SPACE FX version 1.0
G'day,
Many helpful details about this program
can be found via the online help system.
Menu items are explained and links are
included to access further information.
Up to three hyperlinks (computer buzzword)
may be provided to reach further screens.
To select a LINK from the boxes displayed
press the number keys 1 to 3 if shown.
If absent, exit instructions are shown.
RETURN selects the first item (box 1).
To get to the previous page, press ESCAPE.
To exit, press function key F1, or try
pressing the ESCAPE key until you do.
Click on a heading with the mouse, or press
the ALT key plus the heading's first letter.
FILE - for key animation details.
SKY - sets up a starry backdrop,
PLANET - adds a planet or moon,
COMET - puts a comet dead ahead!
BITMAP - import a spacecraft image.
LIST - lists all defined objects.
OPTIONS - sets up optional items.
An animation can be considered as a
sequence of FRAMES, joined together and
displayed rapidly to give the illusion of
movement. At 30 frames per second, a 10
second animation contains 300 frames.
Therefore, to make such an animation, you
need a way to generate those 300 images.
Thats a lot of work!
Why can't someone come up with a program
that lets me define the objects in a scene
and generate all those images automatically?
I thought you'd never ask!
Enter SPACE FX version 1.0!
Objects are the core of SPACEFX.
An animation consists of a number of defined
objects that the program manipulates.
For example, the first object in the list is
often the starry sky.
Next, a planet is added to the List followed
by PCX images and so on.
SPACE FX takes your list, calculates their
position, sorts them by distance and then
draws the scene and saves it on the disk.
It does this for all animation frames that
you have defined.
Amazing stuff!
When SPACE FX is finished, you run another
program (such as DTA) to compile the frames
into a FLI animation file.
Many multimedia players will display FLI
animations and other formats as well.
For DOS, a good FLI animation viewer is
AAPLAY. It has been around for quite a
while so it is not hard to find.
In Windows, the Multimedia Player can play
FLI files.
You can also use MPEG.
When SPACE FX is finished, you have a
number of 24-bit TGA images.
To make them into an MPEG animation, you
will need an MPEG encoder and (later) an
MPEG viewer.
Once SPACE FX has created the images, they
may also be converted to other formats,
such as BMP, PCX or GIF.
Many graphics programs can do this task.
SPACEFX lets you create animations with
the inner four planets, Mercury, Venus,
Earth and Mars as well as the gas giant
Jupiter. It includes the satellites of
Mars (tiny Phobos and Diemos), Earth's
Moon and the major ones around Jupiter.
The other planets are covered in the
updated version - Saturn, Uranus
Neptune and Pluto. Some of these have
a complex system of rings, also depicted
in the registered version.
There has to be a reason to get it, right?
See the README.TXT file for details.
The SOLAR SYSTEM has one star, the Sun,
& contains nine major planets. In
order of the distance from the Sun,
they are MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, MARS,
JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE
and PLUTO.
This is remembered by the ditty,
'Many Volcanoes Erupt Mulberry Jam
Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure'.
Some planets have moons and there are
many asteroids (minor planets) as well
as comets and other debris in orbit.
The solar system's nine major planets
vary in size and structure, from the
rocky inner system (Mercury to Mars)
to the giant, gassy planets of the outer
system (Jupiter to Neptune) and icy Pluto.
Asteroids or minor planets are tiny lumps
of rock and ice.
Planets are non-luminous, shining by the
light reflected from the sun.
Some planets have been photographed by
spacecraft left in orbit about them.
Sets up key animation file settings.
You can use this menu to do just one
image or set up an animation to
automatically generate 1000 images!
The actual number of frames we
make with this program is set by
the START and END selections.
Planet rotation and movement can be
controlled in other menus.
The settings can be saved in a project
file which you can load when needed.
To generate all frames automatically
press DOALL (and have a coffee break)
or just sleep on it if the PC does not
have a numeric coprocessor!
This sets up an "outer space" backdrop.
First you can set up a coloured background
that fades from one colour to another and
then add the stars.
The stars are developed from an astronomy
star catalogue and accurately reflect the
visible night sky.
STAR ENABLE can either turn stars OFF or
switch from Northern orientation or the
view in the southern hemisphere where I am.
This only affects stars; planets are always
drawn with north at the top.
(unless you change it...)
