jump to navigation

Quick WPF/Silverlight tips to make great videos of your apps 8/2/11

 

Hello there!

Have you ever developed a great WPF or Silverlight app with lots of smooth animations, but when you tried to capture it in video (using software like Camtasia and Expression Encoder) the animations are jumpy and slow?  Have you tried to zoom in to some part of your app only to see that your beautiful UI gets pixelated?

Well this tip is for you! In this post I’ll give some tips from my experience recording the video for Skedle, our newest WPF app. Take a look at the Skedle video below:

YouTube Preview Image

You can see that the animations are smooth and the resolution is crisp, even when the video zooms in the application. Also, did you know that the opening “Skedle” animation was actually captured directly from the WPF app?

So let’s jump on to the tips!

1. Slow down animations and then speed up the video

No matter what PC you have and how optimized your app is, you’ll almost never be able to capture animations with the same smoothness and fluidity as the real app. To overcome that, the solution is to slow down all your animations by a factor of 10 or 20 (using the SpeedRatio property), and then speed up the video accordingly in those specific parts.

“But”, you might say, “does that mean I’ll have to change the SpeedRatio of each Storyboard?”. The answer: No for WPF, unfortunately yes for Silverlight! WPF allows you to override properties like SpeedRatio by using Dependency Object metadata overrides (unavailable on Silverlight as of v4 and WP7). Here’s an example  that slows down all the animations by a factor of 10 (you can use it on your App.xaml, for instance):

static App() {
    Timeline.SpeedRatioProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(Storyboard),
               new FrameworkPropertyMetadata { DefaultValue = 0.1 });
}

Of course, this tip won’t work if you specifically set the SpeedRatio of any of your animations.

One last point: don’t use this to cheat or lie about the fluidity of your app! If your app is slow and you make it look smooth, users will notice that the first time they try it, and it won’t look good for you.

2. Use Viewbox or RenderTransform to zoom in without losing quality

The next thing you’ll want to do is to record your screencast in a huge resolution in order to enable crisp zoom-in effects on your video. The easiest way to achieve that is to wrap your main layout panel on your window or page in a Viewbox (available on WPF and Silverlight 4)  and set its Width and Height to a fixed size, or simply use a ScaleTransform as your panel’s RenderTransform to scale everything up to a fixed factor.

For example, if your app looks good on a 800×600px window but you have a 1920×1200px monitor, you can record your video at double size (1600×1200px), which will allow for zoom effects in a hi-res (720p) video. In WPF or Silverlight, this could look like the following:

<Window>
    <!-- ... -->
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RenderTransform>
            <ScaleTransform ScaleX="2" ScaleY="2" />
        </Grid.RenderTransform>

        <!-- old content goes here, with fixed size -->
        <Grid Width="800" Height="600" x:Name="LayoutRoot">
            <!--more stuff-->
        </Grid>

    </Grid>
</Window>

This tip won’t work if you have images on your UI, but you would lose resolution on those anyway when zooming. At least you’re getting the best of the vector-based parts of your interface.

When recording videos for WP7 apps this tip doesn’t apply too well because you’re constrained by the size of the emulator. My recommendation is to record on the maximum size of the emulator (click the magnifier icon, select 100%), which will give you a 800×480px screen – usually more than enough for YouTube videos.

Bonus tip: If you use this to zoom in, try setting the Windows cursors to “Windows Aero (extra large)”, which will give you a mouse pointer that is proportional to your huge interface!

You can also use this tip to record title screens and other animations for your video (for example, the Skedle title animation was zoomed in by a factor of 5). In fact, by combining the two tips, you could create the video entirely in Expression Blend!

So that’s all for today. If you create a cool video using these tips, please post it as a comment!

See you next time!
Roberto

This post is also available on .

7 comments
Categories: .net, Dicas, Silverlight, WPF, Windows Phone  

My first app on the Windows Phone Marketplace: Periodic Table 24/11/10

 

Hey there!

Now that the Windows Phone 7 devices have been released and the Windows Phone Marketplace is live, my brother Eduardo and I wanted to develop an application to experiment with WP7 and evaluate the Marketplace validation process. So here it is!

