Develop Reference

PixiJs 4 rotation speed and determine stopping location/axis

I have started working with PixiJs to develop a simple game. I am trying to rotate a sprite based on a click of the button, and then allowing the user top stop the rotation with another button click.
What I am not able to achieve is determine how many "cycles" the rotation would have done, for example if the image did a full rotation 3, 4 times, and its stopping location determining how many remaining rotations are needed for another full cycle. Is there something in place to easily retrieve this?
The code I have so far is quite basic and simple:
initGameLayout() {
const top = new PIXI.Graphics();
top.beginFill(0x2185c7);
top.drawRect(0, 0, this.app.screen.width, this.margin);
const headerStyle = new PIXI.TextStyle({
fontSize: 24,
fontStyle: 'italic',
fontWeight: 'bold',
});
const headerText = new PIXI.Text('', headerStyle);
headerText.x = Math.round((top.width - headerText.width) / 2);
headerText.y = Math.round((this.margin - headerText.height) / 2);
top.addChild(headerText);
const spinButton = new PIXI.Graphics();
spinButton.beginFill(0x2185c7);
spinButton.drawRect(0, 0, this.app.screen.width, this.margin);
spinButton.width = 150;
spinButton.height = 100;
spinButton.x = 620
spinButton.y = 500
spinButton.buttonMode = true;
spinButton.interactive = true;
spinButton.on('pointerdown', this.spinWheel);
const spinButton2 = new PIXI.Graphics();
spinButton2.beginFill(0x2185c3);
spinButton2.drawRect(0, 0, this.app.screen.width, this.margin);
spinButton2.width = 150;
spinButton2.height = 100;
spinButton2.x = 420
spinButton2.y = 500
spinButton2.buttonMode = true;
spinButton2.interactive = true;
spinButton2.on('pointerdown', this.stopWheel);
this.bunny = new PIXI.Sprite.from('https://pixijs.io/examples-v4/examples/assets/bunny.png');
this.bunny.width = 50;
this.bunny.height = 50;
this.bunny.anchor.set(0.5);
this.bunny.x = this.app.screen.width / 2;
this.bunny.y = this.app.screen.height / 2;
this.bunny.rotate += 0.1;
this.app.stage.addChild(top);
this.app.stage.addChild(spinButton);
this.app.stage.addChild(spinButton2);
this.app.stage.addChild(this.bunny);
}
spinWheel() {
if (!this.running)
{
this.running = true;
this.app.ticker.add((delta: any) => {
this.bunny.rotation += 0.1;
});
} else {
this.running = false;
this.bunny.rotation -= -0.1;
}
}
stopWheel() {
this.bunny.rotation -= -0.1;
this.running = false;
}
Appreciate any help anyone could give on the above issue
-Jes

The rotation member of a sprite is the measure of radians it is rotated. There are 2*Math.PI radians in a full circle. You can use this information to calculate the desired values:
When the sprite is first clicked, store originalRotation = bunny.rotation;
When the sprite is clicked again, calculate angleRotated = Math.abs(bunny.rotation - originalRotation);
Then numCycles = Math.floor(angleRotated / (2*Math.PI));
And radiansUntilNextCycle = 2*Math.PI - (angleRotated % (2*Math.PI));
If you are more familiar with degrees, you can use those instead. Swap:
bunny.rotation with bunny.angle
2*Math.PI with 360
I'm assuming by "cycle" you mean a single rotation of 360 degrees. However, your question is difficult to understand because each time you use the word "rotation" it seems to have a different meaning. So it doesn't quite make sense.
It may also help to explain why you want these values; what will you do with them?
And pixiplayground.com is a great place to share live, functional code.

Transform Rounded Rectangle to Circle

I've been working on a specific animation in which I need to convert(with animation) a Rounded Rectangle Shape to Circle. I've checked the documentation of paper.js and haven't found any predefined function to achieve this.
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The animation needs to be smooth. As the number of rectangles I'm working with is very high, I can't use the "remove current rounded rect and redraw one more rounded version" method. It reduces the performace and the animation gets laggy.
This is the code I'm using to generate rounded rectangle.
// Had to paste something to post the question
// Though the whole code can be seen on codepen link
var rect = new Rectangle();
var radius = 100, origin = {x: 100, y: 100};
rect.size = new Size(radius, radius);
rect.center = new Point(origin.x, origin.y);
var cornerSize = radius / 4;
var shape = new Path.Rectangle(rect, cornerSize);
Prepared this Codepen example to show the progress.
If we can work out the whole animation using any other object types, that will be fine too. For now I can't find any any property which can transform the rounded rectangle to circle.
I'm also animating color of the object and position. I've gone through many documents to find out color animation.
PS: If there is any other(better) technique to animate colors of object, please share that too.

