Mii Editor

Mii Editor Now My Avatar Editor

2008-06-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

Mii Editor is dead. It's unfortunate, but true. Less unfortunate, however, is that it's work will continue on under the name My Avatar Editor. The My Avatar Editor site is currently not online, however you can keep track of its progress via the new:

This blog has reached its end.

Thank you.

My Mii Manager

2008-02-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a lot of emails about this so let me set this straight.

I did not create My Mii Manager. That is Datel's creation and they happen to use the Mii Editor engine in their software. Sadly, as a result, I cannot directly help you with issues regarding that software. Nor was I responsible for designing the misleading cover art that implied that you could change other characteristics of the Miis (hats, jackets, etc.).

Unfortunately, I also do not have a direct line of communication open between the developers so I cannot correctly point you in the correct direction for support.

So if you need help regarding this, I am sorry, but I am not able to help you with it.

Oh My...

2007-12-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

It is quite possible that the Mii Editor source files have been lost in a system transition. This would not only be down right upsetting (mostly for me), but could mean that all future features that have been planned have been lost and a possible halt in Mii Editor development.

I'm currently trying to get a hold of system backups to see if, by chance, some source content was backed up, but so far it's not looking likely. My secret plans for a Christmas release have been thwarted.

This debacle aside, I would like to wish everyone happy holidays and a safe and happy new year!

Mii Editor Standalone (AIR) Expires today

2007-12-11T11:33:00.001-08:00

For those of you with the standalone version of the Mii Editor, you may have noticed that as of today, you will need to update the AIR runtime, the runtime on which the standalone Mii Editor was built. This runtime is currently in beta and the update is to a new beta update. I was actually hoping to wait until the next update to actually update the editor, but it seems as though I won't be able to make it until then since the version on which the Mii Editor was built will be no more after today.

What does this mean? Basically it means you will be without the standalone version until I can update it. When will that be? I'm not sure. But with each new beta things change and APIs are updated so it takes a lot more work than just a recompile. I need to rewrite a lot of the functions to conform with the new version of the runtime. If I have time to do that before the next release, I will try to get a build out that will work with the current beta 6 version of the runtime (which should remain valid for many months after release). Otherwise, it might have to wait until beta 3.

Unfortunately, I have been really busy lately, so I don't know if I'll be able to provide an update anytime soon. In fact there is a new release of the editor just hanging out in the background waiting for a few tweaks and little fixes that I haven't been able to complete for months now. The fact that christmas is on the way isn't helping either.

Just keep your fingers crossed and wish really hard :)

The New Feature is Safe

2007-08-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

In the last post, I mentioned a potential issue which could threaten the practicality of the new, soon-to-be-unleashed feature. I think I've narrowed down the cause and will be able to work around the issue. Actually, it appears only to happen during development and wouldn't be an issue during playback on the web. However, I have still implemented a solution which should prevent the error (an issue with the Flash Player) from becoming an problem - at least in regards to this newest feature. If it happens anywhere else, that could be a different problem.

I have no idea when the new feature will be released, but it's nearing completion so you might not have to wait too long...

"A script in this movie is causing Adobe Flash Player 9 to run slowly"

2007-08-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

This is the current error that is blocking my latest and greatest next feature (yet to be disclosed IF it ever sees the light of day). Turns out, someone told me that this error occured for them with the current (or an older) release of the Mii Editor as well. The sad part is, I don't think it's my fault. Instead I think this is an error on the part of the Flash Player.

This message is supposed to come up as a result of a timeout that lets the user escape from a possible infinite loop encountered in the programming of the currently playing Flash movie/application. The default timeout for this is 15 seconds, meaning it would take 15 seconds of an unresponsive Flash movie (caught in an infinite loop) before this message would be seen. Clicking yes would force the looping script to stop while now would let you continue the loop hoping that it will eventually stop looping on its own. In my current, local build, when testing my new feature, this error pops up without any loop and with the Flash Player completely responsive up until the very moment the dialog appears. Hmm, that's not supposed to happen.

