1. paolap's Avatar
    Hello everyone!

    I'm introducing a new app for the Playbook.

    The app is called 'SketcherCam Pro' and is probably in a category of its own, as it is half an entertainment 'gadget' and half a 'photo/video' app.

    As a gadget it's simply quite entertaining just to look at the live preview and see how the world around you is cartoonized live, in real-time... walk around the house or take it outside, go to the park, go wherever you want while watching the preview, it's very entertaining, especially for children.

    As a photography tool, this app can produce fairly complex pictures and videos. Of course, you may not get (in all scenarios) the same quality you would get with a top-of-the-line photo editor (there's a bunch of those available already), but considering that this app does it all in real-time and only uses a fraction of the time to generate the effects, the results are pretty darn impressive IMO.

    Bottom line,
    - if you like gadgets, you have to try it!
    - If you have kids, try it too!
    - If you want top-notch photographic results, steer away (plenty of photo editors already in BB World)

    This app will set you back $0.99, not too bad IMO, considering it's 100% native, no ads, no weird permissions...

    I'm working on improvements and I plan on getting it ready for BB10 if enough interest is shown.
    Check it out and let me know what you think!

    Here are some screen-shots:
    The 'Wintery' effect:
    New app: SketcherCam Pro-img_00000281.jpg

    The 'Pencil' effect:
    New app: SketcherCam Pro-img_00000286.png

    The 'Chocolat' effect and slider controls:
    New app: SketcherCam Pro-img_00000283.png

    There are many others!
    Attached Thumbnails New app: SketcherCam Pro-img_00000281.jpg  
    Last edited by paolap; 11-25-13 at 02:15 AM.
    11-25-13 01:52 AM
  2. paolap's Avatar
    Sorry, forgot to post the features (full list available in BB World)...

    Key features:

    - 100% Native app
    - Select from a total of 17 effects including:
    * 8 awesome, advanced cartoon-sketch and paint effects, and
    * 9 simple yet useful standard effects
    - Use the live feed from either front or rear camera
    - Take pictures or record video with audio! (640x480)
    - Landscape and portrait modes for picture-taking
    - Landscape mode for video recording
    - 3 colour themes available - black/blue/pink
    - In-app help and tips
    - Zoom-in and out and change effects while recording video
    - Swipe left or right to change effects quickly
    - Tweak the effects using brightness, contrast and other advanced controls (lines, shades, etc.)
    - Experimental 3D views, allow you to apply the camera feed onto a 3D shape and rotate/resize the view using gestures.

    Advanced effects:
    - Wintery: soft sketch effect with cold pastel tones.
    - Chocolat: strong shades and brown tones, dark chocolate comes to mind...
    - Tron: this is a traditional glowing effect with a little twist...
    - Pencil: super-rich pencil sketch filter.
    - Coppery: this effect has dark-reddish-metallic look to it, kind of like copper.
    - CandyToon: colorful cartoon effect... just an explosion of color.
    - FancyToon: cartoon effect with a bit more sophisticated look to it...
    - Outlines: just the outlines, but fully tweakable.

    Standard effects: Basic/Sepia/Movie/Mono/Hulk/Grainy/Thermal/Pixelator/Frosty

    3D Shapes (experimental):
    - Waves
    - Cube
    - Sphere

    Know restrictions and limitations:
    1) As usual, some of the effects require good lighting conditions.
    2) There's no in-app sharing option for your pictures (cannot upload to Facebook and the likes from inside the app).
    3) Only landscape for video-recording / experimental 640x480 @ 10fps approx.
    11-25-13 02:11 AM
  3. Korepab's Avatar
    Looks really cool. Will you bring this to blackberry 10 too?
    paolap likes this.
    11-25-13 02:34 AM
  4. Blackman91's Avatar
    Wow it works great!!! I expected a lot of lag but the app is buttery smooth, really nice job!!! hope you add more filters to the playbook version because they are awesome, the ability to change filters while recording a video is great. Definitely a great app and just for 0.99!
    paolap likes this.
    11-25-13 03:51 PM
  5. nealjane1's Avatar
    v nice. well worth the price..and its native too.....I note you have no other apps in the bb app store......is this really your first?!!

    with this sort of quality you need to get some more apps on there!!

    Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
    paolap likes this.
    11-25-13 05:14 PM
  6. FF22's Avatar
    Unless I missed it, the link

    SketcherCam Pro - BlackBerry World

    Good luck with your app. And supporting the Playbook is terrific.
    nealjane1 and paolap like this.
    11-25-13 09:25 PM
  7. paolap's Avatar
    Looks really cool. Will you bring this to blackberry 10 too?
    Thanks and Yes, I have to tweak the UI for the smaller screen... hopefully, I'll have a release candidate for BB10 in a couple of weeks.
    11-25-13 09:53 PM
  8. paolap's Avatar
    Wow it works great!!! I expected a lot of lag but the app is buttery smooth, really nice job!!! hope you add more filters to the playbook version because they are awesome, the ability to change filters while recording a video is great. Definitely a great app and just for 0.99!
    Thanks! I know my way around OpenGL but the filters definitely took a while to get them right on the Playbook...
    If you like changing effects while recording video, I suggest you to either enable the option to 'Pre-load all the effects at startup' or tap on the effects you'll be using before you start recording your video so that they get initialized... that way there's no delay when switching while recording.
    Blackman91 likes this.
    11-25-13 10:07 PM
  9. paolap's Avatar
    ......is this really your first?!!
    Thanks! yes, this is my first app... it's been in the making for a while as I have a day job ... started coding it as hobby... tried first with Adobe AIR a while ago but the refresh rate was terrible... the native NDK and camera API gave me the tools I needed to get it to an acceptable level of smoothness IMO...
    11-25-13 10:26 PM
  10. paolap's Avatar
    This will give you a better idea of what the live preview looks like in real-time:
    FF22 and dgmckenzie like this.
    11-26-13 12:06 AM
  11. FF22's Avatar
    For the price and for creating a new app for the PB, I purchased this last night but did not get a chance to try it - bed awaited. The video is terrific.

    Finally got a chance to play with it. Fascinating, fun and, well TERRIFIC. Oh, I guess you cannot save the cube/sphere/etc images. Well, I did two screenshots to capture those images.

    New app: SketcherCam Pro-img_20120378.jpg

    New app: SketcherCam Pro-img_20120377.jpg

    Oh, well, one more image.....

    New app: SketcherCam Pro-sketchercam-1385574954-0.jpg
    Last edited by F2; 11-27-13 at 12:21 PM.
    paolap likes this.
    11-26-13 09:07 AM
  12. paolap's Avatar
    @F2: Thank you so much!
    You can actually save the 3D view (sphere/cube/etc), to do so go to the the Settings tab, under General Options check the option 'Save 3D screen-view'.
    When that option is enabled, every time you take a picture it'll save both the filtered image and the 3D screen-view as you see it on the screen... Also, if you are in video-mode, it'll take a video of the 3D screen-view... you can rotate and re-size the 3D view with gestures while recording the video!
    Having said all that, I don't recommend keeping that option checked all the time because there's a performance hit... UI becomes a bit laggy... definitely give it a try though!
    FF22 likes this.
    11-27-13 10:13 PM
  13. vserghi's Avatar
    Just bought it myself. Smooth operation, simple and fun to use.

    Well done for supporting the Playbook.
    paolap and FF22 like this.
    11-28-13 05:37 AM
  14. rossjackson01's Avatar
    Paolap

    What an excellent and delightful app. Thank you. Well worth the price. Hope you do well.

    Regards

    Ross
    paolap likes this.
    11-29-13 05:08 AM
  15. paolap's Avatar
    @rossjackson01: No, THANK YOU!
    New features coming next week, and hopefully a BB10 release by mid-December!
    11-29-13 02:52 PM
  16. paolap's Avatar
    Hi All!
    I just submitted a new release to BB World for approval... SketcherCam Pro v2.1.0.125...

