═══ 1. Open... ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open a file dialog. You can select any of the 
supported animation or picture formats. 

The file dialog supports multiple selections, that means that you can select 
several items at the same time. 


═══ 2. Save As... ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open the save dialog window. After starting the 
save progress, all frames in the frame list will be saved. 

Note, all frames will be saved, this is in contrast to the menu function Save 
Frames which will only save the frames which are selected in the frame list. 


═══ 3. Exit ═══

Selecting this menuitem will terminate MainActor/2. 


═══ 4. Select ═══

Selecting one of the three sub menu items of the Select menu will allow you to 
select all, or some of the frames in the frame list. 

 Select All 
     Selects all frames available in the frame list. 

 Select Range ... 
     Allows you to select a range of frames, for example frame 10 to 50. 

 Select Compression ... 
     Allows you to select all frames with a specific compression. For example, 
     if you loaded a FLI animation, you can select all frames which have a 
     FLI_LC compression method. 


═══ 5. Deselect ═══

Selecting one of the three sub menu items of the Deselect menu will allow you 
to deselect all, or some of the frames in the frame list. 

 Deselect All 
     Deselects all frames available in the frame list. 

 Deselect Range ... 
     Allows you to deselect a range of frames, for example frame 10 to 50. 

 Deselect Compression ... 
     Allows you to deselect all frames with a specific compression. For 
     example, if you loaded a FLI animation, you can deselect all frames which 
     have a Dummy compression method. 


═══ 6. Invert ═══

Selecting this menu item will invert the selection status of all frames in the 
frame list. 

All selected frames will be deselected and all deselected frames will be 
selected. 


═══ 7. Project Info... ═══

Selecting this menu item will open a dialog window which will display 
informations about the currently selected project. 


═══ 8. Cache Data ═══

Selecting this menu item will cache all the data of the currently selected 
project in ram, which will of course result in better access and playback times 
for the project. 

If the menu item is checked the data is cached in memory, if not the data will 
be loaded directly from disk (which is the default). 

Note, not all loader modules support caching, if a loader module does not 
support caching, the menu item is disabled. This is the case for most of the 
picture loader modules. 


═══ 9. Global Timecode... ═══

Selecting this menu item will open a dialog window which will allow you to 
change the global timecode of the project. 

Some animation formats (for example FLI/FLC) only support one timecode for all 
of the frames of an animation, that means that all frames will stop playback 
for the same amount of time. These animations often have dummy frames inserted 
into the animation to allow for better timing. 

If your project does not have a global timecode or does support a timecode for 
each frame, this menu item will be disabled. If it does support a timecode for 
each frame, you can select the frames you want to change the timecode of and 
select the Local Timecodes menu item of the frame popup menu. 


═══ 10. Play Project ═══

Selecting this menu item will play the currently select project. 

MainActor/2 uses DIVE for playback. The DIVE window will be opened centered on 
your desktop. If your system does support Full-Screen DIVE, you can switch to 
the full screen mode by pressing ALT+HOME. 

During playback, you can choose menu items from two menus, the Options and the 
Speed menus. 

The Options Menu 

 Snap 1/1 
     If you have sized the window you can snap it back to its original size 
     using this menu item. 

 Counter 
     If the counter is activated you will see the frame number of the currently 
     displayed frame in the title bar if you play an animation. If you play a 
     picture list you will see the name of the currently displayed picture. 

 Exit 
     Will quit playback. 

 The Speed Menu 

 Timed 
     If this menu item is checked, (which is the default), the original 
     timecode of the project is used. These are the timecodes you see listed in 
     the frame list. 

 60 fps (Max) 
     If this menu item is checked, the project will be played back as fast as 
     possible (60 fps). Of course, 60 fps is not always possible. 

 30 fps 
     If this menu item is checked, the project will be played back with 30 fps 
     (if possible). 

 25 fps 
     If this menu item is checked, the project will be played back with 25 fps 
     (if possible). 

 10 fps 
     If this menu item is checked, the project will be played back with 10 fps 
     (if possible). 


═══ 11. Remove Project ═══

Selecting this menu will remove the currently selected project from the project 
list and will free all memory dedicated to the project. 


═══ 12. Save Frames ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open the save dialog window. After starting the 
save progress, all selected files in the frame list will be saved. 

