Sunday, August 14, 2005
Rich Media Experiences Lacking
   TV is neat because many things are hand coded with explicit pixel positions and absolutes that are composited together to get an intended effect that looks incredible and visually enjoyable.
   I once thought Avalon was also going to be neat because we could do similar things. Not the hand coding, though. Yet, I have found that applying animation transitions and niceties is hard--almost to the point where it is best to do it like TV. The grid panel is awesome, which you may remember is the opposite of what I thought before. But, It really allows for an incredible layout. Back to the point, though--when you want to add these custom animation transitions and effects, usually, no make that almost always, you have to break down those nice layouts and go to back to absolute positioning on the Canvas. You also have a big problem trying to get controls (and their shapes) clipped so as to not cover up functionality behind. This means you have to play a game of promoting and demoting things in the Z order--which I would think adds some un-needed overhead.
   The thing is that objects and shapes on screen should be able to fly around, link up, decouple, change Z order without having to change the panel children order, and transitioning between shapes easily. Exactly like things on TV. The channel I most want to mimic is MSNBC (the stock channel). They have cool things going on: background animations using 3D and blurring, polished look and feel, and presentation of both information and usefulness in the same package.
 
   I am not trying to rag on Avalon, because I love it. I mean, how could I criticize something that is superior to anything else in existence. I can't. But, on the same token it seems like trying to build these experiences that I want are harder than I would have thought.
   Here is something I want to do:
   Imagine I have a Window with a button in the middle (the button is gel styled). I want to click the button and have it so that the screen seamlessly transitions from being a button in the middle to a new form with many controls and information. I can imagine the button getting bigger until it is half the size of the new form, at which time the background fades from the button color to the new form color and the controls on the new form start to appear. This is a simple example of something I want to do (simple). But, I find this hard.
   Have the designers of Avalon thought of these scenarios? Like I said, I don't mean to criticize, but just bring it to the table... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/14/2005 12:45:00 PMContent source: http://longhornblogs.com/rdawson/archive/2005/06/06/14163.aspx
   I once thought Avalon was also going to be neat because we could do similar things. Not the hand coding, though. Yet, I have found that applying animation transitions and niceties is hard--almost to the point where it is best to do it like TV. The grid panel is awesome, which you may remember is the opposite of what I thought before. But, It really allows for an incredible layout. Back to the point, though--when you want to add these custom animation transitions and effects, usually, no make that almost always, you have to break down those nice layouts and go to back to absolute positioning on the Canvas. You also have a big problem trying to get controls (and their shapes) clipped so as to not cover up functionality behind. This means you have to play a game of promoting and demoting things in the Z order--which I would think adds some un-needed overhead.
   The thing is that objects and shapes on screen should be able to fly around, link up, decouple, change Z order without having to change the panel children order, and transitioning between shapes easily. Exactly like things on TV. The channel I most want to mimic is MSNBC (the stock channel). They have cool things going on: background animations using 3D and blurring, polished look and feel, and presentation of both information and usefulness in the same package.
 
   I am not trying to rag on Avalon, because I love it. I mean, how could I criticize something that is superior to anything else in existence. I can't. But, on the same token it seems like trying to build these experiences that I want are harder than I would have thought.
   Here is something I want to do:
   Imagine I have a Window with a button in the middle (the button is gel styled). I want to click the button and have it so that the screen seamlessly transitions from being a button in the middle to a new form with many controls and information. I can imagine the button getting bigger until it is half the size of the new form, at which time the background fades from the button color to the new form color and the controls on the new form start to appear. This is a simple example of something I want to do (simple). But, I find this hard.
   Have the designers of Avalon thought of these scenarios? Like I said, I don't mean to criticize, but just bring it to the table... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/14/2005 12:45:00 PMContent source: http://longhornblogs.com/rdawson/archive/2005/06/06/14163.aspx
