7 ms·

Geometee

140 points by mxxx 13y ago

swayvil 13y ago
It's FABULOUS!
olh 13y ago
I don't even know what it is, but seems cool. Edit: oh, t-shirts...
arbus 13y ago
Really cool! Please consider replacing the tiny knobs with something a bit more user-friendly like sliders
- archgrove 13y ago
  Yes, please. I like the concept, but found using the dials really fiddly and unintuitive. They don't seem to "turn" like one would expect, working only off the height of the mouse cursor after starting interaction.
  - hashmymustache 13y ago
    Yea, it's simple once you figure out it's only using the y axis, but a bit dissonant that it's visually encoded on a circle/knob. That said, really awesome demo!
  - akx 13y ago
    It was actually intuitive to me. But I'm used to interfaces for VSTs (audio generation/effects plugins) that usually have this exact interaction mode. See http://www.protoolerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/screenshot_Ohmicide.jpg http://www.protoolerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/screenshot_O... for an example of one. (Sometimes VST knobs also have the extra of horizontal movement being a "fine-tune" mode, even, which is very handy.)
    - oakwhiz 13y ago
      I always found it strange that VST knobs were actually sliders in disguise. After a while you get used to it, but I can see how confusing it might be to users.
  - super-serial 13y ago
    My favorite dial control is this JQuery Knob plugin: http://anthonyterrien.com/knob/ http://anthonyterrien.com/knob/ If he wanted the knobs to look exactly like his existing dials, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to modify the plugin and add an extra dot at the position of the value.
gruseom 13y ago
That color picker is unusually intricate. Does it come from a library or was it made for this site?
- evan_ 13y ago
  If you have a modern browser, it's your OS color picker- the tool uses <input type="color" />. http://slides.html5rocks.com/#new-form-types http://slides.html5rocks.com/#new-form-types
  - gruseom 13y ago
    Thank you both. I had no idea that HTML5 included this.
- superchink 13y ago
  It seems to be using the native color picker. More info here: http://www.cssjockey.com/tips-tricks/native-color-picker-support-with-input-type-color-in-chromium-and-chrome-canary http://www.cssjockey.com/tips-tricks/native-color-picker-sup...
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
dopamean 13y ago
I have no idea what I was just playing with but I spend way more time on it than I care to admit.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  Same here. I ended up making parsnips: http://imgur.com/kYUA5nm http://imgur.com/kYUA5nm
itry 13y ago
Killed the back button of my browser.
pepsi 13y ago
This is great, in around 15 minutes I have some excellent desktop wallpapers for work! The exported image is 2400x3200 and scales nicely.
- drewnoakes 13y ago
  It'd be great to see what you came up with! I programmed this site in my spare time and haven't really seen what others have made with it.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
tikhonj 13y ago
Heh, this is pretty neat. I just noticed that there's a little color swatch on the right side of the screen that allows you to change the background color. Combine all this with a nice color scheme and you can get something that looks really cool.
derleth 13y ago
I can't turn the knobs at all most of the time. I'm using a mouse on a laptop; maybe this only really works on a tablet or phone?
- lloeki 13y ago
  That part is, to me, a UI disaster. What you can do though is click and drag upwards, even out of the knob, and it will work (barely, because it's incredibly not sensitive)
  - to3m 13y ago
    Yes. Those stupid knobs confused me terribly. I kept trying to move the mouse cursor as if it were my finger, using it to rotate that little notch on the knob. Because, like, it's a knob... right? I mean, I've used knobs before. That's how they work. And this is a knob. I know that, because it looks like one. EVEN THE STUPID BAR GOES ROUND THE KNOB. It's telling you to rotate it. And then you rotate it, and it doesn't work. Dear people, stop doing this.
    - StavrosK 13y ago
      What, you don't usually tie a string around your knobs and pull up or down, depending on how you want it to turn? Seriously, though, once I figured out how they work (it took a few seconds), it was just fine. I don't know what all the furore is about, it's at most a minor inconvenience.
- miahi 13y ago
  The knobs are not turning while the picture is rendered. Depending on settings (tree with many branches) it can take a while.
- nijk 13y ago
  No, the site fails on Android. Layout is broken and rendering is choppy.
- drewnoakes 13y ago
neeee 13y ago
I want to buy one.