You will first have to create a path as a rounded rectangle. Then with each step in your animation you have to modify the eight segments of the path. This will only work with Path objects, not if your rectangle is a Shape.
The segment points and the handles have to be set like this:
κ (kappa) is defined in paper.js as Numerical.KAPPA (more on Kappa here).
The code to change the radius could look like this (Click here for the Sketch):
var rect = new Path.Rectangle(new Point(100, 100), new Size(100, 100), 30);
rect.fullySelected = true;
var step = 1;
var percentage = 0;
function onFrame(event) {
percentage += step;
setCornerRadius(rect, percentage)
if (percentage > 50 || percentage < 0) {
step *= -1;
}
}
function setCornerRadius(rectPath, roundingPercent) {
roundingPercent = Math.min(50, Math.max(0, roundingPercent));
var rectBounds = rectPath.bounds;
var radius = roundingPercent/100 * Math.min(rectBounds.width, rectBounds.height);
var handleLength = radius * Numerical.KAPPA;
l = rectBounds.getLeft(),
t = rectBounds.getTop(),
r = rectBounds.getRight(),
b = rectBounds.getBottom();
var segs = rectPath.segments;
segs[0].point.x = segs[3].point.x = l + radius;
segs[0].handleOut.x = segs[3].handleIn.x = -handleLength;
segs[4].point.x = segs[7].point.x = r - radius;
segs[4].handleOut.x = segs[7].handleIn.x = handleLength;
segs[1].point.y = segs[6].point.y = b - radius;
segs[1].handleIn.y = segs[6].handleOut.y = handleLength;
segs[2].point.y = segs[5].point.y = t + radius;
segs[2].handleOut.y = segs[5].handleIn.y = -handleLength;
}
Edit: I just found a much easier way using a shape. Not sure which approach performs faster.
Here is the implementation using a Shape (Click here for the Sketch).
var size = 100;
var rect = new Shape.Rectangle(new Rectangle(new Point(100, 100), new Size(size, size)), 30);
rect.strokeColor = "red";
var step = 1;
var percentage = 0;
function onFrame(event) {
percentage = Math.min(50, Math.max(0, percentage + step));
rect.radius = size * percentage / 100;
if (percentage >= 50 || percentage <= 0) {
step *= -1;
}
}

Change the corner size to the following
var cornerSize = circle.radius / 1;

