RageTools: Flash-like 2D Vectors and GUI for Unity

Yea, that's actually what inspired me to get started on this I started of from there, but not much of the original code is left

 

The vector data itself is not bigger than what you'll see from the multiple-selected SVG files, it might even be smaller considering the Unity packing of the data used by RageSpline and RageTools. The catch is that Unity will have to save the polygon data for all those objects, and if you have a complex vector shape and high density setting that might result in a sensible increase in file size, especially when multiplied by multiple frames. I seriously doubt it'd be more than what you'd get from packed sprites though, Unity tends to pack its polygon objects really well when the scene is deployed.

On another front, we will have some "macro" functions to help with such common issues in a new version that's coming out soon. One of those macros is "optimize for deploy". It does two things:
1. Sets all your (RageGroup-contained) shapes' density to 1. This way you'll have a 1:1 ratio between the shapes vector points and the generated polygon points, meaning your file will be saved with the smallest possible size.
2. Sets all these shapes to "Reset on Start". This new RageGroup feature will, in the first frame when the game is run, restore your objects to the same density they had when you defined their default state (by clicking RageGroup's 'update' button).

That's also a common problem that we might offer a macro to assist you guys. This very week a client asked me about the conversion of 200-some SVG assets and what would be the best way to do it. As a matter of fact, the best way to do it is to simply have 200-some layers with a shape in each, this way you'll do a single SVG-In import. It'd be the same for your animation, one frame in each layer. Then you'd use the auto-group macro that would turn all root groups into RageGroups. Our goal is to offer a similar automation to RageSwitcher.

Oh, gotcha now, you're building a kind of in-game level editor. That's pretty nifty

Hi Goat! We don't support direct quadratic curves import (like used by Flash and Anime Studio), in these cases our recommendation is to use a tool native to the source applications to export to SVG. I've already brought stuff in from Anime Studio 8 to Unity, but I've exported it as a high-resolution image (to capture as much detail as possible) and used Vector Magic as a middle-man. Far from practical for a large pipeline involving animation, but works fine for single art pieces and elements.

Talking of which, AS is actually a nice source of inspiration for me. I just seriously disliked the way its bones worked though, not affecting multiple layers. That's why with RageMagnet you'll be able to define how high or low in the hierarchy you want to have the bone-magnets affecting your art, in a very intuitive and flexible fashion.

 

Hello, does the product currently support text? If not, when will this feature be added?

Thanks.

 

RageTools 1.0.5 was submitted to the Unity Asset Store, should be live any time soon. Many added features and bugfixes to SVG-In and a new "Start Only" Edgetune feature. This is basically a one-shot execution of the Edgetune resolution-independent AA and density adjustment algorithm, only during the game initialization frame, making it zero-impact on the actual game performance. It's the best option for mobile devices and shapes that don't change size much, a super typical scenario. Follows the changelog:

 

Thanks MaDDoX for your response.

Its nice to hear that there is a "batch import function" but i only get the animation via separate svg files out of flash, so i will build my own import script , because i do not see any per formant way to combine all the svg files to one layered svg file.


Edit:


The Import of the sample files works fine but the import of my own svg files fails.


I get the following error log:

Code (csharp):