I would like to think this error does not happen for the current build of the Mii Editor. However, if it has (or does) for you, I would like to know. Just fill out a bug report or post a comment below with as much information you can about what you were doing, how long you were doing it and what happened when you dismissed the dialog (if anything). Hopefully I can figure out what causes this and workaround it so this dialog won't accidentally appear when it shouldn't.

Another Mii Editor Update

2007-08-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

This latest update focuses some on character rendering. There are also some enhancements to the downloadable version including drag-drop support and file association of .mii files with the editor so opening a .mii file will open the editor showing that character.

Additionally, and this was something that was lost since very, very early versions of the editor, Mii Editor will now remember your last Mii and reload it when you go back to the editor later.

Probably one of the more noticable visual improvements is pants color. Admittedly, I mistakenly made the mingle option show a favorite pants color (red) when mingle does not affect the pants color at all (I was just excited just to have pants ;). New pants colors are based off of David Hawley's Mii pants observations. To be honest, I am not entirely sure how accurate these are (I tried to get gold pants on the Wii from this but could not) so it may take some tweeking to nail down... and who knows, maybe the Mii Editor isn't interpretting the Mii id's correctly on its end.

Also special thanks to miicharacters.com (and as always miiplaza.net) for providing me with some mii files with screenshots to do some comparisons with.

Minor Idiot-proof update

2007-08-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

One of the most common issues received from the contact/bug report form is that the Mii Editor screen is Flashing. This happens when your version of the Flash player is not new enough to support the editor (this is Flash's default reaction to such an occurence - as expected) - this including trying to use the editor from the Wii since it's browser does not have a new enough version. I try to indicate in many places, including the contact form, which version of the Flash player is required. Granted, I don't expect everyone to know what version they are using (though the main page has a link to find out) so I mentioned this behavior in th FAQ. I guess I should have known better since a lot of people don't check it and seem to just send off the form anyway. It's human nature.

Anyway, that led me to pull up my pants and take action. What I've done is implemented a catch screen which should now prevent the Flashing should an older version of the Flash player be detected along with a link to the page where the newest version can be downloaded. Ideally, this is something I should have done earlier, but as with the rest of us, I didn't want to bother ;)

Everybody is Optional

2007-08-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've included a new option in the Image export to omit the Mii body. This will let you create avatars of just the head as was the case prior to the update including the body.

Along with this, I've changed the "Transparent" option to instead say "Background" so when checked, the background color is used, and unchecked it is not (PNG export only). Both of these options are under the "Display" settings.

About XML + XSL

2007-08-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

I developed the XML format for the Miis with two things in mind: Ease of use and scalability. With XML, you get a text format which is easy to read and modify. That in itself makes the format easy to use. People can easy take a Mii XML file and modify it to their own liking using a simple text editor.

With scalability I wanted something that I wouldn't have to worry about modifying continuously over time should the need arise. As a result I took into consideration what possibilities the XML format might need to account for. One of those was the pie in the sky possibility that the Mii Editor might one day also include a Mii Plaza capable of maintaining any number of Mii characters on your computer. To be able to let you save those characters into a single file, the Mii XML was organized to facilitate more than one Mii character even though the Mii Editor can currently only edit one.

Then you have XSL – a style sheet format for XML. The Mii XML uses an XSL style sheet to convert the XML into an HTML page for viewing your Mii XML files. Unfortunately, because of security restrictions, an XML file on your hard drive or a different domain should not be able to access the XSL style sheet used on the MiiEditor.com web site. As a result, this almost makes having the XSL useless as I didn't figure people would copying the XSL for their own use and modifying the XML to point to their version (which you can do to make it work), but I figured I would keep it around in case it was ever needed. Similarly, the XSL transformation to HTML uses a simple version of the Mii Editor to display Mii characters in a preview. Because I thought no one was using the XSL I never kept up with updating this version which currently breaks the preview.

Apparently I was wrong.

So in the next day or so, I will try to update the preview file so it will work with XML + XSL. I don't know how well it will work since a few things have changed since it did work, but we'll see what can be done about it. Thanks.

PNG Export Fixed

2007-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

There was a backend file on the server that was not updated for the new PNG export. That should be fixed now and the PNG export should now work.
Thanks Spud for pointing that out.

