Vectrosity - Fast and Easy Line Drawing

When creating a curve you can specify the number of segments, so you could add as many points as you think are necessary to create a smooth curve. Then use the appropriate number of segments, and the appropriate index value, when using MakeCurve.

This is indeed a thing that happens, sorry about that. The issue is that the mesh doesn't exist right away, so the normals can't be calculated. You can work around this by waiting a few frames after using ObjectSetup before calling AddTangents. I've fixed this for the next version so it happens automatically.

--Eric

 

Great! You are quick!

I can see how the effect looks now with the workaround, just beautiful...

 

Since updating to Vectrosity 5 I now get this error when stopping the game or leaving the scene:
MissingReferenceException: The object of type 'VectorObject2D' has been destroyed but you are still trying to access it.
Unity doesn't tell me what script this is coming from. Any ideas?

 

I'd suggest upgrading to Vectrosity 5.1.

--Eric

 

That didn't help...

 

Hi there!

Is there a way to manipulate the tangents / normals of each line in a vectorline to a given angle? AddTangents doesn't always get the result I want. I would like them to face the center as i'm creating a tunnel something.

Thanks in advance Eric

 

Can you tell me what circumstances lead to the error, since I can't get it to happen here.

You'd have to write your own code to do that.

--Eric

 

I'll look into it more, I was hoping it was a simple known thing.

On another note, there's a bug (I don't remember seeing it in version 4, though I might be wrong) where when you have a continuous line with weld joins and the line goes back on itself you get some nastiness going on (I need this for a line that bounces off surfaces).

 

I also can't get that to happen, sorry. Make sure the .maxWeldDistance is set appropriately.

--Eric

 

You can't? This is fresh scene/project with nothing but the below. Changing .maxWeldDistance didn't make a difference.


#pragma strict
import Vectrosity;
import System.Collections.Generic;
var lineMaterial : Material;

function Start () {

var linePoints = new List.<Vector2>();

linePoints.Add (Vector2(100, 100));
linePoints.Add (Vector2(150, 200));
linePoints.Add (Vector2(500, 200));
linePoints.Add (Vector2(400, 200));

var line = new VectorLine("Line", linePoints, 20.0, LineType.Continuous, Joins.Weld);
line.material = lineMaterial;

line.Draw();
}

 

I tried recreating what I thought you had going on, but wasn't able to reproduce it. Having actual code makes it much easier, so now I can see what the issue is. That's fixed for the next version; let me know if you want the updated VectorLine.cs script in the meantime.

--Eric

 

Actually I found what that's from; I fixed that for VectorObject3D but not VectorObject2D. So now it's fixed for the next version.

--Eric

 

Hiya Eric, new to Vectrosity and have been scratching my head on this for an hour or so trying to figure out what's probably a dumb overlook on my part. The following code draws a mostly-complete square, but the end glitches to origin, along with a per-frame error:

IndexOutOfRangeException: Array index is out of range.
Vectrosity.VectorLine.Draw3D ()
LineManager.LateUpdate ()

I am using 5.2.2f1 and the compiled Vectrosity 5.1. 'selector' is defined in inspector.

Code (csharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using Vectrosity;
3. using System.Collections.Generic;
4.  
5. public class VectorTest : MonoBehaviour {
6.  
7.     const float lineDist = -1f;
8.  
9.     [SerializeField]
10.     Transform selector;
11.     VectorLine line;
12.     List<Vector3> points;
13.  
14.     void Start () {
15.         this.points = new List<Vector3>(8);
16.         points.Add( new Vector3( -0.5f,  0.5f, lineDist ) );
17.         points.Add( new Vector3(  0.5f,  0.5f, lineDist ) );
18.         points.Add( new Vector3(  0.5f, -0.5f, lineDist ) );
19.         points.Add( new Vector3( -0.5f, -0.5f, lineDist ) );
20.         points.Add( new Vector3( -0.5f,  0.5f, lineDist ) );
21.  
22.         this.line = new VectorLine( "Line", points, 5f );
23.         line.lineType = LineType.Continuous;
24.         line.joins = Joins.Fill;
25.         line.drawTransform = selector;
26.         line.Draw3DAuto();
27.     }
28. }

 

Define the line like this:

Code (csharp):

1. line = new VectorLine( "Line", points, 5f, LineType.Continuous, Joins.Fill);

--Eric

 

Perfect, thanks! I'm not sure I would have caught on to that requirement, might be something to consider in the docs, for which properties can't be changed/defined explicitly after construction/drawing (or maybe making them readonly or some such if it doesn't break your implementation?) Just an idea! I think I'll be making good use of Vectrosity in my current project so thanks for putting the work into it.

Edit: Ahh I just noticed it's in one of the docs! (though there are 3 docs!)

 

In Vectrosity 5.1, when you setup the canvas state of a vector line when drawing it, you set the parent of the line to the canvas object, explicitly passing "true" for "worldPositionStays". Is that intended? That has caused problems for me that didn't happen in previous versions, which apparently set "false" for the parameter.