Select from a number of planets and moons
to include in your epic animation.
Almost any detail can be changed, such as
rotation, illumination and backlighting.
Use ROTATION INC to automatically generate
correct rotation over a number of frames.
Objects can also "move" by setting the
TRAVEL options and letting the program work
out where each object should be. They will
also be sorted in order of distance as the
animation continues!
This menu sets up a coma, comet tail, halo
or torus. The Torus option can simulate a
Ring-Nebula or be used for experiments.
Tails may be Left-handed or Right-handed.
Left-handed means that the bulk of the tail
streams away to the left hand side of the
brightest part.
All components are partly transparent.
Additionally, the FADE options can make the
comet fade out or in over several frames.
And, no, I don't know why you would want to
do that!
Import images from BMP, PCX or TGA files.
You may like to include your favourite
spacecraft images from raytracing programs
like POVray to place in the scene.
Objects can also "move" by setting the
TRAVEL options and letting the program work
out where each image should be. They will
also be scaled and sorted in order as the
animation continues!
TGA (24-bit) images are limited in pixel
size to a maximum of 170 wide, 256 high.
PCX or BMP (256 colour only) can be up to
512 pixels wide and 256 pixels high.
Each defined object (stars, planets and
images) are listed here.
This list is sorted by distance specified
for each object at their START frame.
Movement is only taken into account when
the animation frames are created.
To edit an object, first highlight it with
the PREVIOUS and NEXT buttons then choose
EDIT.
DELETE and CLEAR removes the highlighted
object, or ALL objects respectively.
Various options are available to adjust
the way SPACEFX works. You can save the
frames as TGA 24-bit files as well as
monochrome (256 greyscale) BMP files.
Previews can be viewed in black & white
or with a useless fixed (!) colour palette.
DOS path names can also be specified for
imported images and output files.
No menu will come up for Quit! It just exits to the main screen if a menu is active or quits to DOS, depending.
FILE
This is the number of frames it takes to
span an animation project.
This is a handy reminder of the length of
the animation but that's about all.
The number of frames actually made by the
program are set by the START FRAME and
END FRAME values.
Important! Since each object can have
their own START and END frames, check the
current values before plotting the images.
The START Frame of an animation.
When the DOALL button is active the program
will start with the START frame and then
generate each image in turn until the END
is reached. Limits are 0 to 999.
Each defined object may also be restricted
to certain START and END frames. If you do
this, the program will not display that
object until its START frame is reached and
will stop plotting it after the END frame.
The END Frame of an animation.
When the DOALL button is active the program
will start at the START frame number and
generate images in turn until the END
is reached. Limits are 0 to 999.
Each defined object may also be restricted
to certain START and END frames. If you do
this, the program will not display that
object until its START frame is reached and
will stop plotting it after the END frame.
The Number of the current frame.
The program will use this value to process
an image when the DOFRAME or PREVIEW
buttons are pressed.
The program will adjust the value of its
internal variables to compute the correct
animation frame.
The current frame number and project name
are used to derive the filename. For the
default SPACEFX project, the files will
be SPACExxx.TGA where 'xxx' is the
current frame number. (000 to 999)
Width (in pixels) of each frame.
The maximum width is 320, minimum is 16.
Images can be full screen in size or just
tiny icon-size thumbnails.
Height of each completed frame.
The maximum height is 240, minimum is 16.
Images can be full screen in size or just
tiny icon-size thumbnails.
Select either 1.0 or 1.2 to adjust for
the screen resolution.
If the image will be displayed on a
320x200 screen - select 1.2 to adjust
for non-square pixels.
If this is not done, circular planets will
be stretched like eggs (non-circular).
If the image will be used on a screen with
'square' pixels (such as 320x240 or even
640x480) use 1.0!
This value will affect stars positions and
whether planets will appear circular,
but does not affect other images.
Number of pixels for one degree.
This value affects the star field display.
Values below 4.0 create a wide angle view
and the stars appear too crowded, while
10.0 or above may spread the stars out
too much.
This value will also affect the screen
angle of view and the visibility of
moving objects calculated with the
"TRAVEL" options, where positions are
based on distance/angle calculations.
Small pixels/degree values give a wider
field of view (fish-eye distortion)
and large values can produce a telephoto
effect.
Specifies a file name prefix describing
the project and its configuration file.
