Adjusting Bitmap Sizes to Fit Hoop Size
Adjusting Bitmap Sizes to Fit Hoop Size
How do you decide the size of a bitmap pattern to fit your hoop?
Before moving a pattern to your hoop you’ll want to make sure it’s saved in the correct format (.bmp) as a bitmap, and that the image isn’t too large to be easily visible when the hoop is in motion. Remember, all bitmaps/patterns need to be inside of a folder/mode for it to be able to be displayed on the hoop.
Bitmaps images are measured in pixels by width and height. (pixels are sometimes abbreviated as px or pxl) When saving a bitmap file to use as a pattern, you may first need to edit, resize/scale down, and resave the image to fit the display of your hoop size.
Using an image editor (Paint, Paintbrush, Pixlr) you’ll be able to both resize/scale the pixels of the image, as well as save it in the correct .bmp format.
The # of LEDs in your hoop represents the largest bitmap width (as measured in pixels) that can be displayed on your hoop at once, without getting cut off. If a bitmap is wider than your hoop, the extra part of the image will get cut off. If you are trying to use high resolution images you’ll need to scale them down quite a bit. The length of your bitmap doesn’t matter as much.
Check out the LED Count chart to find your hoop size.
To estimate a good pattern width as a starting point, divide your LED count by 3.
We’ve established a general guideline for bitmap sizing that can easily apply to most patterns. Take the number of LEDs in your hoop (see LED count charts in tabs below) and divide it by 3. Why 3? Because for someone standing in front of you looking at the hoop, in general they can only see about 1/3 of the LEDs at one time.
Ex: A hoop with 90 LEDs divided by 3 gives you a bitmap width of 30 pixels wide that would display on 1/3 of your hoop. The image would repeat 3 times around the hoop. You can definitely experiment with patterns more or less wide than this number, as this just gives you a good place to start from. In general it’s a simple rule to follow if you’re trying to shrink a larger bitmap down to display on a hoop.
If you want a pattern to display around the hoop 6 times, you would divide 90 by 6, which is 15 pixels. At this point the image is also smaller, but there are more copies of the pattern that display around the hoop. If you want to do the opposite to make a pattern display completely around the entire hoop, you can set the bitmap width 90 pixels wide before the pattern would start to cut off.