Copyright: Copyright © 1995 R. Shuler


Advanced Features
Appendix 	[Advanced Features, Command Definitions]

Welcome!  You are on your own from here.  The territory is exotic & interesting, but it is also unmapped and untested in many instances.  Everything that the ordinary user should be using is on a menu.

Topics Below Include:

Thumbnails

Making Sample & Customizable Cards

Independent (Async) Motion of Objects (e.g. fire flickering)

Editing Spurious Motion

Instances (those numbers on >start & >move)

Commands (>somethings)

Expressions

Variables

Thumbnails

You have noticed thumbnails appearing for some categories & sample cards.  To do this for your cards or categories (a category is just a subdirectory), create a .bmp or .gif file of the same name as the card or category.  For example, if your card name is mycard, with playlist mycard.c95 and compiled card named mycard.ecd or .exe, then create a file mycard.bmp with a sample image representing your card.

To exactly fill the thumbnail area, use an image size of  55 x 47  pixels.

If you create a subdirectory mystuff, it will show up in the subdirectory list, and if you create mystuff.bmp, this thumbnail will be displayed.

Making Sample & Customizable Cards

To make cards which display the sample and customizable prompts on opening, do the following:

(1)	If you used Visual Workshop, then to enable the automatic

prompts to display select Edit | Edit as playlist and remove

the >visual command (you can still 'Edit as visual' or 'Personalize'

whenever you want, but the prompts will not display in a visual card.)

(2)	Place any credits or special instructions as ;comments near beginning

(>colors command, if any, always must be first line)

(3)	Place the >sample command anywhere in the card (except 1st line)

(4)	Preceed any sound, image or >text entry for which you wish the

customizable prompt to appear with the >custom command (if multi-

line text, preceed the first >bigtext line)

If you have the commercial license you can distribute the personalizing software e-persnl.exe with cards you make in this way, so your customers/users can personalize the cards.

Independent (Async) Motion of Objects (e.g. fire flickering)

Motion is normally synchronized by the frames, so you can make things happen together.  Sometimes you wish an object to move or change poses independently in the background, asychronously from the main frame control.  There are two methods for doing this.  Both require manual modifications to the playlist, which you can do via Edit | Playlist as text (to use windows notepad - useful for moving multiple lines around), or Edit | Edit as list (to use playlist mode).

(A)	Moving motion into the >actor:

This is useful for having simple objects (like a balloon) moving

around.  It will not work in combination with pose control ('next' option).

-	Add your actor/object and define its motion normally

-	Edit the playlist and find the >move's associated with

your object (match move number to >start # actorname)

-	Cut the moves to the paste buffer, removing them from the frame

-	Find the >actor definition, which will look like this:

>actor name

#name

>pause 99

imagefile

>repeat 9999

>end

-	Paste the moves after the imagefile.

-	Delete the >pause and >repeat commands

(B)	Using special motion commands:

For more control over a sequence of images, do the following:

-	Find the >actor definition as described above

-	Edit the >pause command and supply a time for each image

-	Delete the repeat command, like this:

>pause 1.0 1.5

image1

image2

To repeat the sequence indefinitely, use a loop:

#name

>pause ...

images

>loop #name

The difference between >loop & >repeat is as follows:

-	>loop goes back to an arbitrary #label, which can

  begin a pause sequence over again

-	>repeat continues thru the pause, and keeps

  repeating the last interval until count exhausted

The following simulates a seemingly random flame flickering

with a long pause sequence and only two images.  A loop is

used to make it restart & continue indefinitely:

>actor MCANDL1

#MCANDL1

>pause .5 .7 .7 .5 .5 .5 .5 .2

XMASLIB\CFLAME0.GIF

XMASLIB\CFLAME1.GIF

>repeat 4

>loop #MCANDL1

>end MCANDL1

Move & zoom instructions may be used in a repeat group similar to

the >pause.  in this case, the numbers are grabbed 2 at a time (x, y).

Moves may be specified as absolute frame coordinates from the

upper left corner (>moveto), or just displacement from last position

(>moveby).  The follow example from the birdhunt demo uses move

and zoom to simulate a flying bird using a single image:

>actor BIRD

>zoom 10 20, 10 0, 0 10, 0 -5, -5 5, -5 -10

>moveby 0 0, 10 4, 10 4, 7 3, 6 2, 5 2

>pause .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5

BIRD1.BMP

>repeat 6

...

Use of commas is optional.  The actual birdhunt.c95 is slightly more

complicated, allowing for user clicks, and changing the bird pose to light

in the tree.  Examine it and note that the advantage of relative motion is

that one >actor can be used to make several birds, which follow separate

paths according to their start position.

More sophisticated independence is possible if you have some programming

skills.  Examine the sections on commands & variables below.

Editing Spurious Motion

Sometimes using Visual Workshop a motion will appear that you don't want.  V.W. makes its best guess as to which motions are spurious, but if it misses one, simply edit the playlist manually, using either Edit as text or Edit as list, and find and remove the offending >move.

Instances

Many commands below have an instance number.  This uniquely identifies an instanceof an actor, even if more than one copy of an actor is displayed.  The >start command assigns an instance number.  The main playlist is instance zero.

Commands

It is best to copy a working example that is similar to what you want - just replace the files in it at first.  Then try one or two commands, and back them out and figure another way if they don't do what you want.

Some of the things you [may] be able to do include allowing the user to grab & drag objects, and have the objects notice this & change their behavior.  You can have objects notice each other, the edge of the screen, etc.  There are system variables you can check & sometimes set, program control (IF) commands, signals, events, etc.

See below for definition of expressions and variables..

Repeat, Timing & Motion Commands

>delay n.n seconds	delay from start of previous image

  serves as end of frame mark in Visual Workshop

  max delay is 30 sec.

  99 = suspend until resumed (see below)

  999=wait user input (see >click)

>time n.n	delay until n.n seconds from begin (max=30)

>timezero	redefine beginning (to overcome 30 sec limit)

>pause  n.n  n.n  n.n . . .	applies to following images, also see note below*

  the pause actually occurs after  the next image

  the smallest practical pause may be 0.1 or 0.2 sec.