The program will use this name to create
a configuration project file (*.CFG) in
the current directory. There is no need
to include the extension (.CFG).
The FIRST 5 LETTERS in the project file
name are used to derive the saved image
file names. (combined with frame No.)
e.g. for SPACEFX project-
project file is SPACEFX.CFG
images are SPACE001.TGA etc.
Automatically loads the project file
and updates the list of objects.
All current planets, comets and images
are overwritten and a new object list is
compiled.
All options and menu selections take the
values when the project was last saved.
Saves the current state in the
project file.
All current planets, comets and images
are saved and the project file is
overwritten with the new object list.
All options and menu selections are
stored in the project file.
Generates a preview image of the
current frame.
Note that the preview is NOT saved on
the disk! It just gives you a chance to
see how the frame will turn out.
See the OPTIONS menu to switch between
B&W or colourised previews.
Generate the TGA image for this
frame only AND save it on the disk.
The "SAVE AS" options in the OPTIONS
menu need to be enabled for saving on
your hard disk.
Generate all frame images from the
current START frame to the END frame.
Note that there must be enough disk
space to store all animation frames.
60 frames of 320x200 24-bit images
will occupy 11.5 Megabytes!
The "SAVE AS" options in the OPTIONS
menu need to be enabled for saving on
your hard disk.
Backdrop disk filename with extension.
Supported file types are 24 bit TGA and
256 colour PCX or BMP files.
The Backdrop image is copied directly
to the output file at the start of
EVERY frame.
The image is centred and truncated if it
is larger than the frame WIDTH and HEIGHT.
PCX or BMP images must be 256 colour only.
If a filename is specified, it MUST exist!.
Enable a search for a different backdrop
each frame based on the current frame No.
If this is ON, the program will attempt to
substitute the numbered file if it exists
for the default backdrop above.
The first 5 letters in the filename are
used.
Example: for BACKDROP.BMP,
look for BACKD001.BMP at frame 1,
look for BACKD002.BMP at frame 2 etc.
No error is generated if the numbered files
do not exist.
The TOP screen colour for coloured
backgrounds if enabled.
The top of the fade/merge background
window will be this colour. Succeeding
lines will gradually merge with, and
become COLOUR TWO.
If FADE TYPE is NONE, no coloured
backdrop will be produced.
Secondary colour for background
fades if enabled.
The top of the fade/merge background
window start with COLOUR ONE. Succeeding
lines will gradually merge with, and
become COLOUR TWO. (this colour)
If FADE TYPE is NONE, no coloured
backdrop will be produced.
Selects NONE (black background),
LINEAR or POLAR fades.
LINEAR fades will start at the top of the
defined rectangle (START X, START Y) with
COLOUR ONE and gradually merge to COLOUR
TWO at the bottom (END X, END Y).
POLAR fades use START X and START Y as
the centre point (COLOUR ONE) and plots to
the whole frame. The END X and END Y points
defines where COLOUR TWO will be found.
The result is similar to a HALO but with
more flexibility.
This is the upper left X coordinate of
the fade/merge colour background.
This can be set to the screen limits or
a smaller area anywhere on screen.
For Polar fades, this defines the centre
point for COLOUR ONE.
This is the upper left Y coordinate of
the fade/merge colour background.
This can be set to the screen limits or
a smaller area anywhere on screen.
For Polar fades, this defines the centre
point for COLOUR ONE.
This is the bottom right X coordinate of
the fade/merge colour background.
This can be set to the screen limits or
a smaller area anywhere on screen.
For Polar fades, this defines the merge
point for COLOUR TWO.
This is the bottom right Y coordinate of
the fade/merge colour background.
This can be set to the screen limits or
a smaller area anywhere on screen.
For Polar fades, this defines the merge
point for COLOUR TWO.
Select no stars, north view or
south view.
NONE selects no stars.
NORTH selects a star field where North
is at the top of screen, South is on the
horizon and West is right.
SOUTH selects a star field where South
is at the top, north is on the horizon
and West is left.
Enables more accurate position for stars.
If ON, each star is drawn using an accurate
calculation which takes into account the
spherical nature of the sky. If you wish
to plot stars near the poles, you MUST
choose this option.
If OFF, a more simple calculation is used
which suffers from much distortion if the
star latitude is more than twenty degrees
from the equator.
Allows horizontal adjustment of the star
field.