1. RageTools: Importing SVG file, please wait.
2. UnityEngine.Debug:Internal_Log(Int32, String, Object)
3. UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object)
4. RageSvgInEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs:31)
5. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:DrawEditors(Boolean, Editor[], Boolean)
6. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:OnGUI()
7. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke(Object, Object[], Exception)
8. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:Invoke(Object, BindingFlags, Binder, Object[], CultureInfo)
9. System.Reflection.MethodBase:Invoke(Object, Object[])
10. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String, Object)
11. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String)
12. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
13.  
14. (Filename: Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs Line: 31)
15.  
16. Loading file
17. UnityEngine.Debug:Internal_Log(Int32, String, Object)
18. UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object)
19. UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:print(Object)
20. RageSvgIn:BeginSvgImport() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:82)
21. RageSvgIn:ImportSvg() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:69)
22. RageSvgInEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs:33)
23. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:DrawEditors(Boolean, Editor[], Boolean)
24. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:OnGUI()
25. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke(Object, Object[], Exception)
26. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:Invoke(Object, BindingFlags, Binder, Object[], CultureInfo)
27. System.Reflection.MethodBase:Invoke(Object, Object[])
28. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String, Object)
29. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String)
30. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
31.  
32. (Filename: Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs Line: 82)
33.  
34. Loading file
35. UnityEngine.Debug:Internal_Log(Int32, String, Object)
36. UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object)
37. UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:print(Object)
38. RageSvgIn:BeginSvgImport() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:82)
39. RageSvgIn:ImportSvg() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:69)
40. RageSvgInEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs:33)
41. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:DrawEditors(Boolean, Editor[], Boolean)
42. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:OnGUI()
43. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke(Object, Object[], Exception)
44. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:Invoke(Object, BindingFlags, Binder, Object[], CultureInfo)
45. System.Reflection.MethodBase:Invoke(Object, Object[])
46. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String, Object)
47. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String)
48. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
49.  
50. (Filename: Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs Line: 82)
51.  
52. Loading file
53. UnityEngine.Debug:Internal_Log(Int32, String, Object)
54. UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object)
55. UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:print(Object)
56. RageSvgIn:BeginSvgImport() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:82)
57. RageSvgIn:ImportSvg() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:69)
58. RageSvgInEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs:33)
59. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:DrawEditors(Boolean, Editor[], Boolean)
60. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:OnGUI()
61. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke(Object, Object[], Exception)
62. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:Invoke(Object, BindingFlags, Binder, Object[], CultureInfo)
63. System.Reflection.MethodBase:Invoke(Object, Object[])
64. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String, Object)
65. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String)
66. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
67.  
68. (Filename: Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs Line: 82)
69.  
70. You are trying to load data from a www stream which had the following error when downloading.
71. Couldn't open file /Projekte/Unity/2Dtest/Assets/RageTools/SvgFiles/1.svg
72. UnityEngine.WWW:get_bytes()
73. UnityEngine.WWW:get_text()
74. RageSvgIn:BeginSvgImport() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:84)
75. RageSvgIn:ImportSvg() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:69)
76. RageSvgInEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs:33)
77. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:DrawEditors(Boolean, Editor[], Boolean)
78. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:OnGUI()
79. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke(Object, Object[], Exception)
80. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:Invoke(Object, BindingFlags, Binder, Object[], CultureInfo)
81. System.Reflection.MethodBase:Invoke(Object, Object[])
82. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String, Object)
83. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String)
84. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
85.  
86. [/Applications/buildAgent/work/842f9557127e852/Runtime/Export/WWW.cpp line 892]
87. (Filename: Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs Line: 84)
88.  
89. RageTools: SVG Import complete.
90. UnityEngine.Debug:Internal_Log(Int32, String, Object)
91. UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object)
92. RageSvgIn:FinishSvgImport() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:97)
93. RageSvgIn:BeginSvgImport() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:85)
94. RageSvgIn:ImportSvg() (at Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs:69)
95. RageSvgInEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/RageTools/Editor/RageSvgInEditor.cs:33)
96. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:DrawEditors(Boolean, Editor[], Boolean)
97. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow:OnGUI()
98. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke(Object, Object[], Exception)
99. System.Reflection.MonoMethod:Invoke(Object, BindingFlags, Binder, Object[], CultureInfo)
100. System.Reflection.MethodBase:Invoke(Object, Object[])
101. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String, Object)
102. UnityEditor.HostView:Invoke(String)
103. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
104.  
105. (Filename: Assets/RageTools/RageSvgIn.cs Line: 97)
106.  
107.  

How to create the error:

1. Create Game Object
2. Add "Rage Svg In" script
3. Drag Svg file into "Svg File" Field
4. Click Import

The svg file i use open without any problem in any svg compatible program (even in Mac Preview).

 

Hi malzbier. We've decided to add a file requester option in the near future, it's too needed to miss it. As for the error you got I'll really need to check out the Svg file to find out what's causing it, if possible please send it to contact@freakow.com. Btw, is your SVG file in the 'svgfiles' folder inside Ragetools?

 

To have the svg files inside of the 'svgfiles' folder is a bad restriction... Now it works but the colors are mess up, the moste shapes are simply black.

 

Hi Malzbir. Like I said we'll be adding a file requester option which should help with massive file importing, fact is that the other "simple" alternative was asking the user to rename the SVG files extension to .txt - which's considerably worse you might agree.

