Colors!

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Revision as of 23:44, 16 May 2008 by Wade (talk | contribs) (Colors!)
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Colors-activity.svg
.xo BundleColors!.xo
OlpcProject.png Wade Brainerd, Jens Andersson, Robert Anderberg

Colors!

Colors is a simple natural media painting activity for the XO laptop, based on a Nintendo DS program by Jens Andersson.

Rather than constructing images from geometric shapes, the user is encouraged to keep painting on their work until it looks right, starting with rough strokes and then adding extra details.

The activity features soft brushes, collaborative painting, the ability to watch tutorial paintings as they are painted, and a variety of input methods including "video paint" using the webcam.

Here is a link to the homebrew DS version: http://www.collectingsmiles.com/colors/

You can see some art that has been created with the DS version of Colors! here: http://colors.brombra.net/

Screenshots

Colors-1 1.jpg Colors-1 2.jpg

How to Install

Download this .xo file using the Browse activity: Colors-4.xo

Development

Colors is a standard Python activity that uses PyGTK for graphics and events. The canvas is managed by a custom C++ extension which handles painting, recording and playback, rendering to the screen, and loading and saving. All source code is included in the activity bundle.

Please see the Colors!/Development page for bug lists, todo lists, build environment instructions, etc.

Testing

Colors runs well on B4 laptops and build 656, however its development status is alpha and there are known bugs. It is functional enough to be used by children though, and bug reports are welcome (see the Development page).

Feature requests

Wonderful activity! Nice job. Jpritikin 22:23, 20 April 2008 (EDT)

Independent collaborative mode:

  • Participants select a picture from the journal or take a photo. This reference image is now fixed and cannot change.
  • Participants can decide to limit the amount of clock time and/or drawing time to XX minutes (optional, can be unlimited)
  • Everybody sharing the activity paints their own style based on the selected reference image. Paintings are NOT shared until...
  • Each participant can mark their work as "Done"
  • Completed work can be viewed by all participants.
  • Two paint recordings can be compared side-by-side (scaled to half width) with simultaneous playback.

Add your feature requests here!

keywords

drawing, draw, coloring, colors, paint, painting