The selected longitude (degrees) defines
the screen centre.
The constellation ORION is about 80 deg.
with a Latitude of 0 degrees.
The SCORPIO constellation is at 250 deg.
and a Latitude of -30 degrees.
LEO the Lion is at 160 degrees and a
Latitude of 15 degrees.
'Right Ascension' is the more correct term.
Permits vertical adjustment of the starry
backdrop.
The selected latitude (degrees) defines
the latitude visible at the screen centre.
STAR CALC in this menu will need to
be set for accurate star fields more than
20 degrees from the equator.
'Declination' is the more correct term.
Horizontal adjustment of the stars
in an animation (degrees).
If this value is not zero, the longitude
is incremented each frame, producing a
left/right rotation of the star field.
Vertical adjustment of starfield
for an animation (degrees).
If this value is not zero, the latitude
is incremented each frame, producing an
up/down rotation of the star field.
Limiting star brightness-
1.0 is normal. Higher values will
increase the brightness of all stars
making fainter ones more prominent.
Bright stars are limited to the maximum
rgb component of 255. Too high a value
will soon saturate them.
Selects the degree of the star twinkle
effect. (0.0 means none).
This is not well implemented.
Suggestions welcome...
Planet number in the database.
The planet is selected from the numbers
given on the menu page.
You can select higher values to switch
to coloured plain spheres. The colours
match the palette entries on the star
menu. Colour value is the selected value
less the highest planet number.
If there are 16 planets available, number
17 selects colour 0, 18 selects colour 1
and so on.
Vertical diameter (pole to pole)
of the planet for the START frame.
This is pixel diameter not a physical
measurement. The first frame plotted will
have this size. Subsequent frames will be
adjusted if the travel options are used.
Ratio of equatorial to polar
diameter. Try 0.7 to 1.5
Some planets (such as Jupiter) have an
equatorial bulge due to high rotation rate
and an oblate ratio >1.0 (e.g. 1.07).
Some asteroids may be oblong vertically
and the ratio will be < 1.0 (e.g. 0.8).
1.0 is a perfect circle outline.
Orientation of the North Pole
(normally 90 degrees)
The pole orientation of some planets is
not 90 degrees, and the POLAR ANGLE needs
to be adjusted. Earth has an inclination of
23 degrees and the POLAR ANGLE should be
set at 67 (90-23) or 113 (90+23) to get
a more realistic effect.
Feel free to vary this and see the result.
Illuminated phase angle of the
planet. Full = 180 deg.
Illumination is presumed to come from the
far left or right of the screen.
PHASE determines the parts of the planet
that is lit up by the Sun.
PHASE = 0.0 The night side is visible.
PHASE = 90.0 Half lit, shadow on left.
PHASE = 180 Fully lit, Sun behind us.
PHASE = 270 Half lit, shadow on right.
Central latitude of planetary image.
This defines the latitude of the pixel
in the centre of the image. Zero gives a
normal upright image.
Specifying a positive value tips the pole
so that the north polar region is visible.
Specifying a negative value tips the pole
so that the south polar region is visible.
Initial Rotation angle (degrees)
at the START frame. (major planets)
This defines the Longitude at the centre
of the planet. If the INCrement value is
zero, the displayed longitude will be
fixed. If non-zero, the longitude will be
adjusted for each frame.
Some moons have only one side in the data
file and for these, rotation is fixed.
Increase in planet rotation for each
frame of an animation.
This determines the increase in Longitude
at the centre of the planet.
If zero, the displayed longitude will be
fixed. If non-zero, the longitude will be
adjusted for each frame.
For a complete rotation (360 deg.) in 60
frames, set this value to 6.0 degrees.
Some moons have only one side in the data
file and for these, rotation is fixed.
Horizontal position of the centre of the
planet at the START frame.
If the travel options are used, the true
position will be updated each frame, based
on this position at the start.
Vertical centre of planet at the
START frame.
If the travel options are used, the true
position will be updated each frame, based
on this position at the start.
Terminator shading and illumination along
the day/night border.
This is used with LIGHTING LIMIT to
determine the planet's illumination.
High values make the terminator region
sharp while low values make it soft.
1.0 gives a smooth fade from the planet's
centreline to the terminator.
4.0 gives a sharp terminator line while
1.4 makes a nice soft planet.
