COOL new App in the Making: A true lighttable...

Mario · January 04, 2018, 09:15:31 PM

I'm already working on the features for IMatch 2018 - the next major release. Expect some great things!

Some of these planned features require complex 'visualizations' and user interfaces. Which is one of the reasons I've spent so much time integrating IMWS and Chromium into IMatch.
Using the browser as a front-end allows me to develop better things a lot faster. Modern browsers are also powerful 2D and 3D engines...
I have a plan, you know

Now, one of the planned enhancements are apps which can be used instead of a File Windows. And other apps which can create their own Views (like the Media & Folders View or the Category View). This creates new ways to let you interact with your database and your files. New types of visualization (file relations, objects, genealogy, ...). I won't say more at this time. Of course this will also be available for user app developers.

A true Light Table

One type of visualization and interaction I've always wanted to implement is a true light table.
Where you can just place photos, move them around with the mouse of finger. Like you would do on a real light table. Or a desktop.

For the next IMatch release I have implemented a playground app, which implements the principles of such a light table.
You can drag any number of files from a file window to this app, move the images around on the resizable pinboard, rotate the images etc.
You can control the size, font-size, which text to show (title, description, variables, ...) etc.
The images are linked to the database, which makes all kinds of features possible. Currently I have implemented a "Goto Folder" but other things would of course be possible.

Consider this app as a test prototype for a new type of file window. Or maybe as a form to visualize custom photo albums in IMatch.
I hope that users play with it and let me know what they think.

Here are two screen shots to show you how the nw new app looks:

The pinboard app with some files.

Working with the images.

BanjoTom · January 04, 2018, 10:33:30 PM

"COOL" is an understatement!! This looks terrific, and once again Mario is providing us IMatch users with things we didn't even KNOW we needed until he pointed the way! Fabulous!

Jingo · January 04, 2018, 10:36:55 PM

Very neat idea... certainly something fun to try and play with to create our own apps from...

Mario · January 04, 2018, 11:06:28 PM

Yeah, I also like it. It's like the custom sort order feature, just with a lot more freedom.
If this would be used for an additional file window type (like, app-driven layout) all IMatch features would work, from starting the viewer to editing metadata.
And a stack could really look like a stack

Kucera · January 06, 2018, 07:36:55 PM

Quote from: BanjoTom on January 04, 2018, 10:33:30 PM
"COOL" is an understatement!! This looks terrific, and once again Mario is providing us IMatch users with things we didn't even KNOW we needed until he pointed the way! Fabulous!

+1 +1 +1

ben · January 07, 2018, 07:45:23 AM

Sounds perfect!

While i don't know if i would use a "light table" app very often, i definitely look forward to file window apps!
Let's wait what Mario comes up with.

Arthur · January 07, 2018, 07:39:28 PM

Sounds like IMatch is step wise becoming a web based application. Maybe we are going the Lightroom way, with an IMatch Classic with the traditional frontend, and a new JavaScript based frontend which has the same functionality, but simplifies things. This would make IMatch also cross platform.

Mario · January 07, 2018, 08:15:16 PM

Quote from: Arthur on January 07, 2018, 07:39:28 PM
Sounds like IMatch is step wise becoming a web based application. Maybe we are going the Lightroom way, with an IMatch Classic with the traditional frontend, and a new JavaScript based frontend which has the same functionality, but simplifies things. This would make IMatch also cross platform.

Do you know IMatch Anywhere?

With IMatch 2017 I have integrated the powerful web technology of IMWS into IMatch. This has many benefits, e.g. a very sophisticated. modern and powerful scripting environment, direct access to modern browser technologies etc. Including HTML5, JavaScript, high-end 2D and 3D graphics, ... and behind all that, the proven IMatch engine.

I've spent a lot of time developing all this, and now I can reap!

Using the embedded IMWS and the embedded Chromium in IMatch allows me to implement features which were impossible to do before. Or at least would have been much more complicated and much slower to build.

Concepts like the pinboard and the other technologies I''m currently developing for IMatch 2018 will be usable in both the IMatch desktop application and the browser-based IMatch WebViewer (which then is no longer just a viewer).

It's all about giving users options.

If a user does not need IMatch Anywhere, fine. He still gets awesome stuff with IMatch for Windows.
But many users now welcome the ability to edit metadata on their iPad or run a present IMatch database contents Smart TV. For business users, IMatch Anywhere is a super-easy and low-budget way to make an IMatch-based DAM available in the entire company.

The "technology stack" I have now also allows me to integrate modern cloud services - where I see a benefit for my users.
Face recognition. Or automatic keywording and classification of images. This would save IMatch users a lot of time. Adding keywords to 50,000 files when you start with DAM is really not funny...

But there's more! The next version of IMatch includes the first-ever AI feature, which uses services provided by photools.com and the Microsoft Azure cloud. The App Translator now can automatically translate apps in about 30 languages, using machine translation. This reduces the time to translate an app to a minutes. Awesome.

This is of course only a test balloon. I wanted to start simple. But to make this happen I had to learn a lot of new stuff and implement new services at photools.com.
And this will be the core for other exciting stuff we'll see in IMatch this year.

I think that both IMatch for Windows and IMatch Anywhere will become better and even more useful this year. For both new users and experienced users with very high or specific demands. I'm excited - but then, I know more about what's in store this year than users do

Arthur · January 07, 2018, 08:46:58 PM

Interesting,

yes, I heard of Anywhere, but did not look deeper into it, because I only work on windows and would like to have direct access to all features, that are offered in IM.

I was only speculating, by what you have mentioned, that IMatch views will be replaced by apps over time. At the end of the process the difference between IMatch Anywhere and Desktop could only be the shell, which hosts the views. This would make sense.

If that is going to happen, it will be interesting to see how such complex functionality like the one of the file window will be mapped into an app.

Mario · January 07, 2018, 09:02:43 PM

QuoteIf that is going to happen, it will be interesting to see how such complex functionality like the one of the file window will be mapped into an app.

This will be work, sure.

But if you would have used IMatch Anywhere WebViewer, you would know that it even has some advantages over file windows - e.g. a very flexible "masonry" or smart layout. I would like to see a similar technology in IMatch file windows as well. But once we have file window layouts which are driven by apps, the sky is the limit - so to speak: masonry layouts. Albums. Books. Animations. 3D!... whatever makes sense for users, makes IMatch more useful or easier to handle.

The "Navigator" in IMatch WebViewer is a great (simplified) "Filter Panel", for example. It has been designed to allow users without any prior IMatch knowledge to quickly find and select the files they are interested it. I could envision something similar as the regular Filter Panel for IMatch, with the fallback to the full-fledged filter panel for complex searches. The tech is already available in IMWS...