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NoesisGUI : XAML-based User Interface [RELEASED]

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by sfernandez, Jul 23, 2013.

  1. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    Discover the most powerful User Interface solution based on XAML

    >> Download from Asset Store
    >> Download the latest version



    NoesisGUI is our user interface framework built on hardware accelerated vector graphics. We offer a modern and elegant approach to the problem of user interface in realtime applications. No more static and outdated user interfaces. No more wasting of programming resources for the UI. Give your artist team the freedom they need to reach maximum creativity in a workflow based on XAML tools. The visual appearance and flexibility of NoesisGUI is of such high quality that once you start using it you won't go back.

    Main Features
    • Vector Based: NoesisGUI uses vector primitives that are converted back to triangles in real time with a powerful GPU-assisted tessellation algorithm. This allows for resolution independent user interfaces with optimum quality.
    • GPU accelerated: NoesisGUI uses a proprietary SVG rasterizer implemented 100% on the GPU using shaders. The result is a full hardware accelerated UI with an astounding antialiasing quality.
    • Based on XAML: We use XAML files as source data for NoesisGUI. A wide subset of the XAML standard is supported allowing the use of Microsoft Expression Blend or any other editor to design the visual aspect of your UI.
    • Multithreaded architecture: NoesisGUI has been designed from scratch to take full advantage of today's high-tech architectures in a scalable way. Our implementation fits perfectly with the Unity threading model.
    • Animation: All properties found in NoesisGUI elements can be fully animated using a wide set of curves and transitions. Animate positions, colors, gradients, layers, etc. Do not put a limit to the creativity of your artist team.
    • 3D projection: In NoesisGUI every item can be projected onto 3D. Achieve sophisticated visual effects thanks to this feature that integrates your UI into real 3D scenes. Check our examples to see this feature working.
    • Skinning: The visual style of any NoesisGUI widget can be thoroughly customized thanks to an advanced skinning system that will lead you to the exact result you want for your application.
    • Efficient workflow: In NoesisGUI each UI panel is an independent data resource that can be altered without touching any application code. This allows changing the visual aspect without writing a single line of code. That way your programmer and artist team can work in parallel avoiding bottlenecks between them.
    • Native implementation: We know how important is to have an efficient UI that does not steal CPU cycles from your application. NoesisGUI is fully written in C++, exposing a highly optimized API that can be used from Unity in C#. You don’t need to be a C++ expert.
    • Multiplatform: Windows (DirectX v9.0 for now), OS X, Linux, iOS and Android platforms fully supported. More platforms to come in future releases (DX11, Windows Phone, Web).
    Recommended XAML Editor Tools

    We recommend the following options for editing XAML:
    • If you want to edit by hand the best tool is Kaxaml. We recommend the tutorials that come with our SDK. Many of those tutorials describe XAML that can be edited by hand and they are a good start to learn the possibilities of XAML. We also recommend reading WPF basic concepts in the MSDN. You can start doing great designs using a tool to import SVG like Inkscape.
    • All Microsoft Visual Studio versions (Express included) come with a basic XAML Designer. It offers a solid support for building XAML in a visual manner.
    • Microsoft Expression Blend is the most professional and robust option for editing XAML. It can be found:
      • Stand alone available as a MSDN Subscriber Download in the Expression Studio 4 pack. It seems that this version of Blend is discontinued (although the trial is still available here)
      • Integrated in the Professional/Ultimate versions of Microsoft Visual Studio (since VS 2012). A 2013 preview can be downloaded here.
      • There is another version of Blend that generates XAML for Windows Store and Windows Phone 8 applications, and is available for free in Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8. There aren't many differences between the generated XAML for WinRT and WPF.
    HD Videos









    Download ShooterDemo project used for this tutorial here. You will find inside how easy is to enhance the appearance of a user interface by using NoesisGUI.


    Licensing

    NoesisGUI 1.2 is available for free in the Asset Store.
    Within the package you can find extensive documentation, including plenty of sample scenes and tutorials.

    We offer other products and licensing options in our website.

    NOTE: NoesisGUI 1.2 is a native plugin designed to work with Unity 5.


    For more information, please visit our forums in the website.

















     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2017
    Graph likes this.
  2. Zalo

    Zalo

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    This looks really amazing!! I have been looking for something like this since ScaleForm was announced

    I am evaluating the trial but before purchasing it I'd like to test it on mobile devices. Is it posible to get a trial for IOS or Android?
     
  3. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    For visibility ease of trying i would strongly suggest you make the free (in editor) test version available on the asset store. Makes it instantly downloadable with 0 hassle :)
     
  4. ZJP

    ZJP

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  5. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    Not at all, that's the price for non asset store version (which also includes non unity versions) if you grab it from unity's asset store you'll notice it doesn't have a custom license, it's an editor extention like any other which means 1 license = 1 user, no per project restrictions :)

    edit: note that getting it from their website makes sense too, as it's per project but "not" per user, so it's 150$ per project, even if you have 10 guys on it as far as i know.
     