Determines the illumination limit of the
brightest part of a planet image.
This is used in conjunction with SHADING
to determine the planet's illumination.
It is usually best left at 1.0 unless you
wish to brighten or darken the planet.
Illumination of the night side
of a planet.
A value of 0.0 gives a completely blank
night-side shadow.
0.1 to 0.2 provides for faint night-side
illumination. This is useful to simulate
moonlight or multiple Suns.
Larger values will progressively brighten
it until no shadow is left.
Reference distance for the planet at
its START frame.
This value is used to initially sort the
plotting order so that the most distant
objects get drawn first. Nearby objects
are plotted last of all.
This value is used to recalculate the size
of the image if the TRAVEL options are set.
Distance travelled at Travel Angle for a
single frame interval in an animation.
A travel distance of zero means that the
object is fixed throughout the animation.
A non-zero value will cause the object to
be moved by the specified amount in each
frame. The resulting change of size and
position is automatically calculated.
Angle of travel of a moving object relative
to the centre of the screen.
(screen centre = 0).
Use 90 for left movement,
180 for moving towards the observer
270 for moving right of screen.
Comet type can be COMA, TAIL (left and
right), HALO and TORUS.
COMA is a fuzzball with a sharpish centre.
TAIL simulates a comet tail if the ASPECT
RATIO is large. RHS and LHS specify the
direction of the tail from the point of
maximum brightness.
HALO is a fuzzball with a gentle fade.
TORUS produces a glowing ring.
All are partly transparent.
The colour of the centre of the comet.
As the fuzzball is drawn, the pixel
colour is gradually merged from the
centre colour to the edge colour.
For a TORUS, the central colour may never
be plotted since the centre is blank!
The colour at the outer edge of the comet.
As the fuzzball is drawn, the pixel
colour is gradually merged from the
centre colour to the edge colour.
For these objects, the edge colour may not
be plotted since the edge fades away in
a smooth transparent fade!
Vertical dimension of the comet in pixels
at the START frame.
If the travel options are used, the actual
diameter will be re-calculated for each
frame.
Note that by the time the edge is reached
the pixels have faded away to nothing and
the true edge will not be visible. You may
have to make it slightly larger than you
would otherwise.
Ratio of horizontal to vertical size.
For a fuzzball, 1.0 produces a circular
outline. This may need to be changed to
1.2 for a 320x200 screen size.
Values like 4.0 or higher produce an nice
tail for a comet.
You could try values like 0.2 for a
vertical comet tail, but I found it less
than satisfactory.
Horizontal position of the centre of the
comet at the START frame.
If the travel options are used, the true
position will be updated each frame, based
on this position at the start.
If you would like to match a coma and tail
so that they move together, position the
coma at the tail's distance and place it
over the brightest part of the tail.
Vertical position of the centre of the
comet at the START frame.
If the travel options are used, the true
position will be updated each frame, based
on this position at the start.
Degree of turbulence in the fuzzball.
Currently I have not yet implemented this.
Any ideas how to do it?
Determines the illumination limit of the
brightest part of a comet image.
It is usually best left at 1.0 unless you
wish to brighten or darken the comet.
Too high a value will saturate the bright
parts of the comet.
This may be NONE, FADE IN or FADE OUT.
NONE means that the comet is not faded.
FADE IN means that the comet is gradually
faded in from the START frame to the END
frame.
FADE OUT makes the comet gradually fade
away to nothing from the START frame to
the END frame.
Reference distance for the comet at
its START frame.
This value is used to initially sort the
plotting order so that the most distant
objects get drawn first. Nearby objects
are plotted last of all.
This value is used to recalculate the size
of the comet if the TRAVEL options are set.
Distance travelled at Travel Angle for a
single frame interval in an animation.
A travel distance of zero means that the
object is fixed throughout the animation.
A non-zero value will cause the object to
be moved by the specified amount in each
frame. The resulting change of size and
position is automatically calculated.
Angle of travel of a moving object relative
to the centre of the screen.
(screen centre = 0).
Use 90 for left movement,
180 for moving towards the observer
270 for moving right of screen.
Vertical Angle of travel of a moving
comet relative to the centre of screen.
(screen centre = 0).
Positive for upward movement,
Negative for downward movement.
Comets can travel in a LINEAR motion,
ACCELerated motion, DECELerated motion,
or a SINE or COSINE arc.