Javascript Julia Fractal slow and not detailed

I am trying to generate a Julia fractal in a canvas in javascript using math.js
Unfortunately every time the fractal is drawn on the canvas, it is rather slow and not very detailed.
Can anyone tell me if there is a specific reason this script is so slow or is it just to much to ask of a browser? (note: the mouse move part is disabled and it is still kinda slow)
I have tried raising and lowering the “bail_num” but everything above 1 makes the browser crash and everything below 0.2 makes everything black.
// Get the canvas and context
var canvas = document.getElementById("myCanvas");
var context = canvas.getContext("2d");
// Width and height of the image
var imagew = canvas.width;
var imageh = canvas.height;
// Image Data (RGBA)
var imagedata = context.createImageData(imagew, imageh);
// Pan and zoom parameters
var offsetx = -imagew/2;
var offsety = -imageh/2;
var panx = -2000;
var pany = -1000;
var zoom = 12000;
// c complexnumber
var c = math.complex(-0.310, 0.353);
// Palette array of 256 colors
var palette = [];
// The maximum number of iterations per pixel
var maxiterations = 200;
var bail_num = 1;
// Initialize the game
function init() {
//onmousemove listener
canvas.addEventListener('mousemove', onmousemove);
// Generate image
generateImage();
// Enter main loop
main(0);
}
// Main loop
function main(tframe) {
// Request animation frames
window.requestAnimationFrame(main);
// Draw the generate image
context.putImageData(imagedata, 0, 0);
}
// Generate the fractal image
function generateImage() {
// Iterate over the pixels
for (var y=0; y<imageh; y++) {
for (var x=0; x<imagew; x++) {
iterate(x, y, maxiterations);
}
}
}
// Calculate the color of a specific pixel
function iterate(x, y, maxiterations) {
// Convert the screen coordinate to a fractal coordinate
var x0 = (x + offsetx + panx) / zoom;
var y0 = (y + offsety + pany) / zoom;
var cn = math.complex(x0, y0);
// Iterate
var iterations = 0;
while (iterations < maxiterations && math.norm(math.complex(cn))< bail_num ) {
cn = math.add( math.sqrt(cn) , c);
iterations++;
}
// Get color based on the number of iterations
var color;
if (iterations == maxiterations) {
color = { r:0, g:0, b:0}; // Black
} else {
var index = Math.floor((iterations / (maxiterations)) * 255);
color = index;
}
// Apply the color
var pixelindex = (y * imagew + x) * 4;
imagedata.data[pixelindex] = color;
imagedata.data[pixelindex+1] = color;
imagedata.data[pixelindex+2] = color;
imagedata.data[pixelindex+3] = 255;
}
function onmousemove(e){
var pos = getMousePos(canvas, e);
//c = math.complex(-0.3+pos.x/imagew, 0.413-pos.y/imageh);
//console.log( 'Mouse position: ' + pos.x/imagew + ',' + pos.y/imageh );
// Generate a new image
generateImage();
}
function getMousePos(canvas, e) {
var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
return {
x: Math.round((e.clientX - rect.left)/(rect.right - rect.left)*canvas.width),
y: Math.round((e.clientY - rect.top)/(rect.bottom - rect.top)*canvas.height)
};
}
init();

