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RenderCalc v1.41 Author: Daniel S. Milling Jr. Copyright © 1994 Daniel S. Milling Jr. All Rights Reserved ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER The author makes no warranties or representations, either expressed or implied, with respect to the program and information included herein. The product presented herein is being supplied on an "as is" basis and is expressly subject to change without notice. You use this software at your own risk. In no event will the author be held liable for direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use or misuse of the program and information provided herein. DISTRIBUTION RenderCalc is a Shareware program. The RenderCalc program, the distribution materials and the registration keyfiles are Copyright © 1994 Daniel S. Milling Jr. All Rights Reserved. If you find this program useful, please send in the registration fee of $15(US) to the author of the program. The address is given at the bottom of the Registration.form file. Please see the Registration.readme file for more information regarding registration and the keyfiles. RenderCalc is freely redistributable in it's original form to any bulletin board, public domain software collection, or network system as long as the original archive is kept intact in it's entirety and remains unaltered and as long as no fee, other than nominal media cost, is charged for distribution. The keyfiles which are sent to registered users may not be distributed and are for the sole use of the registered user. Since the keyfile contains the encrypted name of the registered user, among other information, it would behoove the user to keep it to him or herself. Any circulated keyfiles, if brought to the attention of the programmer, will be rendered useless in updated versions of the program and that user will be removed from any future update lists. Spread the program, not the keyfile. This program, in whole or in part, may not be included in any commercial package without the prior written consent of the author. INTRODUCTION This program originally grew from my need to quickly and easily calculate the number of frames it would take for an object moving X miles per hour to move Y feet. This was a necessity for some animations I was creating. I banged out the original C code for the CLI version in no more than ten minutes. Pretty easy. Since that day, I thought it would be very nice to have a GUI to go along with this program. After toying around with GUI programming on and off for a couple of months between rendering, I finally came up with RenderCalc 1.0, my first program with a GUI. Between RenderCalc v1.0 and v1.41 there have been MANY additions and improvements. My original intention was only to create a little speed/distance calculator that could take MPH and FEET and tell me how many frames it would take to travel that distance. After a couple of weeks, RenderCalc has exploded into what it is today. Features: --------- - Ability to enter values for Speed and Distance and receive output telling you how many total frames, seconds, minutes and the length of time, in the specified time code format, that the motion will take. - The Speed, Distance and Length Input Gadgets have Cycle gadgets attached to them which allows you to change the units of the entered number 'on the fly.' This gives you instantaneous updates without having to re-type the number again. - Table of conversions between units of length. Supported units are inches, feet, yards, miles, millimeters, meters and kilometers. - Ability to change the units of ANY inputted number and have all of the values update, relative to the new units, on the fly. This saves having to re-type the values again. - If you want to convert a number to different units, you may enter that number into the Length gadget and see the printed results in the conversion table below. - The table of conversions is linked to the Distance and Length buttons, which means that any number entered in either gadget will be converted and printed into the table. The reason for this is that if you enter a number into the Distance gadget and would like to know what it converts to in units of a different system, you don't have to re-type it into the Length gadget. It is automatically calculated and printed for you. - SMPTE non-drop frame, EBU and Film time code supported. SMPTE drop frame is a selectable time code format but NOT implemented at this time. - Ability to enter Time Code In and Out points as well as a Duration. The time code values are printed out under the Time Code Output section. The time code input has two modes of operation. You may enter Time Code In and Time Code Out points which results in Duration being the final output value. You may also enter a Time Code In and a Duration which will give you the Time Code Out as your final value. - Ability to change the Time Code Type 'on the fly.' This means that you may switch between the supported time code formats and see the updated results immediately without having to re-enter the values. - A Zoom gadget which shrinks the program window. Instead of having to quit the program, the user may click on the Zoom gadget. Doing this shrinks down the RenderCalc window, getting it out of the way. Clicking again will restore the window to it's normal size. In the Unregistered version of the program, the Shareware Notice will be brought up every time the Zoom gadget is clicked. Upon registration, this annoyance is removed. - Keyfile system which allows for easy registration. Upon registration, you will receive a personalized ASCII keyfile which will permanently remove ALL instances of the Shareware Notice. These instances include starting and exiting the program as well as clicking on the Zoom gadget. The Shareware notice will never appear again, unless the keyfile is deleted or tampered with. The keyfile will work with all