freelance work

[shawnus]

Hi all,

Just an enquiry:

I have a small project which I would like to push to the iphone and some consoles & wondered if someone might be able to do this & their hourly rates?

I would like to see previous work & following this I can supply the demo, blitz3D source code (if that helps) and all media.

The only constraint is that:
a) there is a requirement to support 2 cameras in the iphone.
b) one of the cameras must be 'inverted'

I know this is technically possible in Unity (as I have already paid for a unity programmer to create a similar demo) but I would need to make sure its possible in GLBasic, and that this functionality is exportable to the iphone.

Just as an idea, the demo is basically a camera set on a sphere which rotates (& zooms in and out) around some anatomical models resting on a piece of medical equipment. The medical equipment contains a camera which 'looks' at the models. All the models are 3ds.

I would be grateful if anyone could help me with this.

Kind regards, Shawnus

[Ian Price]

Never, ever offer a programmer the opportunity to work by the hour - you're just asking to be made bankrupt!

You'd be better off making an offer for the total cost of the work required, and agreeing on royalty payments (if any) and realistic timescales etc. etc.

Is this an app or a game? I really can't imagine what you are trying to achieve or why. Screenie?

[shawnus]

Hi Ian,

This approach (hourly rate) has worked for me in the past with Blitz & Unity developers- basically they give me their hourly rate, I send them a demo / requirements & they give me a quote with any required downpayment.

Doing pricing the 'other way around' can be problematic, a bit like going into MFI wanting a new kitchen & the salesman asking 'how much do you have to spend'. How much I have to spend is irrelevant, you give me a quote & I will tell you whether I can afford it or not.

Its an app - a fluoroscopy simulator for teaching clinical staff the fundamentals of using an x ray machine in a simulated environment- I have a demo available from my website:

http://vycaria.co.uk/index.html

There are no royalty options & I will need the source code as well.

Cheers, Shawnus

[FutureCow]

By two cameras I'm assuming you mean "virtual" cameras (rather than real cameras attached to the iPhone).

That being the case then hopefully this addresses your questions regarding capabilities

* Can you put a camera in a 3D environment set on a sphere, doing rotations and zoom - yes
* Can you set up two "cameras" in the 3D environment that look at the objects from different angles - yes
* Can you display these at the same time - yes through viewports
* Can you invert one of the cameras - inverting the movement of the camera or inverting (horizontally/vertically) the displayed image? Any of the above should be doable.

I'm not sure how well the project would go on the iPhone due to its low resolution, but producing it with GLBasic shouldn't have any showstoppers.

[shawnus]

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, sorry I mean 2 virtual cameras, one 'main' and one attached to the c-arm model (x ray machine).

I actually paid someone to do this (in Unity) as a proof of concept- the anatomical models need quite heavy optimisation but are still ok to view & the iphone supports 2 virtual cameras. I just wanted to make sure that the whole thing was not a non-starter from an iphone point of view, but is seems to be ok.

The problem is I need to maintain this application ongoing, but dont have the skill to actually develop it myself. Coming from DarkBasic & then more recently Blitz3D background I understand Basic, but moving to the Unity scripting language(s) is a step too far at the moment.

GLBasic additionally seems to be a more affordable way into the iphone as the Unity iphone licensing looks to be more expensive.

[FutureCow]

I came from Darkbasic and Blitz3D as well. The step to GLBasic is a very small one - the logic commands (IF / While / etc) are all the same, it'll just mostly be a line by line swap on the graphics command lines.
Just be aware that you'll need a Mac to be able to compile for the iPhone, and the $99 (?) yearly fee to be able to publish to the app store.
Unfortunately I can't volunteer to do the work as I don't have a mac/iPhone to do the testing of the finished product.
Unless you need the app completed yesterday, as long as you have some Blitz3D skills you're probably better off converting the code yourself than paying someone to do it. The community here is great for helping out when you get stuck or need some pointers!

[shawnus]

ok, thanks for the feedback.

Time really isnt on my side with 3 kids & a full time job- I reckon that if its just swapping a few graphics commands I will put this request up on the blitz forum & additionally fund a copy of GLbasic as well. I can get a mac & already have an ipod touch so I can test & tweak.

I think its a real shame that someone from GLbasic cant take this on as it would be a good endorsement for the capabilities of the language.

Thanks for the advice.

Kind regards, Shawn

[Moru]

I believe we all are just as buzy as you, kids, work and our own projects. It's not like we wouldn't want to do it :-)