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cookbook: Added a recipe for cross-fading between two images

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The recipe covers a two texture approach (using the Clutter API)
and a single texture approach (using COGL).

It also discusses issues with cross-fading between images of
different sizes with the COGL API, and gives a longer
example of cycling through multiple images in a slideshow
application.
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Elliot Smith 2010-08-18 11:41:10 +01:00
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doc/cookbook/textures.xml
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@ -841,4 +841,539 @@ typedef struct _CoglTextureVertex {
</section>
<section id="textures-crossfade">
<title>Cross-fading between two images</title>
<section>
<title>Problem</title>
<para>You want to do a cross-fade animation (a.k.a. a dissolve
transition) between two images.</para>
<para>An example use case would be creating a slideshow effect:
load an image from a file, display it in the UI, then load a second
image and cross-fade to it.</para>
</section>
<section>
<title>Solutions</title>
<para>There are two main approaches you could take:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Use two <type>ClutterTextures</type>, one on top
of the other.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Use a single <type>ClutterTexture</type>
with the two images in separate layers inside it.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<section>
<title>Solution 1: two textures</title>
<para>This approach uses two <type>ClutterTextures</type>,
<varname>bottom</varname> and <varname>top</varname>. To begin
with, the <varname>bottom</varname> texture shows the
<emphasis>source</emphasis> image and is opaque; the
<varname>top</varname> texture is loaded with
the <emphasis>target</emphasis> image, but is not visible as
it is fully transparent.</para>
<para>An animation is then used to fade in the
<varname>top</varname> texture and fade out the
<varname>bottom</varname> texture, leaving just <varname>top</varname>
visible.</para>
<para>To implement this, first create the two textures inside a
<type>ClutterBinLayout</type>:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
/* ... initialise Clutter, get default stage etc. ... */
/* Actors added to this layout are centered on both x and y axes */
ClutterLayoutManager *layout = clutter_bin_layout_new (CLUTTER_BIN_ALIGNMENT_CENTER,
CLUTTER_BIN_ALIGNMENT_CENTER);
ClutterActor *box = clutter_box_new (layout);
/* set the size of the box so it fills the stage (in this case 600x600) */
clutter_actor_set_size (box, 400, 400);
ClutterActor *bottom = clutter_texture_new ();
ClutterActor *top = clutter_texture_new ();
/*
* Add the textures to the layout;
* NB because top is added last, it will be "on top of" bottom
*/
clutter_container_add_actor (CLUTTER_CONTAINER (box), bottom);
clutter_container_add_actor (CLUTTER_CONTAINER (box), top);
/* stage is a ClutterStage instance */
clutter_container_add_actor (CLUTTER_CONTAINER (stage), box);
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>Load the <varname>source</varname> image into the bottom
texture and the <varname>target</varname> image into the top one.
As this is the same operation each time, it makes sense to write
a function for loading an image into a texture and checking
for errors, e.g.:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
static gboolean
load_image (ClutterTexture *texture,
gchar *image_path)
{
GError *error = NULL;
gboolean success = clutter_texture_set_from_file (CLUTTER_TEXTURE (texture),
image_path,
&error);
if (error != NULL)
{
g_warning ("Error loading %s\n%s", image_path, error->message);
g_error_free (error);
exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
}
return success;
}
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>The <function>load_image()</function> function can then
be called for each texture:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
/* file path to the image visible when the UI is first displayed */
gchar *source = NULL;
/* file path to the image we're going to cross-fade to */
gchar *target = NULL;
/* ...set image file paths, e.g. from command line or directory read... */
/* the bottom texture contains the source image */
load_image (CLUTTER_TEXTURE (bottom), source);
/* the top texture contains the target image */
load_image (CLUTTER_TEXTURE (top), target);
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>For the animations, we use <type>ClutterState</type> as we
want to animate two actors at once (<varname>top</varname>
and <varname>bottom</varname>):</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
ClutterState *transitions = clutter_state_new ();
/* start state, where bottom is opaque and top is transparent */
clutter_state_set (transitions, NULL, "show-bottom",
top, "opacity", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 0,
bottom, "opacity", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 255,
NULL);
/* end state, where top is opaque and bottom is transparent */
clutter_state_set (transitions, NULL, "show-top",
top, "opacity", CLUTTER_EASE_IN_CUBIC, 255,
bottom, "opacity", CLUTTER_EASE_IN_CUBIC, 0,
NULL);
/* set 1000ms duration for all transitions between states */
clutter_state_set_duration (transitions, NULL, NULL, 1000);
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>Note that rather than set the start opacities manually
on the actors (e.g. using
<function>clutter_actor_set_opacity()</function>),
I've used a <type>ClutterState</type> to define the start
state (as well as the end state). This makes it easier to
track transitions, as they are all kept in one data structure.</para>
<note>
<para>The easing modes used for the cross-fade animation
(<constant>CLUTTER_EASE_IN_CUBIC</constant>)
can be set to whatever you like. I personally think that
ease-in modes look best for cross-fading.</para>
</note>
<para>"Warp" the two textures into the start state
(<varname>bottom</varname> opaque, <varname>top</varname>
transparent):</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
clutter_state_warp_to_state (transitions, "show-bottom");
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>Using <function>clutter_state_warp_to_state()</function>
immediately transitions to a state without animating, which
in this case sets up the initial state of the UI.</para>
<para>Finally, use the <type>ClutterState</type> to animate
the two textures, so <varname>top</varname> fades in and
<varname>bottom</varname> fades out:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
clutter_state_set_state (transitions, "show-top");
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>Here's what it looks like:</para>