Our first app is a Periodic Table for Windows Phone 7 that contains chemical and physical information of all chemical elements. Available for US$0.99!

Screenshots:

Features:

Trial limitation: in the trial version, you can only see the details for elements in Group 1 (H, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr).

If you like this application or if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections, please review this app on the Marketplace!

Thanks!
Roberto

7 comments
Categories: Silverlight, Windows Phone  

XAMLCast – Interview with Paul Betts about ReactiveXaml 29/10/10

 

Hey everyone!

[Para os ouvintes brasileiros/portugueses: a entrevista foi feita em inglês mas o vídeo também foi legendado em português! Aproveite!]

Following on our special series of interviews, Roberto interviewed Paul Betts, a Software Development Engineer in the Windows team and creator of ReactiveXaml. In a video special, he talked about Reactive programming and how to apply it to WPF and Silverlight through RxXaml. An awesome introduction to a new paradigm on WPF/SL development!

If you want to download the video, leave a comment in this post. If there’s enough demand, I’ll upload the video (1.6GB!) to a file share.

Here are the links we talked about in the interview:

Reactive Extensions for .net
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/devlabs/ee794896.aspx

ReactiveXaml
http://github.com/xpaulbettsx/ReactiveXaml

ReactiveXaml Google Group
http://groups.google.com/group/reactivexaml

Paul’s Twitter
http://twitter.com/xpaulbettsx

Paul’s Blog
 http://blog.paulbetts.org

Also, don’t miss our previous interview with Arturo Toledo about design and Expression!

Subscribe to receive XAMLCast directly on your MP3 player, phone or RSS reader:

You can follow XAMLCast on Twitter: @xamlcast

Stay tuned for more!

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino and Rodrigo Kono

7 comments
Categories: .net, Dicas, Microsoft, Silverlight, WPF, XAMLCast  

XAMLCast – interview with Arturo Toledo 23/10/10

 

Hey everyone!

[Para os ouvintes brasileiros e portugueses: Este post é em Inglês pois a entrevista foi realizada em Inglês. Os episódios em Português voltam em breve!]

Earlier this year we did some special interviews for XAMLCast with influential people in the WPF/SL community. Well finally we’ve got time to release them!

To start, Roberto interviewed Arturo Toledo, now Sr. Program Manager for the Microsoft Web Platform. He talked about design, Metro, trends and Expression. Don’t miss it!

 
icon for podpress  XAMLCast - Interview with Arturo Toledo [39:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here are the links we talked about in the interview:

Smashing Magazine Webdesign Trends
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/04/showcase-of-modern-navigation-design-trends/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/14/web-design-trends-for-2009/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/21/current-web-design-trends-for-2009/

Windows UX
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E49820CB-954D-45AE-9CB3-1B9E8EA7FE8C&displaylang=en

Metro UX
http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/8/6/D869941E-455D-4882-A6B8-0DBCAA6AF2D4/UI%20Design%20and%20Interaction%20Guide%20for%20Windows%20Phone%207%20Series.pdf

August de los Reyes (Surface team) talks about Natural User Experiences (NUI)
http://www.microsoft.com/belux/msdn/nl/chopsticks/default.aspx?id=1406
http://www.webdirections.org/resources/august-de-los-reyes-predicting-the-past/

Gesturecons
http://www.gesturecons.com

Expression Studio
http://www.microsoft.com/expression/

.Toolbox Design School
http://microsoft.com/design/toolbox

Arturo’s Twitter
http://twitter.com/arturot

Arturo’s Blog
 http://ux.artu.tv

Subscribe to receive XAMLCast directly on your MP3 player, phone or RSS reader:

You can follow XAMLCast on Twitter: @xamlcast

Stay tuned for more!

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino and Rodrigo Kono

3 comments
Categories: Expression, Microsoft, Silverlight, WPF, XAMLCast  

Learn how to use the Windows Phone 7 Turnstile Control with Victor Gaudioso! 19/10/10

 

So you’ve seen the WP7 Turnstile Control but don’t know how to use it?