Note, only the selected frames will be saved, this is in contrast to the Save 
As... item in the File menu, which will save all frames. 


═══ 13. Local Timecode ═══

Selecting this menu item will open a dialog window which will allow you to 
change the local timecode of the currently selected frames. 

This option is only enabled if the animation format of your current project 
supports a timecode per frame. 


═══ 14. Show Frames ═══

Selecting this menu item will show the currently selected frame. 

MainActor uses Dive to show the frames of a project. The current number (or 
name) of the frame is displayed in the title bar of the show window. 

While showing a frame, you can choose menu items from two menus, the Options 
and the Frame menus. 

The Options Menu 

 Snap 1/1 
     If you have sized the window you can snap it back to its original size 
     using this menu item. 

 Exit 
     Will close the show window. 

 The Frame Menu 

 Previous 
     Selecting this item will show the frame which is one location above the 
     actual frame in the frame list. 

 Next 
     Selecting this item will show the frame which is one location below the 
     actual frame in the frame list. 


═══ 15. Sort Frames ═══

Selecting one of the sub menu items will sort all frames in the frame list with 
the selected sort method. This menu is only available when the currently 
selected project is a picture list. Animations are mostly delta encoded and 
cannot be sorted, even when they are non-linear, it would be too difficult to 
keep track of the different colour palettes etc. 

 Sort Frames by Name 
     The frames are sorted, case insensitiv, by their names. 

 Sort Frames by Size 
     The frames are sorted by their size. The pictures with the smallest size 
     are in the top of the frame list, the pictures with the biggest size in 
     the bottom. 


═══ 16. Help Index ═══

Selecting tis menuitem will display the index of the online help document for 
MainActor/2. 


═══ 17. General Help ═══

Selecting tis menuitem will display a general introduction to the user 
interface of MainActor/2. 


═══ 18. Using Help ═══

Selecting tis menuitem will display an introduction on how to use the online 
help facility. 


═══ 19. Loader Modules... ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open a dialog window which will show you the 
supplied loader modules of this version of MainActor/2, as well as the 
supported codecs of these modules. 

The version numbers, copyrights and authors of the modules are listed as well. 


═══ 20. Saver Modules... ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open a dialog window which will show you the 
supplied saver modules of this version of MainActor/2, as well as the supported 
codecs of these modules. 

The version numbers, copyrights and authors of the modules are listed as well. 


═══ 21. Registration ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open an informational text about how to register 
MainActor/2. 


═══ 22. Product Info... ═══

Selecting this menuitem will open a dialog window which will show you the 
version number of MainActor/2 and the registration status of your copy. 


═══ 23. General Help ═══

The main window of MainActor/2 is divided into two parts. On the left of the 
window there is the smaller project list, the rest of the window is occupied by 
the frame list. 

The project list contains all currently loaded projects. A project consists of 
an animation, one or more pictures or a sound effect. Each project is 
identified by an icon, which describes the type of the project, and a name. If 
the project is an animation or a sound effect, the name is the name of the 
animation/sound, if the project contains pictures, the name of the project is 
the picture format. There exists an individual popup menu for each project. 
Only one project can be selected at one time. 

The frame list contains the frames of the currently selected project. You can 
select as many frames as you want. There also exists an popup menu for the 
frame list, the functions of the popup menu operate on all selected frames. 


═══ 24. Load Error ═══

Either an error has been encountered while loading the project or you did 
cancel the loading progress. 

You can see the cause of the failure in the dialog box, as well as the project 
at which the failure accured. 


═══ 25. Loader Modules ═══

This dialog window displays all loader modules which are included in 
MainActor/2 v0.19 

Each loader module supports various codecs, the codecs of the currently 
selected loader module are listed in the Codecs list. 

The author, copyright and version of the currently selected loader module are 
listed in the lower right of the dialog window, along with the type field which 
identifies the format of the loader module, for example Animation or Picture. 


═══ 26. Saver Modules ═══

This dialog window displays all saver modules which are included in MainActor/2 
v0.19 

Each loader module supports various codecs, the codecs of the currently 
selected saver module are listed in the Codecs list. 

The author, copyright and version of the currently selected saver module are 
listed in the lower right of the dialog window, along with the type field which 
identifies the format of the saver module, for example Animation or Picture. 


