null_surface(3)

📦
version 0.7.1 · 2 versions
, in nixos 26.05

null_surface(3) 💅✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the Arcan Lua API page for null_surface — we're gonna make a minimalistic video object and it's gonna be iconic. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

null_surface — create a minimalistic video object. periodt. 💖

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

vid
null_surface( startw, starth )

Yeah, return type vid, args startw and starth. Slay. ✨

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So null_surface creates a normal textured video object, but it has no backing store — which means it will not be rendered in the normal draw pass. It can still be used for clipping operations though, so it's not just sitting there looking pretty. 💅

Its main-character use is as an intermediate stage before you use image_sharestorage to share the backing storage between two objects. And the null_sueface (yes, that spelling is in the original, don't come for me 😭) is also useful as a property anchor for creating object hierarchies. 🦋

📝 NOTES 📝

  1. The intial starting dimensions still need to be specified in order for other lookup functions, e.g. image_surface_initial_properties, to work properly. Like, don't skip the starting size, bestie. 🌸
  • dependencies

🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

Here's the example, copied exactly — including moev_image, no cap, that's literally what it says 😭:

       function null_surface0()
             a = null_surface(32, 32);
             b = fill_surface(32, 32, 255, 0, 0);
             show_image(b);
             link_image(b, a);
             moev_image(a, 100, 100, 100);
             blend_image(a, 1.0, 100);
       end

💀 MISUSE 💀

The original just gives this code block, so here it is exactly, bestie — this is the misuse section, so like, don't do this 🫶:

       function null_surface0()
             a = null_surface();
             a = null_surface(-1, -1);
       end

🌈 SEE ALSO: 🌈

Signed off with love by the image docs — source/version image, date October 2026, page null_surface(3) 🫶💖✨

📦 where this page comes from