The ultimate picture effects app with unique, high quality effects. Often been copied, but never reached. "The app, a Swiss Army knife of photo tweaks" - msnbc.com "a must-have for WP7 devices ... the program provides a set of amazing effects and tweaks for your photos" - engadget.com "Pictures Lab offers a ton of effects for your money." - gizmodo.com <a href="http://bit.ly/PicturesLabReviews" target="_blank">More reviews</a>. If you like to take photos then this app is a perfect addition to your phone’s toolset. It's the original and the best selling photo app already since the Windows Phone launch. Pictures Lab comes with more than 20 controllable and easy-to-use advanced effects like different vintage and hipster-like effects, Tilt Shift (miniature faking), Lomo, Soften, Auto Adjust, Sharpen, Comic, Bulge, B&W, Sepia and many more. Dynamic previews of the effects are shown in a list, making it possible to easily pick the right one. It is also possible to crop, rotate and flip images. An enhanced picture and the EXIF data can be saved to the phone’s pictures hub or shared on Twitter. The app performs the image processing on the original picture in its original resolution, thus making it also possible to print the image or use it as desktop wallpaper. Full Pictures Hub Extras integration and support for landscape and portrait orientation. Trial version with complete functionality. See a video <a href="http://vimeo.com/15410057" target="_blank">here</a>. Go to blog post October 2010 A short series about the development of a Windows Phone 7 picture effects application called "PicFx". The first article shows how to create the base Windows Phone application and how to implement some basic effects. The second article adds two advanced effects and more interesting features. Go to the 1st article August 2010 The article explains how to write pixel shaders for Silverlight and WPF, what tools should be used, and how to work with the tools. Furthermore, it shows how to build an extensible Silverlight shader application with the help of the Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) The application not only comes with the two shaders that are implemented in the article, it also contains three other shaders I’ve written before. The complete source code is licensed under the Ms-PL and can be downloaded from the CodePlex site. Go to the article May 2010 My first article for Microsoft's Coding4Fun site demonstrates how to implement a simple facial recognition system using Silverlight 4’s webcam feature. The method I've implemented searches for a certain sized skin color region in a webcam snapshot. This technique is not as perfect as a professional computer vision library like OpenCV and the Haar-like features they use, but it runs in real time and works for most webcam scenarios. The complete source code for the article is available at CodePlex and licensed under the Ms-PL. Go to the article March 2010 SLARToolkit is a flexible Augmented Reality library for Silverlight with the aim to make real time Augmented Reality applications with Silverlight as easy and fast as possible. It can be used with the Webcam API that was introduced in Silverlight 4 or with any other CaptureSource or a WriteableBitmap. SLARTookit is based on the established NyARToolkit and ARToolkit. SLARToolkit uses a dual license model and could be used for open or closed source applications under certain conditions. You can find the source code, samples and further information on the CodePlex site (see below). Go to CodePlex project site February 2010 The Matrix3DEx library is a collection of extension and factory methods for Silverlight's Matrix3D struct. The Matrix3D struct represents a 4x4 matrix that is used in combination with the Matrix3DProjection to apply more complex semi-3D scenarios to any UIElement than are possible with the simple PlaneProjection. This makes it possible to apply arbitrary model transformation matrices and perspective matrices to Silverlight elements. The Matrix3D struct is very minimalistic and has only a few members. The Matrix3DEx library tries to compensate that with extension and factory methods for common transformation matrices that are easy to use like built in methods. You can find the source code, samples and further information on the CodePlex site (see below). Go to CodePlex project site January 2010 The WriteableBitmapEx library is a collection of extension methods for Silverlight's WriteableBitmap. The WriteableBitmap class that was added in Silverlight 3, allows the direct manipulation of a bitmap and could be used to generate fast procedural images by drawing directly to a bitmap. The WriteableBitmap API is very minimalistic and there's only the raw Pixels array for such operations. The WriteableBitmapEx library tries to compensate that with extensions methods that are easy to use like built in methods. The library extends the WriteableBitmap class with elementary and fast (2D drawing) functionality, supporting common shapes like point, line, ellipse, polyline, quad, rectangle, triangle. Conversion methods and functions to combine WriteableBitmaps (Blitting) are part of it too. You can find the source code, samples and further information on the CodePlex site (see below). Go to CodePlex project site December 2009 This sample uses the Silverlight webcam API and my edge detection shader to provide a nice real time webcam effect. It's also possible to take snapshots and save these as JPEG files. Furthermore I give some ideas on how to build a Silverlight 4 video chat / conference application on top of the JPEG capturing and encoding code. You can find a live demo, the source code and further information on my Blog (see