grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

Core Library Questions

diamadis

grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

in Core Library Questions • 5 months ago

Hey guys!

I have a processing script with multiple 3D animated spheres in OpenGL. I am getting rid of the background() in order to pan or zoom the camera and have the trails of the spheres drawn on the canvas.

So, I would like to capture the drawing created as I already described, as a PDF file. However the options that I have already tried based on the create PDF file found here: http://processing.org/reference/libraries/pdf/

do not seem to function.

Do you have any idea what can I do? It's more or less something like a print screen but with kind of huge resolution...

Replies(5)

PhiLho

Re: grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

5 months ago

AFAIK, PDF is incompatible with OpenGL. It is based on Java2D drawing.
You can try and use 1.5.1 in P3D mode, perhaps.

diamadis

Re: grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

5 months ago

Thanks for the info. :)

What do you mean by 1.5.1.? and is there another way to do this in OpenGL?

PhiLho

Re: grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

5 months ago

1.5.1 is the previous, stable version of Processing, which still uses Java2D behind the scene, while in the 2.0b series, it uses OpenGL, so with it, you are back to square one.

" is there another way to do this in OpenGL?"
Probably not. OpenGL is a hardware-accelerated technology, doesn't seem compatible with PDF serialization...

diamadis

Re: grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

5 months ago

thanks you so much for the help!

PhiLho

Re: grab viewport as pdf file of custom size

5 months ago

Side note, looking at your subject: the PDF library doesn't "grab the viewport", ie. it doesn't magically take a high resolution screenshot of the screen. All drawing operations done by Processing must be (also) done on the PDF drawing surface. Hence the issue with OpenGL.

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