The part of the code that is executed most is this piece:
while (iterations < maxiterations && math.norm(math.complex(cn))< bail_num ) {
cn = math.add( math.sqrt(cn) , c);
iterations++;
}
For the given canvas size and offsets you use, the above while body is executed 19,575,194 times. Therefore there are some obvious ways to improve performance:
somehow reduce the number of points for which the loop must be executed
somehow reduce the number of times these statements are executed per point
somehow improve these statements so they execute faster
The first idea is easy: reduce the canvas dimensions. But this is maybe not something you'd like to do.
The second idea can be achieved by reducing the value for bail_num, because then the while condition will be violated sooner (given that the norm of a complex number is always a positive real number). However, this will just result in more blackness, and gives the same visual effect as zooming out of the center of the fractal. Try for instance with 0.225: there just remains a "distant star". When bail_num is reduced too much, you wont even find the fractal anymore, as everything turns black. So to compensate you would then probably want to change your offset and zoom factors to get a closer view at the center of the fractal (which is still there, BTW!). But towards the center of the fractal, points need more iterations to get below bail_num, so in the end nothing is gained: you'll be back at square one with this method. It's not really a solution.
Another way to work along the second idea is to reduce maxiterations. However, this will reduce the resolution accordingly. It is clear that you will have fewer colors at your disposal, as this number directly corresponds to the number of iterations you can have at the most.
The third idea means that you would somehow optimise the calculations with complex numbers. It turns out to give a lot of gain:
Use efficient calculations
The norm that is calculated in the while condition could be used as an intermediate value for calculating the square root of the same number, which is needed in the next statement. This is the formula for getting the square root from a complex number, if you already have its norm:
__________________
root.re = √ ½(cn.re + norm)
root.im = ½cn.im/root.re
Where the re and im properties denote the real and imaginary components of the respective complex numbers. You can find the background for these formulas in this answer on math.stackexchange.
As in your code the square root is calculated separately, without taking benefit of the previous calculation of the norm, this will certainly bring a benefit.
Also, in the while condition you don't really need the norm (which involves a square root) for comparing with bail_num. You could omit the square root operation and compare with the square of bail_num, which comes down to the same thing. Obviously you would have to calculate the square of bail_num only once at the start of your code. This way you can delay that square root operation for when the condition is found true. The formula for calculating the square of the norm is as follows:
square_norm = cn.re² + cn.im²
The calls of methods on the math object have some overhead, since this library allows different types of arguments in several of its methods. So it would help performance if you would code the calculations directly without relying on math.js. The above improvements already started doing that anyway. In my attempts this also resulted in a considerable gain in performance.
Predefine colours
Although not related to the costly while loop, you can probably gain a litte bit more by calculating all possible colors (per number of iterations) at the start of the code, and store them in an array keyed by number of iterations. That way you can just perform a look-up during the actual calculations.
Some other similar things can be done to save on calculations: For instance, you could avoid translating the screen y coordinate to world coordinates while moving along the X axis, as it will always be the same value.
Here is the code that reduced the original time to complete by a factor of 10, on my PC:
Added intialisation:
// Pre-calculate the square of bail_num:
var bail_num_square = bail_num*bail_num;
// Pre-calculate the colors:
colors = [];
for (var iterations = 0; iterations <= maxiterations; iterations++) {
// Note that I have stored colours in the opposite direction to
// allow for a more efficient "countdown" loop later
colors[iterations] = 255 - Math.floor((iterations / maxiterations) * 255);
}
// Instead of using math for initialising c:
var cx = -0.310;
var cy = 0.353;
Replace functions generateImage and iterate by this one function
// Generate the fractal image
function generateImage() {
// Iterate over the pixels
var pixelindex = 0,
step = 1/zoom,
worldX, worldY,
sq, rootX, rootY, x0, y0;
for (var y=0; y<imageh; y++) {
worldY = (y + offsety + pany)/zoom;
worldX = (offsetx + panx)/zoom;
for (var x=0; x<imagew; x++) {
x0 = worldX;
y0 = worldY;
// For this point: iterate to determine color index
for (var iterations = maxiterations; iterations && (sq = (x0*x0+y0*y0)) < bail_num_square; iterations-- ) {
// root of complex number
rootX = Math.sqrt((x0 + Math.sqrt(sq))/2);
rootY = y0/(2*rootX);
x0 = rootX + cx;
y0 = rootY + cy;
}
// Apply the color
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] =
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] =
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] = colors[iterations];
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] = 255;
worldX += step;
}
}
}
With the above code you don't need to include math.js anymore.
Here is a smaller sized snippet with mouse events handled:
// Get the canvas and context
var canvas = document.getElementById("myCanvas");
var context = canvas.getContext("2d");
// Width and height of the image
var imagew = canvas.width;
var imageh = canvas.height;
// Image Data (RGBA)
var imagedata = context.createImageData(imagew, imageh);
// Pan and zoom parameters
var offsetx = -512
var offsety = -430;
var panx = -2000;
var pany = -1000;
var zoom = 12000;
// Palette array of 256 colors
var palette = [];
// The maximum number of iterations per pixel
var maxiterations = 200;
var bail_num = 0.8; //0.225; //1.15;//0.25;
// Pre-calculate the square of bail_num:
var bail_num_square = bail_num*bail_num;
// Pre-calculate the colors:
colors = [];
for (var iterations = 0; iterations <= maxiterations; iterations++) {
colors[iterations] = 255 - Math.floor((iterations / maxiterations) * 255);
}
// Instead of using math for initialising c:
var cx = -0.310;
var cy = 0.353;
// Initialize the game
function init() {
// onmousemove listener
canvas.addEventListener('mousemove', onmousemove);
// Generate image
generateImage();
// Enter main loop
main(0);
}
// Main loop
function main(tframe) {
// Request animation frames
window.requestAnimationFrame(main);
// Draw the generate image
context.putImageData(imagedata, 0, 0);
}
// Generate the fractal image
function generateImage() {
// Iterate over the pixels
console.log('generate', cx, cy);
var pixelindex = 0,
step = 1/zoom,
worldX, worldY,
sq_norm, rootX, rootY, x0, y0;
for (var y=0; y<imageh; y++) {
worldY = (y + offsety + pany)/zoom;
worldX = (offsetx + panx)/zoom;
for (var x=0; x<imagew; x++) {
x0 = worldX;
y0 = worldY;
// For this point: iterate to determine color index
for (var iterations = maxiterations; iterations && (sq_norm = (x0*x0+y0*y0)) < bail_num_square; iterations-- ) {
// root of complex number
rootX = Math.sqrt((x0 + Math.sqrt(sq_norm))/2);
rootY = y0/(2*rootX);
x0 = rootX + cx;
y0 = rootY + cy;
}
// Apply the color
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] =
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] =
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] = colors[iterations];
imagedata.data[pixelindex++] = 255;
worldX += step;
}
}
console.log(pixelindex);
}
function onmousemove(e){
var pos = getMousePos(canvas, e);
cx = -0.31+pos.x/imagew/150;
cy = 0.35-pos.y/imageh/30;
generateImage();
}
function getMousePos(canvas, e) {
var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
return {
x: Math.round((e.clientX - rect.left)/(rect.right - rect.left)*canvas.width),
y: Math.round((e.clientY - rect.top)/(rect.bottom - rect.top)*canvas.height)
};
}
init();
<canvas id="myCanvas" width="512" height="200"></canvas>