<inlinemediaobject>
<videoobject>
<videodata fileref="videos/textures-crossfade-two-textures.ogv"/>
</videoobject>
<alt>
<para>Video showing a cross-fade between two textures</para>
</alt>
</inlinemediaobject>
<para>The full code for this example
<link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-1">is in the
appendix</link>.</para>
</section>
<section>
<title>Solution 2: one texture with two layers</title>
<para>The alternative solution is to use a single texture
and the low-level COGL API to set up two different layers
inside it, one for each image.</para>
<para>Then, rather than fade between two textures,
progressively combine the two layers together using an
alpha value which changes over the course of an animation
(from 0.0 at the start of the animation to 1.0 at its end).</para>
<para>At any point in the cross-fade animation, you are
actually seeing a combination of the color
values in the two images (modified by an alpha component), rather
than seeing one image through the other. This can give a smoother
cross-fade effect than the two texture approach.</para>
<para>As this solution is more complex
and relies on the lower-level (and more difficult to follow)
COGL API, the next section is just a short summary of how it
works; see <link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-2">the
sample code, which has liberal comments</link> for more details.</para>
<note>
<para>For more about texture combining, refer to the COGL
API documentation (particularly the section about material
blend strings). You may also find it useful to get hold of
a decent OpenGL reference. (So you can look it up, what we're
doing in this solution is using a texture combiner with
interpolation as the texture combiner function.)</para>
</note>
<section>
<title>Cross-fading using a texture combiner with interpolation</title>
<para>The cross-fade is implemented by combining the two layers,
computing a color value for each pixel in the resulting texture.
The value for each pixel at a given point in the animation
is based on three things:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The color value of the <emphasis>source</emphasis>
pixel</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The color value of the <emphasis>target</emphasis>
pixel</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The alpha value of a third colour at the given point
in the animation's timeline</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<para>The resulting value for each RGBA color component in each pixel
is computed using an interpolation function. In pseudo-code, it
looks like this:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
color component value = (target pixel value * alpha) + (source pixel value * (1 - alpha))
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>The effect is that as the alpha increases towards 1.0,
progressively more of the <emphasis>target</emphasis> pixel's
color is used, and progressively less of the <emphasis>source</emphasis>
pixel's: so the <emphasis>target</emphasis> fades in, while
the <emphasis>source</emphasis> fades out.</para>
<para>The advantage of this approach is that color and
brightness transitions only occur where pixels differ between
the two images. This means that you transitions are smoother
where you are cross-fading between images with similar color ranges
and brightness levels.</para>
<para>A special case is where you're cross-fading
from an image to itself: the two texture approach can cause some
dimming during this kind of transition; but the single texture
approach results in no color or brightness changes (it's not even
a transition as such, as all the pixels are identical in
the two layers).</para>
</section>
</section>
</section>
<section id="textures-crossfade-discussion">
<title>Discussion</title>
<section>
<title>Cross-fades between images of different sizes</title>
<para>The code examples
(<link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-1">two textures</link>,
<link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-2">one texture with
COGL</link>) don't take account of the size of the images being
loaded.</para>
<para>In the two texture example, this isn't so much of a problem,
as you can resize the textures individually to the images:
providing you use
<function>clutter_texture_set_keep_aspect_ratio()</function>,
different image sizes shouldn't be a problem. See
<link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-3">the slideshow
example</link>, for a demonstration of how to cycle through
different sized images.</para>
<para>In the case of the single texture approach, you will get
problems when cross-fading between two images with
different sizes. There is no easy way to maintain the aspect
ratio (as you have two layers, potentially with different sizes,
in the same texture). The last layer added to the
<type>CoglMaterial</type> determines the size of the texture;
so if the previous layer has different dimensions, it will
appear distorted in the UI. In the
<link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-2">single texture
code example</link>, the <emphasis>source</emphasis> layer
is added first; so, if the <emphasis>target</emphasis> layer has
different dimensions, the <emphasis>source</emphasis> will
appear distorted.</para>
<para>There are a few ways you can remedy this:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>As you load each image into its own
<type>CoglTexture</type>, get its size with
<function>cogl_texture_get_width()</function> and
<function>cogl_texture_get_height()</function>. Then set the
<type>ClutterTexture's</type> size to the
size of the source layer. Next, as
you cross-fade, simultaneously animate a
size change in the <type>ClutterTexture</type> to
the target image's size.</para>
<para>This could work with non-realistic images where
some distortion of the image is acceptable (the target image
may be the wrong size to start with, but transition to the
correct size by the time it's fully faded in). But it can
look a bit odd for transitions between photos.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>If the bounds of the images you're going to be loading
are known (i.e. you know the greatest width and height
of all the images you're going to load), you can size
the <type>ClutterTexture</type> to those bounds.</para>
<para>Then, as you load each image (e.g. you could do this in the
<function>load_cogl_texture()</function> function of
the <link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-2">code
example</link>):</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Load the image into a temporary
<type>CoglTexture</type> (e.g. called
<varname>filetex</varname>). Then use the
<type>CoglTexture</type> API to get the data from it.
