On Sat, 2004-08-14 at 16:34, bulia byak wrote:
How do you get repeatable results each time the document is rendered, and if you adjust the various star parameters, are the positions adjusted accordingly without being re-randomized?
Glad you asked :) That's the trick :)
Each point (x,y) gets its own unique 32-bit int (well, not truly unique of course, but unique enough for my purposes). This value is given as the seed to a pseudorandom number generator. The first step, random(seed), shifts the x coordinate; the second, random(random(seed)), shifts y; the third rotates the curve handles, the fourth scales them (thus curve points always remain smooth and the handles keep their proportion).
Overall, I think it's pretty convenient and useful. If you don't like a particular shape, just move one of the handles a tiny bit until you get something you like.
Actually, the most difficult part was to think up the solution to the problem that you're asking about. Once I invented the above method, it was a matter of an hour to code it. Worked fine at the first run.
Clever!
Is the random number generator portable across platforms (i.e. will you get the same results on Windows as on PPC Linux)?
-mental