future versions of the program. If, for some reason, the keyfile code changes, all registered users will receive an updated keyfile as soon as possible. Requirements ------------ - Kickstart 2.x or above. - asl.library version 37 or above (38 or above is HIGHLY preferred) If you don't have the asl.library the program is still usable although you won't get a file requester. INSTALLATION To install RenderCalc, just move the RenderCalc program icon into the desired drawer through Workbench. You may now run it by double clicking on the program icon. From CLI just type in the program name when you are in it's directory or include the full path if you're not. PURPOSE The purpose of this program is to provide the animator with three essential tools. - The first is the ability to calculate the number of frames needed to represent a moving object of known speed and known linear distance travelled. - The second tool is the ability to quickly and easily convert numbers between different common units of length. - The third purpose is to provide the user with the ability to easily and quickly calculate Time Code durations from an IN and OUT point and also to Calculate an OUT point from an IN point and a duration. These conversion may be done interchangeably between the three supported time code formats. HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM When you run the program you will see a Shareware message reminding you to register the program if it is of use to you. This window will also appear upon exiting the program as well. Read the Registration.readme file for more information. After the Shareware Notice disappears, you will be presented with the main program. There are three main input/output sections to the program. They are: I. Frame Calculator II. Units Converter III. Time Code Calculator All three sections are interconnected more or less. This means that data entered into one section may affect the output of another section. I. Frame Calculator The Frame Calculator takes the input of a speed and a distance and calculates how many frames it will take for a body to move that distance, while travelling at that speed. NOTE: This will only be accurate for linear movements. At this present time there is no implementation for the calculation of movement through an arc or anything other than a linear path. At this time there is no implementation of variable speeds through a distance, meaning that positive and negative accelerations are not accounted for. Only constant velocities are handled at this time. The Frame Calculator consists of two input gadgets. They are the Speed and Distance Gadgets. Each gadget has one or more cycle gadgets attached to them. The cycle gadgets tell the program which units to use in the conversion process. SPEED INPUT - The Speed gadget is attached to two cycle gadgets. The first cycle gadget gives the units of distance while the second cycle gadget gives the units of time. Together you will get a valid (units of distance) per (units of time) measurement of speed. To enter input, click anywhere in the Speed input box, if a cursor is not present already, a cursor will then appear. Once the cursor is in the Speed input box, type in the value and then hit <RETURN> when you are done. The first cycle gadget, which represents the unit of distance, may be in units of inches, feet, yards, miles, millimeters, meters or kilometers. The default unit is MILES. To change the units of this gadget, just click on it. For every click you will cycle through all of the possible choices. The second cycle gadget, which represents the units of time, may be in units of seconds, minutes or hours. The default unit is HOURS. To change the units of this gadget, just click on it. For every click you will cycle through all of the possible choices. DISTANCE INPUT - The Distance gadget is attached to one cycle gadget. This cycle gadget gives the units of distance that the body will move through. This value, with it's units, are used to calculate the number of frames it will take for a body to move through that distance while travelling at that speed. To enter input, click anywhere in the Distance input box, if a cursor is not present already, a cursor will then appear. Once the cursor is in the Distance input box, type in the value and then hit <RETURN> when you are done. The cycle gadget, which represents the units of distance travelled, may be in units of inches, feet, yards, miles, millimeters, meters or kilometers. The default unit is FEET. To change the units of this gadget, just click on it. For every click you will cycle through all of the possible choices. For each of these two input gadgets, the user may input numbers of no more than 6 decimal places or a total of 10 numerical characters including decimal point. Spaces and other characters are not allowed and will not produce output. The Frame Calculator also consists of an output sub-section which shows the output in four different units. These units are Frames, Seconds, Minutes and a Time Code value. In the case of the Distance input gadget, we have another output into the Unit Conversion Table. See the section on the Unit Conversion Table for a complete description of this feature. NOTE: Each output is a separate entity. For the values entered in the Speed and Distance gadgets, you will have a Total of Frames, a Total of Seconds and a Total of Minutes printed out. These first three outputs are total values. For example if you have a reading of 1181 Frames, 39.4 seconds and 0.7 minutes this means that 1181 Frames is equal to 39.4 seconds which is equal to 0.7 minutes. This is meant as a gauge giving the user a sense of how much time 'x' number of Frames will take in more familiar units. The fourth output represents the time code duration that 'x' number of frames would span. ACCURACY: THE FRAMES value is rounded up if it is 'x.5' or greater. If you don't like this, just add or subtract