E R I C S C H W A R T Z P R O D U C T I O N S C D A R C H I V E October 1995 As you may have already gleaned from the title, this is a CD-ROM of pretty much the complete collection of pictures, animations and related files by Eric W. Schwartz. There are directories for animations, pictures, 3D object files, icon files, and more that hopefully will interest you. Also included is a special "Artists" section with material by other artists whom I've has come in contact with over the years. Some of these artists you may have heard of, while others are new to this medium, but I'm sure you will enjoy all their work. Some of you may notice that a few of my works are apparently not avail- able on this CD-ROM. The main notables are the animations Coyote 2 and POGO. The reason these animations are not included with the others should be apparent, but if not, they made use of characters which were not mine, and as such I will not use them in an attempt to make a profit. Anyway, if you are hell-bent on seeing these animations, they are available elsewhere, and with a little perserverence, you can probably find them. =========== LEGAL STUFF =========== All pictures, animations and other files created by Eric Schwartz are copyrighted software (Copyright ©1995 Eric W. Schwartz, All Rights Reserved) and should NOT be considered public domain. This compilation is Copyright ©1995 Eric W. Schwartz and the actual CD-ROM production is Copyright ©1995 Amiga Library Services. The files are freely redistributable as long as the conditions of distribution are met. Other files are Shareware (generally with a $5 contribution recommended). The animations "SnowBound", "SuperbFrog", and Plight_of_The_Artist" are exclusive to this CD-ROM and may not be redistributed until May 1, 1996, after which they revert to becoming shareware. They have deliberately not been included in the BBS section of the CD, for just this reason. Other software and animations/pictures by other authors are copyrighted to their respective authors, and are governed by their own copying conditions. Remember, while you may own the CD-ROM, you do not own all the software and files contained on it, so be sure to read the appropriate text files relating to the individual works before attempting to distribute them, and comply with any and all restrictions placed on a the software or work by the author. Please don't make us regret selling you a CD-ROM. In the works and textfiles on this CD-ROM, images, sounds or proper names of people, objects, or copyrighted products by other manufacturers may be mentioned. These only appear as examples or satiric intent, and the author does not intend to gain in any way by their use. Special thanks go out to the artists who contributed their work to this CD-ROM, Fred Fish and the staff of Amiga Library Services, who made this CD possible, and Vern Staats, who aided by collecting and compiling some of the viewer software for other platforms. We would like to thank Matthias Scheler for kindly providing permission for us to include MetaTool on ALS CD-ROMs. Installer and Installer project icon Copyright © 1991-93 Commodore-Amiga, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced and distributed under license from Commodore. AmigaGuide, AmigaGuide.info, amigaguide.library Copyright © 1991-93 Commodore-Amiga, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced and distributed under license from Commodore. ================ For Best Results ================ To get the best results in playing animations by Eric Schwartz: * Make sure you read the text file associated with the animation, where available. It will give you information regarding the amount of RAM you will need as a minimum, as well as whether the animation works best on an AGA or non-AGA machine. I have very few animations that absolutely require an AGA machine, but a fair number of them do use the extra speed inherent to the AGA chipset to achieve a smoother playback. * Most of the animation Docfiles list a minimum configuration, which is basically the bare minimum needed to run the animation. If your configuration (primarily RAM) is the same as the minimum, you should be able to load the animation in full, but you may need to disable extra screens, programs, or even extra drives or the Workbench itself. The recommended setup is a better estimate of what is good to run a particular animation with no problems. * Owners of AGA and Workbench 3.0 Amigas may wish to reboot their machines in the 'Original' chipset emulation mode before running an animation that recommends doing so in its text file. Some AGA users may have difficulty running an animation (the player returns an 'out of memory' error, even when there is plenty) or the animation plays badly centered with the edges cropped, usually with a multisync monitor.) Users experiencing these problems should, if possible, close other programs that are on their own screens, reconfigure their Workbench screen to NTSC or PAL mode with 16 