Book Image

HTML5 Canvas Cookbook

By : Eric Rowell
Book Image

HTML5 Canvas Cookbook

By: Eric Rowell

Overview of this book

The HTML5 canvas is revolutionizing graphics and visualizations on the Web. Powered by JavaScript, the HTML5 Canvas API enables web developers to create visualizations and animations right in the browser without Flash. Although the HTML5 Canvas is quickly becoming the standard for online graphics and interactivity, many developers fail to exercise all of the features that this powerful technology has to offer.The HTML5 Canvas Cookbook begins by covering the basics of the HTML5 Canvas API and then progresses by providing advanced techniques for handling features not directly supported by the API such as animation and canvas interactivity. It winds up by providing detailed templates for a few of the most common HTML5 canvas applications—data visualization, game development, and 3D modeling. It will acquaint you with interesting topics such as fractals, animation, physics, color models, and matrix mathematics. By the end of this book, you will have a solid understanding of the HTML5 Canvas API and a toolbox of techniques for creating any type of HTML5 Canvas application, limited only by the extent of your imagination.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
HTML5 Canvas Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Canvas Security
Index

Drawing a Bezier curve


If Quadratic curves don't meet your needs, the Bezier curve might do the trick. Also known as cubic curves, the Bezier curve is the most advanced curvature available with the HTML5 canvas API.

How to do it...

Follow these steps to draw an arbitrary Bezier curve:

  1. Define a 2D canvas context and set the curve style:

    window.onload = function(){
        var canvas = document.getElementById("myCanvas");
        var context = canvas.getContext("2d");
      
        context.lineWidth = 10;
        context.strokeStyle = "black"; // line color
        context.moveTo(180, 130);
  2. Position the canvas context and draw the Bezier curve:

    context.bezierCurveTo(150, 10, 420, 10, 420, 180);
        context.stroke();
    };
  3. Embed the canvas tag inside the body of the HTML document:

    <canvas id="myCanvas" width="600" height="250" style="border:1px solid black;">
    </canvas>
    

How it works...

HTML5 canvas Bezier curves are defined by the context point, two control points, and an ending point. The additional control point gives us much more control over its curvature compared to Quadratic curves:

  context.bezierCurveTo(controlPointX1, controlPointY1, 
      controlPointX2, controlPointY2, 
      endingPointX, endingPointY);

Take a look at the following diagram:

Unlike Quadratic curves, which are defined by three characteristic tangents, the Bezier curve is defined by five characteristic tangents. The first part of the curve is tangential to an imaginary line that starts with the context point and ends with the first control point. The next part of the curve is tangential to the imaginary line that starts with midpoint 1 and ends with midpoint 3. The peak of the curve is tangential to the imaginary line that starts with midpoint 2 and ends with midpoint 4. The fourth part of the curve is tangential to the imaginary line that starts with midpoint 3 and ends with midpoint 5. Finally, the last part of the curve is tangential to the imaginary line that starts with the second control point and ends with the ending point.

See also...

  • Randomizing shape properties: Drawing a field of flowers in Chapter 2

  • Putting it all together: Drawing a jet in Chapter 2