Dax Pandhi's Blog

nukeationMachine for VS2008 Downloadable Demo

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:39:09 -0700

A feature complete demo version of the nukeationMachine for Vs2008 will be available for download this Sunday (24 August 2008).

nukeationMachine for Blend

admin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:27:31 -0700

As promised, we have started working on nukeationMachine add-in for Blend. As of yesterday, we have successfully ported our Machine add-in from Visual Studio 2008 to Blend 1.0 and 2.0.

While further features are still being determined, here are the confirmed features:

The entire WPF feature set and content library for nukeationMachine for VS2008 will be ported to the Blend version
Additional 350 pieces of UI Bits will be developed specifically for designers
A completely redesigned UX
Complete integration with both Microsoft Expression Blend 1.0 and 2.0
Cross-compatibility between nukeationMachine for VS2008
UI Bits sharing and community features
Designer-friendly convenience features
Special support for Reuxables themes

Our current goal is to have nukeationMachine for Blend be released alongside the VS2008 edition in late September, with an early-adoption program in early September.

Stay tuned as we post more information over the coming week.

nukeationMachine Beta 3 - available now!

admin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:25:08 -0700

nukeationMachine Beta 3 is available for pre-release purchase.

We are giving a 30% pre-release early adoption discount up till September 18, 2008.

See the entire feature list here: http://machine.nukeation.com

Take a look at the UI Bits available in Beta 3: http://machine.nukeation.com/catalog.aspx

nukeationMachine is here!

admin — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:52:43 -0700

Monday, 18 August 2008, we will finally - after a really, really long time - release nukeationMachine.

For you, working in Visual Studio will never be the same again. And who knows, you just might get that extra time you need to finish the really important code.

So what is nukeationMachine? Well, until Monday, we can only say two things:

// the toolbox is now obsolete

...and go to http://machine.nukeation.com

Designing for the world's oldest installation of DasBlog

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:59:07 -0700

DasBlog is a very famous .NET blogging platform - originally based on BlogX by Chris Anderson - by Stephen Forte among others. We just had the pleasure of redesigning www.stephenforte.net - Stephen Forte's blog, and the first installation of DasBlog.

With all the talk about our retail products, it is easy to forget that customized UX services are the heart of Nukeation.

New Theme - Nomad

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:49:17 -0700

We are proud to announce our new Phase 2 theme "Nomad". Nomad is designed to be a highly kinetic design, guaranteed to wow your customers!

Head on over to www.reuxables.com to see it in action.

Click image to enlarge | Download the demo

Announcing Theme Customization Service

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:54:27 -0700

We are happy to announce our new theme customization service. If you have a Reuxables Theme and want to have it customized, our team of expert designers can do it for you for a very small fee! It can be anything from a simple color or design tweak to having whole new controls skinned, or even matching things up to meet your branding specifications.

Email us at info [@] nukeation [.] com for more information.

Reuxables 1.6 update released

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:48:54 -0700

We have just released the 1.6 update for all Phase 1 themes. This applies to the Alpha Pack, Candy, Frog, Fusion, Glass, Metal, and Paper themes. All customers will be receiving their download link soon. Please contact us if you have not received it.

Update 1.6 contains:

Controls placed inside the toolbar control are now skinned as well
Various bug fixes and performance enhancements

They are here!! Reuxables enters Phase 2! New site online

Admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:21:00 -0700

The long awaited Discovery and Expressive themes (part 1 of Phase 2) have officially shipped!

You can download a demo or purchase these themes at http://www.reuxables.com

Also check out the brand new video tutorial and other new stuff at the freshly updated website!

New video: Customizing Reuxables Themes (1 of 3)

admin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:41:35 -0700

Check out how easy it is to customize the basic essence of any Reuxables theme.

Click here to see the video (Silverlight 1.0 required)

And stay tuned - more new things are coming online in the next few hours. ;)

MenuKiller

admin — Fri, 30 May 2008 06:21:22 -0700

Head on over to Christopher Menge's blog and check out his implementation of the MenuKiller UX I wrote about some time back.

I think Christopher has created a fantastic control and I really look forward to seeing how it develops.

Nukeation Update: Reuxables, WTF, and Machine!

admin — Fri, 30 May 2008 06:18:12 -0700

It's been a long time since the blog was updated. I myself was on a much needed vacation in the Costa Rican rainforest chasing after reptiles, while the team was busy with client projects and other things. But now we're back in action, and here's a news update.

Reuxables is finally going to enter Phase 2 soon. Very soon. Sooner than you think, in fact. We have new themes and more skinned controls. But more on that later. For now, I'll just leave you with a sneak peek at one of the new themes:

Do note, this theme will change a bit before the final release.

