Re: FN-FORUM: Hand Writing Recording Software

date posted 30th January 2007 17:05

From: "Dominic Raywood" [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Hi again - second question for the day :)
>
> My client would like (as part of a language teaching site), to record the
> writing of text, so it can then be played back to show how to write.
>
> Sounds silly, but it is teaching Chinese and it is apparently important to
> know in what order the lines are written for Chinese symbols, to make a
> clear and correctly written character.
>
> So, basically, software to maybe record writing on a sort of electronic
> whiteboard to create a simple animation of the brushstrokes in the correct
> order, so people can replay as often as they need, pause, rewind etc. The
> client is happy to buy one of those funky electronic pads to do the
> writing; I just need to know the best way to record the writing and play
> it back.
>
> Thanks :)

A try for you...

Chinese write within an upright rectangle, so first decide if you want to
confine characters to a particular "box" size.

Next, if you want to define radicals (there are 187) there are different
places to download, mainly in Chinese. Sites like
http://www.tigernt.com/cedict.shtml use them. In any case, if going this
route, you will need to record base radicals which are then made up into
whole characters/pictograms.

In conjunction with the above you could modify Java from
http://javaboutique.internet.com/AnimLetters_anim/. Or you could contact
California State University (Long Beach) via the example at
http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/azi/page1.htm (click on a Chinese character).
There's also a package at
http://www.usc.edu/dept/ealc/chinese/newweb/character_page.html.

Two of my Chinese postgrad students specialise in this sort of stuff. I
shall ask them when they arrive this evening.

HTH a bit...

Mike A.
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