  6. ZJP

    ZJP

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    Ten guys with an maximum Gross Annual Income of 50k . Hard... :D
     
  7. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    Sure but i was just stating it's a diferent licensing model, you could be working on a 0 budget project with guys working for free and that's be 150 total, or you can grab it on the asset store for 150 per person do unlimited projects, sounds very fair (it's absoltely not comparable in caliber to any GUI frameworks on the store, and it's still priced in the same range as them).
     
  8. ZJP

    ZJP

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    Buying on the Asset Store seems a better solution in my case.

    Indeed..
     
  9. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    If you're wondering why i sound like a fanboi, it's because i've been waiting for this release since the first thread (that weirdly didn't take off at the time) announcing this like 6month - 1 year ago hehe.
    I also think on top of being an amazing way to do game GUIs it will rocks by opening up unity to a new business, cross platform line of business apps, you already had most of .net, just not the GUIs, and you're getting the best one which isn't even available on mono atm, meaning you go from windows only WPF to pretty much everything "very WPF like xaml with most core features".
     
  10. ZJP

    ZJP

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    I generally find your comments insightful about the Asset Store products. This one is bookmarked. ;)
     
  11. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    It's nearly perfect (the code behind isn't ".net ish" enough to my taste, but i know this is getting changed very quickly in next version with a more .net API exposed, it's really a very minor thing however, talking about needing an extra 10 lines of code once for your GUI or so today vs tommorow)
    It comes with a ton of samples doc which is really nice and, dare i say, unusual for the asset store! :)
     
  12. lorenalexm

    lorenalexm

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    In regards to this; I have looked at the licensing page and did not see any further details. Is the $50k GAI a limit imposed on the individual as a whole, or just in regards to the projects published with NoesisGUI? For example, what of someone who is making greater then $50k a year, but in a field entirely unrelated to the computer sciences?
     
  13. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    If you are an individual, there is no reason to get this option. Get it from the asset store so that you'll have a permanent (instead of per project) license at the same price.
     
  14. VicToMeyeZR

    VicToMeyeZR

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    "Avoid chaos and keep professional looking. Keep your extensions under the Window menu (like Transform Utilities) or appropriate category. Do not put them under your company name."

    Y'all really need to QUIT doing this with assets. I wish the store people would start enforcing this stuff!!!
     
  15. jc_lvngstn

    jc_lvngstn

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    The demo package you can find (I found it via the 1.0 release announcement on their forums) is very nice. Shows a lot of features. I would like to know more about the pro pricing options. From what I see, if your project pulls in more than 50k a year...???

    Very exciting looking product. I will be keeping a close eye on it.
     
  16. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    Not sure what you're talking about? Noesis doesn't expose any menus at all AFAIK, much less outside of the guidelines?
     
  17. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    The pricing on their website is for multi people company, i repeat, there is ZERO reason to get it if you're a one man company / single person, if so just get it from the asset store and, like any non special license editor extention, you pay once per person period.

    The prices on their websites are for companies who want to buy per project (instead of per dev) because even if it means you can only use it for 1 project before buying again, it may end up being less expensive if you have multiple devs, for example 3 devs on a single project with no budget (non commercial) = 150$ for the project, while you'd have to pay 450$ (150$ per person) to get it from the asset store.

    So if you just want to buy this for yourself, and to own it permanently, get it from the asset store and forget you ever saw that webpage.
     
  18. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    @ZJP: Clearly our licensing page is confusing, because many people is asking about the Indie/Pro licenses when they only require the Unity package and they can get it for just $150 per seat from the Asset Store. We will improve that info and the one provided in the first post of this thread.
     
  19. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    @lorenalexm: Following with licensing questions, the 50K GAI limit between Indie and Pro licenses exposed in our web is just to differentiate individuals/amateurs from professionals/companies. And as I said before, this kind of licenses are focused on those people that prefer a Per Project business model. If you fit better with the Per Seat model that Unity Asset Store offers and you only plan to use the Unity package, that should be your choice. We would try to explain this things better in our web page and in this post ;)
     
  20. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    @ronan.thibaudau: You are really a fanboi :p and we are very happy you support our work with such enthusiasm. Thanks ;)
     
  21. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    @VicToMeyeZR: Following asset provider submission guidelines we finally placed our own NoesisGUI menu under the Component entry. I don't know if you are talking about this because of what you saw in the Unity Tutorial video. As you can find in the attached image, this has already changed:

    $Unity3DTutorialImg21.png
     
  22. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    @jc_lvngstn: Thank you, we are very proud of our product, we believe in it. About licensing, as I said before, for those who plan to use only the Unity package (no native integration into other engines/apps/games), buying it from the Asset Store would be the best option, for individuals and for companies, because it allows you to produce unlimited projects.
     
