The Building Coder wishes you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas arrived already, and here I am, still wrapping up for the winter break.

Let me share a couple of Christmas greetings from my friends and colleagues in the Autodesk Developer Network ADN and elsewhere:

• Kevin Vandecar
• Balaji Ramamoorthy
• Jaime Rosales Duque
• Claude Karfiol
• Aaron Lu
• The Building Coder wishes you a Merry Christmas!
• Final Words from Roland Zelles and Victor Hugo

Kevin Vandecar

Happy holidays to everyone!

Have a great time off!

I had a chance to learn something new in 3DS Max recently when someone asked if I could make something with an image file list showing animated clouds.

I also realized that I could export from Camtasia as GIF. So took the 3DS Max file and ran it through that. Quality is similar, but might be a little degraded… also, file size jumped I guess because there is only compression per frame in the GIF, rather than overall file.

Here is the result of learning how that works (you may need to click the image to see the animation):

The tree in the video is a typical artificial tree.

Saving the planet, and completed my cloud learning.

Hahaha, HO, HO, HO!

Balaji Ramamoorthy

ADN wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here is an

animated JavaScript WebGL Christmas tree with lots of gifts for you.
<!–
Here is a

Christmas tree with lots of gifts:
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.6/jquery.min.js
http://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/r67/three.js