The motion is calculated over the interval
between the START frame to the END frame.
ACCEL starts from zero velocity.
DECEL brakes to a stop.
SINE and COSINE swing side to side.
Bitmap disk filename with extension.
Supported file types are 24 bit TGA and
256 colour PCX or BMP files.
TGA (24-bit) images are limited in pixel
size to a maximum of 170 wide, 256 high.
PCX or BMP (256 colour only) can be up to
512 pixels wide and 256 pixels high.
It pays to make the imported bitmap as
large as the program allows to maximise
the edge adjustment as it is scaled down.
It reduces the pasted-on look.
See OPTIONS Edge Adjust for details.
Horizontal scaling of the bitmap at the
START frame.
1.0 represents full size.
If the travel options are used, the true
scale will be updated each frame, based
on this starting scale factor.
Vertical scaling of the bitmap at the
START frame.
1.0 represents full size.
If the travel options are used, the true
scale will be updated each frame, based
on this starting scale factor.
Reference distance for the bitmap at
its START frame.
This value is used to initially sort the
plotting order so that the most distant
objects get drawn first. Nearby objects
are plotted last of all.
This value is used to recalculate the size
of the image if the TRAVEL options are set.
Horizontal position of the centre of the
bitmap at the START frame.
If the travel options are used, the true
position will be updated each frame, based
on this position at the start.
Vertical position of the centre of the
bitmap at the START frame.
If the travel options are used, the true
position will be updated each frame, based
on this position at the start.
Selects plotting of BLACK pixels.
If this option is OFF, black (colour 0)
pixels are NOT plotted allowing the
background to show through the gaps in
the image.
If this option is ON, all pixels are
plotted, even black ones.
Determines the illumination limit of the
brightest part of a image.
It is usually best left at 1.0 unless you
wish to brighten or darken the bitmap.
Too high a value will saturate the bright
parts of the image.
This may be NONE, FADE IN or FADE OUT.
NONE means that the image is not faded.
FADE IN means that the image is gradually
faded in from the START frame to the END
frame.
FADE OUT makes the image gradually fade
away to nothing from the START frame to
the END frame.
Degree of transparency.
The image can be made partly transparent
allowing the background to be faintly
visible behind the image.
Use 0.0 to make it opaque.
1.0 is completely transparent (invisible).
Type of transparency, FLAT, LEFT, RIGHT,
TOP, BOTTOM or PIXEL.
FLAT means that the object has the same
transparency all over.
LEFT means that the left part of the
bitmap gradually fades away.
RIGHT means that the right half fades.
TOP fades the upper half of the image.
BOTTOM fades the lower half only.
PIXEL fades by pixel brightness.
Enable a search for a different file for
each frame based on the current frame No.
i.e look for NAME001.bmp at frame 1,
NAME002 at frame 2 and so on.
If this is ON, the program will attempt to
substitute the numbered file if it exists
for the default name above.
No error is generated if the numbered files
do not exist.
Distance travelled at Travel Angle for a
single frame interval in an animation.
A travel distance of zero means that the
object is fixed throughout the animation.
A non-zero value will cause the object to
be moved by the specified amount in each
frame. The resulting change of size and
position is automatically calculated.
Angle of travel of a moving object relative
to the centre of the screen.
(screen centre = 0).
Use 90 for left movement,
180 for moving towards the observer
270 for moving right of screen.
Vertical Angle of travel of a moving
image relative to the centre of screen.
(screen centre = 0).
Positive for upward movement,
Negative for downward movement.
Images can travel in a LINEAR motion,
ACCELerated motion, DECELerated motion,
or a SINE or COSINE arc.
The motion is calculated over the interval
between the START frame to the END frame.
ACCEL starts from zero velocity.
DECEL brakes to a stop.
SINE and COSINE swing side to side.
Moves the current object pointer backward
in the list of objects.
Moving the object pointer requires you to
select EDIT OBJECT to recall the object's
variables into the menu selections.
Be careful that the object pointer is in
the right place before you SAVE or DELETE.
Moves the current object pointer forward
in the list of objects.
Moving the object pointer requires you to
select EDIT OBJECT to recall the object's
variables into the menu selections.
Be careful that the object pointer is in
the right place before you SAVE or DELETE.
Uses the current object pointer recall
the object's details for Editing.
