Nigel Parker's Outside Line : WCF

NZsynth – How It Was Done

nparker — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:10:26 GMT

Previously I wrote and demoed the NZsynth application that was built for the WEB09 keynote. This post is detailing how it was made and introducing version two (Zoom all the way in using mouse wheel then double-click for popup image).

WATCH THE VIDEO that goes end-to-end on the development of the application (mainly building the mosaic and the extension that Tim Tate created to make the tiles clickable).

The video is also downloadable from Channel9

The Code

It goes without saying that this code is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights it is demo ware and should be treated as such.

Flickr Image Download Code

Mosaic WCF REST Service (Including Flickr Database File)

NZsynth

Demo at http://possi.bility.co.nz/ Hot keys in previous post

Tim’s Silverlight 3 Code and Demo

There is no “go live” for Silverlight 3 yet so what I’m going to do next is for “informational/ testing purposes only”. If you are a developer and happen to have either the Silverlight 3 Beta - Windows Developer Runtime or the Silverlight 3 Beta - Mac Developer Runtime installed pop over to http://possi.bility.co.nz/timtate/ to look at a running version of Tim’s solution.

NZsynth V2 Source (excluding image tiles)

Demo at http://possi.bility.co.nz/nzsynth (Zoom right in using mouse wheel then double-click for popup image)

Key tools

WEBPI to install Visual Studio Silverlight Development Tools & SQL Server 2008 Express
AndreaMosaic
HD Make
Deep Zoom Composer
WCF REST Starter Kit
FlickrNet

Other Resources/ Examples

Jellyfish Deep Zoom
Deep Zoom Image Generation with DeepZoomTools.DLL
My post DeepZoom-Tastic
http://tr.im/photosEFAS (DeepZoom Pix Photos from Expression for Art’s Sake)
Miss March and Other Distractions (Parental Advisory)
Deep Zoom++ : Build Dynamic Deep Zoom Applications with Open Source

All this got me thinking how this idea could be extended further?

National Geographic have been doing some interesting work with photosynth recently. Check out the Sphinx below.

This is why I was intrigued to see they too have developed a mosaic experience called Infinite Photograph. It is not as smooth or free flowing as the nzsynth mosaic demo but it has a great touch that it repeats on itself after a few layers giving you a “feeling” that you can zoom forever. Also double-clicking images brings up more details like in Tim and my examples.

I guess beyond this we then need to think about video and using dynamic frames in a form of “massive” stop motion animation. If you haven’t seen it yet the YouTube Mosaic Music Video may give you some insight into where my mind is heading.

WCF REST Starter Kit

nparker — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:44:00 GMT

The WCF REST Starter Kit CTP is a set of features, Visual Studio templates, samples and guidance that enable users to create REST style services using WCF. It builds on the support already provided as a part of WCF in .NET 3.5 (including SP1). Read More

Download the WCF REST Starter Kit
Read the whitepaper
Try the Hands-on Labs

The PDC session WCF: Developing RESTful Services should be available soon.

Enjoy

Just saw this .NET 3 training

nparker — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:20:00 GMT

"The .NET Framework 3.0 training kit for WF, WCF, and CardSpace includes a set of hands-on-labs, demos, and presentations. The content was originally designed as part of the Windows Server Ascend training and has been used several times for training classes. Consequently, the content is organized into a four day agenda. You can also browse this content by technology."

Get it here

Also if you are an interactive designer and are looking for a good tutorial on using Expression Blend take a look at this one that Lee from Frog design has put together.

"It is called Expression Blend Beta Preview and it covers all of the basics of using Blend to create WPF applications. At the end you put what you’ve learned to the test by creating a Flickr photo viewer"

Alternatively check out these introduction Blend videos for a Microsoft Services guy in the UK.

.NET Framework 3.0 eLearning clinics - Free Until the Launch of .NET 3.0!

nparker — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:27:00 GMT

This collection of 3 2-hour premium clinics teaches about the new capabilities provided by the .NET Framework 3.0. These clinics are for experienced Developers and Software Architects who are looking to adopt Microsoft's next generation technology within their solutions.

Topics covered within the collection include:
• Windows Presentation Foundation
• Windows Workflow Foundation
• Windows Communication Foundation

Don't procrastinate you don't have much time to grab these for free and once you have them they are valid for 1 year!

Quick tip... log in to eLearning first and then don't change the "Prices for the United States are shown in US Dollars." dropdown to NZ dollars as it seemed to break it for me when the price of the course was set to *FREE*

Enjoy!

*update* based on the comment below

I got that too until I followed the following steps.
This will get you all three in one go.

1) Go to https://www.microsoftelearning.com/ and sign in with your passport
2) Once signed in go to https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=109340
3) Click add to cart (top right)
4) Click "Check Out"
5) Click "I accept these license terms"
6) Click "Next"
7) Click "Submit"