var renderer, scene, camera;
var group = [];
var animate = true;
var spotlightswitch = 0;
var spotLight1 = null;
var spotLight2 = null;
var spotLight3 = null;
var spotlightcolors = [0xff0000, 0x00ff00,0x0000ff];
$(function(){
var obj = new ChristmasTree();
});
function ChristmasTree()
{
var container = document.getElementById(“xmas-tree”);
//container.style.width = window.innerWidth + ‘px’;
//container.style.height = window.innerHeight + ‘px’;
WIDTH = parseInt(container.style.width, 10);
HEIGHT = parseInt(container.style.height, 10);
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
renderer.setClearColorHex( 0x87ceeb, 1 );
container.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
scene = new THREE.Scene();
var fov = 40;
var aspect = WIDTH / HEIGHT;
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(fov, aspect, 0.1, 100);
camera.position.set(0, 10, 30);
camera.lookAt(new THREE.Vector3(0, 10, 0));
scene.add(camera);
var directionalLight = new THREE.DirectionalLight( 0xffffff, 0.5 );
directionalLight.position.set( 0, 1, 0 );
scene.add( directionalLight );
spotLight1 = new THREE.SpotLight(spotlightcolors[0], 0.8);
spotLight1.position.set(0, 0, 10);
scene.add(spotLight1);
spotLight2 = new THREE.SpotLight(spotlightcolors[1], 0.8);
spotLight2.position.set(0, 0, 20);
scene.add(spotLight2);
spotLight3 = new THREE.SpotLight(spotlightcolors[2], 0.8);
spotLight3.position.set(0, 0, 30);
scene.add(spotLight3);
var maxrady = 20 * Math.tan(deg2rad(fov * 0.5));
var maxradx = aspect * maxrady;
// Vertical trunk of length 20
var layers = 12
var trunklen = 20;
drawCylinder(new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0), new THREE.Vector3(0, trunklen, 0), -1);
for (var j = 0; j < layers; j++)
{
var branchlen = maxrady * ((layers-j)/layers);
if(j != layers-1)
{
var angle = 2 * Math.PI / 10;
for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
group[10j + i] = new THREE.Object3D();
drawBranch(branchlen, 10j + i);
group[10j + i].rotation.z += (Math.PI / 3);
group[10j + i].rotation.y += (angle * i);
group[10j + i].position.y += ((j+1) * (trunklen/layers));
scene.add(group[10j + i]);
}
}
else
{ // Top most layer, no rotation
group[10j] = new THREE.Object3D();
drawBranch(branchlen, 10j);
group[10j].position.y += ((j+1) * (trunklen/layers));
scene.add(group[10j]);
}
}
render();
};
function drawBranch(branchlen, branchnumber)
{
drawCylinder(new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0), new THREE.Vector3(0, branchlen, 0), branchnumber);
var X;
var Y;
var pts = findPoints(new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0), new THREE.Vector3(0, branchlen, 0));
for ( i = 1; i < pts.vertices.length; i ++ )
{
var pt = pts.vertices[i];
console.log("Point : %d %d %d", pt.x, pt.y, pt.z);
//drawCircle(2, pt);
if(i == 1)
X = branchlen * 0.3;
Y = pt.y;
var rad1 = (X – X * Math.sin(Math.PI / 6) * Math.sin(Math.PI / 6));
var nextX = pt.x + rad1;
var nextY = pt.y + (X * Math.sin(Math.PI / 6) * Math.cos(Math.PI / 6));
var angle = 2 * Math.PI / 10;
var giftleaf = Math.floor((Math.random() * 30) + 1)
var gifttype = Math.floor((Math.random() * 2) + 1)
for (var j = 0; j <= 10; j++)
{
var ep = new THREE.Vector3(pt.x + rad1 * Math.cos(angle * j), nextY, pt.z + rad1 * Math.sin(angle * j));
drawCylinder(pt, ep, branchnumber);
if(j == giftleaf)
{
if(gifttype == 1)
drawSphere(0.4, ep, branchnumber);
else
drawBox(0.5, 0.6, 0.2, ep, branchnumber);
}
}
X = nextX;
}
}
function findPoints(sp, ep)
{
var curve = new THREE.LineCurve3(sp, ep);
var path = new THREE.CurvePath();
path.add(curve);
var pts = path.createPointsGeometry(5);
return pts;
}
function deg2rad(deg)
{
var conv = Math.PI / 180;
return (deg * conv);
}
function drawSphere(radius, pos, branchnumber)
{
var spheremat;
var giftcolor = Math.floor((Math.random() * 3) + 1)
if(giftcolor == 1)
{
spheremat = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{color : 0xff0000, shading: THREE.FlatShading }
);
}
else if(giftcolor == 2)
{
spheremat = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{color : 0x00ff00, shading: THREE.FlatShading }
);
}
else
{
spheremat = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{color : 0x0000ff, shading: THREE.FlatShading }
);
}
// 5 divisions along latitude and longitude directions
var sphere = new THREE.Mesh( new THREE.SphereGeometry(radius, 5, 5), spheremat);
sphere.position.set(pos.x, pos.y, pos.z);
if(branchnumber == -1)
scene.add(sphere);
else
group[branchnumber].add(sphere);
}
function drawBox(lx, ly, lz, pos, branchnumber)
{
var boxmat;
var giftcolor = Math.floor((Math.random() * 3) + 1)
if(giftcolor == 1)
{
boxmat = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{color : 0xff0000, shading: THREE.FlatShading }
);
}
else if(giftcolor == 2)
{
boxmat = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{color : 0x00ff00, shading: THREE.FlatShading }
);
}
else
{
boxmat = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{color : 0x0000ff, shading: THREE.FlatShading }
);
}
box = new THREE.Mesh( new THREE.BoxGeometry(lx, ly, lz), boxmat);
box.position.set(pos.x, pos.y, pos.z);
if(branchnumber == -1)
scene.add(box);
else
group[branchnumber].add(box);
}
// Thanks to jdregister
// From http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15139649/three-js-two-points-one-cylinder-align-issue
function drawCylinder(vstart, vend, branchnumber)
{
var HALF_PI = Math.PI * .5;
var distance = vstart.distanceTo(vend);
var position = vend.clone().add(vstart).divideScalar(2);
var material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({color:0x00FF00});
var cylinder = new THREE.CylinderGeometry(0.05,0.05,distance,8,1,false);
var orientation = new THREE.Matrix4();//a new orientation matrix to offset pivot
var offsetRotation = new THREE.Matrix4();//a matrix to fix pivot rotation
var offsetPosition = new THREE.Matrix4();//a matrix to fix pivot position
orientation.lookAt(vstart,vend,new THREE.Vector3(0,1,0));//look at destination
offsetRotation.makeRotationX(HALF_PI);//rotate 90 degs on X
orientation.multiply(offsetRotation);//combine orientation with rotation transformations
cylinder.applyMatrix(orientation)
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh(cylinder, material);
mesh.position=position;
if(branchnumber == -1)
scene.add(mesh);
else
group[branchnumber].add(mesh);
}
var last = Date.now();
function render()
{
if(animate)
{
requestAnimationFrame(render);
var now = Date.now();
var dt = now – last;
last = now;
var angleincr = 0.005 * Math.PI / 180 * dt;
if(group)
{
for(var i=0; i 15)
{
spotlightswitch = 0;
if(spotLight1)
spotLight1.color.setHex( spotlightcolors[Math.floor((Math.random() * 3) + 1)] );
if(spotLight2)
spotLight2.color.setHex( spotlightcolors[Math.floor((Math.random() * 3) + 1)] );
if(spotLight3)
spotLight3.color.setHex( spotlightcolors[Math.floor((Math.random() * 3) + 1)] );
}
else
spotlightswitch ++;
}
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}

