[plt-scheme] 2htdp/image questions

I think that Paul was observing that a large bitmap'd image did not
impose an undue penalty, but an image constructed out of 3,000 small
overlaid images did. (But perhaps the sentiment of you messages still
applies.)

Robby

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 9:54 AM, Matthias Felleisen
<matthias at ccs.neu.edu> wrote:
>
>
>> ; INSERT HI-RES IMAGE HERE ********
>> ;; I used a 1200x900 cut-n-paste of a digicam photo via MS Paint
>> (define HI-RES {text "Insert large bitmap here" 20 "black"})
>
>
> Yes, a 1200 x 900 photo will impose a heavy burden on the universe drawing
> as implemented. We have played with tricks to do the rendering right and we
> are okay with say 800 by 800, but barely. If in addition your tick handler
> demands a lot of work, we're out of luck.
>
> Matthew and I have discussed an alternative semantics (what a tick means
> isn't all that obvious) and I intend to implement it over the summer. I
> doubt, however, that the result will cope with your images. Even if, I can
> imagine that someone with a 30in monitor (I just got one) will use an even
> larger image as background.
>
> To accommodate this world properly, I have considered a slightly different
> API where the result of a render function can be the addition to an existing
> background. I may implement this in addition to the above changes.
>
> ;; ---
>
> All in all, Universe is a relatively simplistic functional library for
> teaching and is intended for simple, small animations. If you are using this
> in a teaching context, please try to use modest images and backgrounds (400
> x 400, 600 x 800 should be okay). I think students can still have fun with
> these modest sizes. We just had a game design contest for our freshman
> semester (trailer) and kids wrote fantastic, multi level games -- and they
> were well-designed.
>
> Thanks -- Matthias
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 22, 2010, at 10:39 AM, <engineer at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>
>> Attached is an example that shows some poor performance.
>>
>> The animation has four ways to render the background:
>> 1. Use a blank rectangle
>> 2. Use place-image to create a complex image which is recreated from
>> scratch
>> each time render is called
>> 3. Create an image like in #2 but store it as a constant before the
>> animation starts.  Render then references this constant as the background
>> scene for the animation each time.
>> 4. Use a constant hi-res photo as the background.
>>
>> I found that #1 and #4 run okay, but #2 and #3 show choppy animation of
>> the
>> foreground.
>>
>> I pulled my hi-res photo out of the code to make the file more attachment
>> friendly.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Paul
>>
>> Paul R. Ojanen
>> Math/Physics/Computer Science Instructor
>> Technology Director
>> The Academy at King
>> 5825 Old Jonesboro Rd
>> Bristol, TN 37620
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: plt-scheme-bounces at list.cs.brown.edu [mailto:plt-scheme-
>>> bounces at list.cs.brown.edu] On Behalf Of Robby Findler
>>> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 8:28 AM
>>> To: Noel Welsh
>>> Cc: plt-scheme at list.cs.brown.edu
>>> Subject: Re: [plt-scheme] 2htdp/image questions
>>>
>>>> On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 3:33 AM, Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adelphi.edu>
>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> But why do I (or my students) have to go through a feature-request
>>>
>>> process
>>>>>
>>>>> to get additional operations, rather than having an easy way to write
>>>
>>> them
>>>>>
>>>>> ourselves?
>>>
>>> One possible answer: you don't. Make a copy of the 2htdp/image and go
>>> wild. Put it on planet if you think I'm so unresponsive that I won't
>>> even accept patches.
>>>
>>> One possible other answer: asking for an easy way to add features to
>>> library is in fact a feature. :)
>>>
>>> That said, I do plan to do more with 2htdp/image. I just don't expect
>>> I'll have time for a few months. I welcome your experimentation in
>>> that time; lots of the work is figuring out exactly what to do, often
>>> that's easier than doing it, once the "what" is settled.
>>>
>>> As for a recent comment here, I don't think that we want to add a
>>> "rasterize" or "make this be a bitmap" operation to 2htdp/image since
>>> that brings in a performance model to teach to the students, at least
>>> without exploring other alternatives. I have not had a chance to look
>>> into the specific performance problem that was mentioned here earlier,
>>> but but I would hope that there is a better solution than making the
>>> students do extra work.
>>>
>>> Speaking of which, if someone has a badly performing program, please
>>> do share it so I can investigate more effectively.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Robby
>>> _________________________________________________
>>>  For list-related administrative tasks:
>>>  http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme
>>
>> <animation slowdown.ss>_________________________________________________
>>  For list-related administrative tasks:
>>  http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme
>
>