WTF is back on track and will soon be finished. We intend to release it by mid-June. Nothing major here - just bug fixes, some new minor functionality, and general enhancements. Again, more on this as we near release.

nukeationMachine - (formerly Codename "NukeBall") - is being re-built from the ground up. Originally created as an internal tool for VB6, this expanded quickly with the .NET Framework. Now we rebuilt it to provide full support for not only C# and VB, but also J# and C++ and across all main technologies - WPF, Windows Forms, HTML, and ASP.net! Built for Visual Studio 2008 it will provide unprecedented UI creation and automation tools!

During the whole redesign the entire UI was moved from Windows Forms to WPF to provide a much better, more intuitive workspace. Instant search has been improved and new more visual options for working are available rather just treading slowly through large lists.

Stay tuned as we will be releasing some demos and videos of nukeationMachine very soon.

Reuxables Themes 1.5 Upgrade released!

admin — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:00:18 -0700

We ran a little behind on our release schedule, but that's only because we wanted to deliver the best upgrade we could create.

All customers have been sent an email with a link to the upgrade. If you haven't received it or are having trouble, please email us from your registered/purchase email address.

Upgrade highlights include

Full orientation support for TabControl
Full orientation support for Expander
NEW - ToggleButton skin
NEW - ListView/GridView skin
NEW - Toolbar skin
NEW - GroupBox skin
NEW - RichTextBox skin
More efficient animation of existing skins
And several minor tweaks and bug fixes

All new purchases will automatically receive the 1.5 version instead of 1.0.

Early Adoption for Reuxables Theme Discovery, Phase 1.5 upgrade news

admin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:25:42 -0700

You've all seen how cool the new hyper-animated Discovery theme is. Now, you can choose to buy it ahead of time - get to play with the latest Beta 2 (much more powerful, efficient, and fun than Beta 1) and use it in actual deployments.

We're providing an early adoption program where you can purchase the theme (and variations) for the reduced limited time price of $159 for a single user license (multi user packages are also available at a highly reduced price). Please contact us for details or to purchase the early beta. This early adoption program is available only until 6 April 2008.

All early adopters will receive the final release for free when we release Discovery in mid-April.

To try a hands on demo Download Discovery Beta 1 Preview EXE (86.2KB) (Beta 2 is, of course, far more advanced)

Reuxables Phase 1.5 Upgrade

The long awaited Phase 1.5 upgrade for the current Reuxables themes is now finally complete and we're performing final efficiency checks and design tweaks. Here are the new features of the upgrade:

Full orientation support for TabControl
Full orientation support for Expander
NEW - ToggleButton skin
NEW - ListView/GridView skin
NEW - Toolbar skin
NEW - GroupBox skin
NEW - RichTextBox skin
More efficient animation of existing skins
And several minor tweaks and bug fixes

Themes that will contain these updates are: Candy, Frog, Fusion, Glass, Metal, Paper (including the entire Alpha Pack).

All existing users of these Reuxables Themes will receive a download link this weekend.

Beta testing slots filled

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:59:35 -0700

Thanks to the overwhelming response, all beta tester slots for the upcoming release of <WTF/> are now filled.

Keep watching the blog - we hope to publish more info and some demos of WTF's new functionality shortly.

Looking for beta testers for <WTF/>

Admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:22:00 -0700

We're almost done with WTF. But we need YOUR help. We have a need for a few beta testers. To apply, please use the contact form on this blog. All beta testers will get free copies of WTF and a discount coupon for our Reuxables products.

I'll be posting more info this weekend about some more new features we ended up adding to WTF:TransitionContainers, and our roadmap for WTF 2.0.

EDIT: Sorry, all available slots are now filled. Thanks to everyone for the great response.

Nukeation Studios to partner with LICAS digital

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:17:02 -0700

We're very excited to announce a new partnership with our friends at LICAS digital - a digital interactive company based in the UK.

Our goal is to combine Nukeation's expertise with LICAS' interactive entertainment power house and create some compelling solutions.

From the press release:

LICAS Digital CEO Liam Cassidy described the formal arrangement as a significant step forward for both companies; “I’m excited and very proud to be working closely with Nukeation. We have benefited tremendously from our close-ties with Nukeation behind-the-scenes these last two years, so it’s a pleasure to formalize that partnership moving forward.”

The partnership begins with marketing and distribution collaboration on the newly-released Reuxables – a rich collection of custom-built designer themes for software applications built upon Microsoft® Windows Presentation Foundation™ (WPF). Reuxables is the first in a catalogue of projects scheduled for release throughout 2008, closely followed with the launch of an ambitious new high definition advanced-training media service for 3D graphics professionals. Codenamed "Eidos", this service will be augmented with high-quality full-color publications. “This will be a busy year with several key releases designed to enrich the workflow and resources available to software developers and design professionals,” added Cassidy.

Find out more at http://www.licasdigital.com

Here's a sneak peek from one of the advanced 3D training videos from Codename "Eidos":

Theme: Discovery Beta 1 preview

admin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:35:10 -0700

Our upcoming theme (the first of the Phase 2 themes) is nearing completion. Featuring hyper animation and lots of BitmapEffects, here's a preview of Beta 1. Do note that many aspects of this theme are still under development and will change as well undergo numerous visual enhancements and bug fixes.

