Extension API: Link LICE bitmap to REAPER window, for seamless integration into UI

[Lokasenna]

Originally Posted by Embass

just workaround.. transparent gfx window example (windows os only).
https://stash.reaper.fm/manage_file/...%20example.lua

That link will only work for you.

https://stash.reaper.fm/36003/transp...%20example.lua

[Embass]

link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jTy...ew?usp=sharing

[juliansader]

Originally Posted by Embass

just workaround.. transparent gfx window example (windows os only).
https://stash.reaper.fm/manage_file/...%20example.lua

It is very useful to have a "bag of tricks" for getting transparent windows and other interesting UI features!

[juliansader]

Good news! Alpha blending on Linux has been enabled in the newest version of REAPER!

(Somewhat unexpectedly, JS_Composite now seems to work better on Linux and macOS than on Windows.)

Also, v0.981 of the ReaScriptAPI extension has also been uploaded, with a few improvements in JS_Composite. For example, if the destination width or height is set to -1, the image will be stretched to fill the target window if the window is resized.

[Sexan]

edit...

[juliansader]

As mentioned above, I implemented the idea to intercept WM_PAINT, and it works perfectly on Linux and macOS.

Unfortunately, on WindowsOS, it still glitches. I therefore tried to get REAPER to draw into an offscreen memory bitmap instead of the screen, so that this bitmap and the script's LICE bitmap can be composited before blitting to the screen. WM_PAINT can optionally point to a memory bitmap in its WPARAM parameter, but code such as this didn't work, so I suspect that REAPER's windows ignore the WPARAM pointer:

RECT r{0,0,0,0};
GetClientRect(hwnd, &r);
HDC clientDC = GetDC(hwnd);
HDC memDC = CreateCompatibleDC(clientDC);
HBITMAP memBitmap = CreateCompatibleBitmap(clientDC, r.right, r.bottom);
SelectObject(memDC, memBitmap);

LRESULT result = SendMessage(hwnd, WM_PAINT, (WPARAM)memDC, lParam);

AlphaBlend LICE into memDC;

BitBlt(clientDC, 0, 0, r.right, r.bottom, memDC, 0, 0, SRCCOPY);

DeleteObject( memBitmap );
DeleteDC( memDC );

Changing WM_PAINT into WM_PRINT or WM_PRINTCLIENT didn't work either (or at least, not with the options that I tried).

[future-bit]

+1 good idea!

[lb0]

+1 from me too! I've been experimenting a little with things placing progress bars in other script GUI's (eg - the script doing the work has no GUI) - but so far it's been a little flickery.

[lexomir]

+2 YES, I've been needing this for a while

[shady]

Bump would be cool

[nappies]

Hi Julian! We still don`t know reason of a little glitching on windows?This is because AlphaBlend is slow?
May be some kind of double buffering help avoid this?

[juliansader]

Originally Posted by nappies

May be some kind of double buffering help avoid this?

I did try to implement double buffering (post #48 above), but unfortunately couldn't get REAPER's windows to draw to the offscreen buffer.

[nappies]

Originally Posted by juliansader

I did try to implement double buffering (post #48 above), but unfortunately couldn't get REAPER's windows to draw to the offscreen buffer.

Ah, I realized this is it) And reason of windows blinking not clear?
If this because Alphablend slow ,I found custom AlphaBlend function using SSE instructions.

According to the developer. It works 4 times faster.
Here in code:

https://github.com/isotoxin/isotoxin...itmap.cpp#L825

And from another developer in functions:

https://github.com/ermig1979/Simd/bl...haBlending.cpp
https://github.com/ermig1979/Simd/bl...haBlending.cpp

Maybe it helps)

[juliansader]

Originally Posted by nappies

Ah, I realized this is it) And reason of windows blinking not clear?
If this because Alphablend slow ,I found custom AlphaBlend function using SSE instructions.

Do these functions perform blitting from one device context to another, similar to the Win32 AlphaBlend function, or do they perform alpha pre-multiplication on a bitmap?

In any case, it seems that recent versions of REAPER introduced a bug in the WDL/swell version of AlphaBlend, so that it doesn't work on new Macs that use Metal graphics. Until this bug is fixed, compositing isn't not usable cross-platform.

[ilmel]

Hi! Can you, please, tell me if the collection works in Reaper 6+?
Thank you

[Meo-Ada Mespotine]

Originally Posted by ilmel

Hi! Can you, please, tell me if the collection works in Reaper 6+?
Thank you

You mean the functions of the extension? They work on Reaper 6+