Above is Smalltalk/DLR running in a browser with Silverlight 1.1.
There is now a “Physics Engine” included in the Smalltalk/DLR libraries. It has support for:
- gravity
- collision resolution with transfer of momentum
- elastic connections
- friction
- rotational transfer of momentum
- “fixed” or movable components
I am in the process of adding physics engine support to the Designer. The image at the top of the post shows a circle sprite bouncing on top of a “fixed” rectangle when the gravity field is turned on.
Another kind of animation involves “timelines” in which elements change properties such as location, color, size, rotation, or opacity over a fixed period of time – without regards to physical constraints.
Animations in Microsoft’s Expression design tool are built around the concept of timelines. The Smalltalk/DLR Designer supports both physical and timeline animation.