═══ 27. Product Info ═══

MainActor/2 was created by 

MainConcept, GbR Moenig/Zabel 
Hermann-Heusch Platz 3 
D-52062 Aachen 
Germany 

Tel: +49-(0)241-4090444 
FAX: +49-(0)241-4090445 
BBS: +49-(0)241-4090446 

Email: info@mainconcept.de 

Contact us for more information about MainActor/2 and other animation products 
on other platforms. 


═══ 28. Select Range ═══

The Select Range dialog window lets you select a specific range of frames in 
the frame list. 

Enter the first frame you want to have selected in the From field and enter the 
last frame in the to field. 

After that, you can select Ok to select the frames or Cancel to cancel the 
operation. 


═══ 29. Select Compression ═══

The Select Compression dialog window lets you select the frames in the frame 
list which have a specific compression method. 

Select the compression format and select Ok to select the frames with the 
specified compression method or select Cancel to cancel the operation. 


═══ 30. Deselect Range ═══

The Deselect Range dialog window lets you deselect a specific range of frames 
in the frame list. 

Enter the first frame you want to have deselected in the From field and enter 
the last frame in the to field. 

After that, you can select Ok to deselect the frames or Cancel to cancel the 
operation. 


═══ 31. Deselect Compression ═══

The Deselect Compression dialog window lets you deselect the frames in the 
frame list which have a specific compression method. 

Select the compression method and select Ok to deselect the frames with the 
specified compression method or select Cancel to cancel the operation. 


═══ 32. Project Info ═══

The Project Info dialog window displays some of the more technical informations 
of the current project. 

 Name 
     The name of the current project. 

 Format 
     The format of the loader module. 

 Width 
     The width of the project in pixels. 

 Height 
     The height of the project in pixels. 

 Frames 
     The number of frames of the project. 

 Loop Frames 
     The number of loop frames of the project. 

 Dive Colour Space Spec 
     The colour space format of the project. 


═══ 33. Timecode ═══

The Timecode dialog window allows you to change the global or local timecode of 
your current project (which can only be an animation). 

The Global Timecode changes the timecodes of all frames to the new timecode 
entered in the dialog window. This option is important for those animation 
formats who only support one timecode per animation (FLI/FLC). These animation 
formats often use Dummy frames for timing. 

The Local Timecode changes the timecodes of all currently selected frames in 
the frame list to the new timecode. Note that only a few animation formats 
support a timecode per frame (for example all IFF-Anim formats). 


═══ 34. Error ═══

An error has been encountered. The dialog window displays the error message and 
the possible cause for the error. 


═══ 35. The Save Dialog ═══

The save dialog window is the interface to the save modules which are shipped 
with MainActor/2 v0.19. Note that all frames will be saved if you opened this 
dialog through the Save As.. item of the File menu. If you did open it through 
the Save Frames popup menu function only the selected frames of the frame list 
will be saved. 

Select the format in which you want to save the frames in the Modules list. 
Most modules support more than one codec, select the one you want in the Codec 
list. 

Select the width and height of your new animation or pictures in the Width and 
Height entry fields. 

If you click on the Select File... button, you can choose the filename in the 
opening dialog box. Note, if you save pictures, the picture index plus picture 
suffix will be appended to the filename (for example: 0002.bmp). If you save an 
animation only the animation suffix will be appended to the filename (for 
example: .fli). 

You can start the save process by clicking on the Save button. While saving you 
can stop the action by clicking on Cancel. Cancel will also close the dialog if 
no save progress is currently running. 


═══ 36. Registration ═══

This is an early BETA copy of MainActor/2 which does not need to be registered 
as we do not raise a shareware fee for it. 

You may register for the final shareware version if you want this. The fee is 
$60 (99,- DM) or any equivalent sum in your local currency. Please no foreign 
checks (except EuroChecks). We do take Master/EuroCard. 

You can contact us at : 

MainConcept, GbR Moenig/Zabel 
Hermann-Heusch Platz 3 
D-52062 Aachen 
Germany 

Tel: +49-(0)241-4090444 
FAX: +49-(0)241-4090445 
BBS: +49-(0)241-4090446 

Email: info@mainconcept.de