Who knows about SVG?

splinemodelsplinemodel
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
That is, Scalable Vector Graphics, the XML markup language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and animated, and either declarative or scripted. It is an open standard created by the World Wide Web Consortium.



I am working on a website for project MeatLowf, which is a VLF digital radio meant for use in submerged sensors (If you have a better name for that, there's still time). I want to make the website a little bit different and perhaps a little edgy than the norm. Since the project is kind of open-source-ish, I'd rather not use Flash. I'd also rather not buy Flash. I a very familiar with vector graphics in general.



Any other ideas are welcome, too.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Er, what was the question again?



    I used some boilerplate SVG in a project a few months ago, was pretty easy.



    Unfortunately, the only SVG plugin I could find for Safari was the official Adobe one - which was buggy, and hadn't been updated since 2004 or so.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Only thing I know about it is: I don't like it.



    Tried to work with it when it was new, and hated the effect of it in Illustrator.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kickaha


    Er, what was the question again?



    I used some boilerplate SVG in a project a few months ago, was pretty easy.



    Unfortunately, the only SVG plugin I could find for Safari was the official Adobe one - which was buggy, and hadn't been updated since 2004 or so.



    Well, future versions of Safari will have SVG support built-in?
  • Reply 4 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker


    Well, future versions of Safari will have SVG support built-in?



    That's the idea. Plus, Firefox has it now, which gives me a tool to work with for the time being.



    I like the idea of vector graphics on the web that aren't Flash. Any other ideas?
  • Reply 5 of 11
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Good to hear. It was a bit of a pain trying to work around the issues in Safari.



    Being able to merge image data with JavaScript to make it interactive was too slick though. And damned easy.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    I'd go with Flash for the time being. It's on nearly everyone's computer. I prefer open formats and I'd love to see SVG take over but nothing competes with the Flash suite for animation for SVG. I use Inkscape sometimes and it's pretty good for SVG.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    I'm aware that Flash is more capable, but I'm not using it. It's bloatware for what I want to do, which is not to make interactive animation.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel


    I'm aware that Flash is more capable, but I'm not using it. It's bloatware for what I want to do, which is not to make interactive animation.



    It's true that it's bloatware but what else will you use? Although SVG is an interesting possibility, I don't know how you will make the animations (not hand-coding Javascript I hope) let alone convince people to install SVG capability into their browsers, which isn't even widely available. If it's a personal project then it's not a big deal but it is if you are being paid for it.



    I'm a little surprised that given there is Gimp and Inkscape for Photoshop and Illustrator that someone hasn't made a Flash clone for SVG:



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrome...e_alternatives
  • Reply 9 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    What's kind of appealing about SVG (as I've found) is that I can load patterns into a database (which I already use) and update or tweak any animations on the fly. Part of the goal of my website is to get it to a point where I never have to FTP anything. At the moment, the prototype uses a hacked-up phpBB for content control, and it seems to work pretty well. I have the ability to drop in "[html]" BBcode tags, so it's possible to drop SVG straight into any messages without the file scattering headaches of BB file attachments.



    As far as design is concerned, I'm not trying to do anything complicated. I just want to use vector graphics. Illustrator has an SVG export feature. Done.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Oh, you're using a drawing tool?



    Heh. I was creating the XML in a little python script on the fly from data being passed to me by a software metrics package. For working from a programmatic level, it's the bee's knees.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    The original idea was to use a drawing tool, but thanks to your encouragement, I am tempted to use both techniques.
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