peterhil 13y ago
I accidentally created a tree with way too many branches on http://geometee.com/#!/Work005FractalTree http://geometee.com/#!/Work005FractalTree and now the presets load really slowly, sorry. Could you delete that?
- drewnoakes 13y ago
  Yeah that one can really kill your computer. In a proper desktop app the developer gets a lot more control over processing of tasks like this, but in the browser the best I can do is limit the number of branches or the depth, and hope your computer/tablet is fast enough to not get too slow. Thanks for the feedback!
cocoflunchy 13y ago
Can you buy the t-shirts? There is a preview but I didn't see any link to actually buy the thing...
- mrgordon 13y ago
  I'm assuming you are supposed to upload it to the cheapest t-shirt vendor of your choice based on volume etc.
- drewnoakes 13y ago
  Ultimately I'll program the site to allow purchases. I hadn't gotten around to it, but given the interest the site's gotten recently I'm kind of kicking myself. If there's a design you'd like on a tshirt, let me know and we can make it happen via RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/explore/geometee http://www.redbubble.com/explore/geometee
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
m_d 13y ago
The default design reminds me of Joy Division. http://imgur.com/OaKCSUp http://imgur.com/OaKCSUp
fredley 13y ago
I spent a long time trying to make it into the Joy Division cover before working out that it wasn't going to happen...
- ArikBe 13y ago
  Maybe a bit off-topic but I enquired on Quora a few months ago on how one would go about simulating the CP1919 Cover. (I wanted it laser cut on my MacBook Pro through the services of uncover.com) and here's the answer: http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-would-be-a-way-to-generate-a-stacked-time-series-from-an-audio-file-similar-to-the-CP-1919-graphic/answer/Mario-Klingemann?__ac__=1 http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-would-be-a-way-...
AllenWalker 13y ago
Nothing.
nostromo 13y ago
What is this blob protocol? I've never seen it before and Google just thinks I meant to say blog (grrr, google). You get to it by clicking export: blob:http%3A//geometee.com/1692d5b3-b837-4181-bae4-7c6a997ab22a Ah, found it, very interesting: http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/FileAPI/#url http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/FileAPI/#url
- program 13y ago
  It's the URI behind the File API: http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#url http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#url
taliesinb 13y ago
After reading "The Blind Watchmaker" I did something similar to this project -- in Visual Basic! (My excuse for using such an abhorrent language is that I was only 10 and didn't know any better). Which makes me think that this project is ripe for a "artificial selection" mode in which you get multiple mutated copies and pick the right one, slowly directing the parameters in a 'pleasing' direction. Here's a cool video that demos Dawkins' watchmaker program from way back when: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUkL2bLFiOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUkL2bLFiOU
- gcb0 13y ago
  love how VB was able to introduce maybe 1/3 of the people on this site to programming but everyone dismiss it as pure garbage.
  - nijk 13y ago
    Wow, kids. In my day it was QBasic or GWBasic.
    - gcb0 13y ago
      ...changing the graphics from gorilla.bas i imagine :)
      - taliesinb 13y ago
        That is exactly how I started! Today's walled gardens don't seem to contain the same sandpits we had in the days of DOS and friends.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
d23 13y ago
I wish this was open source. I'd love to make it animated. It'd be real neat to have something that changes from one aesthetically pleasing shape to another. Edit: Or having the various parameters put to different aspects of music would be awesome as well.
na85 13y ago
The annoying knob UI killed any enjoyment I might have got out of this.
Robin_Message 13y ago
Please wire this up to a t-shirt printer! Maybe an artsy 3D printer-based plotter for the vector patterns?
florincm 13y ago
http://cl.ly/image/1K0u1R0M0g0P http://cl.ly/image/1K0u1R0M0g0P
drewnoakes 13y ago
Hi everyone, I'm the man behind geometee. I haven't quite finished developing it, so hadn't widely announced it. It's really exciting to get your feedback and see the awesome things you've been creating with it. I will revisit the knob UI based on the feedback here. These seem really intuitive to some people (normally those who play around with audio software) whereas sliders might be more usable to the majority. Any ideas for other directions I could take this?