  23. jdesantos

    jdesantos

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    Thanks for the suggestion ronan, we are working on it!
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2013
  24. Professor Snake

    Professor Snake

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    I was about to release my horrible UI that works with surfaces but then i saw this. Pretty stellar work, very impressive.
     
  25. yung

    yung

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    May I know what's the main advantage of this GUI system compared to Unity GUI or NGUI?
    I see that NoesisGUI has a feature I would love to use but isn't NGUI able to do most ?

    I am not very experienced with guis however, would appreciate any thoughts or explanation.
    Looks awesome!
     
  26. ZJP

    ZJP

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    Thanks..
     
  27. jc_lvngstn

    jc_lvngstn

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    Based on what I have seen of NeosisGUI, and what I have experienced with NGUI...NeosisGUI is light years ahead of NGUI. NGUI still has a somewhat archaic way of creating and managing your UI. The...Z order system makes me want to pull my hair out. I found creating containers, or advanced controls with NGUI a bit painful.
    So in my opinion...no, NGUI is not able to do a lot of things that a more "modern" UI system can do. I'm talking about containers and such, organizing child elements inside of others.

    Don't get me wrong...it's far better than the built in stuff. But after working with WPF and XAML, it doesn't even come close. That's why I'm so excited about NeosisGUI.
     
  28. jdesantos

    jdesantos

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    Hi yung,

    where to begin from... :)

    The main advantage of NGUI is at the same time its weakest point. NGUI is probably what should have been the original GUI version of Unity. Its integration with Unity is awesome and we think NGUI is a good example of good, small and efficient code. But Unity comes with limitations when doing GUI, their architecture is not designed for 2D. The same happens with NGUI. You can do simple UIs but as soon as things get complicated it is very hard to do something efficiently. At least that is my experiencie, and the main reason we decided to port NoesisGUI to Unity.

    Just tell me how would you do these samples in NGUI, if possible at all and how many hours woud you need:

    $ngf_img_003_big.jpg
    $ngf_img_004_big.jpg
    $ngf_img_010_big.jpg

    The GUI from the last screenshot, for example, took us only a few hours and is totally vectorial, it can adapt to any texture resolution and antialiasing you want. Look for example at the gauges, their animation. How would you do that with NGUI?

    Yes, if you are going to do a very simple panel with a few buttons and sliders, you can do it with NGUI but even here NoesisGUI is better thanks to the powerful animation and skinning system available. For more complex interfaces I think going with NGUI is a nightmare.

    Our main advantanges against NGUI are:

    • NoesisGUI renders using vector shapes. Your GUI scales automatically between all the devices: low res Android, 1080p iOS, etc etc. You always get perfect pixel renders. And of course if you don't like using vectors you can always use bitmaps.
    • NoesisGUI edition is so versatile that you can go from creating your panels by hand (or automatically with a tool), by code or using amazing tools like Expression Blend or Visual Studio. Creating the GUI with Unity3D becomes so primitive when you discover Blend!
    • Every panel in NoesisGUI can be projected and deformed as you wish. You can create spectacular 3D effects that are imposible (or hard to achieve) in NGUI
    • The API exposed by NoesisGUI is robust and based in XAML. NGUI adapts the component system that comes with Unity and although quite intuitive for simple things, just try for example adding animations for each of the states of your control.
    • Panels control how elements are displayed hierarchically. Children can be stacked, scaled to be resolution independent, form a grid... just tell me how to do this easily in NGUI. Or for example, composition, just tell me how to apply a global opacity to a set of elements in NGUI and do it correctly, not with hacks.
    • Everything, everything can be animated in NoesisGUI. Not just a few properties. And they can be mixed using storyboards, several of then at the same time. And all this done with a powerful editor.
    • I didn't test the last version of NGUI but the last time I tried, text rendering quality was far from what NoesisGUI offers. We dedicated a great effort to the algorithm that render text in NoesisGUI.

    I could continue but I think with this is enough. I think NGUI and NoesisGUI (apart from their names being too similar, and this is just coincidende I promise) are products with different targets. Just download our trial and compare. :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2013
  29. Nezabyte

    Nezabyte

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    This looks pretty cool! Will be checking out the free version soon. Thanks for the comparison with NGUI as that's what we currently use.
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2013
  30. shaderbytes

    shaderbytes

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    Looks great!

    I didnt see any mention of draw calls in the features spec? .. what are the draw calls for each of the 3 samples posted above?
     