So, I've studied your SVG and there was one specific gradient syntax that we weren't supporting, so I've quickly coded it in and sent to you an updated RageSvgIn.cs through e-mail. Simply override the original one and tell me if it worked for you so I can share the goodies with the world

I've also noticed that your file had some radial gradients, we can't faithfully support it due to the lack of this option inside RageSpline itself, but I've added some solid code to help "approximate" the effect using linear gradients, it did work fine for this specific art. The SVG also did use one unsupported command (Q, for quadratic curves) which can affect the detailing of some curves, we expect to add support to it in the near future. You'll also notice that the descending ramp has a triangulation error, you'll probably see a hole in its center. That's on the RageSpline side so nothing we can do about it. Recommendation in those cases is to simply move the points of the damaged shape around, preferably deleting any too close or overlapping points. Too point-dense curves and semi-overlapping points are simply not a good idea for RageSpline, that's why we've added the "merge radius" option to SVG-In - although it didn't help in your case. Personally I clean up my art as much as possible before sending to RageTools, that's always a good idea anyways to improve performance - especially if you're targeting mobile devices.

I hope it helps, thanks for help me detecting that missing syntax!

 

Just a note: If you really really really really need radial gradient, you can get it manually with a radial gradient texture.

If the hue of the gradient is the same for both "ends", then you can use gray texture and adjust fill color in editor.

 

Thenks MaDDoX and keely for your response.

My problem withe this is that i have a artist who have made all the characters and the other artwork inside of Adobe Flash.

I found an old Plug in , that can export the SVG Files.

For singel svg files it would be no problem to fix all that but i have multiple hundred files so i cant fix it by hand.

I have to find a way to export the svg file more more popper and clean or fix it all at import. (clean export is my favorite because the exporter sucks.../ crach often ).




Edit to prevent double post:

On the long journey exploring the RageSpline and RageTools , i found the Rage EdgeTune.

I saw the video on your page an take a careful look at the manual / documentation.
The problem is that i do not get it to work.
The question is can the Rage EdgeTune work if i do not move the camera but i change the Orthographic Size to zoom in ?


PS: MaDDoX , keely your support is very nice and i have to apologize for my annoying question;

 

Hi Malzbier. It took me some time to realize there was a new post here since.. well, it wasn't a new post I think double posting is fine in these support-request situations. No problem with the questions btw, just fire them away!

So, as for Edgetune, I never really considered using the change of orthographic size (of an ortho camera) to zoom in, so I guess that was short-sighted on my part. Edgetune definitely doesn't account for that. Is that common practice?

Please notice you can simply have all your scene parented to a single game object with edge tune enabled and scale it up and down instead.

 

RageTools 1.0.6 sent to the Asset Store, with the changes tested by Malzbier. Release Notes:

Tomorrow I'll be flying to another town, so it might take a couple days until I settle down and reply here or through e-mail, yet I'll try to keep following along with my iPhone. Merry Christmas guys!

 

Because orthographic view is is the view of choice for 2d games and moving the camera more near the the object does not mean zooming... so i thought it would be common practice.

I will try to "hack" into your code and make a workaround for my self.

Thanks for the new update, that will help me to import all the flash -> Svg -> Unity files with Radial gradient.

I wish you a Merry Christmas too.

 

Thanks Malzbier, I'll try to add the feature natively soon, it's really just a question of checking the ortographic size instead of the camera distance to the ragegroup center (when the camera is in ortho mode).

BTW, I'm still settling down after the move so I'm not 100% productive yet, in any case if you got any specific problems with RageTools and the new 3.5 developer preview please report it in detail and I'll try to find and fix whatever is causing it. Keely has released a temporary patch which made RageSpline compatible with the new beta: http://ragespline.com/unity35/

 

So, iByte once asked for a little script that would enable one to "fade out" a RageGroup over time. Not a hard script at all, yet for lack of time I hadn't tackled this one before - until now! FadeRageGroup.cs follows attached, with proper comments for your dessication pleasure. I decided to not use coroutines and WaitForSeconds simply because, albeit cool, IEnumerators (as needed by C#) aren't exactly intuitive for most developers.

To use it, make sure you update the RageGroup at least once, then you can set the "On Start" and "Delay" values if you want to fade something out after some time has passed from start. If you want to fire the fade from another script or with an animation event, call its "Fade" method. The "Duration" field is self explanatory. Please notice that, since RageGroup doesn't store the original spline styles (yet), the opacity change is cumulative, meaning the effect ramps up in speed closer to its end.

Feel free to modify the code in any manner you see fit, enjoy!