colors or less, and remove any pictures used as Workbench and window backdrops. These measures should fix most of the problems associated with playing Moviesetter animations. P.S. TURN OFF THAT SCREEN SAVER WHEN YOU RUN ANIMATIONS!! =============== WorkBench Setup =============== SETTING UP WORKBENCH FOR THIS CD-ROM: Technically, you don't REALLY have to do any of this setup stuff, but it does help matters quite a bit. The reason for these setup files are based on two things: * MovieSetter animations work best if run from a standard NTSC or PAL Workbench screen with relatively little CHIP ram demand. * This CD-ROM is jam-packed with nifty sixteen color icons which will look supremely ugly in a different color scheme. These setup files transform your workbench into an NTSC Hi-Res Laced 16 color one (assuming your hardware is capable of it). If not, avoid the icon "ClickMe_For_Screen" and read on). I realize this flickery mode can be hard on the eyes, but the reason I chose it is because Movieplayer cues off the workbench screen for its own display, and flicker-free modes such as VGA, Multiscan, DBLNTSC, and so on cause Movieplayer to play its animation off-center with a large part of the right and bottom sides cropped off the display. Currently, standard NTSC and PAL are the only Workbench display modes that do not cause these problems. If your Amiga is not capable of switching to NTSC, you probably either have a PAL Amiga with only a 512k Agnus chip, which should be OK as far as playing MovieSetter anims goes, Or you have an AGA Amiga hooked to a monitor incapable of syncing down to 15Khz NTSC or PAL scan rates, In which case it's a good possibility you may not be able to play the animation at all, because Movieplayer plays only in 15Khz modes and does not usually respond well to Mode-Promotion. People who own A3000s or other Amigas with hardware flicker-fixers should not have any problems except the limitations inherent in the fixer itself. Amiga users with OS 2.0/2.1 should use the files in the "Setup_2.04" or "Setup_2.1" directory to change their settings. Since most 2.0 users have older Amigas, the main issue is changing the colors so the icons will look pretty. For that, simply double-click the "ClickMe_for_Screen" icon to switch to a sixteen color Workbench, and "ClickMe_for_Colors" to setup the palette. Owners with OS 3.0 or greater have a little more effort ahead. Their files are in the "Setup_3.0" drawer. "ClickMe_For_Screen" will change your Workbench screen as noted above. "ClickMe_For_Pattern.3.0" will clear out any CHIP RAM eating pictures you might have decorating your Bench, and the two "ClickMeForColors(Step1 & Step2) will set up your sixteen color palette. If you have any programs running that allocate WB color pens for their own use, Step2 may not be successful in its job. Like any other screen preferences hit, The Workbench will redraw itself, and any programs you have running on the Workbench may hinder it, and it will tell you so with a requester. Close any windows that are not standard Workbench directory windows, and it should go on about its merry way. I hope the animations are worth the trouble of reconfiguring to get them to look their best! =============== Content Warning =============== A NOTE ON THE CONTENT OF THIS CD-ROM. Generally, the files on this CD-ROM (primarily animation and picture files) are OK for a fairly general audience. There are, however, some pictures and animated segments that contain material of a potentially offensive nature. To generalize, I would give this CD-ROM a basic motion picture rating equivalent of PG-13. What this means is you should check the content yourself to form your own opinion, especially if you have children around the place who might have access to the CD-ROM. My pictures and animations were never specifically intended for children, and I have no censors other than myself, so the content of some works could be considered as "racy". Not all of my works are equal in content, so some pictures and animations are perfectly fine for viewing by a general audience, while others are questionable. As my views may not be common with yours, and everyone has their own level of sensitivity, I do not have ratings for pictures or animations on an individual basis. You should be warned, however, if you are easily offended by such things as cartoon-style violence, innuendo, provocative poses or actions, and mild or implied nudity (usually of non-human characters) I do not purposefully intend to offend anyone. I am merely creating art, and hopefully causing some laughter along the way. I can understand that some people may have a problem with some of the material on this CD, but nothing on this CD-ROM is obscene by most government's standards and my own opinions, so please don't become one of those types who feel that their hypermorality must be imposed upon the rest of the world, and this CD-ROM is the perfect scapegoat for their views on the world. Sorry to get