Turnstile demo by Victor Gaudioso (click to see the video)

Victor Gaudioso, MVP, has published a cool 13-minute video explaining all you need to know to download the source, rebuild it for WP7, and use it in your apps. The video is available at:

http://wp.me/pWN5M-ca

Thanks Victor for your awesome video!
Cheers!
Roberto

2 comments
Categories: Artigos, Dicas, Silverlight, Windows Phone  

New article: Windows Phone 7 Turnstile Control for Silverlight 12/10/10

 

WP7Turnstile_2

I’ve just released my third article on CodeProject: recreating the Windows Phone 7 Turnstile Effect on Silverlight (for desktop and Phone). This article explains how to recreate the 3D effect we’ve seen so many times in the Windows Phone 7 videos (or for some lucky ones, on the devices themselves). Then, it shows how to refactor the effect into a reusable control that you can apply to any layout.

Here’s the link:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/windows-phone-7/WP7Turnstile.aspx

You can see some demos of the effect at http://bit.ly/wptiles and http://bit.ly/wptiles3c .

If you like this article, please sign in and vote for this article (on the right corner, “Rate this article”), and please leave your comments and suggestions.

All the source code is also being released in CodePlex under the MS-PL licence, to facilitate future improvements and distribution. The project page is at http://turnstile.codeplex.com/.

If you like this kind of article, I also recommend my other articles on CodeProject:

Thanks!
Roberto

5 comments
Categories: Artigos, Microsoft, Open Source, Silverlight, Windows Phone  

XAMLCast – Episódio 20 – Visual Studio LightSwitch e 10 coisas que um dev WPF/SL deve saber por Pete Brown 9/9/10

 

Chegamos ao episódio número 20!

Este episódio comentamos especialmente o Top 10 que o Pete Brown publicou na semana passada. A gravação está bacana e esperamos que gostem!

 
icon for podpress  XAMLCast - Episodio 20 [38:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Links de referência deste podcast:

Cadastre e receba o podcast diretamente no seu Ipod, Zune, Mp3 player, etc:

O XAMLCast no Twitter: @xamlcast

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

7 comments
Categories: .net, Dicas, Microsoft, Novidades, Silverlight, WPF, XAMLCast  

XAMLCast – Episódio 19 – Novidades, Visual Studio LightSwitch e Behaviors 20/8/10

 

Olá pessoal!

Estamos na edição 19!
São 42′ de boa informação. Ouça, comente e aproveite os links abaixo.

 
icon for podpress  XAMLCast - Episodio 19 [42:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Para assinar:

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

5 comments
Categories: Expression, Microsoft, Silverlight, XAMLCast  

XAMLCast – Episódio 18 – Sterling DB, SilverMotion, Windows Phone 7 e mais 31/7/10

 

Fala pessoal!

Depois de duas semanas sem gravar por causa de dificuldade em sincronizar nossas agendas, acabamos decidindo gravar esse episódio sem o Kono para não deixar vocês, nossos ouvintes, mais uma semana sem o XAMLCast. Mas não se preocupem pois no próximo episódio estaremos todos de volta.

Nesta semana falamos de Sterling DB, SilverMotion, Windows Phone 7, Silverlight para Symbian e Xte Profiler. Ouça!

 
icon for podpress  XAMLCast - Episodio 18 [32:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Para assinar:

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

5 comments
Categories: .net, Dicas, Silverlight, XAMLCast  

XAMLCast – Episódio 17 – Metro UI, Kinect e NUI, Pivot Viewer e mais 8/7/10

 

Saudações caros ouvintes!


Mais informações para você neste episódio que está bem interessante. Incrível como sempre existe mais e mais novidades – bom para todos nós que nos alimentamos disto.

 
icon for podpress  XAMLCast - Episodio 17 [33:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Nesta semana falamos de Metro UI, novos MVPs, Kinect e novas interfaces, Streaming 3D, Fluid UI, Windows Phone 7 e mais. Fique ligado e surfe conosco!

Para assinar:

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

3 comments
Categories: Dicas, Microsoft, Novidades, Silverlight, XAMLCast