The program automatically jumps to the
appropriate menu and updates the object's
variables into the menu selections.
Editing an empty slot will result in a
"nothing to edit" error.
Deletes the current object pointed to in
the object list.
Once the object is deleted there is no
getting it back. All you can hope for is
that some old values still remain in the
menu selections.
Deleting an empty slot will result in a
"nothing to delete" error.
Erases all defined objects in the project.
This option will remove all planets and
bitmaps from the list, requiring the user
to start again.
Defines the search path for all imported
bitmap images for the project.
Initially, this should be adjusted to the
directory where SPACE FX resides.
If paths are enabled, the program will
search THIS DIRECTORY ONLY for its images.
This has NO effect if PATH ENABLE is OFF.
Directories defined in this way MUST EXIST!
Strange but true...
Forward or back slashes / \ may be used!
Defines the directory where the program
saves its output TGA/BMP images.
Initially, this should be adjusted to the
directory where SPACE FX resides.
If paths are enabled, the program will
save in THIS DIRECTORY ONLY.
This has NO effect if PATH ENABLE is OFF.
Directories defined in this way MUST EXIST!
Strange but true...
Forward or back slashes / \ may be used!
Enables the loading and save directories
defined in BITMAP PATH and OUTPUT PATH.
If this option is OFF, images are loaded
and saved in the directory where SPACE FX
resides.
If this is ON, the above paths will be used
and the SPACE FX directory ignored.
Enables the program to create a BMP image
as each frame is created.
Existing images are overwritten without
warning and placed in the OUTPUT PATH if
enabled.
The BMP file is a 256 greyscale.
Enables the program to create a TGA image
as each frame is created.
Existing images are overwritten without
warning and placed in the OUTPUT PATH if
enabled.
The TGA file is 24 bit uncompressed.
Selects a fixed colour palette for the
preview frame function.
If this is OFF, preview frames will be
displayed in glorious monochrome!
If ON, a fixed 256 colour palette is used.
It's not very good trying to fit thousands
of colours to a fixed palette but it may
give you some idea how it may look.
Personally I prefer B&W previews.
Enables a dialog box to be displayed in
the preview frame for debugging info.
If ON, a dialog box will appear in the
preview frame for EVERY object in the list
except for a starfield.
This box shows the objects size, scale and
where it will be plotted.
This is handy when you loose an object off
screen but can be a pain if there are a lot
of defined objects.
If this option is OFF, no info is displayed.
Enables automatic adjustment of a planet's
illuminated phase as it moves across the
screen.
If ON, the program takes account of the
viewing angle to adjust the PHASE of a
planet that is not on screen centre.
If PIX/DEGREE is 4.0, the viewable screen
represents 80 degrees (a wide angle view).
If OFF, the viewing angle is ignored.
This may result in some distortion if the
light source (the Sun) is also in the view.
Enables perspective placement of moving
objects.
With a wide field of view, a moving object
will sometimes appear to move in an arc as
it sweeps past the camera, particularly if
it is near the top or bottom of the view.
Turning this option OFF, changes the method
of calculation to reduce this effect.
Enable the merging of bitmap edges with
the background.
This option is only useful with bitmaps
that are scaled down. It does not work
if the drawing scale is near 1.0.
With this option OFF, plotted images often
appear with a slightly black edge lining,
giving a "pasted-on" look.
With this option ON, the program attempts to
merge the edge of a scaled down bitmap with
the background colours.
Information on commands and
program functions.
For help at any time, press the F1 key
for a brief description of the menu or
function highlighted.
More detailed help is located in the
manual. See SPACEFX.DOC or SPACEFX.HTM
SPACEFX version 1.0 Build 07.
Shareware version.
Release date 1st June 1997.
Programmer: Anthony M Hugo
Brisbane, Australia
Copyright 1997, All rights reserved.
Planet maps derived from NASA/JPL images
and PD Hubble Telescope data.
Some X-mode graphics from XLIB05.LIB by
Themie Gouthas and Matthew McKenzie.
Intro image FONTs from THG/FX.
Planets by Divine Providence.
If you find this program useable...
Please register your copy with the author.
Internet: http://www.winshop.com.au/hugo/
Email: hugo@winshop.com.au
Tony Hugo
P.O. Box 145
North Tamborine
Queensland
Australia 4272
Check out README.TXT for the latest info.