Black resized canvas not completely fading drawings to black over time

I have a black canvas with things being drawn inside it. I want the things drawn inside to fade to black, over time, in the order at which they are drawn (FIFO). This works if I use a canvas which hasn't been resized. When the canvas is resized, the elements fade to an off-white.
Question: Why don't the white specks fade completely to black when the canvas has been resized? How can I get them to fade to black in the same way that they do when I haven't resized the canvas?
Here's some code which demonstrates. http://jsfiddle.net/6VvbQ/35/
var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
context.fillRect(0, 0, 300, 150);
// Comment this out and it works as intended, why?
canvas.width = canvas.height = 300;
window.draw = function () {
context.fillStyle = 'rgba(255,255,255,1)';
context.fillRect(
Math.floor(Math.random() * 300),
Math.floor(Math.random() * 150),
2, 2);
context.fillStyle = 'rgba(0,0,0,.02)';
context.fillRect(0, 0, 300, 150);
setTimeout('draw()', 1000 / 20);
}
setTimeout('draw()', 1000 / 20);

The problem is two-parted:
There is a (rather known) rounding error when you draw with low alpha value. The browser will never be able to get the resulting mix of the color and alpha channel equal to 0 as the resulting float value that is mixed will be converted to integer at the time of drawing which means the value will never become lower than 1. Next time it mixes it (value 1, as alpha internally is a value between 0 and 255) will use this value again and it get rounded to again to 1, and forever it goes.
Why it works when you have a resized canvas - in this case it is because you are drawing only half the big canvas to the smaller which result in the pixels being interpolated. As the value is very low this means in this case the pixel will turn "black" (fully transparent) as the average between the surrounding pixels will result in the value being rounded to 0 - sort of the opposite than with #1.
To get around this you will manually have to clear the spec when it is expected to be black. This will involve tracking each particle/spec yourselves or change the alpha using direct pixel manipulation.
Update:
The key is to use tracking. You can do this by creating each spec as a self-updating point which keeps track of alpha and clearing.
Online demo here
A simple spec object can look like this:
function Spec(ctx, speed) {
var me = this;
reset(); /// initialize object
this.update = function() {
ctx.clearRect(me.x, me.y, 1, 1); /// clear previous drawing
this.alpha -= speed; /// update alpha
if (this.alpha <= 0) reset(); /// if black then reset again
/// draw the spec
ctx.fillStyle = 'rgba(255,255,255,' + me.alpha + ')';
ctx.fillRect(me.x, me.y, 1, 1);
}
function reset() {
me.x = (ctx.canvas.width * Math.random())|0; /// random x rounded to int
me.y = (ctx.canvas.height * Math.random())|0; /// random y rounded to int
if (me.alpha) { /// reset alpha
me.alpha = 1.0; /// set to 1 if existed
} else {
me.alpha = Math.random(); /// use random if not
}
}
}
Rounding the x and y to integer values saves us a little when we need to clear the spec as we won't run into sub-pixels. Otherwise you would need to clear the area around the spec as well.
The next step then is to generate a number of points:
/// create 100 specs with random speed
var i = 100, specs = [];
while(i--) {
specs.push(new Spec(ctx, Math.random() * 0.015 + 0.005));
}
Instead of messing with FPS you simply use the speed which can be set individually per spec.
Now it's simply a matter of updating each object in a loop:
function loop() {
/// iterate each object
var i = specs.length - 1;
while(i--) {
specs[i].update(); /// update each object
}
requestAnimationFrame(loop); /// loop synced to monitor
}
As you can see performance is not an issue and there is no residue left. Hope this helps.