Mii Editor Updated

2007-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

The new Mii Editor is now live. If you have used the Mii Editor before you may need to clear your cache as older assets will prevent the editor from working correctly, though I hopefully have resolved that issue in this update (?). Other updates include:

Lip colors (finally!)
Updated an eye icon
Lowered freckles
Character is now in full view on the first "General information" tab
Versioning is available on the main File screen
Updated the Image Export

You can now export as PNG(!)
Background color can now be set and can be transparent for a PNG export
The Mii can be zoomed in the view using the Zoom slider
The Mii can be moved in the view by clicking and dragging in the view

The downloadable AIR version of the Mii Editor has been updated to this version

It now supports drag and drop for Mii binary and XML files

File uploads for XML should now work for the AIR version as well

The drag and drop feature I implemented litterally this morning, so it may not be 100% - and to be honest, I didn't really test this build much at all so there could be potential issues. Anything found I will try to update as quickly as possible, just let me know.

Editor Update on the Way

2007-08-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

There is an update for the editor on its way. It includes an improved image export now allowing you to get a fuller view of your Mii as well as change background color.

I have also received some reports about the freckles being offset, so I have lowered them a bit - hopefully about to the right spot.

There are some other minor fixes in there as well. Once posted I will try and point them out (if I remember them).

Mii Editor Updated: Now with a Body

2007-06-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

The Mii Editor has been updated. You may need to clear your browser's cache to see the new features (the editor may also break if you don't in the case that some but not all of the dependant files used by the editor are reloaded causing a conflict within internal definitions). Updates include:

Inclusion of Mii Body
Image export size and background are retained when returning to the File screen
Update of Export Preview when a new Mii is loaded
Fixed error causing screen (tab) to change in the editor when a new Mii is loaded
Added a simple scrollbar to the XML text output
Most buttons now have visual feedback for when they are pressed (darken)
Some hairstyles have been adjusted to be cleaner
Some colors have been adjusted (i.e. the white favorite color is now less white)

I think now I need to add some more image export options to facilitate the body. I will work on that next.

Body Progress

2007-06-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Progress is being made for the Mii Body. Scaling and proportioning for the body itself seems on target. Next it needs to be correctly proportioned with the head and some additional adjustments needs to be made to be able to scale the body and head back as the Mii height and weight are changed.

The shirt color will also change with the Miis favorite color and the pants will change red if the Mii mingles. When complete, these changes will be made live on MiiEditor.com along with some minor hair fixes.

Contact/Bug Report Form Spam Protection

2007-06-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've implemented a super high-tech spam prevention device in the contact/bug report form on the Mii Editor site in hopes to minimize the massive amounts of spam I'm getting from it now. How does it work? Just deselect the "I am a Spambot" checkbox and you're good. The thinking here is that a spambot will want to normally check these kinds of things and by unchecking it, you're saying you're not a bot!

If this doesn't work, I'll think of something else. I'm not going to do anything too complicated like a captcha or anything. I'm just hoping to minimize the spam with a simple deterrent.

Update: It seems the checkbox helped a little... but not all that much.

Site Update

2007-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just updated a slightly redesigned version of the main site. Content is now centered and the tabs have a new look and feel. There was some other formatting and added as well but nothing too terribly drastic.

One thing in particular that is new is the new dynamic embedding of the Flash content via JavaScript. Hopefully this doesn't screen anything up and, really, it should do more good than harm.

Also added is a link to download the Mii Editor (as the AIR app) and a link to a yet-to-be-written guide.

Get the Mii Editor AIR

2007-06-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

You have to wonder why we called it "AIR." It's hard to say or put into context. Either way, the AIR version of the Mii Editor is now available for installation. Try it out and lets hope it works.

http://www.miieditor.com/download.html

Mii Editor on the Desktop

2007-06-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've recently been looking to bring the Mii Editor to the desktop as a standalone application. Coincidentally someone recently contacted me about doing that with another tool, but my attention has so far been focused on AIR. Despite still being in beta, AIR seems promising and I've already compiled the Mii Editor into a AIR-based standalone application. All I really need to do is port the load, save, and export options over to AIR and it will essentially be complete. When I get that working, I'll release a version for download. Chances are, however, that AIR will still be in beta then, so it will be a beta app (Mii Editor) on a beta platform (AIR) which could get a little sticky. But from what I can tell, there should be little to no problems with it.