Hope you like it :)
–>
(Jeremy adds: I initially placed it inline in this post, but it does not scroll well, so please look at it on Balaji’s original page instead :-)

Jaime Rosales Duque

I was inspired by Balaji’s pretty cool post and created

a merry little Christmas tree for the AEC blog:

https://autodesk634.autodesk360.com/shares/public/SH7f1edQT22b515c761e43b2d1e7ee6e0a3f?mode=embed

Hope you guys like it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.

Enjoy the time with your love ones and can’t wait for 2015!

Claude Karfiol

My friend Claude sent me his Shabbat Shalom greeting last Friday.
It is quite provocative – and funny, in an English sort of way – as well as providing some food for thought.
It turned out to be one of the Christmas messages that touched me most.

Claude, in turn, attributes it to his friend Josh.

Please skip this if you prefer not being provoked:

May your Christmas tree burn brightly and remind you of other places in the world lacking a cease-fire.

May your heating break down and let you feel how much warmth a human being requires.

May the stench of your decomposing neighbour remind you how quickly it can be too late for many things in life.

May terrorists abduct you and let you feel how much you love life and how much you are wasting it daily with useless stuff.

May your Facebook account be deleted on New Year’s Eve and show you the meaning of real friends.

May all this help open your heart and deepen your compassion, wisdom, humility and gratitude.

Thank you, dear Josh. So sad you are fictional.
Still, your good wishes definitely reached and touched us.

Aaron Lu

The biggest Christmas gift for Revit API add-in developers comes from Aaron Lu.

Aaron only recently joined the ADN team, jumped right into supporting the Revit API, and published a whole ream of helpful solutions on the AEC DevBlog:

• 
  Align two pipes through centre lines
• 
  Rebar.CreateFromCurves throws: Unable to create a RebarShape based on the given curves
• 
  Types not supported by ElementClassFilter
• 
  Those Exceptions
• 
  Code formatting in TypePad blog
• 
  How to get switch system from FamilyInstance
• 
  How to get DWGExportOptions

Thank you, Aaron, and congratulations!

The Building Coder wishes you a Merry Christmas!

I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you very much for all your inspiring interest and appreciation.

I look forward to exploring and sharing many new exciting Revit API topics and projects with you in the year to come!

Even more exciting, we have a whole new universe to discover, enabled by

ubiquitous 3D in the web!

Final Words from Roland Zelles and Victor Hugo

The future has several names.

For the weak, it is the impossible;

for the fainthearted, it is the unknown;

but for the valiant, it is the opportunity.

Victor Hugo, Les Misérables