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Wireframes Magazine - Axure components - prototyping #prototype #axure #wireframe

Axure Libraries & Widgets Compilation

September 29th, 2009


Axure is quite the popular prototyping tool for which a ton of widgets and libraries have started emerging. These downloadable and reusable pattern libraries can often speed up the prototyping process. Here is a quick compilation of the latest I recently found:

  1. Official Libraries & Widgets from Axure
  2. Layout grids for Axure and Pencil (from Userfocus) – a 960-grid system template
  3. AXLIB – a robust design library of usable interaction patterns
  4. Ari’s OS X Axure RP Widget Library – a comprehensive library of OS X widgets
  5. Free Axure Design Patterns (from William) – a couple popular UI patterns
  6. Conetree Axure Patterns – hand gesture icons & clear input field
  7. Total Wireframe – a few patterns (with a small price tag)
  8. A Clean Design – Better Defaults
  9. A Clean Design – Axure Design Pattern Library v2.0
  10. A Clean Design – Social Widget Library for Axure
  11. Konigi Icons for Axure
via wireframes.linowski.ca

Filed under  //   tips and tricks   web strategy  
Posted October 13, 2009
 

How to make 100+ SFX Files Fast Using Wave Editor and Ableton Live

I really love using Ableton Live for making original SFX but I've run into a problem with getting out hundreds of small little clips of audio quickly.

Problem: Hundreds of little audio clips in Ableton Live. I want to keep the freedom of working in Live but not use Live's export for every little clip of audio.

Solution: Use Wave Editors simple threshhold feature to put in place markers and then export the audio between the markers.

Get trials for both programs. Ableton Live PC/MAC and Wave Editor MAC only.

--- First make all your awesome Sound Effects in live however you like too
1. consolidate all the effects into one channel - There are many ways to do this - I typically record all my SFX into one channel.
2. Make sure the SFX is in one clip or its one complete wave form - Not to important but easier to deal with.
3. Once everything is consolidated you can edit the clip by clicking on it so that it's preview is below then click on edit - in the prefences you can setup an external wave editor - the clip becomes offline and opens into your external wave editor.

Filed under  //   music   sound design   tips and tricks  
Posted October 24, 2008
 

Sprite Sheets - Automation in Photoshop

What is a sprite sheet? - A sprite sheet is a depiction of various sprites arranged in one image, detailing the exact frames of animation for each character or object by way of layout. These are either procured from still images of a game or created originally for use in sprite cartoons or video games. Sprite sheets are also used to store tiles for tile based video games. - Definition from Wikipedia.
Problem: I have a 10 30framed animations that are in sequence but not arranged into a grid formation such as a sprite sheet. Solution: Find and modify a .jsx script for photoshop to do the work for me. follow the steps below. 1. Grab the script from here. You may need to modify the script or put the code into a text editor and save it out for photoshop CS3. CS3 uses .jsx 2. Place the script inside your scripts folder under the Photoshop application folder 3. Open Photoshop - Use the scripts under the file menu - Select Stack to create a "Stack" of your images. Make sure that the images that you are stacking are in some kind of sequence (image_01.png - image_31.png ETC...) 4. Run the script once you've selected all your images to stack 5. Once you have them stacked crop the canvas for a tight fit - Keep the ratio the same for width and height (100x100px, 96x96px ETC...) 6. Open the Layers To Sprite.jsx file in a text editor and set the column variable to the length of your animation - Test this out to find what works best. 7. Save Script and run in Photoshop 8. Result should be a layered squence of a grided animation. 9. Remember that if your using this sprit sheet in flash that you keep the image size under 2880x2880px.
I hope this helps! HUGE THANKS TO: Mark McCoy

Filed under  //   tips and tricks  
Posted October 22, 2008
 

Isometric Grids

I've been searching high and low about how to make the perfect isometric grid without any plugins or fancy 3rd party apps. So here are my findings. This is my example built in Illustrator using CS3. You can download the example its saved as a PDF for compatiblity issues.  isometric_grid_example I found these topics: Isometric Graph Paper Basic Theory Plug'in for Illustrator Isometric Graph Paper 2 Great Adobe post about Isometric Grids If you have any questions regarding my example feel free to ask.

Filed under  //   tips and tricks  
Posted October 15, 2008