Export Screen Fixed

2007-06-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

The export screen should now be fixed (you may need to refresh/clear your cache before seeing the effects). Also with this update is the new (but only barely) JPEG exporter. Linux folks will have to get back to me on whether or not it works.

Export Screen Problems

2007-06-11T17:51:00.001-07:00

I've identified an issue with the file/export screen which may sometimes cause the buttons to be unresponsive and the image preview to be blank. After some digging around, I've identified this as a Flash Player issue and will need to take some steps to get around it.

This issue, however, should really affect all screens (all Mii feature screens included), but so far I have only seen it for the export screen. It's intermittent, though, so it's rare that you'll experience it. And if you do, just exit the screen and go back to it and you should be fine. You have been warned.

When I get around to fixing that I will also include an updated JPEG export script. There are a couple of minor changes that may or may not help the Linux users out there. We'll see...

The Knows

2007-06-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I shifted the positioning of the nose and it looks better now. That may have been part of the problem (and I have had reports of it being just that though there were some other underlying issues). If anything else seems out of whack, just fill out a bug report. Thanks.

Oh, and I also want to try and nail down anomalies in the hair. So if you see anything wrong with that (ever so slightly) let me know. I mean, just now I loaded the default girl and saw that her hair is kind of off-center and she has a point coming out the side of her head... that's not right ;)

Mii Editor Update

2007-06-11T04:51:00.000-07:00

Posted an update to the Mii Editor. Changes include:

Default Mii character now default boy (will try to provide a link loading default girl as well)
Extra value for Wii ID
Adjustable Image export size and background color (max of 999 px square)
Some fixes to character rendering and Mii file format reading primarily with the nose (I think - may still need tweaking)
Color and feature items are now highlighted for those currently selected for the Mii
When navigating to a tab, the current feature page is where the currently selected feature exists (instead of defaulting to page 1)
Fixed an issue where a random character could result in a facial feature value which was out of range; visually this has no effect but sometimes it messed up the facial features selection page

There might still be some issues with the nose; it may not be positioned correctly or values may not carry over correctly from the Wii still. I could use some help on identifying those issues, so if anyone notices anything, let me know and I will try to fix it ASAP. It's possible my Mii data for the default boy and girl are corrupt, however. I'll try to look into that later, but if anyone else can provide additional information, that could be helpful.

I also haven't looked into the image output issue for Linux. I'll see what I can do about that (and providing a Mii body) next.

JPEG Export and Linux

2007-06-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've heard some reports that the JPEG export from the Mii Editor does not make JPEGs compatible with Linux. Since I don't have a linux box of my own, I am not able to test this, but I will try to look into the export script and see if I can't figure out what is going wrong.

Progress...

2007-05-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

I have found some time to work on the Mii Editor this weekend. So far it seems as though it's compiling OK for now (Yippie!) even though its still pretty messy in there. But new features will include being able to select an output size and background color for images being exported, hopefully a fix for the noses (I am not sure if it's right now or not; some of you guys out there might need to help debug that further once an update goes live), and the inclusion of the 4th byte for the Wii ID field - originally I assumed that bit would not change but it appears newer Wii models (firmware?) has a different value for it. Now the Mii Editor will let you change it :)

I will hopefully be able to include selection highlights for feature buttons too, but I am not sure how to work that in just yet. Also, including a body is on the table, but it will take a while to get the scaling (tall/short, thin/fat) worked out right for that.

I'll be sure to post when this new version is live.

Check In

2007-05-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

It's the start of May and not much as changed since mid March. I have been checking more mail, however, and even replying to some of you writing bug reports or contacting me directly (yippie!). There have been a few good suggestions, many of which I have planned but just haven't had time to implement. However, I hope to get some work done soon. When that happens, I'll be sure to post about it here. So stay tuned!