  31. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    I don't know how they do their rendering but iirc i always get 0 draw calls in editor so i expect the draw calls aren't counted, however it's not comparable to other GUI systems at all in the way it works (it's not something that manages gameobjects that will end up rendering aligning them atlasing textures, it does it's own rendering, there are no gameobjects / unity work there)
     
  32. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    Yup just what i've been saying why i waited for this, everything else on the store is a mere toy in comparison, it's like comparing ms paint to photoshop really. (i'm not bashing the other tools, they definately were a good thing to help work around the bad unity GUI and had their places for a while, but they were all small simply workarounds within unity around the really bad immediate unity GUI, this is a port of WPF done by multiple people full time over years, with WPF being something that grew for 10 years at microsoft and that was already touted as the holy grail of UI development before it released nearly pushing back an OS release, you simply can't compare).
     
  33. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    I think it would be really nice to have those samples included if possible at all, a lot of people who don't know wpf may be interested in noesis i think this will speak to them a thousand more times than the regular Line of Business WPF tutorials online :)

    Also not really related but anyone buying Noesis wanting to use it professionally, i strongly suggest you learn WPF to make full use of this by buying WPF unleashed (not all of the book will apply to Noesis, but very much worth a read anyway)
     
  34. shaderbytes

    shaderbytes

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    Interesting .. leaves me wondering what are the performance costs on mobile in comparison to other simple 1 draw call packages such as NGUI etc ..?
     
  35. jdesantos

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    It is not that easy as qualifying packages as 1-draw call or not... :)

    With NoesisGUI if you pack all images in a texture (we have a sample where this is shown) you can get exactly the same result as NGUI: 1 draw call.

    But, being NoesisGUI more powerful, things start to get complicated, for example linear or radial gradients use different shaders. So if you abuse gradients you are going to increase the draw calls. In exchange you get the possibility to animate the points of the ramp which allow you to create incredible effects.

    Anyway, there is room for many improvements to reduce batches. And we will be incorporating them in successive versions. We didn't have to time to solve this 100%. We are very conscious that this part is critical.

    The reason you are seeing 0 batches in Unity is because we are a native plugin that controls the GPU internally (without unity noticing). This is one of the reasons that allows NoesisGUI being *fast*. :cool:
     
  36. jdesantos

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    :grin: That is exactly the book we followed here in Noesis to plan the first implementation of NoesisGUI.
     
  37. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    I suggest it because, being very visual while still being high quality writing, i think it's very fit as a book for those looking for game dev GUIs (it's not a book on LoB apps but an actual book on WPF), so i really think it's the best book for the unity audience out of all the ones i consumed! :)
     
  38. TopThreat

    TopThreat

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    Will I still be able to use the GUI's I make with this in Linux builds of my game?
     
  39. VicToMeyeZR

    VicToMeyeZR

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    Thank you for clarifying.

    $noesis.PNG
     
  40. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    Did you read the rest of the thread before posting this? This screenshot is from an old version, there's only one (non top level) menu for noesis, and i didn't even know it existed (because you really don't need any menu at all to use it).
    Anyway i have the current version from the store i can 100% guarantee no top level menus.
     
  41. VicToMeyeZR

    VicToMeyeZR

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    All I can go on is your videos. If it shows you using a TOP LEVEL menu in the video, I have to assume you are. I would not have pruchased this asset because of it, so thank you for clarifying
     
  42. VicToMeyeZR

    VicToMeyeZR

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    I did not see page 2 till after. My correction has been made.


    Thanks
     
  43. ronan-thibaudau

    ronan-thibaudau

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    Not your fault, i post fast :)
     
  44. VicToMeyeZR

    VicToMeyeZR

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    I see that. :) This is a really nice product..
     
  45. jdesantos

    jdesantos

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    Not yet. Linux standalone version is under development.
     
  46. jdesantos

    jdesantos

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    Hi!

    We are in the process of making all this clear and transparent. Meanwhile contact us (address in the web) for getting more information.

    Thanks.
     
  47. jdesantos

    jdesantos

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    Yes, we have a trial for mobiles. While we decide if to make it public or not, contact me and I will give you the link for that trial.

    Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2013
  48. jc_lvngstn

    jc_lvngstn

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    I'm looking at the editor-only demo package. My apologies if I have blatantly missed it, but is there documentation on which elements or components are available, and which are not? Talking about things like the WPF ViewBox, which automatically scales the content it contains, things like that.
    I know I can find some of this out by just creating some xaml. I'd just like to see some documentation to look over in advance.
    Thanks!
     
  49. Mikie

    Mikie

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    Trying to try your free version. When I try to login I get account has not been activated. It would be nice if you made it a little easier to get the trial version.
     
  50. sfernandez

    sfernandez

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    Hi Mikie, we've just updated our first post to make it easier to download the trial version of NoesisGUI.
    We also clarified a bit our license options and are working on the licensing info that is available on our web.