    This is what you'll get:
    - Added smart-frames support (landscape only)
    - Added wide-screen, 16:9 aspect ratio support for pictures and video
    - Added 3 basic smart-frames (hands, hanging, half)
    - Minor tweaks and performance improvements...

    Here you can see the smart-frames in action:


    The new version should be out in a couple of days...
    I'll keep you guys posted!
    nealjane1 likes this.
    12-07-13 02:31 PM
  17. Blackman91's Avatar
    Just recieved the update awesome thanks a lot!!
    paolap likes this.
    12-09-13 03:00 PM
  18. bambinoitaliano's Avatar
    Always happy to support dev for playbook. Just got it!!!
    paolap likes this.
    12-09-13 08:29 PM
  19. Banco's Avatar
    This is wonderful. What a terrific app. Also bought and very happy. Well done - hope this thread is raising awareness, because I bought it based on the recommendations above, so others may do too.
    paolap and nealjane1 like this.
    12-10-13 06:20 AM
  20. BKillar's Avatar
    Great app. Please port this to BB10!

    Posted via CB10
    paolap likes this.
    12-11-13 05:38 AM
  21. paolap's Avatar
    Great app. Please port this to BB10!
    The BB10 version is getting there... we're about a week behind schedule, but should be submitting to BB World before Christmas... I'll keep you guys posted!
    PS: PLEASE don't forget to put your review/rate in BB World! THANKS A BUNCH!!!!!
    12-14-13 03:39 PM
  22. paolap's Avatar
    Update: SketcherCam Pro is now available in BB World for Z10 users... if you've already purchased for the PlayBook, you can just go ahead and download it for your Z10!

    Support for other devices (Q10/Z30/Q5) will be added in the upcoming weeks. Enjoy!
    amnan.pahamin likes this.
    01-29-14 07:55 PM
  23. dc scotland's Avatar
    I have been using this app for a few weeks, and it works well when taking pics. But I have only tried taking video for the first time and am having problems.

    I select video from the pic/video camera options and then hit the red record button. The button turns green and REC then flashes red on the screen as if filming, but the counter stays at zero. If I hit the green button to stop filming, it just beeps but has no effect and REC continues to flash as if still filming. The only way of stopping it is to close the app, but no video is ever saved.

    I have uninstalled/reinstalled twice but no improvement.

    Am I missing something in settings ?

    UPDATE: Just ignore me, I have found the problem in Security/Permission Details for this app. Permission had been allowed in Files and Camera, but denied in Microphone. Changing that to allowed, the video works perfectly.
    Last edited by dc scotland; 02-13-14 at 05:49 AM.
    paolap likes this.
    02-13-14 05:33 AM
  24. paolap's Avatar
    I have been using this app for a few weeks, and it works well when taking pics. But I have only tried taking video for the first time and am having problems.

    I select video from the pic/video camera options and then hit the red record button. The button turns green and REC then flashes red on the screen as if filming, but the counter stays at zero. If I hit the green button to stop filming, it just beeps but has no effect and REC continues to flash as if still filming. The only way of stopping it is to close the app, but no video is ever saved.

    I have uninstalled/reinstalled twice but no improvement.

    Am I missing something in settings ?

    UPDATE: Just ignore me, I have found the problem in Security/Permission Details for this app. Permission had been allowed in Files and Camera, but denied in Microphone. Changing that to allowed, the video works perfectly.
    Sorry for not getting back to you sooner on this!
    I'll try and get an error message or some sort of notification to pop-up when there's an issue with the permissions... good catch!
    dc scotland likes this.
    02-26-14 08:46 PM
  25. paolap's Avatar
    By the way, I'm happy to announce that SketcherCam Pro is now available for the Z30 as well!
    Cheers!
    02-26-14 08:49 PM

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