Development Hiatus

2007-03-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I work for Adobe. Furthermore, some of you know that Adobe Creative Suite 3 will be announced on March 27 meaning it will be released sometime shortly after that. What does this mean? This means I will have my hands full for the next couple of months with Adobe and probably won't have time to work on the Mii Editor much (as I haven't been for the past couple of weeks).

No fear, the project is not dead. Though there are a lot of bugs to still work out, they'll just have to wait. Keep sending me bug reports and URLs/Files that can help me make the Mii Editor solid.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party

2007-03-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

I mentioned something before about gold pants. Well it seems our good friend David Hawley figured it out. Read more about it on his blog.

Still Here

2007-02-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I'm still here. I'm just busy at work and there have been a lot of distractions. I don't know when I can get back to the editor but it might be a couple of weeks.

Slow Going

2007-02-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

Slow going this week. I've been busy at work (my *real* job) and haven't had much time to work on the editor. I'll try to get to some more work done on the hair and maybe, just maybe, figure out what you need to do to get a unique Mii... with gold pants... !!!

Live Updates

2007-02-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

I pushed the recent updates for the hair. They're not complete but should be better than before. Also included is frame coloring for glasses that are not shaded. I think some of this is still off so I will have to go back and try to make that a little more accurate.

Some other minor backend adjustments have been made as well, but nothing that should make any difference to the end user.

Making a Hair of Progress

2007-02-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

I'm almost done with the initial frontal hair designs. After that the rear hair designs will need to be made (long hair, curls and other things seen behind the head). Once these are done, I'll need to go through and massage them to make sure each work with the individual head sizes. This may cause some hair to have a greater variation from the original Mii hair style, but it is necessary for best compatibility without months of extra work on my part.

Oops! View Mii

2007-02-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

I forgot to re-compile the View Mii Flash SWF for the latest batch of updates so it was looking all crazy. That should be fixed now.

Eyes, Eyebrows, Mustaches, and Some Hair

2007-02-16T18:23:00.000-08:00

General updates for the face. Eyes and eyebrows should be mostly on the mark for position, size and rotation. I'm assuming all variations are equally separated (if one eye position is 5 lengths away from the one before it, then the next one should be 5 lengths after the current). If that is not the case, it could mean more adjustments.

Additionally I updated the mustaches which should now be sized and positioned more accurately. Some additional hair has been updated as well, but that's taking longer than I expected. I'll be working on that for the next couple of days.

If you've used the Mii Editor before, you may need to refresh/clear your cache before seeing the updates.

New XML and Eyes

2007-02-14T17:22:00.000-08:00

I'm pushing the new version of the Mii Editor with the updated eye graphics and the new XML format implemented. Its not well tested and the eyes have not been correctly positioned or sized, so they're bound to be off still, but I wanted something new out there for all the kids to play with. Hopefully I didn't break it ;)

If you've used the Mii Editor before, you may need to refresh/clear your cache before seeing the updates.

Mii Editor -> Wii May Not Work?

2007-02-14T08:31:00.000-08:00

I'm hearing random reports of Miis not being able to make it from the Mii Editor back to the Wii. If this is happening to you, please send me your broken Mii and idealy a Mii from your Wii to senocular at hotmail dot com so I can track down the problem. Thanks.

Staus Update

2007-02-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

What am I working on? Currently I'm redrawing the eyes. Right now they're a little off and this update should fix their sizing and rotation issues. Given that there are 4 pages of eyes, this may take a couple of days.

After that I will get back to the hair, adding highlights and redrawing/repositioning where needed. I may also go in and take some creative liberties to make sure they fit ok on all head shapes.

After that will be mustaches and lip coloring followed by tweaking to finalize the preview.

After that, I will probably add final touches to the interface and push it as a 1.0 release.

I think following that I will probably create a Flash 7 version of the preview (not the editor) allowing it to be seen on the Wii. Hopefully, this downgrade won't be too hard.

Wii Mii Recognition Through Both Mii and Wii ID

2007-02-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Earlier I received an email informing me that a Wii console will recognize a Mii as being a specific Mii (and thereby replacing other instances of itself) not just by the Mii ID number, but also the Wii ID number. Only when both of those match will a Mii replace another Mii on the console. Before I had assumed it was only the Mii ID number.

Thank you Shannon for pointing that out. I will update the FAQ.