>moveto x1 y1 x2 y2 x3 y3 ...	define coordinates for following images*

(from upper left window corner to image corner)

>moveby dx1 dy1 dx2 dy2 ...	define amount to change coordinates for following*

>zoom dw1 dh1 dw2 dh2 ...	define amount to change width & height of

  the following images*

>repeat n	repeat from previous move/zoom/pause n times

  'n' is unneeded if multiple pause values are given

* Note - pause zoom & move do not take effect until the next image.

Visual Workshop Special Commands

>move 	moves the image associated with an object

n	x  y	zx  zy	d	  instance n (see >start) moves to x,y and zooms

  by zx & zy.  -  then delays d (hundreths)

next	..optional, at end, gets next image

loop	#label	  optional after next, select new image group

>simultaneous	reads ahead in the playlist to independently

  process >moves of different instances - can

  slow a card down somewhat - the >moves can

  be copied to an >actor definition when the

  pattern is correct (in which case the instance

  number on the >move is ignored)

>posetime  n  sec	override >pause time for instance n.  Effective

  until next >pause other than 99.  Use

  >posetime 99 to stop motion (suspend)

Control Commands

>loop #label	unconditional go to

>exit	stop this actor/playlist (others continue) - using

  exit in the main playlist closes the E-Card window

>clear	n	hide instance n, or current instance if used in actor

  (>exit & >end cmds leave actor showing)

>clearall	clear & exit all text, actors/objects, click regions

  (more or less starts over)

>if  expression  >command	if expression is non zero, >command is executed

(works for most commands, see below for expr.)

>set  variable  expression	limit 15 chars, about 30 variables

>xyvec  oth_instance  xysum	sets variables X & Y giving a motion vector to

another instance (object) - scaled to have an

approximately constant sum

 - gives plain coord. of oth obj if xysum=0

 - use after a >moveby x y command to track objs

note: use x & y immediately as they are

  global/volatile

>start n name at x y	initiates an actor, also continues following

(sort of like a 'fork' or task invocation)

'n' is an instance number from 1 to 20 for

  use on >move's (you may have multiple

  instances of an actor at different positions)

x & y, if specified, are added to all moves in actor

>click x1 y1 x2 y2 n loop #label	if click in region, go to label

  point coordinates are relative if in actor

  'n' is instance to become after click

>noclick	removes previously defined click regions

>signal n	issue signal number n

>on n	wait for signal number n  (current actor only)

>custom  "description..."	declares that a customizable item follows

  (.bmp, .wav or >text) - optional description

  will be displayed to user

>sample card	offers to preview card when opening playlist

>cdrom	PRO version *ONLY* - must be 1st or 2nd line

  (after >colors) - cause temp files to go to

  in a temp dir. in c:\windows in case running

  from CDROM

Group Commands

>preload	expand files but do not display or execute commands

>end preload	(but you can 'loop' into a preload group later)

>actor name	this pair defines the sub-playlist for an actor

>end name	(goes with >actor)

Interactive Commands

>click	see above

>noclick	see above

>wait for input	does just that, but only for the actor in which in

  occurs - displays a menu if no click regions defined

>waitall	waits for input after each succeeding file - like a

  >pause, it takes effect after the next file - to cancel

  a >waitall use a  >pause 0

>resume  n	resumes instance n from wait, pause or delay

>back	n	backs up to previous wait point, redisplaying

  preceeding images - unpredictable if using

  waits in multiple actors - the n says which instance

  to resume when backing up (current one if omitted)

  - back saves a lot of tedium but is not always suitable

>backstop	use if >backing in an actor as limit of how far back to go

  (i.e., it won't back up past this command)

>hourglass	displays hourglass cursor, e.g. while actors preload

  - use a short >delay to reset cursor

>grabbable	used in an actor, allows user to grab & move

  it with left mouse button - if you use moveby's

  the object will continue from current position

  when released - with moveto's it jumps back to

  where it would have been

>ungrabbable	cancels a previous >grabbable

>edit	n	allows user to enter text on text panel n

  (to make an empty text panel, make one with

   a single blank, and edit out using playlist mode)

Display Commands

filename	displays the file or plays the media

>colors filename	uses color palette from this file for all images to

avoid nuisance background flashing on 256

color systems

>transparent color r g b	set a transparent color default is 255 255 255)

  use for one actor, or in main playlist for all actors

  the color MUST be in the palette - best to pick a

  common one like 128 128 128 or 0 0 0

>text # 	displays text, # is message number 0-9

at x y 	  where to display - this is NOT actor relative

size n 	  height of letters (pixels? I don't know)

color r g b 	  RGB color value

bold italic serif underline 	  use any combination to control lettering style

"..."	  text to be displayed

file  filename	alternate source of text - must be in preload group

bigtext	text is found in preceeding >bigtext commands

"...  `var  ..."	  `var (backquote) is replaced with variable value

   (must have space before and after `var !)

>text #	clears message number #

>bigtext "some_text_string"	used for strings over 200 characters

  place any number of these prior to the >text

  command, and use keyword bigtext instead

  of string at end of line

>title  "...string..."	changes title bar of E-Card window

>maxwin	sizes window to fill screen exactly - it's up to you to

  provide a main-playlist image at least this big

  before issuing the maxwin command

With version 2.2, size background to fit screen size, less 20 in the vertical dimension

(e.g. 640x460), and window will be adjusted properly.  >maxwin may be dropped in future verions.

>print	causes the current card frame to be printed

Expressions

An expression must NOT contain embedded blanks. It may contain variable, integer constants, and operators.  There is no operator precedence.  Evaluation order may be right to left, I never tested it.  Zero is false & non-zero is true.

Allowed operators are + - * / < > = !    The = is equality check.  Use >set for assignment.  The ! is logical not.  There are no 2 character operators (e.g. >= is not allowed).  There are NO error messages for violations.