a frame. It seems that for values of 60 frames or more the rounding won't make too much of a difference. THE SECONDS value is rounded up if it is 'x.x5' or greater. This is not meant to be a very accurate number but only to give a 'close-enough' estimate of how many seconds are required for 'x' frames. THE MINUTES value is rounded up if it is 'x.x5' or greater. This also is not meant to be a very accurate number. It is meant to only give a 'close-enough' estimate of how many minutes are required for 'x' number of Frames. THE TIME CODE is accurate to the FRAMES value. This means that the value given in the Frames output is represented exactly in the time code output. This may be useful if you wanted to see what the time code duration is for that Frames value. CHANGING UNITS: Any cycle gadget, for the Speed or Distance inputs, may be clicked at any time. When you click on the cycle gadget you will change the units of the corresponding value. You may do this an unlimited number of times. After you click on the cycle gadget, any values printed out in the Output sub-section of the Frame Calculator section will be updated to reflect the new units. This update occurs 'on-the-fly' meaning that you do not have to re-enter any number again in order to change it's units. The conversion is done automatically. Clicking on the cycle gadget, attached to the Distance input, will also affect the units printed out in the Units Conversion Table. Please see the section on the Units Conversion Table for a complete description of this feature. ERRORS: If the values for the Frame Calculator output are either too large or too small you will see '------' printed in the corresponding output box. For example, Frames cannot exceed 999999 (if you really need this many frames you need to get out more... :-) ) and cannot be less than 1. However, Seconds and Minutes may be zero but only when the Frames output is VERY low. Sometimes you will get a value for Frames and Minutes but not Seconds. This occurs only when the Frame count is TOO high anyway. Don't worry, as long as there is a Frame output value, you are ok. Frames is the value you want anyway. If the Frame count is illegal then your Time Code output will be set to 00:00:00:00. Otherwise, you will have a valid time code reading relative to the Time Code Type you have selected. Please see the section on Selecting The Time Code Type for a complete description of this function. II. Units Converter The Units Converter will take any inputted number and convert it to any supported unit. The Length input gadget is where you may enter the number you want to convert. The Length input gadget has a cycle gadget attached to it which specifies the units of the Length gadget value. LENGTH INPUT - This is where you may input a value which will be converted and printed out into the Units Conversion Table. The number may have as many as six decimal places or a total of fifteen numerical digits, including the decimal point. Spaces and other characters are not allowed and will not produce output. To enter input, click anywhere in the Length input box, if a cursor is not present already, a cursor will then appear. Once the cursor is in the Length input box, type in the value and then hit <RETURN> when you are done. If the Length Input value is illegal, the conversion table will fill with zeros, thus telling you the value is illegal. If the Length Input value is legal but the resulting conversion yields an illegal number, that conversion field will be filled with many '---------''s all the way across the field. This can occur frequently when you change the units of the value to be converted. Attached to the Length gadget is a cycle gadget which specifies the units of the inputted value. The units may be of inches, feet, yards, miles, millimeters, meters or kilometers. To change the units of this gadget, just click on it. For every click you will cycle through all of the possible choices. After you enter a number into the Length gadget and hit <RETURN> the number, if valid, will be converted and printed into the Units Conversion Table. The Units Conversion Table can be found directly below the Length Input gadget. UNITS CONVERSION - The numbers printed in the table will correspond with the TABLE units printed to the right of them. The base unit is taken from the cycle gadget which is attached to the Length input gadget. NOTE: when a value is entered into the Distance Input gadget, the base unit is then taken from the Units cycle gadget associated with Distance. For example, if you enter the number 5280 into the Length gadget and hit <RETURN> you will be presented with your converted output. If the cycle gadget was set to FEET, you should be able to look up FEET on the Units Conversion Table and see that the value printed in the FEET box is '5280', the same number you inputted. This tells you, that the number you entered was indeed 5280 FEET. If we look at miles we will see that, yes indeed, 5280 feet is equal to 1 mile. DISTANCE INPUT - When a value is entered into the Distance Input gadget, AND THE UNITS the Units Conversion Table will then be updated with this CONVERSION data relative to it's units. For example, if you had TABLE already entered 5280 into the Length Input gadget with units of FEET, and you enter the number 12 into the Distance Input gadget, with units of MILES, the new output of the Units Conversion Table will show that 12 miles is the entered number and that 12 miles is equal to 63360 feet. If the Distance Input value is illegal, the conversion table will fill with zeros, thus telling you the value is illegal. If the Distance Input value is legal but the resulting conversion yields an illegal number, that conversion field will be filled with many '---------''s all the way across the field. This can occur frequently when you change the units of the value to be converted. GOING FROM LENGTH - It is very easy to