Fixed Load File

2007-02-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

If loading a Mii or XML file wasn't working before, it should be working now. I think that there was a problem that is now fixed. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm going to go with yeah, it was there and now it's fixed.

XML Format Update

2007-02-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

I took a break from doing visual improvements on character rendering and have turned focus instead to the XML. The idea behind the XML was to create a human-readable version of the Mii format which could be edited in simple text editors and uploaded back in the Mii Editor interface. I also wanted the XML to function as a file format that could support multiple Mii definitions.

The current format for the XML now supports that - more than one Mii can be placed in a single XML file. This, however, has not yet been implemented into the Mii Editor beta. So far all I have is an example (with a DTD and XSL for styling):

example.xml

Right-click and download to see the XML, or simply click it to open it in your browser with the XSL applied (you can also view source from that to see the XML).

The XSL transformation includes a run-down of Mii character properties, a preview using the "view" Flash movie, and a link back the editor to edit it directly. Unfortunately, due to IE's active content issues, all previews will appear black until you click on them... why black, I don't know. The imagery should technically still show. Clicking should only be required for interactivity... but this is IE we're talking about so who knows (not me at least, not yet, but I will look into it).

I guess it should be noted that the preview is generated by a hex string coded into the XML by the editor (the same one used in URLs). If other properties in the XML are changed, the preview will not reflect those changes unless that hex string is updated as well.

... oh yeah, the format is not 100% complete either. I still want to transform type values to match their location in the interface. For instance the first type on the first page of the hair tab in the Wii has a value other than 0 - its like 16 or something. I want to make the XML values match what is more naturally assumed - the first being 0, the second 1, etc.

Update: I narrowed the black preview in IE to be a result of using 100% to size the SWF object. I just hardcoded in the size now and it seems to work fine.

XML Format Change

2007-02-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

The XML format has now changed slightly. Hopefully most people are using URLs now and not XML so this shouldn't be a big issue. But values for vertical position (those ending in "Y" like "eyeY") now have their values reversed. This means a value of 0 is low on the face and a value of 18 would be high on the face. Before this was reversed - and a little confusing. Now it makes a little more sense. That's the purpose of XML after all, human-readable information that makes sense.

More complete documentation on the XML format will be provided when it has been finalized.

Oh Noes! Its Flashing!

2007-02-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

If you've tried using the editor at MiiEditor.com and have onyl gotten a series of Flashing screens, you probably don't have an updated version of the Flash player installed. Flash Player 9.0.28.0 is required.

I have updated the F.A.Q. and included a detection script (using JavaScript) to warn anyone that might not have a compatible player. Either way, the editor will still try to load. In fact, you should actually be able to use most of the features with older versions of 9 (prior to r28). I think the current restriction only applies to features unique to 9.0.28.0 that the Load Mii feature makes use of.

Eyebrows Revisited

2007-02-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

I think I fixed most of the issues with the eyebrows. This could affect a lot of the Miis created with the Mii Editor earlier since their eyebrows were incorrect. Miis from the Wii, however, should look more like what they do on the Wii.

If you've used the Mii Editor before, you may need to refresh/clear your cache before seeing the updates.

Just Mii

2007-02-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

I added a new page which will show just a Mii character without any of the Mii Editor interface. This uses the same URL format as the URL provided by the editor (hexadecimal URL explained earlier) but does so through an alternate page, view.php. Example:

http://www.miieditor.com/view.php?mii=45e20052...

This can be used to provide a larger preview of your Mii (as this page scales with the browser). Additionally, I would like to eventually be able to provide a SWF that anyone can download and use with their own pages to show off their Mii. This, however, I won't provide until character rendering is more complete.

New Mouths

2007-02-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

Updated the mouths. These are a little more refined. Color, however, has still not been implemented. Mouth (lip) coloring is pretty subtle and I have yet to nail down those subtleties and figure out what color is applied where and how much.

Known Issues

2007-02-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

I created a new Known Issues page for the Mii Editor site. This lists the current problems currently associated with the editor. This includes both interface and character rendering issues, though I think the most important are definitely character rendering at this point in time and those are the issues I will focus my attention on.