Variables

In addition to your variables, many variables are set by E-Card.  Some of these are instance dependent.

Instance dependent variables:

CONTEXT	current instance #

GRABBED	this actor has been grabbed by the user (else zero)

LEFT	left side x pixel position

TOP	top y pixelposition (i.e. 0=at the top)

RIGHT	right side x

BOTTOM	you get the idea by now

OVERLAP	instance number of a (any, indeterminate) actor at least

  50% overlapping this one

  (pad your image area to get the effect you want)

X, Y	move coordinates set by >xyvec command to track another object

Instance independent system variables:

SIGNAL	last signal # issued

TIME	milliseconds since beginning of card, or >timezero command


Animated Web Page GIF's
Special Uses

This page contains the following topics:

1.  Animated GIF's

2.  Presentations

3.  Brochures & Tutorials

4.  Playback from CDROM

5.  Distributing Personalizable Cards

Animated GIF's

Using Visual Workshop, you have the option to save as a Web Card.  This produces a multi-image .GIF file, viewable on a web page.  Newer browsers will see the embedded motion.

Observe the following guidelines:

- All component files must be .GIF (no .bmp, .wav, etc.)

- Only move actors via main playlist (Visual Wkshp), not using >moveto or >moveby

   (recommend using Visual Workshop)

- No zooming or perspective, no looping, clicks or other fancy features.

   (you will be given the option of continuous looping when you build the Web Card)

- The actor must move or change pose in every frame to remain visible!

- The actor boundary must NOT align with the upper left corner of background!

   (it may disappear if so aligned - this position is reserved for E-Card's use)

Be aware the capabilities of the browsers are limited:

- The actor boundary must NOT go outside the background - most browsers will CRASH.

- Most browsers will not repaint the frame background image correctly when actors move.

  however they usually WILL repaint the web page background correctly.  So, you can either:

    (a) do pure frame animation with no actors

- makes large files if your images are very big,  but some web authors do it

- do not use transparency or pure white around any moving part of the image

    (b) use a transparent, empty frame background and rely on your web page background

        e.g.:  <body background=somefile.gif>

- use 'draw' mode to place objects statically

- moving objects really need to move in every frame.  You'll have to experiment

  if you use more than one object.  The browser's may not give same result as Preview

    see Web-Card samples directory for ready made transparent backgrounds of various sizes

(c) use a transparent or white background which is not empty, but do not allow actors

      to ever overlap any background object, unless you want it to disappear.

Here are some tips:

- Make actor small & delays large for animation over phone line connects

- Put your animation at the top of your page or it may be through by the time the viewer

  scrolls down to it

- Use a small initial delay to allow for page loading

- To have actor appear to stand still, move it away & back to same place within the frame

- Use only 1 background, if possible

- You will have to use some other graphics program to set a transparent color in the background

- To get the actor to remain visible in the last frame:  create additional frames with 30 sec. delays,

   moving actor in each (see above if still)

- You CAN use draw mode (shift-move) - with multiple actors the browsers sometimes do not

   restore the background correctly.

- You CAN use simultaneous motion - but again, browsers sometimes screw up multiple actors

Here are some tools:

- Look in the [library] subdirectory for transparent backgrounds of various

  sizes to make animations that overlay a web page background

- If you wish to tell people browsing your page where they can get E-Card

  so they can make animations, you can use one of the 2 icons, also in [library].

  Just upload ecard2.gif (shown above) or ecard1.gif (gray) to your web site,

  and include a link like this:

<a href=http://www.nettap.com/~rlshuler><img src=ecard2.gif border=0></a>

E-Card is not a general purpose viewer of multi-image gif files, and although it will preview your file, you should try it with several browsers to see if you have the desired effect.

Presentations

In the [presenta] subdirectory you will find samples.  Simply begin editing one and save it under a different name.  Use Edit | Duplicate frame to get more pages.  These samples will hold the same 'Title' from slide to slide (text panel 0 is used for the title).  Click on 'Title' in frame 1 to change it.  To edit any text unique to each page, answer 'No' to the prompt asking if you want to change original text.  Note that the color bar below the title is made using text panel #1.  To dispose of it just edit and backspace over it.  To dispose of any other object in a sample, click on it and select Edit | Remove item.

In the [tools] subdirectory you will find the [image] control.  During playback, this allows Forward/Back/Restart control of a presentation.  Use a frame hold time of 999 wherever you want to wait for a click on this control.  You can add the controls.c95 object or one of the other color variations to a presentation you are doing from scratch.  It must be object #1 (i.e., the first added), and it should start in frame #1.  This control clears all text panels except 0 & 1 as you change frames.  You can edit the control in playlist mode to change its behavior.

The samples are set up for full screen on a 640x480 display.  To make your own backgrounds for this size display, make a 640x440 GIF file.  BMP's are slower to load, but they will work.  You can use the sample backgrounds with another size display by stretching them with your favorite graphics program.  For example, stretch to 800x580 to fit an 800x600 display mode (20 less in the vertical dimension).

To Print a slide, preview the presentation so the guide marks on any objects won't be visible.  Printing in color is recommended.  For colored text on a colored background, you may get too little contrast (i.e., all black) in black & white.  If you must print a color on color slide, temporarily replace the background with the supplied  white1.gif  sample.  You can do this with a few file copies (using file manager).  To print the beach sample in B&W:

-  rename BEACH1.GIF as SAVE.GIF

-  copy WHITE1.GIF to BEACH1.GIF

-  use E-CARD to print slides from BEACH.C95

-  copy SAVE.GIF to BEACH1.GIF to restore the background

To change or setup printers, for example to print sideways on the page (layout mode), use the Windows Control Panel, and change or setup the default printer.  E-Card will only use the default printer and settings.  If E-Card just ejects a page with nothing on it, try changing the configuration.  For example:  enable or disable Print Manager, try another printer driver, etc.  I use SuperPrint for reliable, quality printing (1-800-524-3388).