restore the previous data which was TO DISTANCE AND outputted to the Units Conversion Table. For example, VICE VERSA if you entered a value into the Length Input gadget and received output, you may then enter a value into the Distance Input gadget and receive output. The value which was previously in the Length input gadget is still there. The way to retrieve this value is to click anywhere inside the Length Input gadget and hit the <RETURN> key. If you didn't type anything else, you should get your previous Unit Conversion Table values. If you now wanted to see the conversion of the Distance Input value, just click anywhere inside the Distance Input value box and then hit <RETURN>. If you didn't type anything else you should see the Units Conversion Table reflect the previous Distance value. You may also click on the Units cycle gadget for either the Length Input or Distance Input gadgets. By doing so you will update the Units Conversion Table with the Input value along with it's respective units. For example. If the last number converted was input from the Length gadget, and you then click on the Distance Units cycle gadget, the Units Conversion Table will be updated with the Distance Input value, relative to it's new units. You may click back and forth among the Units gadgets an unlimited number of times. ACCURACY - All of the converted values should be accurate to within +0.0005 and -0.0005. I rounded the number to the third decimal place with any number of 'x.xxx5' being round up. I could have let the output go to the sixth decimal place, with the number 'x.xxxxxx5' being rounded up. This seemed a bit extreme. If there is enough of a response I may restore the six decimal place numbers, otherwise it stays as is. NOTE: If there is any discrepancy with these converted values and 'real-world' values I'd appreciate any feedback (my email addresses are listed in the 'About' requester.) It would be a very simple matter for me to alter my table of conversions in a future revision. I looked at a conversion table in my Physics book and came up with the neat and simple equation to calculate any conversion factor. If I made any errors, please report them. III. Time Code Calculator The Time Code Calculator will take any inputted time code IN and OUT point and tell you the time code duration between these two points. It will also tell you the time code OUT point if you enter a time code IN point and a duration. There are three input gadgets associated with the Time Code Calculator. These are the IN, OUT and DURATION Input gadgets. There is a Time Code Output section right below the Input section which will tell you the time code relative to the current time code type and the number of frames each time code value represents. TIMECODE TYPE - This array of small buttons is situated below the Units Conversion Table. This allows you to select which time code type you wish to work with. The default is SMPTE 30fps, which is non-drop frame. NOTE: SMPTE drop-frame is a selectable time code type but, as of this version, it is NOT implemented yet. When you select SMPTE drop frame ALL of your time code outputs will be set to the default '00:00:00:00' value. The reason this button is present is to act as a place holder for any future implementation of SMPTE drop-frame. You may change the Time Code Type at any time by clicking on any one of these small round buttons. After you select a time code type all of your current time code values will be recalculated to reflect this change. NOTE: if your current time code is set to SMPTE (non-drop) and you have entered a number with a FF (frames) value of '29' you have a legal time code value. But, if you were to change the time code type to Film, the '29', which was previously in the FF (frames) slot, is now illegal, since there are only 24 frames per second in Film as opposed to 30fps in SMPTE non-drop. If this happens, the time code reading in question is then set to the default '00:00:00:00' setting. This is true for any Time Code Output value. However, The time code value presented under the 'TOTALS' for frames WILL update properly across ALL time code formats. This allows you to see what length of time 'x' number of frames will take in that specific time code format. You should also note that ONLY the TIMECODE value for the number of frames will change, NOT the seconds or hours for that number of frames. The seconds and hours are set to SMPTE 30fps (non-drop) and aren't affected by any time code change. I realize that placing both a time code readout along with the seconds and hours readout is a bit redundant but a friend of mine asked me to leave it. Seconds and Minutes output may be removed in the future. ENTERING TIMECODE - There are three input gadgets which allow the user to VALUES enter time code values. These are the Time Code IN, Time Code OUT and Time Code DURATION input gadgets. There are a number of ways you may input time code values: You may input as much of the time code number as you wish. If you only have 1 second and 20 frames as your IN point, you may type the number as: 1:20 or 120 or 01:20 or 0120 or 00000120 or 00:00:01:20 The program is quite flexible as to how you may enter time code values. There are a few rules however: 1) you may enter a number with or without the colon ':'. If you do enter a number with colons, the number must be in one of these formats: (where x is a numerical digit) x:xx or xx:xx or x:xx:xx or xx:xx:xx or x:xx:xx:xx or xx:xx:xx:xx The following are illegal: x:x or x:x:xx:xx or xx:xx:x:x (these are only a few.) 2) Here is a simple rule to follow when using colons in your time code value. A time code, if it includes colons, is legal, if, to the RIGHT of every colon, there are two numerical digits. You may have a single digit to the LEFT of ONLY the LEFTMOST colon. The reason for this is the way the program reads the time code value. 