anti-preachy there. Anyway, enjoy the CD-ROM (as best you can). ========================= Eric Schwartz Productions ========================= E.S. Productions is a small business created by and currently run by Eric W. Schwartz, and is based on his works and characters. E.S. Productions makes Art prints in both Black & White and Color, Videotapes of Eric Schwartz animations, T-shirts, buttons, and animations on Amiga Diskette. Other possibilities are in the works for the future. If you wish to receive information on products by E.S. Productions, you can write to this address... E.S. Productions P.O. Box 292684 Kettering, OH 45429-0684 U.S.A. Other methods of reaching us will be forthcoming. We plan to soon have an E-mail address and possibly a WWW site. ================ About The Author ================ Eric W. Schwartz was born November 27, 1971 in Dayton, Ohio. His parents, Ronald and Jacqueline Schwartz, came from Indiana, but luckily Eric did not share this poor heritage. Eric always had an interest in drawing, and did it constantly, much to the annoyance of some of his teachers (one particularly short-sighted instructor punished Eric for drawing in class by forcing him to draw constantly through a detention period, on the assumption that he would tire of it). Anyway, Eric Schwartz never drew again - OK, well that didn't happen. Later on, Eric showed a little more discipline regarding when and where to make drawings, and he also found some teachers willing to support his talents, so his craft improved. Another big step in Eric's life happened in December 1988, when he got his first Amiga. He started producing pictures and animations, and releasing them as freely distributable software, all with a simple Amiga 500 with one meg of RAM (it now has 4 1/2 megs and an external floppy drive). This gained him a certain popularity with Amiga owners, and later with animal character fans, often known as "Furries". Several years and three Amigas later, Eric is still producing, with a higher quality than before, and new works are fewer and farther between. A little bit about the Author's Amigas... Amiga 500 (Dec 1988 to Present) Original: One Meg RAM (A501) Current: 4 1/2 Megs RAM, external Floppy drive. Amiga 2000 (Sept 1990 to Present) Original: 3 megs RAM, 2 Floppy Drives, XT BridgeBoard Middle: 5 megs RAM, 40 meg Hard Drive, 2 Floppies (Bridgeboard out) Current: 7 megs RAM, 68020 accelerator, 2 FD, 170 meg HD Amiga 1200 (Sept 1993 to Present) Original: 6 megs RAM, FPU, 120 meg Hard Drive Current: 28Mhz 030 Accelerator with FPU, SCSI, and HD Floppy added Amiga CD32 (Early 1995 to Present) Original and Current: Stock Configuration ============================ About Amiga Library Services ============================ The Amiga Freely Redistributable Library (aka "Fish Disks") was started by Fred Fish in November 1985, shortly after the release of the Amiga 1000, and has continued to grow and flourish since then, thanks to the generous con- tributions of innumerable Amiga users. Amiga Library Services was created by Fred Fish to handle distribution of the original floppy based library. With the release of disk 1000 in April 1994, Fred Fish is no longer directly involved in the selection or organization of material for the floppy library and instead is concentrating on CD-ROM distribution. Amiga Library Services has expanded to become one of the largest volume shippers of CD-ROM products in North America, with exclusive importation rights to many fine CD-ROMs like the Aminet series, Meeting Pearls, GateWay, and more. ALS also acts as publisher for a number of other CD-ROMs (besides this one), such as Fresh Fonts 1, da capo, LightROM 1&2 (no longer produced), Texture Gallery, Online Library, and more. If you have an idea for a CD-ROM product that you would like to discuss, please contact: Amiga Library Services 610 North Alma School Road, Suite 18 Chandler, AZ 85224-3687 USA 1-800-804-0833 1-602-491-0442 1-602-491-0048 (FAX) info@amigalib.com (email) =============== Other Platforms =============== Notes for users of platforms other than Amiga: As you may have already noticed, this CD-ROM was designed for Amiga users, and its layout is heavily biased toward the Amiga Workbench environment. Owners of PC/DOS/Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX platforms are not completely left out, although it will take a fair deal of effort to make the most of this CD-ROM. In the "Useful" directory of this CD are software viewers for several platforms. Wherever possible, software is provided for each platform that enable them to view most to all of the pictures and animations available on the CD-ROM. I cannot guarantee that the images or animations will play back with all the quality or features present when played back on Amiga. It could be worse; it could be nothing at all. Never let it be said I never did anything for users of other platforms. -- Eric W. Schwartz E.S. Productions P.O. Box 292684 Kettering, OH 45429-0684 U.S.A.