below). Go to blog post November 2009 Two HLSL pixel shaders for Silverlight / WPF that remove odd pixels or scanlines and make them transparent. You can find a live demo, the source code and further information on my Blog (see below). Go to blog post October 2009 I have implemented a pixel shader for Silverlight 3 that runs in real-time and simulates scratches, noise and other effects. An image or video looks like an old movie if that shader is applied to it. You can find a live demo, the source code and further information on my Blog (see below). Go to blog post August 2009 Having a fast dynamic bitmap generation API at hand is essential for procedural image generation and a lot of computer games. With Silverlight 3 the WriteableBitmap class was introduced and made all custom PNG Stream implementations obsolete. I was curious how the custom PNG Stream implementations compete with the WriteableBitmap and how big the speed difference really was and wrote a Speedtest, which compares the different implementations. I also tried a pixel shader, compared it with the dynamic bitmap approaches and got some interesting results. You can find a live demo, the source code and further information on my Blog (see below). Go to blog post July 2009 An edge detection post processing effect for Silverlight 3 realized with a pixel shader. The pixel shader is parametric and performs a common image processing technique called convolution. You can find a live demo, the source code and further information on my Blog (see below). Go to blog post July 2009 Perlin Noise is a computer graphics algorithm, which generates pseudo-random semi-natural textures with fractal characteristics and is mostly used for procedural image generation. It's able to produce good looking cloud / sky, fire, smoke, wood or marble textures, height maps and so on. You can find a live demo, the source code and further information on my Blog (see below). Go to blog post Spring 2009 This is the Silverlight 2 remake of my website, which is powered by my flexible Silverlight soft body physics Engine. It's completly interactive. Just click near the balloon and throw it around or grab a corner of the content element. The soft body physic is based on a Newtonian mass-spring system and also implements the Pressure Soft Body Model by <a href="http://panoramix.ift.uni.wroc.pl/~maq/eng/"target="_blank">Maciej Matyka</a> The resulting differential equations are solved numerically with a Verlet integration. Please vistit my <a href="http://kodierer.blogspot.com/2009/05/silverlight-2-real-time-physics-website.html" target="_blank">Blog</a> for more details. I submitted this website to the "Summer Silverlight Coding Competition". Feel free to vote for it <a href="http://www.componentart.com/community/competition2009/details.aspx?id=1017">here</a>. The Social network icons on the About page were made by <a href="http://www.tilo-hensel.de/free-glossy-community-icons/2009/04/23" target="_blank">Tilo Hensel</a>. Go to blog post Spring 2009 Flui°D°emo is an interactive 2D physically based fluid simulation using a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) approach as described in the paper "Particle-Based Fluid Simulation for Interactive Applications" by M. Mueller et al. This approach utilizes the Navier-Stokes equation and SPH to simulate the behaviour of a fluid. The resulting differential equation is solved with a basic Verlet integration. This all is implemented in a flexible and small 2D particle system engine, including emitters, consumers and a renderer for Meta-Balls (Blobs). The Meta-Balls are drawn with a Render-To-Texture technique using OpenGLs framebuffer extension (FBO), a procedural generated gaussian distribution texture and alpha-testing. The collision handling is done with the Separating-Axis-Theorem (SAT) and Oriented Bounding Boxes (OBBs). The whole project is written in C# 3.0 against the .Net Runtime 2.0 and released under the GPLv3 license. The visualization is done with OpenGL (<a href="http://www.opentk.com" target="_blank">OpenTK</a> library). The download includes the binaries, the source code (including Visual C# Express 2008 solution) and the OpenTK library. See the "Readme.txt" for further instructions and requirements. By now my SPH code was ported to several other platforms and languages including <a href="http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=250144" target="_blank">Unity</a>, C++ and Mason Green ported it to the D programming language and integrated it in his physics engine <a href="http://www.dsource.org/projects/blaze" target="_blank">Blaze</a>. Read the <a href="http://www.dsource.org/projects/blaze/browser/trunk/AUTHORS" target="_blank">Authors</a> file for details. There's also a video at <a href="http://vimeo.com/4391370" target="_blank">Vimeo</a>. Download Zip (1033 KB) Spring 2008 Jelly PONG(TM) 3D is a little PONG(TM) clone which uses a physically based mass-spring particle system to simulate a gelatinous cube. In the non-network version, the player plays against the computer or against another player in 2-player mode on the same machine. In the multiplayer network version, 6 players could play against each other. The goal is to defend the players side of the box from being hit by the jelly cube -> 3D PONG(TM) ;). For this purpose the player controls a paddle with the keyboard. The player which protected his side at best wins. I am very proud that Jelly PONG(TM) 3D is part of the <a href="http://www.pong-mythos.net" target="_blank">pong.mythos</a> exhibition. This exhibition is organized by the Computer Game Museum Berlin and curated by Andreas Lange. It was shown in Stuttgart, Leipzig, Bern and more locations. The network