Super Shapes Exploration Kit

Super Shapes Exploration Kit

The File Menu:

The File menu has five options.

1) Load SuperShape Settings - selecting this menu option allows you to load any saved super shape parameters. Examples ending in .sss are in the Super Shapes folder.

2) Save SuperShape Settings - allows you to save any shape you have rendered to a file which will replicate your current shape settings when loaded. Only one shape at a time can be saved. Layered renderings are best saved by saving a bitmap file (.BMP).

3) Load Image - allows you to load and display any bitmaps that already exists. You can draw more layers on top of the loaded bitmap and subsequently save as a new bitmap when finished.

4) Save Image - allows you to save a bitmap file (.BMP) of whatever is currently displayed on the canvas.

5) Exit - Terminates the Super Shapes application.


The Help Menu:

The Help menu has two menu options.

1) Help - displays this Help file.

2) About - displays the About file


The Super Shape Parameters:

At the top of the right side of the screen are the parameters for the SuperShape. These are labeled a, b, m, n1, n2 and n3. Changing these values, determines the appearance of the SuperShape.

Changing the a and b values affect the length of the shape along the X axis and the Y axis, respectively. For many shapes these parameters will be set to 1, which is a neutral setting. Making the a value less than 1 will increase the length of a shape along the X axis, making the a value greater than 1 will decrease the length of a shape along the X axis. Correspondingly, a b parameter less than 1 will increase the height of a shape, and will decrease the height of the shape if greater than 1.

The m parameter is the determining factor for the rotational symmetry of a shape. A value of 3 will display triangular or 3-lobed shapes, a value of 4 will display rectangular or 4 lobed shapes, a value of 5 will display pentagonal or 5 lobed shapes, and so on. When the value of m is set to 0, 1, or 2, mainly circular or elliptical shapes are displayed.

You may also use fractional values (e.g. 2.3, 4.7, 5.1) for the m parameter. However, fractional values typically display incomplete shapes. To 'complete' the shape select Multi-Cycle from the Cycle Selection combo-box, and set Cycles to 2 or more to complete the shape (Note: Single Color Fill is disabled in Multi-Cycle mode).

The n1, n2, and n3 parameters 'distort' the symmetry of the shape's lobes in various ways. Certain values will cause the lobes to shrink, grow, pinch or widen, other values will cause the lobes to bifurcate or split at the ends. Determining these values will come with experience.


Angle, Pen Size, and Scale Values:

Setting the Angle in degrees will rotate the shape displayed by the angle amount entered.

Pen Size sets the width of the line used to draw the shape.

Scale is the amount of magnification needed to display the shape at the size you desire. Most SuperShapes fit in a 2 pixel by 2 pixel square when displayed without any scaling, therefore, start with a smaller scaling value (typically around 50) and increase or decrease as desired. This will allow you to see the entire shape on screen when working with new shapes. Keep in mind that a and b values not equal to 1 will magnify or shrink the overall size of the shape independently of the scaling factor.


Pen Color, Fill Color, and Background Color:

The Pen Color button brings up a color dialog which allows you to change the color of the line used to draw a shape.

The Fill Color button brings up a color dialog which allows you to change the fill color of a Single Color filled shape.

The Background Color button brings up a color dialog which allows you to change the background color of the main display canvas. Pressing this button erases any image on the display canvas.


Cycle Selection and Number of Cycles for Multi-Cycle Shapes:

Cycle Selection has only two options - Single Cycle or Multi-Cycle

Nearly all whole number values of m greater than 2 will require only one cycle to draw a complete shape.

You can draw these shapes in Multi-Cycle mode but this will not change the shape in appearance. It will also needlessly take more time for the shape to render. In other words, select Single Cycle mode whenever possible.

Most fractional values of m will require 2 or more cycles to draw a complete shape.

Select Multi-Cycle mode to draw shapes requiring more than one cycle. Then set the number of cycles in the text-box immediately below.

If you are drawing a shape requiring more than one cycle, start with 2 cycles and increase by one cycle, only until the shape appears complete. This will keep rendering time to a minimum.


Fill Type Selection:

This combo-box presents three options, No Fill, Single Color Fill and, Radial Gradient Fill.

No Fill is the default fill type. The shape will be drawn with the current pen color at the currently selected pen size.

Single Color Fill will fill the inside of a shape with the current fill color and, then will draw an outline using the current pen color with the current pen size. This fill type is disabled for Multi-Cycle shapes.

Radial Gradient Fill repeatedly draws the shape with an ever decreasing scale factor using the currently selected Gradient Color 1 and Gradient Color 2 colors. The outer edge of the shape is drawn with Gradient Color 1 and smoothly transitions to Gradient Color 2 in the middle of the shape. This type of fill usually gives the rendered shape a pseudo-3D appearance.

When using the Radial Gradient Fill, unfilled areas may appear in the rendered shape. The simple remedy is to increase the pen size to a value that fills any unfilled areas.

Because the shape is drawn repeatedly, it is the slowest type of fill, especially with large scale values, even more so with Multi-Cycle shapes.


Gradient Color1 And Gradient Color 2:

The Gradient Color 1 button brings up a color dialog which allows you to select the start color of the gradient used to fill a shape.

The Gradient Color 2 button brings up a color dialog which allows you to select the last color of the gradient used to fill a shape.


Draw SuperShape:

The Draw Super Shape button renders a shape using the current parameters, angle, pen size, scale, fill type, and colors selected.


Clear Canvas:

The Clear Canvas button erases all drawings on the canvas. This has been intentionally left as a user option to allow the layering of multiple shape renderings on the canvas.


The Exit button:

The Exit button terminates the Super Shape application.