Geometee

140 points by mxxx 13y ago

swayvil 13y ago

It's FABULOUS!

olh 13y ago

I don't even know what it is, but seems cool. Edit: oh, t-shirts...

arbus 13y ago

Really cool! Please consider replacing the tiny knobs with something a bit more user-friendly like sliders

archgrove 13y ago
Yes, please. I like the concept, but found using the dials really fiddly and unintuitive. They don't seem to "turn" like one would expect, working only off the height of the mouse cursor after starting interaction.
- hashmymustache 13y ago
  Yea, it's simple once you figure out it's only using the y axis, but a bit dissonant that it's visually encoded on a circle/knob. That said, really awesome demo!
- akx 13y ago
  It was actually intuitive to me. But I'm used to interfaces for VSTs (audio generation/effects plugins) that usually have this exact interaction mode. See http://www.protoolerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/screenshot_Ohmicide.jpg http://www.protoolerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/screenshot_O... for an example of one. (Sometimes VST knobs also have the extra of horizontal movement being a "fine-tune" mode, even, which is very handy.)
  - oakwhiz 13y ago
    I always found it strange that VST knobs were actually sliders in disguise. After a while you get used to it, but I can see how confusing it might be to users.
- super-serial 13y ago
  My favorite dial control is this JQuery Knob plugin: http://anthonyterrien.com/knob/ http://anthonyterrien.com/knob/ If he wanted the knobs to look exactly like his existing dials, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to modify the plugin and add an extra dot at the position of the value.

gruseom 13y ago

That color picker is unusually intricate. Does it come from a library or was it made for this site?

evan_ 13y ago
If you have a modern browser, it's your OS color picker- the tool uses <input type="color" />. http://slides.html5rocks.com/#new-form-types http://slides.html5rocks.com/#new-form-types
- gruseom 13y ago
  Thank you both. I had no idea that HTML5 included this.
superchink 13y ago
It seems to be using the native color picker. More info here: http://www.cssjockey.com/tips-tricks/native-color-picker-support-with-input-type-color-in-chromium-and-chrome-canary http://www.cssjockey.com/tips-tricks/native-color-picker-sup...
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

dopamean 13y ago

I have no idea what I was just playing with but I spend way more time on it than I care to admit.

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
Same here. I ended up making parsnips: http://imgur.com/kYUA5nm http://imgur.com/kYUA5nm

itry 13y ago

Killed the back button of my browser.

pepsi 13y ago

This is great, in around 15 minutes I have some excellent desktop wallpapers for work! The exported image is 2400x3200 and scales nicely.

drewnoakes 13y ago
It'd be great to see what you came up with! I programmed this site in my spare time and haven't really seen what others have made with it.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

tikhonj 13y ago

Heh, this is pretty neat. I just noticed that there's a little color swatch on the right side of the screen that allows you to change the background color. Combine all this with a nice color scheme and you can get something that looks really cool.

derleth 13y ago

I can't turn the knobs at all most of the time. I'm using a mouse on a laptop; maybe this only really works on a tablet or phone?

lloeki 13y ago
That part is, to me, a UI disaster. What you can do though is click and drag upwards, even out of the knob, and it will work (barely, because it's incredibly not sensitive)
- to3m 13y ago
  Yes. Those stupid knobs confused me terribly. I kept trying to move the mouse cursor as if it were my finger, using it to rotate that little notch on the knob. Because, like, it's a knob... right? I mean, I've used knobs before. That's how they work. And this is a knob. I know that, because it looks like one. EVEN THE STUPID BAR GOES ROUND THE KNOB. It's telling you to rotate it. And then you rotate it, and it doesn't work. Dear people, stop doing this.
  - StavrosK 13y ago
    What, you don't usually tie a string around your knobs and pull up or down, depending on how you want it to turn? Seriously, though, once I figured out how they work (it took a few seconds), it was just fine. I don't know what all the furore is about, it's at most a minor inconvenience.
miahi 13y ago
The knobs are not turning while the picture is rendered. Depending on settings (tree with many branches) it can take a while.
nijk 13y ago
No, the site fails on Android. Layout is broken and rendering is choppy.
drewnoakes 13y ago

neeee 13y ago

I want to buy one.

peterhil 13y ago

I accidentally created a tree with way too many branches on http://geometee.com/#!/Work005FractalTree http://geometee.com/#!/Work005FractalTree and now the presets load really slowly, sorry. Could you delete that?

drewnoakes 13y ago
Yeah that one can really kill your computer. In a proper desktop app the developer gets a lot more control over processing of tasks like this, but in the browser the best I can do is limit the number of branches or the depth, and hope your computer/tablet is fast enough to not get too slow. Thanks for the feedback!

cocoflunchy 13y ago

Can you buy the t-shirts? There is a preview but I didn't see any link to actually buy the thing...

mrgordon 13y ago
I'm assuming you are supposed to upload it to the cheapest t-shirt vendor of your choice based on volume etc.
drewnoakes 13y ago
Ultimately I'll program the site to allow purchases. I hadn't gotten around to it, but given the interest the site's gotten recently I'm kind of kicking myself. If there's a design you'd like on a tshirt, let me know and we can make it happen via RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/explore/geometee http://www.redbubble.com/explore/geometee

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

m_d 13y ago

The default design reminds me of Joy Division. http://imgur.com/OaKCSUp http://imgur.com/OaKCSUp

fredley 13y ago

I spent a long time trying to make it into the Joy Division cover before working out that it wasn't going to happen...

ArikBe 13y ago
Maybe a bit off-topic but I enquired on Quora a few months ago on how one would go about simulating the CP1919 Cover. (I wanted it laser cut on my MacBook Pro through the services of uncover.com) and here's the answer: http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-would-be-a-way-to-generate-a-stacked-time-series-from-an-audio-file-similar-to-the-CP-1919-graphic/answer/Mario-Klingemann?__ac__=1 http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-would-be-a-way-...

AllenWalker 13y ago

Nothing.

nostromo 13y ago

What is this blob protocol? I've never seen it before and Google just thinks I meant to say blog (grrr, google). You get to it by clicking export: blob:http%3A//geometee.com/1692d5b3-b837-4181-bae4-7c6a997ab22a Ah, found it, very interesting: http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/FileAPI/#url http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/FileAPI/#url

program 13y ago
It's the URI behind the File API: http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#url http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#url

taliesinb 13y ago

After reading "The Blind Watchmaker" I did something similar to this project -- in Visual Basic! (My excuse for using such an abhorrent language is that I was only 10 and didn't know any better). Which makes me think that this project is ripe for a "artificial selection" mode in which you get multiple mutated copies and pick the right one, slowly directing the parameters in a 'pleasing' direction. Here's a cool video that demos Dawkins' watchmaker program from way back when: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUkL2bLFiOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUkL2bLFiOU

gcb0 13y ago
love how VB was able to introduce maybe 1/3 of the people on this site to programming but everyone dismiss it as pure garbage.
- nijk 13y ago
  Wow, kids. In my day it was QBasic or GWBasic.
  - gcb0 13y ago
    ...changing the graphics from gorilla.bas i imagine :)
    - taliesinb 13y ago
      That is exactly how I started! Today's walled gardens don't seem to contain the same sandpits we had in the days of DOS and friends.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

d23 13y ago

I wish this was open source. I'd love to make it animated. It'd be real neat to have something that changes from one aesthetically pleasing shape to another. Edit: Or having the various parameters put to different aspects of music would be awesome as well.

na85 13y ago

The annoying knob UI killed any enjoyment I might have got out of this.

Robin_Message 13y ago

Please wire this up to a t-shirt printer! Maybe an artsy 3D printer-based plotter for the vector patterns?

florincm 13y ago

http://cl.ly/image/1K0u1R0M0g0P http://cl.ly/image/1K0u1R0M0g0P

drewnoakes 13y ago

Hi everyone, I'm the man behind geometee. I haven't quite finished developing it, so hadn't widely announced it. It's really exciting to get your feedback and see the awesome things you've been creating with it. I will revisit the knob UI based on the feedback here. These seem really intuitive to some people (normally those who play around with audio software) whereas sliders might be more usable to the majority. Any ideas for other directions I could take this?