 

The current code is "transform.SetParent (canvas.transform, worldPositionStays);", where worldPositionStays is true if not specified. The old code was "transform.SetParent (canvas.transform, true);", so it was always set to true. So the current code uses the old behavior by default.

--Eric

 

Not that part, I mean inside the method "SetupCanvasState".

 

That hasn't changed in 5.1.

--Eric

 

Yeah, with previous versions I meant 4.3.2, which is the one the project was using before being upgraded to Unity 5.2.2 and Vectrosity 5.1.

 

Oh, in that case, yes, Vectrosity 5 has a number of changes based on feedback from 3 and 4, and it's intentional.

--Eric

 

Has this issue been fixed? I just bought the asset and I'm on 5.2.1f

 

As mentioned in the docs, 5.2.1 isn't supported (or 5.2.0). You need 5.2.2.

--Eric

 

Hi, I am trying to build project in Unity 5.2.1 with Vectrosity 5.1
It works fine previewing in the editor.
when i try to actually build it, it says:

Plugin 'Vectrosity.dll' is used from several locations:
Assets/Plugins/Vectrosity.dll would be copied to <PluginPath>/Vectrosity.dll
Plugins collising with each other.

Please help, as we are trying to publish! Thanks in advance!

 

Ha, I just reloaded and saw that 521 is unsupported. Will upgrade to 522 now. Thanks!

 

Hi Eric, I am actually upgrading a bunch of projects we originally built with Unity 4.6 and Vectrosity 3 + 4. I seem to recall that there was an option for both mesh-lines (which then could cast actual shadows) and "fog" to attenuate the line color based on distance from camera. Are those features still supported in Vectrosity 5.1?

PS - your product is awesome!

 

Yep. Draw3D uses a mesh in the scene; Draw uses a canvas.

Eric

 

I completed the upgrade to 5.2.2 and am still having the aforementioned challenge upon build.

Plugin 'Vectrosity.dll' is used from several locations:
Assets/Plugins/Vectrosity.dll would be copied to <PluginPath>/Vectrosity.dll
Plugins colliding with each other.

To be clear: I downloaded the zipfile from your website, expanded it, double-clicked on the "Vectrosity5" package within the "Vectrosity 5.1" subfolder, and said "Import All" into my active Unity project. It appears to then place two "Vectrosity" objects into my Plug-ins folder, which appear very similar upon inspection. I tried deleting one and all hell broke loose ("unidentifed vectrosity namespace...")... any help is greatly appreciated.

 

See the note in the upgrade guide about how some files have changed locations, so remove the old stuff before importing the new stuff.

--Eric

 

read the upgrade guide, refactored the code, deleted the vectrosity.dll at the root of /plugins/... all works now... mostly. refactoring some more tomorrow. thanks for pointing me at right docs.

 

You're completely right. After I update to 5.2.2 it works.
Lazy me, I jumped into the samples before reading anything else.

Thanks for the fast reply.

 

Hello,

I try to paint move line of squads by Vectrosity and have aproblem, that when I use VectorLine.Draw() line looks perfect
http://SSMaker.ru/1d90f8f7/
But it's over all other objects, and when i use VectorLine.Draw3D() or VectorLine.Draw3DAuto() line hase been particaly under the ground(all points have the same Y coord) and seem's also line was rotated.
http://ssmaker.ru/7c44f145/
How i can fix that?

Thanks.

 

Are you using Joins.Weld? That doesn't take the Z position into account.

--Eric

 

Yep, change Joins to Fill and all works like a charm! Thx you!

 

Thank you for your excellent support.

 

Hi, Is there a way to access the Mesh Renderer of a 3D VectorLine. I want to change the sortingOrder of the Renderer.

 

VectorLine.rectTransform.GetComponent(Renderer)

--Eric

 

Thanks

 

Will the tankzone demo be updated to Vectrosity 5?

Just imported the dll version of vectrosity 5 into unity 5.2.2. Between that and the demo scenes imported I got about 450 red errors. Computer crashed and had to restart while importing the scenes. I did not have a previous installation of vectrosity... I got rid of everything and installed the source version and everything worked fine...

 

There aren't any errors when using Vectrosity 5.1 if the associated demo scenes are imported while using Unity 5.2.2. Any errors are the result of using old demos or an older version of Unity. I did update TankZone, but had an issue with the physics misbehaving after getting hit with a tank shell (not related to Vectrosity), which I haven't looked into yet.

--Eric

 

I'm having some strange behaviour when removing points. Using this test code:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using Vectrosity;
3. using System.Collections.Generic;
4.  
5.  
6. public class LineManager : MonoBehaviour
7. {
8.     VectorLine line;
9.     Vector2 lastPoint = new Vector2(10000, 10000);
10.  
11.  
12.  
13.  
14.     void Start()
15.     {
16.         VectorLine.SetCanvasCamera(Camera.main);
17.         VectorLine.canvas.renderMode = RenderMode.ScreenSpaceCamera;
18.  
19.         line = new VectorLine("Line", new List<Vector2>(), 1, LineType.Continuous, Joins.Weld);
20.         line.Draw();
21.     }
22.  
23.  
24.  
25.  
26.     void Update()
27.     {
28.         if (Input.GetMouseButton(0))
29.         {
30.             Vector2 newPoint = Input.mousePosition;
31.             if (Vector2.Distance(lastPoint, newPoint) >= (float)Screen.width / 30)
32.             {
33.                 line.points2.Add(newPoint);
34.                 line.endPointsUpdate = 1;
35.                 line.Draw();
36.  
37.                 lastPoint = newPoint;
38.             }
39.         }
40.         else if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Backspace))
41.         {
42.             if (line.points2.Count > 0)
43.             {
44.                 line.points2.RemoveAt(0);
45.                 line.endPointsUpdate = 0;
46.                 line.Draw();
47.             }
48.         }
49.     }
50. }

It's possible to draw a line using the mouse and removing points at the start using backspace. The issue appears following these steps:

1. Draw a line with the mouse.
2. Press backspace multiple times to delete all the points, or all except one.
3. Draw another line.
4. Press backspace once.

When pressing backspace in the last step, a segment from the end will disappear (which shouldn't happen). If you continue drawing, there will be a gap in the line; pressing backspace will "move" he gap:



Seeing the "lineTriangles" list there's definitely a "jump" in the indexes where the gap occurs, but also the indexes for the first 2 triangles are the same as the ones for the next 2:






The problem seems to come from Vectrosity not removing the triangles data when there are less than 2 points, and then adding the new data on top of that when creating new points:

 

A workaround is to just resize the line to 0 when the number of points is less than 2.

 

There's a fix in 5.2 for cases that involve adding points, then removing them all, then adding more.

--Eric

 

Hello, I m new with this asset and so far so good.

I m working on a small module for one of my projects where users will create oriented 2d graphs (nodes + edges). Nodes would be UI Panels and edges would be arrows made with vectrosity. Since I want to create arrows from the middle of one panel to the middle of another, it would not make any sense to put the arrow cap at the end of the line (it would be hidden by the panel). So i would like to put it right in the middle of the line, like in the Unity Anim System.
However providing a negative offset is an issue since, if i m right, the offset is based on the cap length, not the line length. So I would not be able to correctly position the cap...

I feel like this is a pretty common usage of arrows so, is there some functionalities that I missed? Or is there a workaround to draw this kind of arrows with the cap in the center of the line? (or for any line ratio maybe?)

Thanks a lot

 

Caps can only be at the beginning or end of a line. It sounds like for this case you would use two lines.

--Eric

 

ok thanks for the rapid answer

That was my workaround... to calculate coordinates for the center between the 2 panel centers... then an arrow from panel A center to center and a line between the center and Panel B center.
Not the most optimized approach, but if there s nothing else possible

Could you consider a static function for that in a future release?

 

Yes, I'll see what I can do.

--Eric

 

Hi Eric,
I'm trying to get the a 3d line lit, but I'm getting a black result in the viewport (it casts a shadow though). Am I using the makecuve/addnormals correctly? The materials I've tried include the standard, mobile/diffuse, vertexLit and they don't seem to react to the lights.

Unity 5.2.2f1
OSX 10.10.5

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. using UnityEngine;
3. using System.Collections;
4. using System.Collections.Generic;
5. using Vectrosity;
6.  
7. public class drawLine : MonoBehaviour {
8.  
9.    public Material myMat;
10.  
11.    List <Vector3> myList = new List<Vector3>();
12.    int segments = 55;
13.    VectorLine myLine;
14.    // Use this for initialization
15.    void Start () {
16.      myList.Add (new Vector3 (0, 0, 0));
17.      myList.Add (new Vector3 (0, 1.1f, 1));
18.      myList.Add (new Vector3 (0, 1.3f, 5));
19.      myList.Add (new Vector3 (0, 3, 15));
20.      myList.Add (new Vector3 (-2, -3, 10));
21.      myList.Add (new Vector3 (5, -3, 3));
22.  
23.      myLine = new VectorLine ("testLine", new List<Vector3>(segments+1), 15, LineType.Continuous, Joins.Weld);
24.      myLine.material = myMat;
25.      myLine.MakeSpline (myList.ToArray(),segments,false );
26.      myLine.AddNormals ();
27.  
28.      myLine.Draw3D ();
29.  
30.  
31.    }
32.    
33.    // Update is called once per frame
34.    void Update () {
35.  
36.    }
37. }
38.  
39.  

Thanks!

 

Try waiting a frame before adding normals. The next version changes the way normals/tangents are handled and generally works better for that.

--Eric

 

Sweet, that works! Thanks Eric! Btw, the documentation is probably the best I've seen yet. No idea how you are maintaining multiple versions of it!

Cheers!