Setting up Cinder on Windows might take a bit longer than on Mac OS X. That does not mean that it will work slower though. The thing that is good about Windows PCs is that you can usually be more elastic with your hardware configuration. So, if you have a strong will to create some wicked generative stuff with the right kind of hardware you choose, go for Windows and equip yourself with some QuadCore CPU, SSD hard drive, and appropriate GPU. It won' t hurt.
The main reason why configuring Cinder in Windows takes more time is that you'll have to download more stuff. Except the Cinder package, you also have to download and install the following.
The reason of choosing this IDE is that all the official Cinder sample application projects are created for this one. Here we will use Microsoft Visual C++ as it is the default Windows IDE chosen by Cinder creators.
To download Microsoft Visual C++, point your browser at http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2010-express.
Click on Visual C++ 2010 Express tab, choose the language to be downloaded, and click on Install. A download should start and when it is finished, open the *.exe file.
We will not cover the whole installation process, as it is not the scope of this book. Just choose the default options for everything and it will be fine. Let's move on to the next component we still need.
We need this software development kit (SDK) in order to communicate our programs with the Windows system. The Cinder framework will do it for us, so we won't see anything Windows specific—just multiplatform Cinder specific. Don't be afraid and download the Windows Platform SDK from http://bit.ly/IL35OV.
When the download is complete, do run it! Choose default options everywhere again and everything should be ok.
We need this because Cinder audio core relies on it. So let's get it from http://bit.ly/OSe24s.
Install with the default settings and you are good to continue.
You do not need to download QuickTime SDK, if you are using Cinder 0.8.5.
You will have to get an Apple Developer Account to download it. Get it from https://developer.apple.com/programs/register/.
Then go to https://developer.apple.com/quicktime/.
Be careful while
installing it. Cinder expects that QuickTime SDK resides in the same directory level (and with the directory name QuickTimeSDK-7.3) as Cinder itself. So, if you keep your Cinder in C:cinder, the QuickTime SDK should reside at C:QuickTimeSDK-7.3—change this while installing the SDK.
When you come to a point in the installation where you can choose the destination folder, click on the Change button.
Now change the Destination Folder path to C:QuickTimeSDK-7.3.
If you are familiar with the re-linking libraries, do not bother yourself with this warning.
Before launching your first sample application, make sure that you have QuickTime Player installed on your system. If not, go to http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/, download, and install it.
Go to the Cinder samples directory, for example, C:/cinder/samples/ and find a folder with the name QuickTime. Open C:/cinder/samples/QuickTime/vc10/quickTimeSample.sln.
Tip
Downloading the color images of this book
We also provide you a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output.
You can download this file from:
http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9564OS_ColoredImages.pdf
Welcome to Microsoft Visual C++ 2010! Press F5 to build a project and run it. You should be provided with a prompt to choose a file—select a QuickTime compatible movie file from your hard drive and see what happens. You should see the movie playing back, and a semi-transparent rectangle with different stats about the movie file over it.
If you don't see the movie, check if you have QuickTime Player installed. First time I tried this sample application, I didn't succeed. And I spent hours trying to understand, what's wrong? Nothing! You just don' t have QuickTime Player. Get it from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/.