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Origami – Design Prototyping

198 points| geekrax | 11 years ago |facebook.github.io | reply

24 comments

order
[+] pavlov|11 years ago|reply
AFAICT Origami is still a collection of plugins for Quartz Composer, a graphics tool by Apple that's included with Xcode.

Quartz Composer is effectively deprecated: no updates since 2011, not available in iOS, no Retina support. Building new products on it is not a viable long-term solution, so I wonder if Facebook plans to build a replacement.

(Incidentally, if someone wants to make a new Quartz Composer work-a-like, I have a bunch of potentially suitable code that I could share with an open source license... I made a node-based graphics app called PixelConduit whose code I was planning to release but never got around to: http://pixelconduit.com -- it could make a solid base for a QC-style tool.)

[+] didgeoridoo|11 years ago|reply
Check out QC's spiritual successor Form at http://www.relativewave.com

Definitely way more focused on mobile applications than general-purpose visualization, but it's been a pleasure to work with so far (much easier than Origami)

[+] pandeiro|11 years ago|reply
Putting 'for Mac OS X/iOS' in title would be nice
[+] afandian|11 years ago|reply
I know of three people (including myself) who will find an interface very difficult to use if there's so much movement in it.

Indicating state and actions by visual movement is so incredibly specific to its audience (people who don't mind seeing things zipping round their screen vs people who do) it's a shame to see it destined to become universal.

I wonder if they've (Facebook, Google) done any actual scientific research about how various peoples' brains react to movement when they're trying to concentrate on something.

[+] exogen|11 years ago|reply
All of the examples shown are animating things that are being directly manipulated, not something in your periphery. What would you be concentrating on while you're dragging something with your finger?
[+] knd775|11 years ago|reply
Overall, cool.

One thing, though: That download button is irritating. At least on Chrome, it doesn't react whatsoever to mouseover/hover. The cursor doesn't even recognize it as a button.

[+] illicium|11 years ago|reply
A bunch of other things are also broken in Firefox. Yay WebKit-only websites.
[+] caseyf7|11 years ago|reply
What about the license? Is there any cause for concern here?

https://github.com/facebook/origami/blob/master/LICENSE.md

" Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) owns all right, title and interest, including all intellectual property and other proprietary rights, in and to the Origami framework. Subject to your compliance with these terms, you are hereby granted a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free copyright license to (1) use and copy the Origami framework; and (2) reproduce and distribute the Origami framework as part of your own framework (“Your Software”). Facebook reserves all rights not expressly granted to you in this license agreement.

...

You will include in Your Software (e.g., in the file(s), documentation or other materials accompanying your framework): (1) the disclaimer set forth above; (2) this sentence; and (3) the following copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2013-2014, Facebook, Inc. All rights reserved. "

[+] jnem|11 years ago|reply
Not a lawyer, but..As far as using Origami for prototyping? No, I don't think there is any issue. Using and shipping Origami framework along with your own product, yes. Im pretty sure they are only saying "If you implement Origami into your own framework, you must provide attribution".
[+] kazinator|11 years ago|reply
Origami is already the name of some folding editor from Microsoft. (Folding, get it? It's actually a topical name.)

The Japanese language has lots of words; there is enough for every gaijin to have a unique one for their programming project.

[+] pieter|11 years ago|reply
Anyone know how this compares to Framer?
[+] fredoliveira|11 years ago|reply
They share the same purpose, but functionally they're quite different:

1) Origami is a visual programming tool where you connect functional nodes. Some nodes represent things on screen, some represent actions. You literally connect them to eachother (connect my swipe node to my feed node) to prototype your UI. You use origami in the same way you setup a modular synth, or use something like pure-data or MaxMSP. The end result is a UI prototype.

2) FramerJS is a javascript-based prototyping tool that has a DSL for programming the prototypes. You are very much writing javascript code to simulate the real interactions the user might have with your interface.

That's the big difference. If you are familiar with Javascript, you will certainly have an easier time writing code in Framer to represent animation and interactions (it will also translate more easily to final production code because in theory the algorithms for the interactions are similar). If you have no programming background (or just feel at ease with visual programming), you may prefer Origami.

(They're both great tools, and despite being quite accustomed to the latest Framer versions, I'm going to try out Origami 2.0 too. Seems like a big step from the previous version.)

[+] thomasfl|11 years ago|reply
Not available in Norwegian app store. Is there a precompiled version I could simply just download?
[+] crawfordcomeaux|11 years ago|reply
Origami Live for iPhone isn't available for download in the US?
[+] thewhitetulip|11 years ago|reply
Why do all tools get created for Mac only?
[+] olifante|11 years ago|reply
because that's where the developers are, nowadays.
[+] mgulaid|11 years ago|reply
same problem here.. Origami Live ios app is not available in the USA app store.
[+] dceddia|11 years ago|reply
I'm getting the same thing. I wonder though, does that mean it's available in other countries, or is it just not available at all yet? Is that message essentially a 404?