version was also demoed at an event called "Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2006" at my former university HTW Dresden. PONG(TM) is courtesty of Atari Interactive, Inc. 2009 Atari Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. A short instruction is given in the readme.txt and in the GUI of the game. The download includes the exe, the sound files and the needed Tao and XML3D libs. You also need the .Net Framework 1.1 to run the application. You can download the framework <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3" target="_blank">here</a>. Enjoy it!! Download Zip (1205 KB) Spring 2006 This is a little collection of some demos which I implemented during the "VR und Simulation" course of <a href="http://www.htw-dresden.de/~wacker" target="_blank">Prof. Markus Wacker</a> during my studies at the HTW Dresden. The applications demonstrate some physically based kinematics: a cannon ball, a particle system, a spring-pendulum, a mass-spring particle system cloth simulation and a rigid body system. One demo shows keyframed spline animation, which is the classical approach for animating objects without any physics. I also included my testing framework for our final assignment, a Virtual Reality rigid body game. I coded the whole rigid body simulation and the collision response for this assignment. The collision detection and the game logic was implemented by Rene J. and Torsten B. The download includes the demos and the needed Tao and XML3D libs. You also need the .Net Framework 1.1 to run the applications. You can download the framework <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3" target="_blank">here</a>. Enjoy it!! Download Zip (1084 KB) Winter 2005/06 These are some examples which were made with the second version of my 3D graphics engine. The examples demonstrate: Pixel Shader 1.4, Pixel Shader 2.0, Vertex Shader 1.1, Bump-, Cube-, Environment-Mapping with (chromatic) refraction, Cook-Torrance lightning model (for PS 1.4 and PS 2.0), Alpha blending, Multitexturing, dynamic lightning and more. The 3D models are stored in my own XML-Mesh-Format called RRMesh. See the README.txt for additional information. The download includes the applications, the needed RREngine.dll and other DLLs, the textures, meshes and the readme file. A tool to convert 3d models from DirectX X-File Mesh to RRMesh is also included in the Zip-File. The demos require DirectX 9.0c. You can download the newest version from <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/directx" target="_blank">Microsoft</a>. Enjoy it! Download Zip (13062 KB) 2003 - 2006 A collection of some multimedia programing examples using Direct 3D, Direct Show, Direct Input, Direct Sound and the Media Control Interface (MCI). It also includes my assignment for the course "Multimedia Programmierung".The assignment uses my own C++ 3D engine (RREngine), which was extended with a sprite class and some other features for that. The assignment also computes and visualizes a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the streamed music as a spectrum and uses a mask filter for equalizing the so called "Heat-Cells ". The applications require DirectX 9.0c. You can download the newest version from <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/directx" target="_blank">Microsoft</a>. Enjoy it! Download Zip (3633 KB) Winter 2005/06 MuLaPeGASim is an application which I developed with my buddy Torsten B. as an assignment for the courses "Artificial Intelligence" and "Genetic algorithms". The name "MuLaPeGASim" stands for (Mu)lti(la)yer (Pe)rceptron (G)enetic (A)lgorithm (Sim)ulator. :) And as the name implies, MuLaPeGASim is a multilayer Perceptron neural network simulator with some special features for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) problems. It is possible to design a Multilayer Feed-Forward network, create training patterns and train it with a Backpropagation learning algorithm (batch or online, Momentum, Flat Spot Elimination) or with a genetic learning algorithm. The patterns could be entered manually or created automatically for OCR learning. It's also possible to extract characters from an image. We also decided to release the developed libraries (neural network and OCR preprocessing) as free APIs. The APIs could be used for non-commercial purposes with any .Net language. For further information check out the project homepage. The project homepage includes also German descriptions of the used and developed algorithms. The downloads, the MSDN-like API documentations, the software manual and MuLaPeGASim itself are completly in english. Enjoy it! Go to project homepage Fall 2004 The Fractal Set Viewer is a small Win32 API application, which computes and visualizes the Mandelbrot set and the Julia set fractals. It is possible to select the range of the complex pane and to change some properties of the set (iterations, seed for Julia set, ...). For the GUI I have used the Win32 API C functions. The rest of the implementation is done using C++ and OOP techniques. :o) For version 1.1 I did some optimization with inline Assembler. Now the algorithm is 9-10 times faster as before. For version 1.11 I changed the coloring. :o) The download includes the exe and the Readme.txt. In the Readme.txt you can find some information on how to use the program. Enjoy it! Download Zip (68 KB) Spring 2005 A .Net Usercontrol which was written in C# using the .Net Framework 1.1. You can easily integrate the lib into your Visual Studio .Net Toolbox and insert it like any other control. The sine curve xy-coordinates are precomputed, to keep the resource usage in the tick event at a minimum. Double buffering is also used. The scrolling