I don't know if i have undertand you well but looking at you fiddle i think that, for what you are looking for, you need to provide the size of the canvas in any iteration of the loop. If not then you are just taking the initial values:
EDIT
You can do it if you apply a threshold filter to the canvas. You can run the filter every second only just so the prefromanece is not hit so hard.
var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
context.fillRect(0,0,300,150);
//context.globalAlpha=1;
//context.globalCompositeOperation = "source-over";
var canvas2 = document.getElementById('canvas2');
var context2 = canvas2.getContext('2d');
canvas2.width=canvas2.height=canvas.width;
window.draw = function(){
var W = canvas2.width;
var H = canvas2.height;
context2.fillStyle='rgba(255,255,255,1)';
context2.fillRect(
Math.floor(Math.random()*W),
Math.floor(Math.random()*H),
2,2);
context2.fillStyle='rgba(0,0,0,.02)';
context2.fillRect(0,0,W,H);
context.fillStyle='rgba(0,0,0,1)';
context.fillRect(0,0,300,150);
context.drawImage(canvas2,0,0,300,150);
setTimeout('draw()', 1000/20);
}
setTimeout('draw()', 1000/20);
window.thresholdFilter = function () {
var W = canvas2.width;
var H = canvas2.height;
var i, j, threshold = 30, rgb = []
, imgData=context2.getImageData(0,0,W,H), Npixels = imgData.data.length;
for (i = 0; i < Npixels; i += 4) {
rgb[0] = imgData.data[i];
rgb[1] = imgData.data[i+1];
rgb[2] = imgData.data[i+2];
if ( rgb[0] < threshold &&
rgb[1] < threshold &&
rgb[2] < threshold
) {
imgData.data[i] = 0;
imgData.data[i+1] = 0;
imgData.data[i+2] = 0;
}
}
context2.putImageData(imgData,0,0);
};
setInterval("thresholdFilter()", 1000);
Here is the fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/siliconball/2VaLb/4/

To avoid the rounding problem you could extract the fade effect to a separate function with its own timer, using longer refresh interval and larger alpha value.
var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
context.fillRect(0, 0, 300, 150);
// Comment this out and it works as intended, why?
canvas.width = canvas.height = 300;
window.draw = function () {
context.fillStyle = 'rgba(255,255,255,1)';
context.fillRect(
Math.floor(Math.random() * 300),
Math.floor(Math.random() * 300),
2, 2);
setTimeout('draw()', 1000 / 20);
}
window.fadeToBlack = function () {
context.fillStyle = 'rgba(0,0,0,.1)';
context.fillRect(0, 0, 300, 300);
setTimeout('fadeToBlack()', 1000 / 4);
}
draw();
fadeToBlack();
Fiddle demonstrating this: http://jsfiddle.net/6VvbQ/37/