Tutorials & Brochures

A Tutorial is a presentation with a contents pages, and perhaps other screens in which the user clicks on an object to go another page (frame).  See the Visual Workshop section for a short writeup on Edit | Options | on click goto and other features you might want to use.

A Brochure usually would combine some interactive features of a presentation or tutorial, with some sequences that playback autonomously like a normal e-card.

The Shopping Cart Sales Card demo in the [presenta] subdirectory lets a customer drag purchases to a shopping cart, totals them up, and prints the order for mailing.  This uses the on click go to,  grabbable object and auto print options.  It also uses a few of the advanced features.  Examine the playlist SHOP.C95 with a text editor for detailed instructions on how to add your own items for sale.  Remember, a commercial license is required for commercial use!  Here is a brief explanation of the special playlist commands used:

>edit  n	allows user to enter text on panel #n, see playlist for #

>xyvec  obj#  0	sets X & Y variables to position of object

>if  x>250  ...	tests of object is half way across screen (i.e. in cart)

>set  total  total+7	adds $7 to total purchase

>text .. "Total is $ `total"	backquote ` causes value of total to be displayed

Playback from CDROM

If you have the Professional edition of E-Card (i.e. commercial license)  you can enter playlist mode and add the command >cdrom as the first or second (after >colors) command to enable playback from CDROM.  This tells e-card to put its working files in a temporary directory, rather than the current working directory (which isn't writeable on a CDROM!).

Distributing Personalizable Cards

The Professional edition (i.e. commercial license) a program e-persnl.exe, which you can distribute with the component files of a card that you sell or give away.  This allows your customers to personalize the card if you have set it up to use the >custom feature.  See Appendix for how to set up cards this way.  Specific information on customizing e-persnl.exe is provided with the Professional edition in the file e-persnl.txt.


Animation

One of the most fun things you can do with E-Card is easily make short animations.  Anyone can do this!  It works just like cartoons, but made easier with computer drawing.  When added to the moving & zooming object features of E-Card version 2.0, it can put a lot of pizzaz in a small package  Here's how to do basic frame animation using playlist editing:

1.	Draw the still part of the scene and save it.

2.	Draw in the moving object on a white background & save in a second file.

  PaintBrush, and E-Card, use white as transparent - in PaintBrush click once or move after pasting

3.	Either:

-	use cut & paste to move the object

-	or redraw it in a different position (pose)

4.	Save this in a third file.

5.	Add second two files to your card, with pauses in between.

You will wind up with a sequence of files.  I suggest you number them for easy keeping track, like this:  TREE1.BMP, TREE2.BMP, TREE3.BMP, etc.

In the following sequence, a golfer hits a ball.  There isn't much background.  About all that's saved from scene to scene is the central part of the stick figure.  You do not want to try to draw the still parts, because it's too difficult to get them in the same place & they will appear to move:

1.	2.	3.	4.

Here's the complete playlist for the golf swing, including synchronizing the sound effect:

GOLF1.GIF

>delay 1 seconds

>delay 0.3 seconds

GOLF2.GIF

>delay 0.1 seconds

GOLF3.GIF

GOLF1.WAV

>delay 0.2 seconds

GOLF4.GIF

>delay 0.2 seconds

GOLF.MID

GOLF5.GIF

That's all there is to it!

For smooth playback on 256 color systems, select a palette file:

-make a .gif file or a 256 color .bmp file that has most every color you are using

  (choose a .file from your card, or make a special one)

-select Add | Colors from... and choose that file

-test & experiment to be sure the colors are right

Moving Objects

If you just want objects to move on the screen, or shrink & grow, and you do not need or want to draw multiple poses for a true animation, see the Visual Workshop section.

Animated Objects

The golf example used full frame animation.  This is easy in both playlist & visual edit modes.  It could run into a large number of images, however.  Using animated objects, You make the background image once, and make separate small images for each pose of the moving object.  Walking, for example, usually requires 3 or 4 poses.

From the [demos] category, open and preview walk.c95.  We'll now re-create this example to illustrate in the following tutorial.

1.  File | New and select Visual Workshop.  Select tree1.bmp for the background.

    Enter a frame time of about half a second (0.5).

2.  Edit | Add | object/actor and select walk1.bmp.

3.  Say YES to a second pose & pick walk2.bmp

4.  Drag the actor to the lower right corner.

5.  Edit | Duplicate frame to quickly get a new frame 2

6.  Drag the actor slightly to the left.

7.  Edit | pose | next and the actor will change to a second walking pose.

8.  Continue adding frames and changing the pose 4 or 5 times.

Move back and forth between frames and adjust the walking motion.  Then preview the card.  Then Edit as list and examine the >actor definition that was created.  You will create your own in the last exercise.  Now we make the actor stand still.

1.  In the last frame you created, add a new actor selecting files stand.bmp,

     stand1.bmp & stand2.bmp

2.  You will now have two walkers on screen.  Edit | Remove | items... and take

     out the '>start STAND' command and the new one will disappear.

3.  Click on the remaining walker and select Edit | pose | next group and pick out

     of the list that comes up the item #STAND.

4.  Create new frames, with a frame time of 2 seconds, and select pose | next a few

     times.  You will see the standing actor shift his eyes.  Preview the card & examine

     the playlist.

Hmmm, by now you are getting the idea.  Now we need to make him walk back.  This does NOT require any more poses!

1.  Begin creating frames with 0.5 second times again.  Select a new pose group

     as above, this time picking #WALK1.

2.  When you first get the walking pose back, reverse his direction as follows:

-  left-click & hold on the upper left corner of the actor border:

-  drag to about the center of the top & release: - voila!

3.  Continue creating frames with alternate poses from here.  The reverse direction will

     be retained.

4.  Move the right side of the E-Card window out a little & drag the actor offscreen for

     the finish.  Or if you prefer a cleaner solution, return to playlist mode and after the

     last frame enter the commands >exit 1, and >clear 1.

5.  Go to frame 1 and select Edit | Pace frames... and follow the prompts to give

     the frame timing a less mechanistic, more natural feel.