3) If you enter a time code value with or without colons, then take note that the number is read from right to left. Thus, if you enter the number 120 (or 1:20) it will be interpreted as 1 second and 20 frames. If you really meant 1 hour and 20 minutes, the time code value would have to be input as 1200000 (or 1:20:00:00). 4) The only character that may be used to separate the time code numbers is the colon. Any other characters input will be treated as illegal, thus making the entire time code value illegal. This will cause the default '00:00:00:00' value to be output. All Time Code Input values and calculations are output to the Time Code Output area which is directly below the Time Code Input area. Under the TIMECODE OUTPUT heading you will notice the (HH:MM:SS:FF) label. This tells you that the time code output, from left to right, is in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. TIMECODE IN - You may enter any valid time code number into this input gadget. INPUT After you enter the time code value hit the <RETURN> key. If valid, the time code will be displayed under the Time Code IN field of the Time Code Output area. You will also see the number of frames which this time code value represents, relative to the current time code type, to the right of the time code value. Time Code IN input has two modes: FIRST If the last number you entered was a Time Code DURATION value, you will see the Time Code OUT output field display a time code. This time code is the length of time, in time code, of the IN point plus the DURATION value (IN + DURATION = OUT.) Next to the OUT output field is the number of frames that the OUT Output time code number represents relative to the current time code type. If the entered value for the Time Code IN point is illegal, ONLY the Time Code IN point will be set to the default value of '00:00:00:00'. The Time Code OUT and DURATION should then equal one another since, in this case, IN + DURATION = OUT where IN is equal to zero, OUT is then equal to DURATION. SECOND If the last number you entered was a Time Code OUT value, you will see the Time Code DURATION field display a time code. This time code is the length of time, in time code, between the IN and OUT points. Next to the Duration output field is the number of frames that the Duration Output time code number represents relative to the current time code type. If the entered value for the Time Code IN point is illegal, ONLY the Time Code IN point will be set to the default value of '00:00:00:00'. The Time Code OUT and DURATION should then equal one another since, in this case, OUT - IN = DURATION where IN is equal to zero, OUT is then equal to DURATION. TIMECODE OUT - You may enter any valid time code number into this input INPUT gadget. After you enter the time code value hit the <RETURN> key. If valid, the time code will be displayed under the Time Code OUT field of the Time Code Output area. You will also see the number of frames which this time code value represents, relative to the current time code type, to the right of the time code value. If you previously entered a Time Code IN point, you will see the Time Code Duration output field display a time code. This time code is the length of time, in time code, between the IN and OUT points. Next to the Duration output field is the number of frames that the Duration Output time code number represents relative to the current time code type. If the entered value for the Time Code OUT point is illegal, both the Time Code Out and Time Code Duration fields will display the default '00:00:00:00' time code value. TIMECODE - You may enter any valid time code number into this input DURATION gadget. After you enter the time code value hit the <RETURN> INPUT key. If valid, the time code will be displayed under the Time Code DURATION field of the Time Code Output area. You will also see the number of frames which this time code value represents, relative to the current time code type, to the right of the time code value. If you previously entered a Time Code IN point, you will see the Time Code OUT output field display a time code. This time code is the length of time, in time code, of the IN point plus the DURATION value (IN + DURATION = OUT.) Next to the OUT output field is the number of frames that the OUT Output time code number represents relative to the current time code type. If the entered value for the Time Code DURATION point is illegal, both the Time Code Out and Time Code Duration fields will display the default '00:00:00:00' time code value. Below the TIMECODE OUTPUT area there is an 'About' button which will bring up a requester telling you about the program and such. This is the same as the 'About' menu item. MENUS The only two menu items are the 'About' and 'Quit' items. You may see some information regarding the program by either selecting the 'About' menu item, by clicking on the button labelled 'Tell Me About RenderCalc!' or by pressing the RightAmiga-A key combination. You may quit the program by either clicking on the Close gadget, by selecting the 'Quit' menu item or by pressing the RightAmiga-Q key combination. BUG REPORTS If you happen to find what you may think is a bug, please let me know. You may report a bug by either Internet Email or postal mail. You will find my Email addresses when you click on the 'About' menu item or it's associated button within the program. My postal address is at the bottom of the Registration.form file which is also included with this archive. CREDITS Programming and Manual Writing: Daniel S. Milling Jr. Intuition Interface Designed with: GadToolsBox 2.0 by Jan van den Baard Intuition Interface modifications by: Daniel S. Milling Jr. Compiled with: SAS C compiler Special Thanks To: Larry Styer for Beta Testing (if there's a bug, it's his fault!! :-) Ryan Brooks for answering some intuition related questions and for not finding any enforcer hits! Chris Esser for his way-cool splitter program!