This section is dedicated to modeling the 3D perspective effect in Excel 2003 standard.
Hello everyone, this is a tutorial in which a virtual Excel joystick controlled by mouse movements on a scatter chart has been demonstrated . While in operation, a macro updates the coordinates of the pointer in two spreadsheet cells. The two coordinates are then incorporated in formulas which limit the range of motion of the joystick. Just like a real… Read More... "A Virtual Joystick – How Can You Make That ? – tutorial"
Hi guys, here is the second part of a tutorial describing the matematical equations used in modeling a three-pendulum harmonograph (automatic drawing machine). It pertains to the second version of the model. This section describes the kinematic equations involved in the articulated linkage mechanism on the top of the table, the custom spreadsheet functions used in the model and some overall… Read More... "Modeling a Three-Pendulum Harmonograph – tutorial: part #2"
Hi guys, here is the first part of a tutorial describing the mathematical equations used in modeling a three-pendulum harmonograph (automatic drawing machine). It pertains to the second version of the model. This section refers only to the kinematic equations for the movement of three pendulums. A second section will be published later and it will describe the kinematic equations involved in… Read More... "Modeling a Three-Pendulum Harmonograph – tutorial: part #1"
Hi! Here is an improved (faster and cleaner) version of the harmonograph. The worksheet has three different areas, the physical machine (a photo of the machine build out of wood by Karl Sims), the virtual machine (which is a 2D chart with a top view of a model showing the three pendulum ends, the drawing table, and the linkage mechanism which connects pendulum #1,… Read More... "Three-Pendulum Harmonograph #2 – an improved version"
Hi guys, here is the final part of tutorial about creating a digital clock in Excel. It is a good tutorial about general use of sprites in animation, especially the first half. Tell us your thoughts, George [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Building an Digital Clock in Excel – part #2 – a full digital clock model using the “digit” sprites by George Lungu… Read More... "Creating a Digital Clock #2 – sprite driver, timing macro and functions, full model"
Hello! Due to some incompatibility, I re-adjusted the old digital clock for the 2007 version of Excel. In Excel 2003 or earlier if you click on a chart point twice (with a certain delay between clicks) you can paste a picture and have the data point actually convert into that picture. In 2007 the same trick works but somehow the picture… Read More... "Digital Clock Model – an Excel 2007 adaptation"
Hi guys, this is part #1 of a tutorial showing how to generate sprites used in a digital clock model. Sprites are typically simplified images (usually two-dimensional) which are used to replace complex but remote 3D-objects in an image. When an object is far away from the viewer a three-dimensional representation is not necessary since the eye cannot see all the details,… Read More... "Creating a Digital Clock #1 – sprite generation"
Hi there, this is a better version of Pong, in which you play with a virtual opponent. It does not have a score board yet and the opponent is theoretically unbeatable. I will be improving it further. Excel 2007 is quite slow on this one. In order to get maximum speed out of Excel 2007 make sure you zoom in as much as… Read More... "Game of PONG #2"
Hi folks, this is a “practice box” for pong. The green button will “Start-Stop” the model and will also link the mouse to the bat (racket) for game control . The bat control is very smooth and quick and no mouse clicking is necessary. The red “Serve” button will shoot a new ball when you loose the old one (you don’t need to stop… Read More... "Game of Pong #1 – a dynamic training box with sound effects"
Here is another example of sprite animation in Excel (Office 2007 will work fine, though a little bit slower). We’d love to hear from you. George Read More... "City Lights in North America – sprite animation"
Ladies and Gentlemen, you will like this. Here is a harmonograph in MS Excel 2003 which models a real one build by Karl Sims. Watch the video first to know what to expect. I could have built it from the bare drawing equations but that would have been too easy and no fun at all so I tried to model the… Read More... "Three-Pendulum Harmonograph (#1)- an automatic drawing machine"
Hi folks, as a continuation to the previous tutorial here is a 3-body planetary model where the solution to the equations is contained in a static form, as a lookup table (I previously called it a “pure spreadsheet solution”). The model is static in the sense that after any parameter is changed, the solution data remains unchanged in a table until a new parameter is updated by the… Read More... "A basic 3-body Planetary System"
Here is a tutorial explaining how to model a two dimensional 2-body planetary system in Excel. It uses the Euler method of integration. The tutorial starts with explaining the simple Newtonian laws acting on the two planets. There are essentially just two forces acting on each body at any time: the inertia and the gravitational attraction. During each small time step,… Read More... "How to Model a Basic 2-body Planetary System"
Hi guys, here is an animation I made yesterday by downloading 120 pictures of the Earth taken 12 minutes apart by satelites above the equator at 30 degrees longitude west on 10/01/2010. The pictures are 500 x 500 pixels and they are pasted as a background of a chart by a slimmed down VBA macro. You can change the speed of… Read More... "Day and Night Over the Atlantic – an example of sprite animation"