Apply perspective on the Edit | options menu (Visual Workshop only) is an easy way to create the illusion of depth with moving objects.  It assumes the bottom of the picture is the foreground, and is closer; that the top of the picture is background, and adjusts sizes accordingly.  To try this out, make the figure follow a path from about midway down in front of the tree, and then back up again.  Then go to frame one, select the figure, and apply perspective.  You'll get a result something like this:

I actually applied perspective twice to get that much effect.  Or you could just use a smaller number in the perspective factor dialog that pops up.  The default is 300. (pixels per quadrupling, if you really want to know!)  The reference point for the effect is your object's starting position.  That is, your object will appear normal size at its starting position.  This position can be offscreen, if desired.

Now for the last exercise, mostly on your own.  Draw some more & better walking poses - two just doesn't get it.  Then use playlist mode to combine the standing and walking poses.  Here is a general outline:

>actor LITTLEMAN

#WALK

>pause 99

... your walking pose files go here ...

>repeat 9999

#STAND

>pause 99

... your standing pose files go here ...

>repeat 9999

>end LITTLEMAN

Make this code a Reusable Actor if you wish by stripping off the >actor & >end and saving it as a file LILMAN.C95.  You can include such a file in a visual mode card via the add | actor selection.

You can see that you could give the actor some autonomy from the frames if you specified a real pause time and/or repeat count.  This would make him more difficult to synchronize, but you wouldn't really need to synchronize him if you included the motion instructions in the actor instead of trying to control him from the frames.  For example:

#WALK

>moveby -7 0

>pause 0.5

...walking poses

>repeat 4

He will fall through to the standing pose when the repeat count is exhausted.  You can then have him walk back as follows:

#WALKBAK

>moveby 7 0

>pause 0.5

...files

>repeat 4

>clear

>exit

Of course you have given up controlling him from the frames.  In fact, you have probably given up Visual Workshop almost entirely at this point.  When you get all this to work (that's your exercise), you will be ready to explore the advanced features, where you can respond to clicks, grabs, etc.  The demo birdhunt.c95 demonstrates some of these features, to give you an idea.  Click on the birds as they fly.  Click on them in the trees.  Look at the playlist & see how much you can figure out.

Have Fun!


Composing
Using Playlists

To Compose and send a Card:

1. Collect your media.

2. Make a Play List.

3. Preview the Card, edit the Play List as necessary.

4. Save the Card.  Choose self-player option if your recipient doesn't have E-Card.

5. Send the Card, via floppy or an e-mail attachment.

Steps 1, & 2 are explained below.  For 3-5, click on the underlined links.\

Collecting your media:

1. Create pictures, sound & midi files ahead of time as much as possible.

2. You can create subdirectories for for different projects, and move

    your media files there.  When you run E-Card, use File | Set directory  to

    establish where you will be keeping all files associated with a card.

Arranging a sequence (Play List):

1. Run E-Card from it's installed icon.

2. Select Add from the menu, and choose the type of item you want to add.

3. Select an item from the Open dialog & click OK.

4. Select Add | Delay and add the desired pause interval.

5. Repeat from step #2.

Special Add items:

See the ".C95" files for extended examples of these commands. (edit with notepad to view these files)

Other file	Put anything in - it will play if drivers/app's support it.

Wait...	Displays a CONTINUE>> prompt & waits.

If you have click regions defined it just waits

Repeat	The old repeat command is gone!  Just put your file names in

and E-Card figures out which ones are repeats.  There is

a new repeat command which is an advanced feature and means

something a little different.

Delay	This is used between images to control how fast they

follow in sequence.  Values up to 30 seconds may be

used.  Without a pause, they may go so

fast you don't see any but the last one!  For another

way of doing this which is easier to synchronize (e.g.

with music) see the Visual Workshop section.

Loop	This allows you to repeat a sequence over and over.  When

you insert a loop statement at the end of your list of items,

E-Card will ask you where you want to go back to.  You may

select the beginning, or any other point.  E-Card may ask you

to give a unique name, which it will use as a label for the go back

Labels	point, if it cannot figure one.  Labels will begin with #.

Entering Edit Mode

When you run E-Card from its installed icon, this is the mode entered by default.  If you run a self-playing card, it will stop on the last image.  Return to edit mode by clicking once on the upper-left box (system menu box) of the last picture of the card.  Select the View/Compose cards menu item.

Editing the Play List

1. If no items are highlighted Add appends a media file or pause to the end.

2. To insert, click on an item in the playlist.  Add will now insert an item prior to selection.

3. To delete an item from the playlist, click on it, and select Edit | Remove item.

tip - to quickly remove items, use ALT-E|ALT-R

4. To clear & start over, select File | New.

5. To return to append mode once you have inserted an item, select Edit | Add at End.

6. To edit a line quickly, select Edit | Edit entry.  Or, just double-click the line!

7. To edit a file with its associated application, select Edit | Run File.

8. To add comments that don't affect the card, use Add | Comment.

An optional way to edit the playlist is to select Edit | Playlist as Text.  This is for experienced users who want to get fancy & can figure most things out on their own.  The format positions must be exactly observed, for example:

- special commands begin with >

- all other delimeters are 1 space

- there is a blank line at the end of the file

- comments begin with a semi-colon ;

Saving & Restoring a Play List

Playlists are saved when you save a card.  They have an extension of .C95.  To reload a playlist, select File | Open playlist.  If you open a card, it will play back, and when it is done the playlist will be loaded.  Return to edit mode by clicking once on the upper-left box (system menu box) of the last picture of the card.  Select the View/Compose cards item.  Your playlist will have been loaded for editing.  It assumes you have not moved any of the original files.

Tips:

1. Make sure your display is set to 256 colors or better.

2. Make sure your sound card can play .wav & .mid files.

3. Start with a .bmp or .gif and a .wav and select File | Preview to make sure things are working.  Card-95 has built-in playback of these items only.

