Is it possible with WPF to create a window that has the shape of a circle and uses a playing movie as the background?
To make a non-rectangular window, you need to first do three things.
Set Window.WindowStyle to WindowStyle.None
Set Window.AllowsTransparency to True
Set Window.Background to Transparent (or {x:Null})
Now, your window is completely transparent. You can use the other tips in this thread to paint a piece of media onto the window's geometry.
You should just need to throw something like this in your xaml:
<Ellipse Height="80" Width="80">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<VisualBrush TileMode="None">
<VisualBrush.Visual>
<MediaElement Source="myMovie.wmv" />
</VisualBrush.Visual>
</VisualBrush>
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
Actually making the window round would be more difficult. Have a look at this if you want the window to be round, it should help figure that part out.
HTH
Don't use AllowsTransparency, it has very poor performance and a lot of compatibility problems, go to this link for alternatives:
http://blogs.msdn.com/wpfsdk/archive/2008/09/08/custom-window-chrome-in-wpf.aspx
EDIT: there is an example there how to use SetWindowRgn to get rounded corners for a rectangular windows, if you pass an ellipse region instead of a rounded-rect region you will get an elliptic window, it's easy to create a region for any shape you can imagine.
you can have a canvas as your parent container (set to transparent) then add a circle with a media brush as it's background. that should do it. :)
Related
Apologies if this has been asked but I can't find the answer. I have a couple of items (Windows, UserControls and DockPanels) that need dynamic backgrounds.
A Canvas object suits my needs well for the dynamic drawing, however, what I can't figure out is how (or even if) I can set a <Canvas> object as the value of a Background for a control object.
Can this be done and if yes, how?
Yes you can do that.
<Window.Background>
<VisualBrush>
<VisualBrush.Visual>
<Rectangle Width="50" Height="50" Fill="Red"></Rectangle><!-- Replace this with a reference to your Canvas-->
</VisualBrush.Visual>
</VisualBrush>
</Window.Background>
Code is referenced from this site there is a lot more that you can do with that background as well. Like set clipping etc ...
Note
Because you haven't specified the language you are developing it, I provided answer in the language I use namely C#, I don't use VB.
Dou you want to set the Background property of a control with the "contents" of a Canvas already populated with elements?
If so, yes; it's possible to accomplish this task creating a Brush from your Canvas. To do it, you need the VisualBrush class. In VB.NET, use something like this:
Dim oBrush As New VisualBrush(myCanvas)
myControl.Background = oBrush
Good luck, good code
this is probably simple but i'm spinning my wheels on it.
i have a small 16x16 image that i want to tile to fill the background of my app. (LayoutRoot grid control in this case)
ImageBrush gives option to stretch it, but no option to tile it.
i'm sure it's possible to do this?
<Grid.Background>
<ImageBrush ImageSource="/myApp;component/dark_cf6.png" Stretch="Uniform" />
</Grid.Background>
You could always use a pixel shader, have a look at http://blog.shazzam-tool.com/ and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd901594(v=vs.95).aspx
I have used this method for other purposes before but there is a tiled image effect.
WPF supports using a VisualBrush to create tiled backgrounds. WP7 should support this as well:
<Grid.Background>
<ImageBrush ImageSource="/myApp;component/dark_cf6.png"
TileMode="Tile"
ViewportUnits="Absolute"
Viewport="0,0,16,16" />
</Grid.Background>
The ViewPort property is the key that will set up the correct tiling.
I want to be able to see a drop shadow, but not the object that is creating the drop shadow.
The code below will only work if I give the ellipse a fill colour.
<Ellipse Width="640" Height="640">
<Ellipse.Effect>
<DropShadowEffect Color="Cyan" BlurRadius="60" />
</Ellipse.Effect>
</Ellipse>
This makes sence as an invisible object wouldn't have a shadow. But, what if I really wanted it to? Is there a way to make this happen?
Are you looking for this? Or are you expecting the entire shadow to appear? If later, did you try making the ellipse transparent by setting the alpha value to zero?
Lets say I have a canvas defined to be 1000x1000 big. Is it possible to only show a 100x100 part of it in a Viewbox(or a rectangel)?
Any help is apreciated.....
If you work with Brushes, you might want to take a look at Viewbox and Viewport in WPF
Edit: I just realised that Viewbox and Viewport are used for Brushes
This is not really appropiate in your situation. I looked it up, and I think you will like the Clip property on UIElement.
Since Canvas is also a UIElement, you can use the Clip property to simulate a viewport on your Canvas..
Click here for some simple Geometry types
I think you would suffice with a RectangleGeometry
<Canvas>
<Canvas.Clip>
<RectangleGeometry Rect="50,50,25,25" />
</Canvas.Clip>
</Canvas>
Edit #2:
Hehe ok.. if you want your total Canvas displayed, only smaller, perheps you should take a look and LayoutTransform. Then use a ScaleTranform to resize your Canvas ;).
<Canvas>
<Canvas.LayoutTransform>
<ScaleTransform CenterX="0" CenterY="0" ScaleX="0.5" ScaleY="0.5" />
</Canvas.LayoutTransform>
</Canvas>
Tweak the parameters until you receive the desired effect ;)
The MediaElement doesn't support rounded corners (radiusx, radiusy). Should I use a VideoBrush on a Rectangle with rounded corners?
Yeah - In a way you're both asking and answering the question yourself... But that is one of the two options I can think of. The reasons that might be a problem is that you lose some of the features/control you get from the MediaElement control. Another option is to do this:
Add your MediaElement to your page.
Draw a Rectangle on top of it and set wanted corner radius
Right click the rectangle in Blend and choose "Create Clipping Path"
Apply the clipping path to your MediaElement
That way you're still using a MediaElement control, but you can "clip" away what ever you want to get the desired rounded effect.
This example shows a clipped MediaElement. I know it's not easy to picture the vector path, but if you open it open in Blend you will see a rounded MediaElement.
<MediaElement
Height="132" Width="176" Source="Egypt2007.wmv"
Clip="M0.5,24.5 C0.5,11.245166 11.245166,0.5 24.5,0.5 L151.5,0.5
C164.75484,0.5 175.5,11.245166 175.5,24.5 L175.5,107.5 C175.5,
120.75484 164.75484,131.5 151.5,131.5 L24.5,131.5 C11.245166,
131.5 0.5,120.75484 0.5,107.5 z"/>
Using a rounded rectangle and a VideoBrush doesn't lose you any features/control over using a displayed MediaElement - since the element has to be in the Xaml anyway, you can control it using the usual Play/Pause/Stop methods, except that the playback happens in your rectangle. Using a clip region is a little unwieldy because it's harder to resize the region. A Rectangle is better because you have flexibility of layout.
<MediaElement x:Name="myElement" Source="clip.wmv" Visibility="Collapsed"/>
<Rectangle RadiusX="10" RadiusY="10" Width="640" Height="480">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<VideoBrush Source="myElement" Stretch="Uniform"/>
</Rectangle.Fill>
<Rectangle/>
The clip path with give you "hard" edges - you could also use an OpacityMask as well (though I imagine this requires much more processing power).
Try this
<Border CornerRadius="8" BorderBrush="Black" Background="Black" BorderThickness="3">
<MediaElement HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Top" Stretch="Fill" x:Name="Player" Source="/Assets/Videos/x.mp3" />
</Border>