Vectrosity - fast and easy line drawing

You'd use Draw3DAuto if you want the line to be updated every frame, for example if the camera is moving or the line itself is being changed. If you manually call Draw3D every frame then it's no different than using Draw3DAuto.

--Eric

 

He Eric,

Thanks for the great work on Vectrosity. We are making a line drawing (and path following) game. Currently the user can draw a line. We are using the makeSpline function to curve the line. Working great. But can you give us some more details what the makeSpline function does?

You have to pass all the points of the line, but does it calculate every the the whole line? Or just the last part?

Thanks,
Tim.

 

It calculates the entire line if you want, but you can use the index value with a subset of spline points to only update part of a line. Such as the DrawCurves example does; using MakeCurve in that case rather than MakeSpline, but the idea is the same.

--Eric

 

Hey, first of all thanks a lot for an amazing plugin. Using it a lot for the drawing of lines.

I wish to ask, I'm trying to draw a line with a repeated pattern (footsteps texture), and a quad should occupy a grid of a 1x1 square. What I've tried are two methods:

• Discrete lines stretching from one edge to another. The problem is that the texture goes beyond a 1x1 quad when I draw with the line, even though texturescale has been set to 1. And also the quad is drawing based off the perspective the camera, I don't want that if possible since I'd like the material to be flat on the floor.
• I then tried with points and the footsteps started to show well, the problem is now that the texture doesn't rotate like when drawing the line. Maybe there's a way to rotate a point?

I've been looking at the documentation to maybe find a way to disable the perspective drawing but didn't find what I need, maybe you know of a way to do so? Or maybe rotate the points being drawn?

Thanks!

 

A textureScale of 1 means that the texture width will be drawn in direct proportion to the height, so a square texture will be drawn exactly square and not stretched. So if the line is wider than it is tall, then it will be repeated. It's not possible to draw without being based on the perspective of the camera, but a hack is to use a secondary camera pointing in the direction you want and use that with SetCamera.

--Eric

 

Hi Eric,

Works well so far however I cannot get my selection index working. (line selection works well)

Code (CSharp):

1.         if (pCloud.collections.Length > 0) {
2.             for (int i = 0; i<pCloud.collections.Length; i++) {
3.                 if (pCloud.collections[i].line.Selected(EndPoint2), out index) {
4.                     Debug.Log("line index: " + index);
5.                 }
6.             }
7.         }

Console says:
C:\Users\JUHANI\Documents\Verlet02\Assets\pInput.cs(91,86) error:CS1525 Unexpected symbol `out'

It has something to do with the "out" statement. What it actually does?
Thanks,
- J

 

The "out index" has to be inside the Selected call; you have it inside the if statement.

--Eric

 

Thanks Eric got it working! Looking good : ) I got confused somehow when reading the documentation.

 

Great job with Vectrosity!!!
I am using the SetLine3D functions in a situation where i do not know beforehand how many points will be in the line. what is the best way to handle this?
i have been declaring a Vector3 array that is longer than the max number of points then copying the last line point into the remaining unused slots in the array so that the line doesn't go to origin. Using C#. thank you

 

The usual way is to declare an array that's the maximum size you think you would use, then only use some of the points.

--Eric

 

Hi! I was wondering if you could help me with the situation I ended up in.
I have a spline, which is changed by dragging fingers across it. While drag is not finished there is a "ghost" line that shows what the final edit will look like. So when it is done, points are animated in a coroutine from ghost to original line, and that works good.

Now, there is a lot of intermediary point arrays, and some problem arise when I want, for example, to remember the previous shapes. I would make a stack of Vector2[] and push current array before it's edited. If I do it like this:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. Stack<Vector2[]> history = new Stack<Vector2>();
3. histroy.Push(line.points2);
4.  

It seems that array is stored by reference
so I need to do something like this:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. List<Vector2>h=newList<Vector2>();
3. foreach(Vector2 v in line.points2)
4. {
5. Vector2 hv=v;
6. h.Add(hv);
7. }
8.  
9. history.Push(h.ToArray());
10.  