4. Cards which have only 1 picture and a short .wav file are very effective.  There is no need to get too fancy.  The lengthy demo which comes with Card-95 is only to show it's capability.  People would rather get a short, spontaneous card than a lengthy production which taxes their download patience and is probably incompatible with some of their media capabilities.


Contents

E-Card User's Guide

(c) 1995-6 R. Shuler - all rights reserved

License, registration & contact information see below.

Personalizing Cards	[easiest]

Using Playlists

Visual Workshop	[most capable mode]

Sending & Viewing

Printing, Installing, Driver Setup.	[version notes]

Sound & Graphics

Animation

Animated Web Page GIF's

Presentations, Brochures & Tutorials

Appendix	[async motion, etc...]

E-Card does three things:

-  puts your image & sound files in a small, self-playing package

-  orchestrates playback, including rapid animation sequences

-  facilitates moving & interacting with sub-images (actors) & text

Uses of E-Card include:

-  colorful, multi-media greetings, ideal for e-mail (i.e., small)

-  electronic stationery (don't you miss your stationery?)

-  brochures, tutorials, games, puzzles, jokes, stories, songs, etc.

To Obtain the Fully-Functional Registered Version:

To obtain the registered version for personal use, including full card save/build capability, send $15 to the address below.  You must include a valid, legible e-mail ID to receive your registration code which enables all features!  Add $2 handling if you want additional samples on diskette - diskette not available outside USA.  For a commercial use license send $50 (includes diskette, CDROM playback capability, card-personalizing software, royalty-free license to distribute both self-playing & personalizable cards, etc.)

Robert Shuler

5238 Appleblossom Lane

Friendswood, TX 77546

Registered users see the file "license.txt".  This software is provided as-is, with no warranty or liability other than that expressly stated in Register|Info & license.txt.  Before reporting problems, check the web site http://www.nettap.com/~rlshuler & click tech. support.


Creating
Sound & Graphics Files

If you didn't create all your media items ahead of time, you can access Paintbrush and SoundRecorder from the Create menu item.  Save the created file in C:\E-CARD2 or your project subdirectory and add it to your card sequence (play list) with the Add menu item.  Below are tips on creating sound, animation & graphics files for use in cards.

Graphics

Use your favorite draw/paint application to create graphics.  If you don't have one, use Paintbrush which comes with Windows and is great for quick pictures.  It's easy to edit & move objects, because it treats white as a transparent color.  Before you start, select Options | Image attributes and set your picture size.  When done, select Save as, and set 256 colors.  This will create a Windows .BMP file of semi-reasonable size.

GIF's.  For efficient, professional cards, convert all .bmp's to .gif's.  Version 2.0 does compress .bmp files, but still must extract them to a separate file before playback.  24 bit color files are enormously inefficient.  Unfortunately, Paintbrush doesn't color reduce very well.  Many good shareware packages are available to do this, and it comes with most retail image software.  Other image types, such as .jpg, will play back if your recipient has a viewer, but only as separate images, not as a card sequence.

Sound Recordings

SoundRecorder works great if you know the secret setup.  It, too, comes with Windows.  Make sure your mic is turned on.  You may also have to use the mixer or control panel software for your sound card to turn up the mic volume.  For SoundBlaster's Creative Mixer, the mic is off by default.  Turn it up, and click the left corner box to see menu options (see driver setup).  Select "Save settings on exit."  When you run SoundRecorder, begin by selecting "New" and set up for voice or music as follows:

Format:	PCM

Attributes:	22.050 kHz, 8 Bit, Mono

If you don't get any choices when you select New, you have the old SoundRec.  You can get the new one and the new media player by downloading and installing Video for Windows from a network service or Microsoft.  There is no charge.  Or, convert the format with a utility that came with your sound card.

Lower sample rates will result in poorer quality.  Stereo is a useless waste of download time if you only have 1 mic!  When you finish, save your file, and try some editing.  Select File | Delete before/after current position to remove dead space.  Use the slider knob to set postion.  If you screw up, reload from the file you saved.  This will really shorten file size.

MIDI Music

MIDI (Musical Device Instrument Interface) files (.mid) are very small, and will really spice up a longer card.  People with sound cards can play them back, but sometimes there are incompatibilities.  When in doubt, stick to .wav files instead of midi.  I use a shareware package to create midi files called Music Sculptor, and it is available on my web site http://www.nettap.com/~rlshuler.  You will probably have best luck if you set the output device to the Microsoft MIDI Mapper  (see also Troubleshooting MIDI)

Video (.avi) and other MCI file types supported by Windows are played by Card-95 if you have the appropriate drivers installed.

Non-Media Files.  Non-media files which have an application associated (e.g. .wri, .doc, .hlp) will be opened.  Certain file types (such as .exe) will not be played due to virus risks.

Capturing Files.  All non-GIF files are copied to disk with temporary names.  You may copy or move them before playing another card or exiting.  After that they are deleted.


Installing
Installing, Media Setup, Printing

PRINTING:

You can print the final scene in a card that has played back as shown above.  You can print any scene if there is enough time to click the menus.  From visual workshop mode, you can also print the frame you are currently viewing via File | Print.

INSTALLING:

The shareware and registered version both come with an installation program install.exe, which you must run to uncompress the files.  If you downloaded the files, you will have to unzip them first.  Do not share the registered version with your friends, but ask them to download the shareware/demo version.

Important Version Notes:

1.	Delay now times from the beginning of the preceeding file rather than the end,

to make cards run more nearly the same speed on different machines.  You may

have to manually adjust the pauses in older cards.

2.	E-Card/2 will play older cards.  When you load a playlist it is converted to the

new format & commands.

DRIVER SETUP

Display (video) Driver - if the colors do not look right, you may be running the basic 16 color VGA driver.  Most computers now have at least 256 color SVGA.  In the Main group, open Windows Setup, select Options | change system settings.  Drop down the display listbox and select the SVGA 256 color driver for your screen resolution.