Hair Icons; Mii Editor Beta

2007-02-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

I just finished drawing all the hair icons and have added them into the editor. This marks the move from alpha to beta. Now I will concentrate on getting the characters to look right. This means updating more hair, updating the mouths, and correcting the sizing and rotation of characteristics.

Some Hair Updates

2007-02-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

I updated some more hair graphics fixing some which were not centered on the head and giving highlights to others. There's still a lot to do and it takes a lot of time to do it. I'm also discovering that some hair styles have parts of hair that conform to different head sizes. One thing I'm not about to do is make a different hair style for each one of those, but I will have to find some middle ground that will work ok for all head sizes.

I'm also still working on the hair icons. They're about 35% done as of today.

No Seattle, Mii URL Now in the UI

2007-02-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

So my trip to Seattle was canceled. This means I might get more done this week than I thought.

Speaking of which, I managed to add a text field at the bottom of the editor that shows the current character's Mii URL. Using this URL will load that character directly into the editor when it's used.

Working Hex Links

2007-02-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

As mentioned before, links with hexadecimal information could be used to dynamically load Mii characters into the editor. This is now working. Though there is no way to directly generate the url from the editor (yet) I am working with http://www.miiplaza.net to have miis within their database link directly to the Mii editor in this fashion. Example:

http://www.miieditor.com/?mii=33aa00730074006500760065005f006f0000000000006458807bd2b3c261e08040002fa0014066744089a4a01440b8af26670c8a250400730074006500760065005f006f000000000000

Many (but not all) Icons Added

2007-02-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

Many of the missing icons have now been added to the interface. I think the only set remaining are the hair icons. These might take a while given their dissimilarity to the actual hair graphics used in displaying the character. Once I get those added, I'll probably slide it over into beta and begin working on refining character rendering. The mouths could use some cleaning up and there is still a lot to be done with the hair, not to mention general positioning and sizing.

Off to Seattle

2007-02-05T06:00:00.001-08:00

This week I'll be going to Seattle on business. As a result I may not be able to provide many updates until around the weekend or next week sometime. I do recognize that there are many kinks still to work out and I will be sure to get to them when I can.

Reading Hex Strings

2007-02-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

The Mii Editor has support for reading hexadecimal strings as Mii data. Though not a format you'd normally work with, it has it's applications. For example, using the hex data for a Mii (148 characters), you could potentially send your entire Mii character - thanks to its tiny format - to miieditor.com in the form of a url. Example (currently non-functional):

http://www.miieditor.com/?mii=276a0054007200650076006f00720000000000000000763b80706050c2010203000067e09980ee94188b86601450788c008a008a250400730065006e006f00630075006c006100720000

Ideally, this will make it easy to share Miis with a friend simply by sending them a URL.

Implementing this into the current editor shouldn't be too hard, but I want to finish the UI first and work on some more improvements to the character rendering.

Better Fitting Facial Features

2007-02-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

Facial features like wrinkles and the 5 o'clock shadow now fit better to various the head shapes. I don't think this is perfect just yet, but it definitely fixes a lot of the obvious issues, especially with the shadow and some of the wrinkles which, before, just fell off the face.

I also fixed an eye whose pupil was getting lost in the coloring.

Note: you may have to clear/refresh your cache to see the results.

Classic UI with Save and Image Export Features

2007-02-03T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Classic UI Preview now supports save and image export features. XML handling is managed through a different screen, though the load option works for both Mii binary files as well as XML. Images can now also be exported in 4 different sizes.

About the only thing remaining is creating icons for the various types of characteristics. I'll try to get some of those in sometime soon, and I think once that's done, this will be in a 1.0 (beta) release. Additional features I have planned will be considered as an upgrade or a 2.0 release. Enhancements to character rendering will also be constantly improved between now and then.

The Classic UI Preview is now considered the current Alpha.

Updated Classic UI

2007-02-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

The Classic UI Preview has been updated. It now supports most colors. The only colors not supported are favorites (since that requires an additional popup). The borders are also currently being colorized, so that will have to be eventually fixed. At least they work now. Some other minor updates were also included.