Am I missing something here, about how Vector2 data is passed here? By value or reference?

Also as a helper I have map of point values for easier editing of the splines like this (its stored by reference):

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. Dictionary<int,Vector2> Line = new <int,Vector2>();
3.  

at the beginning I store all indeces and Vector2 values to this map so I can easily edit certain points.
Is there a easier way to do this? I think I am overlooking something!

Thanks for great package and great support!

 

Arrays are always by reference, yes. If you want to copy an array you can just use System.Array.Copy. Even if you did it by hand, the correct way would be:

Code (csharp):

1. var h = new Vector2[line.points2.Length];
2. for (int i = 0; i < h.Length; i++) {
3.     h[i] = line.points2[i];
4. }

--Eric

 

I'm seeing odd behavior when applying Depth of Field to my main camera. 3D lines appear arbitrarily blurred regardless of how close or far they are from the camera along the Z axis:


Oddly, if a line is visually in front of another object (between the object and the camera) it appears perfectly sharp regardless of Z axis positioning:


I'm using Vectrosity's default material. Am I missing some way of making the lines render properly?

 

I'm guessing it's shader-related, probably the z-buffer; try a different shader. Although the default shader does have zwrite on...maybe it's alpha/transparency that's the issue? I haven't really used the DOF effect.

--Eric

 

Hey Eric5h5, thanks for your previous post. Took your tip for the secondary camera as a hack and that worked well. I have two new questions now if I may please?

• Is there a way to use SetCamera maybe with separate VectorLine variables instead of using the static method? At the moment I'm switching between two cameras because of perspectives I want to maintain.
• I'm using endcap to outptut an arrow. Inside the Unity Editor, the image shows perfectly but on Android tablets, that arrow is not showing. Do you have an idea maybe of why this is happening please?

Thanks for your help and again good job on Vectrosity ^_^

 

No, sorry.

Maybe the material isn't included? Try putting the material in the Resources folder, which makes it be included regardless of whether Unity knows it's being used or not.

--Eric

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Apparently this is a common shader issue with partially transparent objects and DOF. I was able to modify a simple shader to work properly in case anyone else has the same problem:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/depth-of-field-bug-with-alpha-channels.79209/

 

Hi Eric (again)

Vectrosity works very well now.
It seems that each VectorLine takes one drawcall and I have few hundred lines in the scene. The dynamic batching is taking care of it pretty well and I have good fps, but would it be generally faster to render everything in one VectorLine or is the dynamic batching enough fast?

Thanks,
- J

 

The idea with dynamic batching is that the time taken for batching should be less than the time it would have taken if it was using separate draw calls, but batching is still taking CPU time. So ideally you would have 1 draw call in the first place, rather than using dynamic batching to achieve 1 draw call.

--Eric

 

A small update out now (on the asset store soon I expect):

Vectrosity 3.1.1

Fixes:
• Using .drawStart and .drawEnd with 1-pixel lines made with LineType.Continuous and VectorLine.useMeshLines = true works correctly.
• Colliders created for Continuous lines with .drawStart and .drawEnd are correct.

--Eric

 

I'm drawing a "continuous" line with Joins set to Weld, but just as the screenshot shows, it looks like it's not being joined at all.

Code (CSharp):

1.  VectorLine previewLine = new VectorLine("Gesture Preview", points, mat, 4.0f, LineType.Continuous, Joins.Weld);

I'm joining multiple "MakeCurve" lines together. The material is additive soft, if it's important.

Can I not use weld in this case?

 

Looks like you want to change VectorLine.maxWeldDistance.

--Eric

 

I made it ridiculously huge, but it didn't change anything.

Diving into your code at Line2D() where WeldJoins() is being called, it looks like WeldJoins() it can only be called when the vector line is connected as a loop as determined by your approximately2 method.

What can I do to have my curve lines welded together without having to connect the line vector into a loop (first point = last point)?

 

Are you using separate VectorLines? Those can't be welded; the points must all be in a single VectorLine.

--Eric

 

All points are on a single vector line using multiple "MakeCurves."

More info: I have a for-loop which assigns 4 Vector2 variables into a MarkCurve method from a VectorLine. I run through the loop a few times so that I can draw a bunch of curves.

 

For Continuous lines, all joins are welded as long as maxWeldDistance permits it. The thing about being connected as a loop only applies to the first and last points.

--Eric

 

Yep, that's what I feared. Ok, thanks for the help!

 

Is there any way to make a circle partially? Like the PartialLine demo? (With the same material perhaps?)

 

Yes, you could make a circle and erase the part you don't want with .drawStart/.drawEnd. Or make a circle in a line and copy the points of the array into another line.

--Eric

 

Thanks Eric, did it
I have one more question for you:
Is it possible to create a flat 3d shape say a flat circle facing up, so that the triangles are not facing the camera? If yes, how?

 

Not currently, but as a hack you can make another camera that faces the way you want, and use that in SetCamera.

--Eric

 

Hi Eric, is it possible to fill shapes with a solid color? Such as a simple circle or triangle. Thanks.

 

No, sorry.

--Eric

 

This is a huge thread. Seems like maybe vectorocity needs its own forum, so we can get specific answers seperated out.

I just bought Vectorocity, hoping it would solve my line problems, And I am sure it can. But for the life of me, I can not get it to do this simple thing:

I want to draw a line between two objects in the 3D view. As the camera moves, the line should stay attached to both objects if they are moved or if the camera moves. That's it..

This is the JS code I assembled but it is not working. Any help greatly appreciated:
------------
#pragma strict
import Vectrosity;

var startobj : Transform;
var endobj : Transform;

function LateUpdate () {
// Make Vector2 array; in this case we just use 2 elements...
var linePoints = Vector2(startobj.transform.x, startobj.transform.y),(endobj.transform.x, endobj.transform.y);

// Make a VectorLine object using the above points and the default material, with a width of 2 pixels
var myline = new VectorLine("Line", linePoints, null, 2.0);

// Draw the line
myline.Draw3Dauto();
}
--------------

 

The main problem is that you're creating a new VectorLine object every frame. Also that's not the syntax for how arrays are declared, and you would need to use the complete transform.position including z, not just x and y. You should create the line (and the array) once, and update the points in the array as needed. I'd strongly recommend at least reading pages 6-7 in the docs, which cover how VectorLine objects are created and used. So you'd create the line and the array (which would need to be a global variable) in Start, and every frame you'd put the transform.position of startobj into one element in the array and the transform.position of endobj into the other element in the array. Let me know if you're still having problems with the code after trying this.

--Eric

 

Hi Eric,

Thanks for Vectrosity! I'm looking for a way to figure out which (overlapping) line segments are at certain point. For example, the following code has two segments crossing at (50,50). I'm getting segment 1, which is OK, but I need segment 3 also returned.

Code (JavaScript):

1. import Vectrosity;
2. var index : int;
3. private var line : VectorLine;
4. private var linePoints = [
5.     Vector2(0, 50),
6.     Vector2(0, 0),
7.     Vector2(100, 100),
8.     Vector2(100, 0),
9.     Vector2(0, 100)
10. ];
11.  
12. function Start () {
13.     var line = VectorLine("TestLine", linePoints, null, 4.0, LineType.Continuous);
14.     line.Draw();
15.     line.Selected(Vector2(50,50), index);
16. }

Is there a (simple) way to get it? I'm thinking of altering Selected method, testing all segments and returning an array of ints - but before I do that and give myself updating headaches - is there any chance that you add this feature in some future update?

 

There isn't a simple way, sorry. I think this is too specific to have as a standard feature...the API is already very big so I have to be careful about adding stuff. But that's why the source is included.

--Eric

 

Fair enough.

 

Hi guys!

Currently I am drawing lines as splines and that works well, so if i have just a few points that make a rect, using MakeSpline gives me nice shape with number of segments that I want. Now I am trying to draw a line with just a few points but to have many segments but still to keep rectangular shape. is this possible, take a look at the pic (line should be defined with just four points and other points are automatically added).

thanks!

 

There isn't a built-in function for that, but you can make your own by supplying the appropriate points in the array.

--Eric

 

Hey Eric, love the asset, however i keep getting the error that the shader wants normals, but the mesh actionline doesnt have them. I tried using the .AddNormals() method, heck i even tried the .AddTangents() method, and ive tried placing them all over the place with no luck. What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!

 

Did you draw the line again after using AddNormals? (Sorry, the documentation doesn't really make this clear.)

--Eric

 

Code (CSharp):

1. void Awake()
2. {
3. actionLine = new VectorLine ("ActionLine", linePoints, lineMaterial, lineWidth, LineType.Continuous, Joins.None);
4. actionLine.AddNormals();
5. actionLine.vectorObject.renderer.receiveShadows = false;
6. actionLine.vectorObject.renderer.castShadows = false;
7. actionLine.layer = 0;
8. actionLine.textureScale = 1.0;
9. }
10.  
11. void Update()
12. {
13.  
14. if(!actionComplete)
15. {
16. actionLine.active = true;
17. actionLine.AddNormals();
18. actionLine.Draw3D();
19. }
20. else actionLine.active = false;
21. }

So i pretty much have it in awake function and in update, and i also tried putting it in all different orders and no luck

Also i should mention, it still draws the line out with the correct normals and everything, the only downfall i experience is a lag spike, but its a pretty bad one


**Edit:

Okay so i fixed it and what i actually had to do was create and assign a second material without normals at first then switch the materials out after i call the addnormals.

 

Eric,

fantastic tool for Line drawing in unity. Just need a little help though from your side:

Say i want to Draw a capped Straight line with rounded angle that should be drawn between two specific screen positions and using Orthographic main camera. For example:


---------------------------------------------------------
function OnMouseDown()
{
startPosition = Current Vector2 position of Mouse on screen when mouse pressed;
}

function OnMouseUp()
{
endPosition = Current Vector2 position of Mouse on screen when mouse released;

DrawLine between startPosition and endPosition <---------------------How to achieve this?
}

---------------------------------------------------------------

PLease help, actually i want to create application like Free flow game and thus want to start like this.



Waiting for your kind reply.

Thanks and Regards
Niraj Vishwakarma

 

Vectrosity doesn't really support rounded corners, although it would probably work if you made a very short curve at the correct location.

--Eric

 

Hi Eric!

Is it somehow possible to have a spline (with line.MakeSpline) just like in the attached image, so that one point have
different interpolation or something like that? View attachment 110542

 

The image doesn't seem to work.

--Eric

 

it should work now i hope

 

Hello Eric,

I have got how to create rounded ended lines. Just help me draw line between two Screen positions in the form of Vector2 as i described below where i need help:

----------------------------------------------------

function OnMouseDown()
{
startPosition = Current Vector2 position of Mouse on screen when mouse pressed;
}

function OnMouseUp()
{
endPosition = Current Vector2 position of Mouse on screen when mouse released;

DrawLine between startPosition and endPosition <---------------------How to achieve this?
}

---------------------------------------------------

Thanks and Regards
Niraj Vishwakarma

 

@niraj: lines just use an array of points, so you use the array when creating a VectorLine, and then update the points in the array as needed.

Code (javascript):

1. linePoints = new Vector2[numberOfPoints];

So you use linePoints (which should be a global variable) to create the VectorLine, and then change the entries in linePoints to accomplish what you want.

@pretender: if I understand what you're asking, you can use two splines. MakeSpline has an option to use an index for the segments, so if e.g. you have a line with 100 segments, then you could use MakeSpline with one spline for 50 segments, and then MakeSpline with another spline for another 50 segments, starting at 50.

--Eric