 

Our WIP RageSpline+RageTools game for the Unity Competition, just one day in the making so still plenty to do but it's really fun to be able to build a game so quickly!
On the technical side, making RageSpline build in the Flash scene required some juggling and SVG-In isn't compiling in the Flash Beta as well, but at least for SVG-In all you gotta do is remove the script after importing whatever art you need.

Check it out:

http://www.freakow.com/games/fungallery/fungallery.html

PS.: The source code of the game will go attached in a future RageTools release.

 

Hi MadDDox, thanks for the script

Getting this error - FadeRageGroup.cs(11,17): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `RageGroupElement' could not be found. Are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?

I think this should be a RageGroupItem?

iByte

 

Hey iByte, sorry for not being able to check this atm since we're 100% focused on finishing our entry for the Unity competition, but are you sure you're using the latest version which's in the Asset Store? By the error description it does seem like an older version.

On the "good news" front, Sandro found a (very smart) way to make Edgetune work with Flash-compiled scenes - it even works when simply scaling the web browser zoom, using the ctrl-plus and ctrl-minus shortcuts It's optional and it does requires some extra setup but we'll be including the logic for the next RageTools release.

 

Hmm I am using 1.06.

iByte

 

Is there any news on when RageTools Pro might be released?

Particularly interested in RageText...

 

Good evening, first of all sorry for my English.
I have a question. If you want to import into unity with RAGETOOLS an SVG file like this that I enclose, which is the correct procedure? . It 'important that the red shapes are transparent holes in tree form.
Following the tutorial, I can only import the entire figure without transparent areas,

I have buy last version of RAGESPLINE and RAGETOOLS

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi Scarlatto! Okay so, you have only stacked shapes, which does import fine but can't be transparent while keeping an opaque tree. To do that you need to first carry out boolean (Inkscape) or pathfinder (Illustrator) operations, to actually cut holes with the red shapes on the tree shape. That'll give you a compound shape. Then you have to slice line-thin holes to return your forms to pure shape mode while keeping the holes. In Illustrator you can do that easily with the knife tool, simply draw a line connecting the outer to the inner edge of the hole, make one cut per hole and you'll be done. In Inkscape the best way I know is to convert a thin line to curves then use a boolean subtract. In your case it's not especially easy since it's got many holes, my tip is that at any given time you can "release compount path" or "break apart" to watch what still needs a cut.

To prevent problems with RageSpline subdivision move the cut sides away from each other, a very very tiny amount. I use a ridiculously small grid size to make it easier (and precise) to nudge points around. Follows attached the final SVG file that I saved after carrying out those tweaks.

 

Hi Matt, we're organizing our code base to start closed beta this week, should take a couple weeks - then it's release time. Our Flash-in-a-flash competition entry helped track and fix many bugs and performance issues, which was very good for the product quality. Talking of which, you can check RageText in action in it:
http://www.freakow.com/games/fungallery/fungallery.html

 

Hey guys, check out Worm Town by Turnsy Games, first Unity RageTools + RageSpline game to hit the App Store (that we know of ) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/worm-town/id483667730?mt=8

Looks like a cool game and it's free, so what are you waiting for?

 

Hi,
I just bought rangeSpline and I'm planning to buy rage tools too.
But will do it, when the pro version is out . any date for release ?
I read that 2 weeks ago you said that should be a couple weeks to release ......
Tks
@mob

 

Hi All,

Hope it's cool to post this here.

I am looking for help updating some Illustrator files to work properly with RageTools and have a post in the Commercial Work (paid) forum if anyone is interested:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/12...ork-with-RageTools-(Paid)?p=810521#post810521

 

@DashCunning I replied to you in the thread you linked.

Hi Mob. This might serve as a RageTools Pro update, sorry for the last weeks silence but we've been working crazy hard here to get things polished enough for the beta. Admittedly what have been killing us is RageMagnet, getting that beast to work performantly and accurately has been a chore, but thanks to some heavy profiler-based optimization (and our resident optimization god, mr. Sandro Bihaiko) we've got amazing results that are about to be shown to all of you Tomorrow we're putting a last stone on these optimizations. In the last few days I've added "macros" to help setting up new fonts inside Unity and enabling/disabling whole character magnets (area-based 2D vector bones, if you don't know what Magnets are). All in all RageTools Pro is a beast of a complex product, and we're making our best to make you feel our mark of quality as you experience the product. The feedback of our beta testers will be crucial in the week or so that the closed beta test will last. Nevertheless, you gotta trust me when I say that I am an extreme user myselfs, and my demands have been a big culprit for the extra time we're taking on polish and bug fixing. So yeah, all my fault

One of the last things I feel it's highly needed is the ability to stylize the entire font set without ruining Edgetune as the default RageSpline style system does. We'll probably add that feature to RageGroup in the next couple days and call it good-for-beta, keep tuned!

 

Tks, keep the good for!
I will wait very ansious for the release.

Tks
@mob

 

Hi,

Add my name to the list of people anxious to see the release of RageText!

You said you're nearing closed-beta status, very nice.
I'm currently working on a project where I could really use a tool like RageText, but I can't wait too long for its release. Do you have a time-frame in mind?

If it's within 4 weeks then I could wait, else I'll have to find something else

Thanks

 

RageTools looks great and I'm considering buying it . My main issue seems to be getting an inexpensive program than can convert my jpg's, png's, etc into svg's so I can use RageTools. Any suggestions? Vector Magic is nice, but the buying price is steep although the monthly price seems doable if you have all the art done in advance.

Also, are you considering adding an animation feature to RageTools similar to Umotion2d? Just curious.

Thanks

 

I got turned onto Inkscape in this forum.. its pretty awesome and its free

 

I looked at it briefly. Does it have an good auto-trace function? I'll look at it again.

Thank you

 

That's exactly what the animation-focused components of RageTools Pro allow you to do. Differently from UMotion and SpriteManager2 we use the standard Animation Editor for the actual animation timeline editing. We believe that's a more compatible approach, both with other tools and with future Unity versions.

Something you guys don't know yet is that we've got a full suite of Rigging and deformation options along RageMagnet, including one-click-setup poleless IK (translating: super-cool limb posing) and a flexible constraint system. Sit tight, video should be up sometime later today, words don't really make justice to what we've created

Breaking news, closed beta starts today! It also shouldn't take longer than a week before release, of course bugs will be found and there's still optimization to do - but we've been seriously spanking RageMagnet and RageText for months now..

It's definitely not the cream of the crop, but honestly, the same can be said about Illustrator auto-tracing tool - and that's an expensive package. A nice tip is to separate your bitmap art colors in layers, then convert them to black and white. After tracing, re-assemble and re-apply the original colors. Trust me, B&W tracing results are *always* superior, even in a high-end package like Vector Magic.

PS.: If any of you guys are interested on RageTools Pro and want to take part of its super-limited-tickets, closed beta, make sure you're following #freakowgames on twitter. We'll have a promotion going some time today (hint! hint!)

 

Hmm.. sounds perfect. Have you considered combining Ragetools and Ragespline into one suite and just offering a Non and Pro version of that? Just a thought since I haven't tried either yet so its hard for me to distinguish the difference between what one offers versus the other.

Thank you for responding. The work you've done is awesome and I'm glad there are tools like this available.

Downloaded it again and found info on how to use the autotrace feature viola! it works just as good as Vertex Magic! and for free!! The word AWESOME! popped into my mind. Thank you for telling me again about Inkscape.

 

Thanks for the very kind words monkeypit Well, we can't combine Ragespline with our product since.. well, Ragespline is not our product I keep in close contact with Keely to work around some common problems and he's been exceedingly responsive and helpful. Of course there are some features that we'd *die* to have and that aren't in his roadmap (or he haven't found a way to do yet), which we fully respect and reserve the right to keep wanting heh, but so far it's been a happy marriage

All I have to say is that you either had a really high resolution bitmap or got super-lucky, but yes, auto-trace in Inkscape has been improving considerably in the latest versions - and, considering the cost, it's such a no-brainer for the quality it provides, especially if you use the black-and-white trick I've mentioned.

PS.: Just a few more hours until the "retweet-for-a-chance-on-the-ragetools-pro-beta-ticket" promotion starts. Promo video is all ready and waiting, so keep tuned - this will be quite an exciting friday! ^_^

 

Video is now live and RageTools Pro beta promotion has just started! The link is both on our twitter (@freakowgames) and Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Freakow/198264390242713), retweet and like the message for a clear shot on having a spot on our closed beta. Go go go

PS.: I've added a separate topic to discuss about RageTools Pro specifically.