HTML5 canvas multiply effect - jagged edges

Our company website features a "random shard generator", built in Flash, which creates a number of overlapping coloured shard graphics at random just below the site header.
http://www.clarendonmarketing.com
I am trying to replicate this effect using HTML5, and whilst I can generate the random shards easily enough, the blended overlapping (multiply in Adobe terms) is proving a challenge.
I have a solution which basically creates an array of all the canvas's pixel data before each shard is drawn, then another array with the canvas's pixel data after each shard is drawn. It then compares the two and where it finds a non transparent pixel in the first array whose corresponding pixel in the second array matches the currently selected fill colour, it redraws it with a new colour value determined by a 'multiply' function (topValue * bottomValue / 255).
Generally this works fine and achieves the desired effect, EXCEPT around the edges of the overlapping shards, where a jagged effect is produced.
I believe this has something to do with the browser's anti-aliasing. I have tried replicating the original pixel's alpha channel value for the computed pixel, but that doesn't seem to help.
Javascript:
// Random Shard Generator v2 (HTML5)
var theCanvas;
var ctx;
var maxShards = 6;
var minShards = 3;
var fillArray = new Array(
[180,181,171,255],
[162,202,28,255],
[192,15,44,255],
[222,23,112,255],
[63,185,127,255],
[152,103,158,255],
[251,216,45,255],
[249,147,0,255],
[0,151,204,255]
);
var selectedFill;
window.onload = function() {
theCanvas = document.getElementById('shards');
ctx = theCanvas.getContext('2d');
//ctx.translate(-0.5, -0.5)
var totalShards = getRandom(maxShards, minShards);
for(i=0; i<=totalShards; i++) {
//get snapshot of current canvas
imgData = ctx.getImageData(0,0,theCanvas.width,theCanvas.height);
currentPix = imgData.data
//draw a shard
drawRandomShard();
//get snapshot of new canvas
imgData = ctx.getImageData(0,0,theCanvas.width,theCanvas.height);
pix = imgData.data;
//console.log(selectedFill[0]+','+selectedFill[1]+','+selectedFill[2]);
//alert('break')
//CALCULATE THE MULTIPLIED RGB VALUES FOR OVERLAPPING PIXELS
for (var j = 0, n = currentPix.length; j < n; j += 4) {
if (
//the current pixel is not blank (alpha 0)
(currentPix[j+3]>0)
&& //and the new pixel matches the currently selected fill colour
(pix[j]==selectedFill[0] && pix[j+1]==selectedFill[1] && pix[j+2]==selectedFill[2])
) { //multiply the current pixel by the selected fill colour
//console.log('old: '+currentPix[j]+','+currentPix[j+1]+','+currentPix[j+2]+','+currentPix[j+3]+'\n'+'new: '+pix[j]+','+pix[j+1]+','+pix[j+2]+','+pix[j+3]);
pix[j] = multiply(selectedFill[0], currentPix[j]); // red
pix[j+1] = multiply(selectedFill[1], currentPix[j+1]); // green
pix[j+2] = multiply(selectedFill[2], currentPix[j+2]); // blue
}
}
//update the canvas
ctx.putImageData(imgData, 0, 0);
}
};
function drawRandomShard() {
var maxShardWidth = 200;
var minShardWidth = 30;
var maxShardHeight = 16;
var minShardHeight = 10;
var minIndent = 4;
var maxRight = theCanvas.width-maxShardWidth;
//generate a random start point
var randomLeftAnchor = getRandom(maxRight, 0);
//generate a random right anchor point
var randomRightAnchor = getRandom((randomLeftAnchor+maxShardWidth),(randomLeftAnchor+minShardWidth));
//generate a random number between the min and max limits for the lower point
var randomLowerAnchorX = getRandom((randomRightAnchor - minIndent),(randomLeftAnchor + minIndent));
//generate a random height for the shard
var randomLowerAnchorY = getRandom(maxShardHeight, minShardHeight);
//select a fill colour from an array
var fillSelector = getRandom(fillArray.length-1,0);
//console.log(fillSelector);
selectedFill = fillArray[fillSelector];
drawShard(randomLeftAnchor, randomLowerAnchorX, randomLowerAnchorY, randomRightAnchor, selectedFill);
}
function drawShard(leftAnchor, lowerAnchorX, lowerAnchorY, rightAnchor, selectedFill) {
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(leftAnchor,0);
ctx.lineTo(lowerAnchorX,lowerAnchorY);
ctx.lineTo(rightAnchor,0);
ctx.closePath();
fillColour = 'rgb('+selectedFill[0]+','+selectedFill[1]+','+selectedFill[2]+')';
ctx.fillStyle=fillColour;
ctx.fill();
};
function getRandom(high, low) {
return Math.floor(Math.random() * (high-low)+1) + low;
}
function multiply(topValue, bottomValue){
return topValue * bottomValue / 255;
};
Working demo:
http://www.clarendonmarketing.com/html5shards.html

Do you really need multiplication? Why not just use lower opacity blending?
Demo http://jsfiddle.net/wk3eE/
ctx.globalAlpha = 0.6;
for(var i=totalShards;i--;) drawRandomShard();
Edit: If you really need multiplication, then leave it to the professionals, since multiply mode with alpha values is a little tricky:
Demo 2: http://jsfiddle.net/wk3eE/2/
<script type="text/javascript" src="context_blender.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var ctx = document.querySelector('canvas').getContext('2d');
// Create an off-screen canvas to draw shards to first
var off = ctx.canvas.cloneNode(true).getContext('2d');
var w = ctx.canvas.width, h = ctx.canvas.height;
for(var i=totalShards;i--;){
off.clearRect(0,0,w,h); // clear the offscreen context first
drawRandomShard(off); // modify to draw to the offscreen context
off.blendOnto(ctx,'multiply'); // multiply onto the main context
}
</script>