For example:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
/* load texture from a file */
CoglHandle *filetex = cogl_texture_new_from_file (FOX_FILE,
COGL_TEXTURE_NO_SLICING,
COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ANY,
NULL);
CoglPixelFormat format = cogl_texture_get_format (filetex);
guint rowstride = cogl_texture_get_rowstride (filetex);
guint width = cogl_texture_get_width (filetex);
guint height = cogl_texture_get_height (filetex);
/* allocate memory large enough for the data */
gint size = cogl_texture_get_data (filetex, format, 0, NULL);
guchar *data = g_new0 (guchar, size);
/* get the data from the texture */
cogl_texture_get_data (filetex,
format,
rowstride,
data);
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Create another <type>CoglTexture</type> as
large as the <type>ClutterTexture</type> (i.e. big enough
to fit any image you're going to load). Then copy the
data from <varname>filetex</varname> into a region of
it. For example:</para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
/* COGL texture which is the same size as the ClutterTexture */
CoglHandle *tex = cogl_texture_new_with_size (clutter_texture_width,
clutter_texture_height,
COGL_TEXTURE_NO_SLICING,
format);
/* copy the texture data (from filetex) into a region of the full-sized texture */
cogl_texture_set_region (tex,
0, 0, 0, 0,
clutter_texture_width,
clutter_texture_height,
width,
height,
format,
rowstride,
data);
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>Because you're copying the image data from the
file into a region of the <type>CoglTexture</type>
that's the same size as the image data, it won't be
distorted. However, it's worth stressing that the
<type>ClutterTexture</type> needs to be as wide as
the widest image and as tall as the tallest, so
all the images can be accommodated. Otherwise this
works, but images might be clipped.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</section>
<section id="textures-crossfade-discussion-slideshows">
<title>Slideshows</title>
<para>The two texture solution can be easily extended
to cycle through multiple images. To begin with, the first
image is loaded into the <varname>top</varname> texture. Then,
the basic pattern for transitioning to the next image is as follows:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Copy the data from the <varname>top</varname> texture
to the <varname>bottom</varname> texture.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Make the <varname>top</varname> texture transparent
and the <varname>bottom</varname> texture opaque (using
<function>clutter_state_warp_to_state()</function>). At this
point, it appears as though the textures haven't changed.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Load the next image into <varname>top</varname>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>When <varname>top</varname> has finished loading,
fade it in while simultaneously fading out
<varname>bottom</varname> (using
<function>clutter_state_set_state()</function>).</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>The <link linkend="textures-crossfade-example-3">sample
code in the appendix</link> implements this as part of
a simple slideshow application.</para>
</section>
</section>
<section>
<title>Full examples</title>
<example id="textures-crossfade-example-1">
<title>Cross-fading between two images using two
<type>ClutterTextures</type></title>
<programlisting>
<xi:include href="examples/textures-crossfade.c" parse="text">
<xi:fallback>there should be a code sample here, but there isn't...</xi:fallback>
</xi:include>
</programlisting>
</example>
<example id="textures-crossfade-example-2">
<title>Cross-fading between two images using one
<type>ClutterTexture</type> and the COGL API</title>
<programlisting>
<xi:include href="examples/textures-crossfade-cogl.c" parse="text">
<xi:fallback>there should be a code sample here, but there isn't...</xi:fallback>
</xi:include>
</programlisting>
</example>
<example id="textures-crossfade-example-3">
<title>A simple slideshow application using two
<type>ClutterTextures</type></title>
<programlisting>
<xi:include href="examples/textures-crossfade-slideshow.c" parse="text">
<xi:fallback>there should be a code sample here, but there isn't...</xi:fallback>
</xi:include>
</programlisting>
</example>
</section>
</section>
</chapter>