 

MaDDoX,

Is Ragespline Pro and Ragetools Pro the new product names? or if you buy Ragespline and Ragetools now do you get all the new features when they are released?

and yes, my resolution on the images was fairly high, but not crazy. I was just impressed how good a job inkscape did for a free product compared to the 300$ Vertex Magic...sheesh.

 

RageSpline has just one version and there is no Pro.

 

What the man said

Sorry for any confusion, let's break it down:

RageTools - requires RageSpline, Unity Free
RageTools Pro - requires RageSpline, Unity Free

So, there's only one RageSpline version and no RageTools version requires the Pro Unity version. RageSpline was created by Keely, RageTools and RageTools Pro are Freakow's extensions for RageSpline. Each product is supported by its creators, independently.

Hope that clears out the "product dependency" doubts. Thanks for asking, I'm sure it'll help others.

 

Is there an upgrade path from RageTools ---> RageTools Pro?

----- edit ------

Sorry just noticed on first page that:

ATTENTION: RageMagnet and RageText, briefly showcased in the video, will be available on a forthcoming, separate product: RageTools Pro. There will be an upgrade path for existing RageTools users.

 

Seeing what's coming for RageTools, I opt'd to buy in!

Part of my reasoning though was for what I saw as an odd advantage - being able to easily create arbitrarily shaped collision outlines!

I've been waiting for the developers of ex2D which I use for my sprites to come up with a solution to creating custom colliders for oddly shaped sprites.

I've been creating and importing lowpoly meshes from Blender to use for collision meshes, but I immediately saw RageTools as way to create my colliders directly within Unity and with initial testing, it's working out great!


Being that for colliders, I don't need any Outline or Fill rendering I just turn those options off which just leaves the colliders as expected.

The only thing I noticed, (which I'm hoping can be fixed with a small update) is a quirk with the Free Line shapes.

When I turn off the fill and line drawing of the Free Line, the Free Line automatically CLOSES its shape which for me is a problem because I don't need a closed line for the Free Line shape.

For example, here are the collision outlines I created using RageTools:


For the Dragon's body, I created a closed spline and turned off the Line and Fill display which works out perfectly.

However for the tail, I only need an open line not a closed one, BUT if I turn off the line rendering it automatically closes the line which is totally unwanted in my case! Is it possible to eliminate this behavior in an upcoming update?

Free Line collider (100% transparency ):


Free Line collider with Line and Fill rendering turned off (should be able to turn off line render wo/closing the shape!):


At this point the only option I have left to me is to make the Line 100% transparent (and hopefully Unity seeing 100%, I'm not still getting a render hit!)

I'd still however prefer to just turn off the Line rendering without having the shape automatically become closed - the two IMO are unrelated??

Even though how I'm using RageTools in this case is non-standard, it is saving me time and is very helpful!


I hope you consider changing the behavior of the Free Line when the Line rendering is turned off.

Either way, great product - can't wait till the Pro version is released!

-Will

 

Hi Will, glad to see this unusual way to use our product being helpful to you, I'm sure that trick can help others as well So, if I got you correctly, you're drawing the collision shape in a vector-drawing program and bringing it in using SVG-In, then you're enabling RageSpline's box-collider physics on it, is that right? Supposing it is, let's go on:

So, as far as I know the behavior you're stating is the default behavior for RageSpline box physics generation, RageTools actually doesn't have anything to do with it when physics is concerned. Yet your problem seems really easy to solve: instead of changing the line type, simply leave the fill setting on and disable the mesh renderer of your Game Object. That component's what actually displays the mesh generated by RageSpline, so instead of disabling RageSpline (which would probably disable its collider-generation routines), disable only the mesh renderer. Try it, if it works please share with us. Good luck!

 

Hi, actually I'm not using SVG at all - that would be the same as how I'm currently using Blender now to create my collider shapes - an extra step.


I'm drawing the shapes directly with RageTools since it makes it easy to shape the collider shapes as I have shown above.

Okay so you're saying the behavior when I change the >Free Line<'s outline rendering to none is something that Unity is doing itself, closing the line instead of leaving it open? I had thought this was a behavior of RageTools?

As you can see from my middle pic above, all I need is an open line with the outline rendering turned off. I can turn off the fill rendering no probs (1st pic) but again, turning off the outline rendering automatically attempts to close the line (2nd 3rd pics) - I thought this was something you were doing in your code?

As far as turning off the mesh renderer - that's what I've been doing with my custom collision meshes I created in Blender, that part I understand.