Sound Drivers - there are two kinds, WAV & MIDI.  If you can play .wav and .mid files by double clicking on them from File Manager, then E-Card will work just fine.

You can play .wav files without a sound card using the PC Speaker Driver (free from Microsoft).  Download it from your network service, or it may be in some of my distribution file sets.  Follow the driver installation procedure below, select unlisted or updated driver and enter the path to the speaker driver files.

Trouble Shooting - If everything works but your mike, the volume is probably off.  SoundBlaster is actually delivered in this condition.  Use the mixer to cut it on, as shown on the screen below.  You also need to select "save settings on exit" from the sys-menu (left corner box click).

If there is no sound output from a device, usually a driver needs installing or configuring.  If you create your own midi files, make sure the Microsoft MIDI Mapper is the selected output device.  See the tables below for typical driver setups.  To install a driver open the Main group and open Control Panel.  Then open Drivers and you'll see the currently installed list.  Press Add to see a list of available drivers.  A typical setup for SoundBlaster 16 has drivers something like the setup below:

MIDI Mapper

[MCI] Sound

[MCI] MIDI Sequencer

Microsoft ADPCM Codec V 2.00

Creative SoundBlaster 16 Wave & Midi

Voyetra / SoundBlaster SuperSAPI FM Driver

Remember that whatever sound card you have, technical support is probably available from the manufacturer.  Most manufacturers have web sites that you can find with any of the search engines.

Troubleshooting MIDI:  Midi is less standardized than sound & graphics.  If Window's Media Player (accessories group) will play a .mid file, then E-Card probably will too.  Some midi files just won't play on some computers.  Here are some things that you can check...

if you get this	try this

Warning file may not play correctly	Check '[] Don't display this warning again'

System hangs after above warning	Press Ctrl-Alt-Del, wait, press Enter

Incorrect INT setting in system.ini	Power down & turn on your computer

No midi sound	a) check volume on your soundcard mixer

b) select Card-95's Register | Last MIDI status

    and see if there is a message that gives a clue

Device or driver not installed message	check Windows control panel (main group)

a) drivers:

   Voyetra, Soundblaster or other midi driver

...Midi Mapper

   [MCI] Midi Sequencer

(click Add to install any not present)

b) midi mapper:

   Setups: SB16 FM Ext or similar

   Patch Maps: MT32


Personalizing a Card

How toBegin

If you are a new user, the first time you run E-Card you will get a list of Categories.  Double-Click on one, and you will get a list of one or more sample cards.  Select a card and two things may happen:

1.  If the card is a sample, it will offer to play.  If it does not, you can

     play it by selecting File | Preview.

2.  If the card has customizable messages or files, you will be asked

     if you want to do this.  Click YES.

After you have edited a card, that card's playlist (list of images & sounds in the order to be displayed), will appear, or perhaps one of the images from the card.  To get the categories back, select from the menu File | Browse... | Samples.

Personalized Messages (text on the screen)

The simplest cards only have messages, like someone's name or a personal greeting, for you to personalize.  You will get an edit window showing the former message, asking you to type your own message.  It's that simple!  (sample is believe.c95 in the [thankyou] category)

Personalized Sound (.WAV files)

Some cards may have a sound file for you to personalize, usually something like saying the name of your recipient.  In this case, E-Card will run the Sound Recorder or whatever application you have associated with .wav files.  It will help to have used your microphone before and be a little familiar with making recordings.  It also helps greatly to keep your recording short, say 2 or 3 seconds, or your card will be huge.  It is important to do 2 things:

1.  Use Sound Recorder's Edit | Delete to remove the old sound.

2.  Save your recording with the exact same name as the original sound.

For more information on SoundRecorder see Creating Media.  For tips on troubleshooting your media and sound setup, see Installing.

Personalized Images (.BMP files)

Less often, a card may suggest you replace an image.  It will run your graphics software (perhaps Windows PaintBrush - whatever you have associated with .bmp files), and you can edit or doodle on the image, and save it under the same name.

What to do Next

After you have personalized the card, you will be asked if you want to preview it.  If you want to make additional changes to the customizable items in it, open it again with File | Open | Playlist.

If you are done making changes, build the card with File | Save/Build | Self-Playing Card.

 (If your recipient already has E-Card, you can save a little space by building just Card (ECD).  )

Then you will have a file cardname.exe, where cardname is either the original name of the card you opened, or any new name you gave it.  This file is a windows program that plays your card.  It is all you need to send to your friend.  You can send it via e-mail, or copy it on a floppy.  Your friend should copy it onto his/her hard disk before running it (it will be too slow, and perhaps too large, to run directly from a floppy).

E-Stationery

One of the cooler things you can easily do with E-Card is send e-mail notes on attractive stationery.  First, design your background pattern, or find one some where.  Save it as a .bmp or .gif file.  From the E-Card menu select File | New and select the Visual Workshop edit mode (see next section).  Select your background file, then select Edit | Text, pick a font and color, and start typing.  Close the window when done.  Use Edit | Add | Frame to make a new page:

 Just click on the text to edit it for the second page.  It's not a full word processor, but usually one is not needed for short notes.  Click on << to backup a page, and >> to go forward.  Click on the page number in between to go to an arbitrary page.  (sample is stnry1.c95 in the [demos] category)

How to get more out of E-Card

After personalizing 1 or 2 cards, you may begin to realize you could edit any file or line in the playlist.  You can also put together your own simple sequence of images or sounds, using delays between.  Or see how easy Visual Workshop makes moving & clickable objects without even needing to see a playlist.  The next few sections of this guide tell how to do this.  Basically, after you create your files by any means you desire, just use the Add menu item to get them into a card.

Then after you have made some simple cards of your own, explore the latter sections of the guide, such as Animation.  If you have a programming background, you may even want to check out the Advanced Features.

Enjoy!


Sending
Saving, Sending & Viewing

After composing, editing & previewing your card, you will want to save it to a file, and send this file as an attachment to some e-mail (or just mail it on a floppy if you prefer).

