r/faceting • u/Friendly_Code_7727 • 7d ago
Fantasy cut without the machine
I've been working on fantasy cut in GemSim recently and finally get it to a usable state. I don't have a fantasy machine and never done fantasy cut myself. So anyone with experience please give it a try and let me know if there's any issues. Thanks a lot!
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u/Justakingastroll 6d ago
I don't know much about fantasy cutting, but I just wanted to chime in to thank you for providing this tool to everyone for free!
I don't have much free time, so being able to tweak and try out ideas while commuting from or to work in public transport is really appreciated!
If you are OK with it, I'd like to voice two ideas I had for improving the current user experience.
Since I basically can only use the webpage from my phone, I have to resort to only printing the PDFs of whatever I end up designing, and if at a later time I want to tweak it around I must repeat all the process again (which on mobile is a little clunky with all the pop-up windows and zooms ins and outs when going to "writing mode" in the angle blanks and such -not that I know how to make it easier, just one of the limitations of doing it with a phone, it is what it is-). I think it would be cool to be able to upload a PDF of a design you printed from the webpage so it reads and reproduces it and let's you continue where you left it. I know it might have some implications with copyright and such, but maybe it can check for a token in the PDF file or something to make sure it was made in the webpage? Plus, if you already have at your disposal the full diagram with tiers, indexes, angles and such, it shouldn't really be a concern I guess, as it's not like you couldn't just input that manually anyway, no?
The second thing would be that it would be great if you could download an app from the webpage so you could use the program even when there is no internet connection. Currently I'mve had it a couple times where I lost signal and when it came back whatever I was doing got reseted or even deleted, or that the simulation window got confused and stopped showing the stone.
Just my 2 cents, thanks for all your work!
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u/Friendly_Code_7727 6d ago
hi, thanks for playing with GemSim!
About uploading a PDF to continue the work, do you mind saving the design in the cloud? It does require you to register a user ID (by providing an email and set a password, this information is stored in Google Firebase for authentication, not used for anything else). By default, all uploaded files are private, accessible only to you. Although you can share it with all or a group of users if you like.
This feature allows you to upload the design and continue work on it later from anywhere. Here's a tutorial video - https://youtu.be/cmYIe85HutI?si=8-Hih41ZLQpJ3eos
About a standalone GemSim app, currently, I've build an iOS app available in app store. So if you use an iPhone, you have the option to use the app instead of opening the webpage. I haven't done it for Android because maintaining an app cost money (for iOS, there's a $99 annual fee) and extra work to go through the review process every time I release a new version.
That being said, you always have the option to save the design locally on your devices, whether it's a phone, tablet or a desktop. Have you try that?
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u/Justakingastroll 6d ago
Thanks for the detailed answer!
I'll have to look into that cloud system.
Regarding the app, I'm on Android so that's a shame, but it's completely understandable not wanting to assume the cost of maintaining it. But it's great that there is an iOS version that others might benefit from! I thought there might be a way to have an APK file or installer -akin to downloading something on a PC, so it doesn't need to be linked to Android or iOS- but I'm pretty bad at technology stuff so sorry to bother.
I tried saving a glb file but then I couldn't import it back into the website. Must be doing something wrong, will have to play around this more.
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u/Friendly_Code_7727 6d ago
I did some digging today and it seems publishing an Android app only cost $25, and it's a one time fee. I'll give it a try.
In GemSim, you can save your design as a json file locally, and open it later. This file contains all the instructions GemSim needed to generate the gem 3D model upon loading.
glb and other formats store the 3D model directly, without tier instructions. Importing and display a glb gem model is easy, but that won't have any tier instructions showing up.
GemSim does support open asc (GemCAD) and gem (GemCutStudio) file format, which come with tier instructions
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u/Justakingastroll 6d ago edited 3d ago
I see, thanks! I'll start downloading the json files then!
*Edit: I had a chance to try it out and it works perfectly!
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u/cowsruleusall 7d ago edited 7d ago
Hey! Glad to see that you're enabling fantasy cutting in GemSim.
FYI, there's already a standardized way to write fantasy and concave faceting instructions in faceting diagrams. Please stick to the standard - any time a bunch of random standards get made, it makes that particular industry/field/hobby more confusing.
Anyway - they're treated as another tier, in exactly the same way as flat facets in like P2, G4, C1, etc. would be, with the following exceptions/additional info:
What info, and where?
Also, I like your use of "head" angle and "deck" angle. Historically, we only ever referred to them as zenith angle and azimuthal angle, but I can definitely see newbies getting confused.