Just to be clear, in the first pic there are 2-RageTool objects the body is >enclosed< with a RT blob object.

The tail however (which is hard to see cause it is covered by the collider) is a Free Line RT object - this is the part that has the behavior I don't need - when I set the outline rendering to "None" for the Free Line, it automatically closes the line. (pic2).

I need the game object to render normally since that's what ex2D uses to render the sprite. I have the RageTool objects as children of the ex2D game object to make use of the RT colliders.

I don't understand why the line needs to be closed just because the rendering is turned off for it? I can make it 100% transparent like I mentioned but of course I'd just prefer to turn it off...
-Will

 

Oh I got it now, actually you mean "RageSpline objects". RageTools is a pack of tools for RageSpline, it doesn't actually draw anything or creates those box colliders. RageSpline was created by our friend Keely, and I've already alerted him about your concerns in our topic. In any case, you might want to post directly in his discussion thread:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/94918-RageSpline-2D-Vector-Graphics-for-Unity-v1.1-RELEASED/page32

 

Okay sorry, for my confusion with the terminology - I just bought the packages a day ago!

Since I was using the prefabs out of RageTools, I just assumed this was something on your end...

Thanks for pointing out my issue to Keely - hopefully he can stop the open line from automatically closing just because to turn off the rendering for the outline.


After seeing your video for the upcoming RageTools Pro, I couldn't help but wish I could create and animate my characters in AnimeStudio Pro v8 and import them into Unity using RageTools!!!
http://anime.smithmicro.com/index.html

Oh the joy that would be!

-Will

 

Yeah, I've got a similar request before, the problem is that both Flash and AnimeStudio use quadratic curves vs the higher-quality cubic bezier splines used by most vector editors and RageSpline itself. The bright side of quadratic curves is that they are much faster to process (due to the math involved) and as such are sensibly more performant for real-time operations. Anyways, I have to be honest that due to the huge difference in their file formats I doubt such a conversion will be feasible anytime soon. Some day, who knows

Talking of which, one of the things that turned me down the most in Anime Studio is how you can't have bones affecting multiple layers. Dude, does that suck! That's why RageMagnets work across *anything*, no matter how many layers deep your splines are or even if in completely distinct hierarchies, as long as the shapes are physically near and the magnets use the same group. Once you try it you'll understand how much more intuitive and productive it is in comparison.

 

I can dig it! Actually if Smith Micro was smart, they'd be working pronto on creating a Unity Exporter to accomplish just such a thing...

Sounds to me like you now have a great roadmap item to consider - "RageTools Ultra Pro XXX" which comes with a similar, AnimeStudio like workshop for creating and animating your vector based characters, all in a Unity hosted environment!

I should be home around 6pm tonite - I can't wait to download the Beta for this and give you feedback - GREAT JAUB! ;-)

-Will

PS - Maybe "XXX" should be "UUU" since this is Unity we talking about here...

 

Since you've got previous experience with Anime Studio, I'll add you to the closed beta.
Send me your e-mail to contact@freakow.com.

btw, we've got some setbacks with the beta files this weekend, but things got worked out so it should go live anytime now.

 

Wow, I was joking about you getting the beta for the AnimeStudio'esk editor working within Unity by 6pm and I get an offer for being on the closed beta - NICE!

Thanks!

-Will

 

Here goes a screenshot showing the new RageGroup settings, present on RageTools 1.1. It makes very easy to update the styling of all splines pointed by a group. There's also a new "Ignore Groups" section which allow you to remove from the list all the splines which pertain to another group:



RageTools 1.1 will be a free upgrade from the current version (1.0.6), the update is required for compatibility with the RageTools Pro components (supposing you upgrade to Pro) and, very important to mention, does break compatibility with the projects currently using RageTools. So back up your projects prior to updating it. If your project only uses features like the SVG-In and Pivotools component that probably won't affect you in any way, Edgetune, CanvasAlign and RageGroup may break, requiring re-attachment of those components. The safer upgrade path to prevent data conflict and loss is to remove the RageTools folder entirely and importing the new version, which has a different structure.

This might be a small inconvenience for some projects but we're convinced that it's worth the structural change. As its common-sense for development, if you're on a highly-dependent project it might be safer to decide against upgrading, if you don't require the additional RageTools features.

One last thing, if you are considering purchasing RageTools standard but still didn't take the plunge, I'd recommend you to take advantage of the current promotional release price - since it'll be adjusted with the 1.1 release.