Sizzler creates Sprite files which are streaming animation files for the Web. QuickTime movies and PICS files can be dropped on the Sizzler application and the result is a highly compressed interactive animation Sprite file. The Sizzler Plug-in allows Netscape Navigator 2.0 and MS Internet Explorer to display the Sprite files; a CyberDog part is also available. Sizzler adds animation to the static text and graphics of HTML.
Sizzler Usage Tips
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Sizzler creates Sprite files that are streamed over the Web and played as they are received by Netscape Navigator 2.0/MSIE 2.0/Cyberdog and the Sizzler Plug-in or CyberDog part. At the present time the Sizzler application can convert QuickTime movies and PICS files into Sprite files. The conversion process may take a few moments and may require you to give Sizzler more memory if you are converting large QuickTime movies or PICS files. An EMBED tag with the correct dimensions is printed by Sizzler and can be copied and pasted into your HTML documents. When quitting Sizzler you are asked if you wish to save a document. Clicking "Save" will save the textual information into a text file. The Sprite file is always saved and will have the extension ".sprite" appended to it.
Sprite files are optimized for low data rates like those found over modem connections. As the speed of the connection increases, so does the effectiveness of the Sprite files. For best performance, PICS files should be limited to small sizes and a small number of frames of animation. Try out different sizes and numbers of frames in order to produce the most effective animations.
Many graphical applications on the Macintosh can export QuickTime movies and PICS files. It is important that the PICS files used with Sizzler be non-frame differenced. This means that the PICS file must be a series of frames that are not frame differenced. If the PICS file is frame differenced the resulting Sprite file will appear to have parts of the animation missing.
The Sizzler application will expire on March 1st, 1997. Newer versions of the Sizzler application will be available on the Totally Hip Web Site and in this library before this version expires.
