Re: A single font can display ANY alphabet, pictograph, or rune

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@Y...> wrote:
> <snip>
>
> Here's another glyph design method I worked out a long
> time ago, including a computer program for drawing
> those glyphs.
>
> http://www.fiziwig.com/glyphs.html
>
I really like that page.

If I could afford to hook my own home computer to the internet, I
would download your program.  Maybe I'll bring a disk to the library
and carry it home.

I like the fact you discussed the size, shape, and orientation of the
pen-point.  In my own thinking, I have thought the pen-point should
be either 1) an (arbitrary) ellipse or 2) a (arbitrary) parallelogram.

Your decision just to have a set number (ten-ish) of arcs (you call
them "curves") (a set number for each given pair of endpoints, that
is), rather than have the user describe the curve, is probably a good
savings on user-effort and user-education.

-----

In addition to 1) deciding where the endpoints of the arc are,
and 2) deciding what the tangent to the arc is at each of its end-
points (which can be uniquely satisfied by a cubic curve), you (or
we) might also nail down 3) the curvature of the arc at each of its
end-points. (Taking 1) and 2) and 3) together, amounts to specifying
an "osculating circle" -- a "circle of maximum contact" -- at each
endpoint of the arc.)
The advantage of piecing together a curve in such a way would be that
it would have smoothly-varying curvature, as well as smoothly-varying
slope, over its entire length; in addition to going through all the
right points at all the correct angles.

-----

Just as a dot-matrix has inferior-looking resolution compared to
vector-graphics, for purposes of creating "glyphs"; it has been my
experience that all-straight-line vector-graphics looks "clunky"
compared to graphics that include curves.  (The aesthetic difference
is quite noticeable, IMO, but not nearly as "obtrusive" as that
between vector-graphics vs. "raster" or "dot-matrix".)

-----

I like what you've done.  I want to figure out a way to use it.

Thank you.

Tom H.C. in MI

(P.S. On "neographies", I've posted a link to your first post this
thread.  If you can, I recommend you post something there -- I think
you'll get an enthusiastic reception.)

-T