of the text could be paused in the program by pressing (and holding) a mousebutton over the control. There are some properties which could be edited in the Designer: amplitude, frequency of the sine curve, the color, the font, etc. The download includes the library, the documentation and a small example. Enjoy it! Download Zip (144 KB) Fall 2004 A .Net Windows Forms Application which was written in C# using the .Net Framework 1.1. With this tool you can select a mathematical distribution function and change it's parameters. The curve of the function is drawn in a diagram and it responds live on parameter changes. It is also possible to change the properties of the diagram (step range, ...). The available distribution functions are: Weibull (as 2 or 3 parameter type), Gaussian (Normal) and the Exponential. The labels and markings in the tool are written in German, but this should actually be no problem for non German-speaking users. :o) The download includes the application as an Exe-File. The .Net Framework 1.1 is required. You can download the framework <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3" target="_blank">here</a>. Enjoy it! Download Zip (10 KB) Summer 2004 Some OpenGL "demos", which I wrote in C using the GLUT Library. It is possible to rotate the cube in the "Colored3DCube.exe" by pressing the left mousebutton and moving the mouse. You can also zoom in or out by pressing the right mouse button and moving. In the "Primitives.exe" example you can draw some points and change the primitive type (GL_LINES, GL_QUADS, ...) in the context menu. The download includes the applications and the needed glut32.dll. Enjoy it! Download Zip (218 KB) 2003 - 2005 Lauti Lab is a game, which I wrote in C++ using the graphics library of my former professor. The aim of the game is to move a little bottle of liquer (<a href="http://www.lauterbacher-tropfen.de" target="_blank">"Lauterbacher Tropfen"</a>) with the cursor keys through a labyrinth. :o) Each labyrinth structure is randomly computed. The game also implements a backtracking algorithm, which moves the bottle automatically to the exit. To do this, press the "Zeige den Weg" button. I also wrote a class for a sine Scrolltext, using sprites as letters. ;-) The text and buttons in the game are labelled in German, but this should actually be no problem for non German-speaking users. The download includes the application as an Exe-File and the needed resources. Enjoy it! Download Zip (206 KB) Spring 2003 This collection of Windows tools/demos is written in C++ using the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC). The aim in writting this collection was to test/implement almost every MFC feature. Some highlights in the collection are: RTF texteditor (with Drag and Drop); small GDI graphics editor using double buffering; a SDI application with a linked list, double buffering and serialization; a Chat Slien-Server using WinSockets and a custom protocol. The text and buttons in the tools are labelled in German, but this should actually be no problem for non German-speaking users. :o) The download includes the applications as Exe-Files. You can run the "Menu_Start.exe" to start all tools from. Enjoy it! Download Zip (50 KB) Spring 2004 Visual Countdown is a contdown tool for your mobile phone. I was tested with my own Series 60 phone and worked fine. :) How to use: On the first page you see a splash screen. On the second page you can enter the seconds, minutes and hours when the countdown should end. The next page will show you the remaining time visualized as a analog clock and below as a digit. When the time is up, a small "animation" and a tone will be played. It is also possible to pause/resume and to stop the countdown. The download includes the Manifest file, the .jad- and the .jar-file. Just copy these three files to your mobile phone and start the .jad-, or .jar-file to install the tool on your cellphone. Your mobile phone must have a working MIDP Java runtime version 1.1. Enjoy it! Download Zip (13 KB) Spring 2004 The server handles the transfer between the clients and writes some status information and the chat text to the command line. The client is an AWT-Frame application. On the first start page you can enter a host name / IP and the port of the server. The last Textbox is used to enter a nickname. When you press "OK", the client trys to establish a connection to the server. On the next page you can chat with your friends or anyone else or even with yourself. ;) To do this, simply type your message and press [ENTER]/[RETURN]. Some text and buttons in the client are labelled in German, but this should actually be no problem for non German-speaking users. The download includes the .class-files and two Batch files to start the server and the client. First start the server with "run_server.bat". By default the server is listening on port number 11981. You can run the server on any other port by starting the server with an argument as port number, e.g. "run_server.bat 0815". After the server is running start the client(s) with "run_client.bat". Enjoy it! Download Zip (7 KB) Winter 2003/04 The Hexviewer is a little AWT-Frame application. You can either enter a URL in the upper Textbox or you can enter an absolute path to a local file. Press the "Text/Hex" button to switch between ASCII text and hex representation. The download includes the .class-files and a Batch file to start the tool. Start the "run.bat" to run the tool. Enjoy it! Download Zip (4 KB) Winter 2003/04 This Applet is just a small simple calculator. You can add, sub, mult and div float values. And it is also possible to store a value (M) and to restore it (MR). Enjoy it! Start Applet Winter 2003/04