NOTE: This is the "Better Quality" version which requires decent graphics hardware. The final version of the theme will ship with a "Better Performance" variant that will be suited for low-end machines. We will also provide special code to help you switch between the themes easily during runtime.

Download Discovery Beta 1 Preview EXE (86.2KB)

Behind Nukeation: Project "NE"

admin — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:10:09 -0700

Nukeation is known for its web design, graphic design, and user experience services, but what few people know is that our roots are in animation, 3D graphics, and traditional art work. (Before it's introduction into the world of UX, back in the mid-90s we were known as Atomic Diaper Productions... don't ask why)

To familiarize you with that side of Nukeation, let me tell you about an internal project we've been running for a short while. Project "NE" started as a solution to a very boring afternoon and quickly turned into a full scale project to create a digital spokesperson for Nukeation.

These test renders show a work-in-progress version of "NE" or Annie. We're using some of our advanced XAML components, Silverlight 2.0, 3D animation, and (thanks to some friends in Hollywood) professional voice over to give life to Annie. While such a project is more than common in the 3D CGI industry, we hope to give Annie a functional role in the world of UX that will make her very unique.

Annie will be the "face" of Fingertip as well as play a functional role in it.

Paper Theme Bugfix

admin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:24:48 -0700

A bugfix to the Paper Theme has been made available. This update addresses some drawing issues found with the Treeview, ListView, and other controls.

Users of the Paper Theme and Alpha Pack can use the same download link in you order confirmation email to download the latest version.

If your download tries have expired, please email support [@] nukeation [.] com and we'll reset them for you.

What are you looking for in a custom theme for WPF?

Admin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:29:00 -0700

The most difficult thing to create is a design that pleases everyone. It is nearly impossible. But the next best thing is to create a wide range of themes that meet different needs.

So we're asking you! What do you want in a theme? Is there a cool design you've seen that you'd like to see in a WPF theme? Is there any specific functionality you want?

Comment here or email us at info [at] nukeation [dot] com. We'd love to hear from you!

Design Tip for Developers - Proper Color/Alpha Values in Gradients

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:32:37 -0700

I've encountered some designs in WPF apps that utilize a "fade out gradient", that is, a two stop gradient with one being 100% opaque and the other being 100% transparent.

However, often some developers have chosen to leave the "fade out" stop of the gradient to the default color. After all, it is 0% alpha, so what does it matter right? Wrong.

If working on a black background if the "fade out" stop is left to WHITE and faded out, irregular color fades occur. Same goes for a white background and a BLACK fade out stop.

Here is an example to better illustrate. We have a green gradient that fades out on the left. In the first gradient, we have a default (BLACK) fade out stop. In the second we use the same color as the visible stop for the "fade out" stop. See the difference yourself - the first gradient has black banding in the middle.

Nothing earth shattering, but keeping these little things in mind will always make your app look all the more professional.

Global Color Definitions in WPF - the core of Reuxables

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:18:27 -0700

One of the main hurdles we had to overcome was to make it easy for users to customize reuxables themes to their liking. Developers that beta tested reuxables mentioned that more often than not they'd only need to change the colors rather than the shapes of the controls.

So we opted to keep global brushes. You can read more about Global Brushes and how to use them in my article in the Expression Newsletter Feb '08 issue.

The main concept is explained in the diagram above. We have two Color objects created as named resources. A LinearGradientBrush is created by binding the GradientStop to the color resources. The control (Button in this case) uses that Brush as its background. We often use more complex structures where the base color for all controls and brushes is a single color and separate vectors create the shading via monochrome brushes - like with the Glass themes - so changing a single color (instead of two) changes the entire theme.

Reuxables comes with full source code. http://www.reuxables.com

The Designer Role - Part 2 (Official Expression Newsletter)

Admin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:13:00 -0700

The Microsoft Expression Newsletter's Feb issue just got published today. You can read Part 2 of my article here.

The previous part can be found here.

Reuxables Phase 2 Teaser Download

admin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:52:25 -0700

We're overwhelmed by the response the Phase 2 image got us last week. One particular question I kept getting was "What does hyper animated mean?" So rather than explain how animated the theme will be, let me show you!

Download the Teaser EXE (77KB)

Discovery will be one of 3 premium themes. The premium themes will be built with a higher quality and will require a slightly larger amount of RAM and video memory. Here's a sneak peek at some of Discovery's features:

9 Themes in One Pack - Lime [Default], Dark Green, Blue, Cyan, Red, Orange, Monochrome, Violet, Magenta.
Low-end system compatibility mode (blurs and animations can be toned down automatically)
Multiple image based backgrounds for each theme style in 3 resolutions (640x480, 1024x768, 1920x1200) to provide that extra touch
Edit a single color value to change the entire the theme to your liking (just like with all our existing themes!)

Keep watching this feed. We'll be posting more demos soon.

And tomorrow we unveil something that will "nuke your app"...