Archive: Weird Rip Report


14th August 2002 01:44 UTC

Weird Rip Report
I have a rather unusual rip report to make... it's about the AVS preset "LazerZ":

http://www.winamp.com/components3/de...onentId=118452

Most people won't know this, but my first AVS pack was a tiny one called "Laser Effects", which was based on a cool laser-like superscope I made. Unfortunately I removed it because it was my first work and not really impressive. I didn't keep the presets either

It seems to me that the scope in the preset above is the one I made. I recognize it can fully explain how it works:

px=r*(2*cos(al)+sin((al+t*2)*m));py=r*(2*sin(al)+cos((al+t*1)*m));
al=i*tpi;r=(i*n%n%8);r=if(equal(r*(b-1),0),0,sh);pz=r*9;a=if(equal(r,0),1,r);x=px*cy+a*sy;y=py*cx+a*sx;

It draws a spirograph shape in (px,py) for the point in angle 'al'. The spirograph shape has a multiplication factor 'm' which changes to provide different shapes (triange, flower, star, ...). This is the projected shape.
To make the beams of the laser, the scope goes back to the center point every 8 points. That's what r is for: a counter. This causes the laser to look like a broken up shape at the edges, where 1/8th of a piece is always missing.
There's an error in the code by the way. The 't*1' on the first line in the py assignment should be 't*2' (like in the px calculation). It doesn't make sense to multiply with 1 anyway.

The code itself is very similar to my scopes. Using rx,ry,rz for rotation angles is nothing special: using 'rxo' as rotation increase offset is something different. I also notice that the code divides by constants rather than multiplying with the reciprocal. This is something I didn't know either at that time, so it's another indication.

There's also something about the cosine/sine calculations. It wraps the angle ry into a folling construct: sin(ry)/4;. This causes the rotation to be limited to 1/4th radians either way which is needed for the laser to point to the camera all the time.

It also uses numerical input of 'pi' (and 'tpi' as two-pi) rather than using acos(-1). My preset was made before tonic started using this technique, but it's very common now.


I'm going to look for my original presets... if I still have it I can confirm this rip, but until them I guess it's just my word against his. I sent him an email asking about the source: if he admits it, it can removed as well. I just think that the preset uses a few antiquated techniques which are well known today to be inefficient.

One explanation I can think of is that the person downloaded my mini pack of laser effects and used it, thinking it was a standard avs preset that came with the download.


16th August 2002 08:31 UTC

If the Nullsoft people don't believe you...tell them someone who doesn't realize that not everyone puts their presets in c:\program files\winamp3\wacs\avs or whatever it was, he's probably not smart enough to create that scope in the first place.

Bah, ripping assholes....


16th August 2002 15:14 UTC

I beleive you at least.:)
Do you want the rip removed from the site Steve?

I'll get it removed if you want.


16th August 2002 18:51 UTC

If you don't object to removing something without hard evidence. But I think most people here have come to know me as a fair person and I wouldn't wrongly accuse someone of ripping unless I was sure.

I just sent him a mail about some peculiarities in the code (which I *can* explain). If he can't answer them, it can be deleted for sure ;)


20th August 2002 11:04 UTC

He published a second version (LazerZ v2) which contains variations on the same scope. The only differences are minor code tweaks (changing a number here, adding a cosine there), but nothing big. By tweaking the code, he's added some non-sensical statements too:

- t=t+0
- m=2;m=if(equal(m,0),1,m);

This supports the case that he has no idea what he's doing, which means he couldn't have possibly written a superscope this complex.

Sent him a final mail (no reply on the code questions), if he doesn't reply he's a ripper for sure.


20th August 2002 11:41 UTC

Ok just keep us posted.:)


20th August 2002 11:59 UTC

Bah, my last mail bounced because his hotmail account is full (why don't people get decent email accounts?). I've already spent more time on this than needed, so I say get rid of it.

I've presented enough evidence which favors my case :cool:


23rd August 2002 18:02 UTC

Been away for a couple of days but these have now been zapped.:)


30th August 2002 14:57 UTC

"LazerZ has been zapped!"
Bad pun, Rova...

:D Best kind, though! :D


14th November 2002 12:02 UTC

I don't know have you noticed, but the guy has a winamp2 plugin as well named: "Kick Ass Lasers"
Here is the Link


14th November 2002 18:21 UTC

yeesh, this guy doesn't quit, does he