new, even more hybrid (and even more interesting) interface. It was going to be pretty tedious, because while Python-based, NodeBox was very much "non-pure" Python - much of it was a wrapper around Quartz (Apple's native drawing code). We like our API's but we don't think they are the last word on 2d drawing by any means. But NodeBox's 2d spline code has always been well developed, well tested and well documented - so much so that we'd been thinking about ways of hacking into it to let Field users use that API as well as "ours". Field's 2d drawing tools we're started before we heard of NodeBox, but our image filtering extensions we're directly provoked and inspired by that project. ![]() Not only is it a hybrid visual programming environment for making 2d vector & bitmapped images, but it uses Python as its programming language. The NodeBox has a document window which consists of the Viewer Pane which shows the composition the user is working on, the Parameters Pane which allows users to adjust the parameter values of a node, the Network Pane which shows all nodes and their connections and the Source Pane which contains the source code of the currently selected node.For as long as the Field project has been going we've been keeping an eye on NodeBox. NodeBox has a large set of external libraries such as the SVG library for importing SVG paths, the Bezier editor for drawing right inside of the application, and Core Image for doing Photoshop-like image manipulations like layers with blending modes, color changes and filters using the OS X Core Image library, which is hardware accelerated. NodeBox also supports images and text with line wrapping and users can specify fill and stroke colors using RGB, HSB or CMYK, all with alpha transparency. NodeBox not only supports simple forms such as rectangles, ovals, stars, and arrows, but also Bezier paths in general. Nodebox lets users code in Python instead of Java where Nodebox comes with a lot of built-in tools such as flocking, particle systems and graphs and an easy access to all the tools available in Python. NodeBox offers features such as Python programming code, export as a PDF or a QuickTime movie, create static, animated or interactive compositions using simple primitives such as rectangles and ovals, import images and vector files from Photoshop and Illustrator, play around with text paths, supports Core Image, create layered images using transformations, blend modes, alpha masks and filters and all hardware-accelerated. NodeBox is an easy-to-use, efficient, and fast node-based software application which makes it easy to do data visualizations, generative design and complex production challenges.
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