Java2D should provide direct support for multi-color linear and radial gradients. A "reflect" mode should be available in addition to the calmping and cyclic modes currently provided. Although gradients beyond those supplied in Java2D can be implemented in software as custom Paint objects, they can only be fully accelerated if they are made a part of the core API.

Gradients are part of SVG, including SVG Tiny 1.2, as well as other drawing formats and APIs including PostScript Level 3 and OpenVG.

SVG gradients provide the following:

A color ramp with multiple (offset,r,g,b,a) "stops"
A "pad mode" -- clamp, repeat, or reflect
For linear gradients, (x0,y0) and (x1,y1) endpoints
For radial gadients, a center (cx,cy), radius r, and focal point (fx,fy)

I can supply formulas for evaluation the gradient function at an arbitrary point.


###@###.### 2005-07-12 22:17:38 GMT