Graphics

Hey Forum!

I'm guessing there's a way, via scripting, to put an image on a quad based off text pulled from an RSS feed (XML), but I don't even know where to begin.

Here's what I'm trying to do... I've got a scene built for NHL standings, specifically the Atlantic Division. The scene pulls the team name, Wins, Losses, OT Losses, and Points. There are also quads in place for the team logos.

How do I populate those quads with the correct logo, based off the team name that I'm pulling from the RSS feed?\

Thanks!

The process for using the content of a text object to assign an image to a material is described in this XPression Project:
http://transfer.rossvideo.com/f/9b10f9ced

There may be ways to do it with Visual Logic, but I haven't tried it yet.
#XPression

Thanks Garner! I'll check that out as soon as I can. I'd love to try visual logic, but I'm not sure I'd know where to begin. I've done one thing visual logic so far, and it was just a basic "centering" of lines of text vertically on the screen as the number of lines gets bigger.
#XPression

I think for this application scripting is the best option.
#XPression

Man, I looked at that script, and I can not for the life of me figure it out. I tried changing it to 'Team' instead of 'Cand' to fit my scene, but it doesn't seem to work with that.

What I don't understand is how it even finds the right image if the images aren't named Candidate 1.jpg ... which they aren't in that sample scene. Also, they've directed each of the texture shaders to a specific file. How does it know which texture shader to use for which line? It's all very confusing.
#XPression

Here's a much simplified version of the script:
http://transfer.rossvideo.com/f/33ab69aaa

This is the most basic way the script can be written. It doesn't have some of the cool features as the one I originally posted though. The one I posted as the following built in:
- (i) loops to shorten the length of the script when being used on multiple objects
- making the image invisible if the script couldn't find an image
- not updating materials that are already online on different channels
#XPression

Whoops! No it wasn't the right link!
Here it is:
http://transfer.rossvideo.com/f/33ab69aaa
#XPression

Hey Garner...

I was able to get the script in that scene to work by changing the file path of the image and what-not, but when I try to do basically the same thing on my scene, it doesn't work.

Does it matter if the text that it is looking to is coming from a datalinq source?

Here's my code:

'defines the text objects and quads that the script will
dim Team1 as xpTextObject
dim Team2 as xpTextObject
dim Team3 as xpTextObject
dim Team4 as xpTextObject
dim Team5 as xpTextObject
dim Team6 as xpTextObject
dim Logo1 as xpBaseObject
dim Logo2 as xpBaseObject
dim Logo3 as xpBaseObject
dim Logo4 as xpBaseObject
dim Logo5 as xpBaseObject
dim Logo6 as xpBaseObject
dim material as xpMaterial
dim shader as xpBaseShader
dim FilePath as string

'Find the text obect with the image name in it and the quad that will have the image assigned
self.GetObjectByName("Team1", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo1", Logo1)
self.GetObjectByName("Team2", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo2", Logo2)
self.GetObjectByName("Team3", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo3", Logo3)
self.GetObjectByName("Team4", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo4", Logo4)
self.GetObjectByName("Team5", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo5", Logo5)
self.GetObjectByName("Team6", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo6", Logo6)


'the file path of the directory containing the images & the image format
'put the content of the text object above into the file path
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team1.text + ".png"
'find a material and change the file path of the texture in it
engine.GetMaterialByName("Logo1", material)
material.GetShader(0, shader)
shader.SetFileName(FilePath)

'the file path of the directory containing the images & the image format
'put the content of the text object above into the file path
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team2.text + ".png"
'find a material and change the file path of the texture in it
engine.GetMaterialByName("Logo2", material)
material.GetShader(0, shader)
shader.SetFileName(FilePath)

'the file path of the directory containing the images & the image format
'put the content of the text object above into the file path
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team3.text + ".png"
'find a material and change the file path of the texture in it
engine.GetMaterialByName("Logo3", material)
material.GetShader(0, shader)
shader.SetFileName(FilePath)

'the file path of the directory containing the images & the image format
'put the content of the text object above into the file path
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team4.text + ".png"
'find a material and change the file path of the texture in it
engine.GetMaterialByName("Logo4", material)
material.GetShader(0, shader)
shader.SetFileName(FilePath)

'the file path of the directory containing the images & the image format
'put the content of the text object above into the file path
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team5.text + ".png"
'find a material and change the file path of the texture in it
engine.GetMaterialByName("Logo5", material)
material.GetShader(0, shader)
shader.SetFileName(FilePath)

'the file path of the directory containing the images & the image format
'put the content of the text object above into the file path
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team6.text + ".png"
'find a material and change the file path of the texture in it
engine.GetMaterialByName("Logo6", material)
material.GetShader(0, shader)
shader.SetFileName(FilePath)

So, I've got text objects named Team1, Team2, etc., and I have empty quad objects named Logo1, Logo2, etc.

I've got files in the I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division folder, which is a shared network drive. Each file is just the Team City, which is what gets populated through the RSS feed and datalinq.

Can you see anything wrong with what I'm doing?

Thanks!

#XPression

Looks like some copy paste bugs here.. Everything is using the Team1 variable..

self.GetObjectByName("Team1", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo1", Logo1)
self.GetObjectByName("Team2", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo2", Logo2)
self.GetObjectByName("Team3", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo3", Logo3)
self.GetObjectByName("Team4", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo4", Logo4)
self.GetObjectByName("Team5", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo5", Logo5)
self.GetObjectByName("Team6", Team1)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo6", Logo6)

#XPression

Try this script in OnOnline.. It should do the same as yours but in a lot less lines of code. You also don't need to create any global materials called "Logo1, Logo2, etc." because it uses temporary "volatile" materials..

dim Team as xpTextObject
dim Logo as xpBaseObject
dim FilePath as string

dim i as integer

for i = 1 to 6
self.GetObjectByName("Team" + i.ToString, Team)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo" + i.ToString, Logo)
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division" + Team.text + ".png"
Logo.SetVolatileTextureFile(0, FilePath)
next

#XPression

Thank you! I'll try that today. Even though I had Team1 in all of them, I couldn't get even 1 to work. But I'll try your script. I'm all about minimizing scripting, but the only thing I know about coding is what I've learned from people on here and the great guys at Ross :)
#XPression

It doesn't matter if they are coming from a datalinq source; OnOnline is run when the scene actually goes on air, which is after it has already pulled in the datalinq values.. I think the only way to help from here is for you to post a link (google drive or dropbox) to your scene so we can see what might be wrong.. It is often a small typo somewhere which stops everything from working..
#XPression

Is "Atlantic Division" a folder? If so, you're missing a backslash from your script (and from mine).. It should be like this:


dim Team as xpTextObject
dim Logo as xpBaseObject
dim FilePath as string
dim i as integer
for i = 1 to 6
self.GetObjectByName("Team" + i.ToString, Team)
self.GetObjectByName("Logo" + i.ToString, Logo)
FilePath = "I:\Sports Logos\NHL\Atlantic Division\" + Team.text + ".png"
Logo.SetVolatileTextureFile(0, FilePath)
next
#XPression

Eureeka! I also had to change the names of the text fields to Team1, Team2, etc., (instead of Team 1, Team 2, etc.), and the quads to Logo1, Logo2, etc. (instead of Team 1 Logo, Team 2 Logo, etc.).

Thank you so much!!!
#XPression