Update: I added favorite colors, and not through a popup. Instead, they're just smaller versions of the color blocks condensed to fit in that area. This was easier and works for now.

Updated Noses and Colors for Glasses

2007-02-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

Noses now have a fill color for, well, their nose skin (instead of just being outlines). In addition, glasses now have color for the types of glasses that have shaded lenses. I think lips are currently the only characteristic that doesn't display the appropriate color it has been defined.

Partly Functional Classic UI

2007-02-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

I hooked in the "Classic UI" to the current character rendering and you can now use it to change most of the values: Classic UI Preview. Basically the only thing you can't change are the colors. Also, there is no load or save features in this UI yet and no icons for characteristic types. You can scroll through the pages of types available, but you can't tell what you're looking at until you select something and the preview is updated.

I did allow XML editing through the File button. This will let you bring in XML from the Alpha version, edit the character through this UI, and take it back over to the alpha to save.

More information in regards to the additional options (Mii ID and Mii MAC) can be found on the FAQ of MiiEditor.com.

Beards++

2007-02-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

I've updated the beards so that they include highlights and fit better with the faces. For the most part, for now, they're pretty good to go. They could use some fine tuning later down the road though. Facial features such as wrinkles and the 5 o'clock shadow requires a similar treatment, but I think I'm going to focus on the GUI from here on out.

FAQ Created, Updated

2007-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Recently I added a Frequently Asked Questions section to MiiEditor.com. It's far from complete, but I just added a new Q&A regarding using the Mii Editor on the Wii. Can you? The answer is no. The Wii's opera browser uses Flash Player 7 while the Mii Editor uses 9. I had no intentions maintaining Wii browser compatibility going into this and there's only a small chance I might make a Wii version. Why would you need to if the Wii has it's own editor? (OK, well I can think of a few reasons but 90% of the features my Mii Editor uses won't work on Flash 7 so it seemed mostly pointless).

Hats now visible; Eyes, Eyebrows: "better"

2007-01-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

Added a few tweaks to the character rendering. First is the inclusion of hats. Before, they were just hair, then they weren't at all, and now they're fully there and taking on the color of the Mii's favorite color.

Also updated are the eyes and eyebrows. Though still not perfect, they are being rotated with a little more accuracy now.

"Classic" GUI Preview

2007-01-30T05:17:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been working on the classic GUI for the editor. This is the interface that mimics the Wii interface. Eventually an alternate interface (though similar in look and feel) will be provided as well Though it's nothing you haven't seen before, here is a preview of the Classic Mii Editor Interface. Some things have changed, but for the most part, its about the same.

Hair Updates

2007-01-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

I've made some updates to the hair. Most of the empty space seen before should now be gone (If you still see it, you may need to clear your cache). A few of the hair styles also have some highlighting applied, though most of the styles are still pretty flat. I'll finnish those soon then probably begin working on on more positioning tweaking.

AJ's Mii Editor

2007-01-28T17:43:00.000-08:00

Just noticed a new Mii Editor out there called AJ's Mii Editor. Like Wii M!! Editor, AJ's Mii Editor is a Window's program (well, .NET - untested under Mono) providing access to all a Mii's properties allowing you to load and save Mii binaries to and from your hard drive.

Mii XML

2007-01-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

The Mii Editor allows you to import and export Mii data as XML. You can also view and edit a Mii's XML directly within the Mii Editor window. Currently, this is the only way to edit Miis created by or loaded into the editor.

Use the Show XML to load the XML data from the current Mii into the XML editing pane. Edit the values as needed keeping them within the ranges indicated by the min, max, and maxChars attributes. When finished, click on the Read XML button to save the changes and update the Mii character in the editor.

Note: The XML format is subject to change as the Mii Editor is developed further.

Mii Editor Alpha

2007-01-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

Currently, the Mii Editor can be used in Alpha form. This means that its still in the early stages of development but can still be used for limited functionality.

http://www.miieditor.com/MiiEditor.html

Mii Editor Blog

2007-01-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

This is the blog for the online Mii Editor available at http://www.miieditor.com. I noticed that there are a couple of other Mii editing projects in the works that have blogger blogs, so I thought I'd join in.

Related projects: