Suzy B Software 2/Suzy B Software CD-ROM 2 (1994).iso/animatin/anim_q2z/vceldemo/animate4.doc

Text File | 1995-04-26 | 7.5 KB | 195 lines

                                 ANIMATE4.PRG
                                    (9/88)

                            (c) 1988 by Tom Hudson

                            Program & Documentation
                                 by Tom Hudson


                        This is a Public Domain utility.


    ANIMATE4.PRG is the fourth generation animation display program for the
    CYBER family of products:

      CYBER STUDIO
      CYBER CONTROL
      CYBER PAINT
      CYBER VCR and
      CYBER SCULPT

    This program will display delta-file AND sequence animations,
    created either by CYBER PAINT in .DLT or .SEQ format, or CYBER
    STUDIO/CONTROL in .DLT format.  Delta files (with initial
    .PI1 files and data files with a .DLT extender) take up more
    space on disk than sequence files (composed of only file file,
    which takes up about 30-40% less disk space than a comparable
    .PI1/.DLT combination).  Sequence files take up the same amount
    of space in memory as delta files, however.

    This version of ANIMATE will also display all color-palette
    changes in .SEQ files created with CYBER PAINT 2.0, and no longer
    uses the double-buffering command of the previous animation
    programs.  (The buffering is now automatic, and very fast.)


    To display .DLT files, click on the .DLT button in the custom
    file selector.  Likewise, to display .SEQ files, click on the
    .SEQ button.

    Disk drives may be altered with the drive-letter buttons.  Paths
    may be moved through with the "Back" and Reread" buttons.

    As with my previous animate programs, there are 2 operating modes:
    Batch and manual.  Animations can be run in sequence from a hard disk
    and/or floppy drives in batch modes, with chained animation files
    easily accomodated.  NOTE:  You can only chain delta files --
    sequence files are NOT chainable.


                                  MANUAL MODE

    The manual mode is invoked by simply double-clicking on the
    ANIMATE4.PRG icon.  The program will display help information
    -- take some time to read it for the basic commands such as
    (F)orward, etc.)  Click on OK, and you will be presented
    with my new file selector.

    Loading Delta Files:

    Select the delta file you want to run (it can be either stereo or
    monoscopic).  The program will load the delta file and its
    associated .PI1 file (L_ and R_ versions, if the animation is in
    stereo).  It will ask if you have more delta file sections (this will
    only happen if you chained the animation), click on the appropriate
    button.  If there are more delta files, the file selector will
    reappear, and you must select the name of the chained delta file.

    After all delta files are loaded, the program will start animation.

    Loading Sequence Files:

    Click on the .SEQ button, and the sequence files on the disk will
    be displayed.  Select the sequence file you want to run (sequence
    files can only be monoscopic).  The program will load it and
    begin running automatically.  Press the F key to turn
    Ping-pong mode on or off.


                                  BATCH MODE

    The animator program will run in a batch mode for continuous
    demonstrations of animations.  This is done through the use of a run
    control file, which has the extension .RUN.  To work properly, the
    ANIMATE4.PRG program must be installed via the "Install application"
    selection on the desktop.  Install ANIMATE4.PRG as a GEM application
    with document type RUN.

    To execute the animator in batch mode, just double-click on the
    appropriate .RUN file.

    The .RUN file format is discussed after the keyboard command
    section.


                               KEYBOARD COMMANDS

    Once you have an animation sequence running, the following keys are
    operational:

    F1-F10 -- Control the speed of the animation from slow (F1) to fast
    (F10).  Default speed is F6.

    Help -- Aborts the animation and displays the file selector for a new
    animation in both batch and manual modes.  Changes to manual mode if
    running in batch mode.

    Undo -- Quits the program, returning to the desktop.

    F -- Toggles the animation direction from forward-only to a
    forward-reverse ping-pong effect.  Default is forward-only.

    Space bar -- Pauses and single-steps the animation.  Press any other
    key to resume normal operation.

    Alt-L -- Locks the keyboard to prevent tampering during demonstrations,
    no keys will have any effect.  Press Alt-L again to unlock the
    keyboard.


                               .RUN FILE FORMAT

    The .RUN file is a simple text file, which can be created with any text
    editor or 1st Word.  Each line has the following format:

    PATH,FILE,MORE[,FWDBAK,BUFFER,SPEED,TIMES]

    PATH -- Drive and path of animation delta file or sequence file, may
    be upper or lower case.  Example: A:\ANIMATIONS\

    FILE -- Filename of animation delta file, in upper or lower case.
    Example: CARGO.DLT.  If it is a sequence file, the example would
    be CARGO.SEQ.

    MORE -- Indicates whether or not there are more delta files to be
    chained to this one.  Enter Y if there are more, or N if there are not.
    May be upper or lower case.  If the Y is entered, the next line
    contains the filename of the next delta file in the chain, and the
    extra parameters on this line are not used.  Any number of files may be
    chained.  For sequence files, use an N.

    FWDBAK -- Indicates whether the animation should be run forward only
    (F) or forward/reverse (R).  May be upper or lower case.  Not used if
    the file has more delta files chained to it.

    BUFFER -- This parameter is no longer used in ANIMATE4.PRG,
    but should be included for compatibility with older programs.
    Simply include a B in this slot.

    SPEED -- Indicates the speed at which the animation should be run.
    Values range from 0-9, corresponding to function keys F1-F10.

    TIMES -- The number of times the animation is to be run before going to
    the next animation.  In forward/reverse mode, this is the number of
    complete forward/reverse cycles; in forward mode, it is the number of
    normal animation cycles.  A value of 9999 indicates to run the
    animation forever, until HELP or UNDO is pressed.  Use 9999 when
    you're creating a .RUN file that will be used to load one animation
    from a floppy disk and display it forever.

    Example batch files:

    b:\,cargo.dlt,n,f,b,8,9999

    Runs the CARGO animation forward at speed 8, forever.


    c:\animate\,hollow.dlt,y
    c:\animate\,hollowb.dlt,n,f,b,9,9999

    Runs the two-part HOLLOW animation (HOLLOW.DLT and HOLLOWB.DLT, in the
    ANIMATE folder on drive c:) forward at speed 9, forever.


    a:\,bounce.dlt,n,r,b,7,20
    b:\,atari.dlt,y
    b:\,atarib.dlt,n,f,b,9,25

    Runs the BOUNCE animation from drive A: 20 times in forward/reverse
    mode at speed 7, then runs the two-part ATARI animation
    (ATARI.DLT and ATARIB.DLT) from drive B: 25 times at speed 9
    forward.  When the ATARI animation is complete, operation resumes
    with BOUNCE again and continues until HELP or UNDO is pressed.

    a:\tutorial\,tesla.seq,n,f,b,9,9999

    Runs the TESLA animation on the CYBER PAINT disk forward, at
    speed 9, forever (or as long as the hardware holds out,
    whichever comes first).