Removing lagging latency in drawing UIBezierPath smooth lines in Swift - ios

Question

The code below draws smooth curved lines by overriding touches, but there is noticeable lagging or latency. The code uses addCurveToPoint and calls setNeedsDisplay after every 4 touch points which causes a jumpy appearance as the drawing doesn't keep up with finger movements. To remove the lagging or perceived latency, touch points 1, 2, 3 (leading up to touch point 4) could be temporarily filled with addQuadCurveToPoint and addLineToPoint.
How can this actually be achieved in code to remove perceived lagging by using a temporary Line and QuadCurved line before displaying a final Curved line?
If the below class is attached to one UIView (e.g. viewOne or self), how do I make a copy of the drawing to another UIView outside the class (e.g. viewTwo) after touchesEnded?
// ViewController.swift
import UIKit
class drawSmoothCurvedLinesWithLagging: UIView {
let path=UIBezierPath()
var incrementalImage:UIImage?
var points = [CGPoint?](count: 5, repeatedValue: nil)
var counter:Int?
var strokeColor:UIColor?
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
}
override func drawRect(rect: CGRect) {
autoreleasepool {
incrementalImage?.drawInRect(rect)
strokeColor = UIColor.blueColor()
strokeColor?.setStroke()
path.lineWidth = 20
path.lineCapStyle = CGLineCap.Round
path.stroke()
}
}
override func touchesBegan(touches: Set<UITouch>, withEvent event: UIEvent?) {
counter = 0
let touch: AnyObject? = touches.first
points[0] = touch!.locationInView(self)
}
override func touchesMoved(touches: Set<UITouch>, withEvent event: UIEvent?) {
let touch: AnyObject? = touches.first
let point = touch!.locationInView(self)
counter = counter! + 1
points[counter!] = point
if counter == 2{
//use path.addLineToPoint ?
//use self.setNeedsDisplay() ?
}
if counter == 3{
//use path.addQuadCurveToPoint ?
//use self.setNeedsDisplay() ?
}
if counter == 4{
points[3]! = CGPointMake((points[2]!.x + points[4]!.x)/2.0, (points[2]!.y + points[4]!.y)/2.0)
path.moveToPoint(points[0]!)
path.addCurveToPoint(points[3]!, controlPoint1: points[1]!, controlPoint2: points[2]!)
self.setNeedsDisplay()
points[0]! = points[3]!
points[1]! = points[4]!
counter = 1
}
}
override func touchesEnded(touches: Set<UITouch>, withEvent event: UIEvent?) {
self.drawBitmap()
self.setNeedsDisplay()
path.removeAllPoints()
counter = 0
}
override func touchesCancelled(touches: Set<UITouch>?, withEvent event: UIEvent?) {
self.touchesEnded(touches!, withEvent: event)
}
func drawBitmap(){
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.bounds.size, true, 0.0)
strokeColor?.setStroke()
if((incrementalImage) == nil){
let rectPath:UIBezierPath = UIBezierPath(rect: self.bounds)
UIColor.whiteColor().setFill()
rectPath.fill()
}
incrementalImage?.drawAtPoint(CGPointZero)
path.stroke()
incrementalImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
}
}
class ViewController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
}

Answer 1

Yes, adding a curve every few points will give it a stuttering lag. So, yes, you can reduce this affect by adding a line to points[1], adding a quad curve to points[2] and adding a cubic curve to points[3].
As you said, make sure to add this to a separate path, though. So, in Swift 3/4:
class SmoothCurvedLinesView: UIView {
var strokeColor = UIColor.blue
var lineWidth: CGFloat = 20
var snapshotImage: UIImage?
private var path: UIBezierPath?
private var temporaryPath: UIBezierPath?
private var points = [CGPoint]()
override func draw(_ rect: CGRect) {
snapshotImage?.draw(in: rect)
strokeColor.setStroke()
path?.stroke()
temporaryPath?.stroke()
}
override func touchesBegan(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
if let touch = touches.first {
points = [touch.location(in: self)]
}
}
override func touchesMoved(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
guard let touch = touches.first else { return }
let point = touch.location(in: self)
points.append(point)
updatePaths()
setNeedsDisplay()
}
private func updatePaths() {
// update main path
while points.count > 4 {
points[3] = CGPoint(x: (points[2].x + points[4].x)/2.0, y: (points[2].y + points[4].y)/2.0)
if path == nil {
path = createPathStarting(at: points[0])
}
path?.addCurve(to: points[3], controlPoint1: points[1], controlPoint2: points[2])
points.removeFirst(3)
temporaryPath = nil
}
// build temporary path up to last touch point
if points.count == 2 {
temporaryPath = createPathStarting(at: points[0])
temporaryPath?.addLine(to: points[1])
} else if points.count == 3 {
temporaryPath = createPathStarting(at: points[0])
temporaryPath?.addQuadCurve(to: points[2], controlPoint: points[1])
} else if points.count == 4 {
temporaryPath = createPathStarting(at: points[0])
temporaryPath?.addCurve(to: points[3], controlPoint1: points[1], controlPoint2: points[2])
}
}
override func touchesEnded(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
finishPath()
}
override func touchesCancelled(_ touches: Set<UITouch>?, with event: UIEvent?) {
finishPath()
}
private func finishPath() {
constructIncrementalImage()
path = nil
setNeedsDisplay()
}
private func createPathStarting(at point: CGPoint) -> UIBezierPath {
let localPath = UIBezierPath()
localPath.move(to: point)
localPath.lineWidth = lineWidth
localPath.lineCapStyle = .round
localPath.lineJoinStyle = .round
return localPath
}
private func constructIncrementalImage() {
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(bounds.size, false, 0.0)
strokeColor.setStroke()
snapshotImage?.draw(at: .zero)
path?.stroke()
temporaryPath?.stroke()
snapshotImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
}
}
You could even marry this with iOS 9 predictive touches (as I described in my other answer), which could reduce lag even further.
To take this resulting image and use it elsewhere, you can just grab the incrementalImage (which I renamed to snapshotImage, above), and drop it into an image view of the other view.
For Swift 2 rendition, see previous revision of this answer.