Saving the Card:

When you are ready to send your card, or if you need to exit and come back later, select File | Save/Build.  You'll see an option to include the self-player.  If your friend does not have E-Card, do this.  Then your file will be cardname.exe.  Otherwise it will be cardname.ecd, and about 36kb shorter.  (for info on saving as a Web Card or Animated GIF see Animation section)

You'll be prompted for an 8 character or less abbreviated name, which will become the root of a file name with either an .ecd or .exe extension.  The last name you used is conveniently already displayed for you.

Cards are saved in the directory you selected with Set Directory, or, wherever you last opened a card from.

Sending the Card:

Use the attach file capability of your e-mail system and look in C:\E-CARD2 (or your project subdirectory) for the name you gave your card.  If you included the self-player, it will have an extension of .exe.  Otherwise it will be .gif

Here is the status of certain common e-mail systems as of 4/96:

AOL	Uses standard internet MIME attachments by default.

Prodigy	Sends attachments only within the service.  See below.

CompuServe	Sends attachments only within the service.  See below.

Eudora	Uses standard internet MIME attachments.  There is a drop box on the main screen to switch between this and BinHex.

If you have one of the no-internet-attachments mail systems, you will have to obtain a shareware program for MIME-Base64 (or alternately BinHex).  Convert your card to an encoded text file, and paste or include it in the text of your note.  Your recipients will have to save the text of the note, edit out any extraneous information, and run the same shareware program to decode it.

Receiving mail attachments & floppy disks:

1.  If your mail doesn't automatically download attachments, do this now.  Pay attention to the name of it, and the directory where it is placed.

2.  If your sender compressed the file, unzip it.  I use IZ-Win which is available from my web site http://www.nettap.com/~rlshuler.  It is not necessary to zip E-Card/2 files, either .ecd or .exe, as they are already compressed.

3. If you were sent an .exe file, it has the self-player.

- Never run an .exe file from someone you don't know.

- If you already have E-Card, view from E-Card as described below.

- If you don't have E-Card Run the .exe file using File or Program manager.

4. If you were sent an .ecd file, and you have E-Card installed, simply double click on the .ecd file from File Manager.

5. If you were sent a floppy, copy to your hard disk before playing, as there may not be room for the temporary files on the floppy, and playback will be too slow.

Viewing from E-Card:

1.  Run E-Card from it's installed icon.

2.  Select File | Open |Card with Self Player (EXE) to view a card with the self-player.

3.  Select File | Open | Card (ECD) for cards without the self-player.

This method uses the viewer in your installed E-Card, and does not run programs contained in the card.  It does launch associated applications for files contained in the card.

Previewing during Play List Editing:

At any time while composing or editing a Play List, select File | Preview to review your work.  Previewing uses a temporary file ~preview.ecd, and does not save the Play List or update any previous card you have saved.  Close the preview window to return to edit mode.


Visual Workshop

Visual Workshop was instroduced in the Personalizing section.  Here is is in a little more detail.  You must have or create at least one image (.bmp or .gif file) before using Visual Workshop.  You can run your favorite graphics program or use the Create menu item to do this.  (To add a custom name or sound to a sample card see Personalizing)

Load this sample hello.c95 from the [demos] category.  Select File | Preview.  You will see a small ball bounce across the screen and draw an 'O'.  Then you will hear the word 'hello' spoken.

Notice that an image (the frame background) is displayed instead of a playlist.  The illustration above shows how to go forward & backward in the frames, and shows how moving objects you add are marked with crosshairs.

What are Frames

A frame is just a background image and its associated delay (or 'hold') time.  Between the two you may add media files, moving object images, and various control options.  Frames provide the sequence in time of background images, sounds, object motions, zooming and poses that make up a card.

When to use Visual Workshop

If you want to use your own images, rather than personalize an existing card, and if what you want to do with them is fairly simple and sequential, use Visual Workshop.  Select File | New and you will be prompted.  You can make short or long cards, and have moving objects (a simple version of actors).  If you want to define custom actors, or cards where things go on independently, use playlists.

Switching to & from Visual Workshop

If your card starts to behave strangely, that is a clue you have exceeded its capabilities, and you need to begin using Playlist Edit mode.  Select Edit | edit as list and delete the >visual command.  To switch back, select Edit | edit as visual.  Visual Workshop may not understand commands you add in Playlist mode, and may add or delete things in the wrong places if you do this.

Adding to your Card

For each item you select to add, you will be asked to choose a file you have already created, just like in playlist mode.  You can select multiple images for an object, or a .act file, which is an actor definition you have previously extracted from another card.  Sound or MIDI will play and objects will be displayed when the frame is entered (after the hold expires on the previous frame).  Objects are NOT automatically erased before the next frame.

Moving & Zooming Objects

Grab an object with the cursor and left mouse button in its exact center, and drag it wherever you want.  Grab the upper left corner and stretch or distort it at will.  Only your final position will be remembered.

Using Frames

Use frames to synchronize background, object position, and sound.  When you are ready for a new position, add a new frame with the same background image, then move the object again.  Any media files you add will be played with the frame.  By using frames to divide up your motion, you can synchronize events and sounds.

TRY THIS:

1. File | Open the sample card hello.c95 in [demos]

2. Use Edit | Remove | Items... to removing everything from frame 1

3. Click forward  >> to get frame 2, use Edit | Remove | frame to delete it

4. Edit | add object/actor and select ball.bmp

5. Move the ball somewhere.

6. Edit | Duplicate frame, then move the ball again.

7. Edit | Add | Sound and select hello.wav

8. File | Preview the card and see what you get

-- If you save, choose another name so you don't lose the original --

If you follow this exercise, you will begin to see what is going on!  The menu selections are explained in more detail in the sections below.  A more detailed example of using frames for animation is given in the animation section.

Sound Option

With the above exercie, you realized that sounds play when during edit mode also.  This might be tiresome if you have a long MIDI file, so use the Sound off option to disable them.

Smooth Motion & Drawing

Hold down the Ctrl key while dragging an object and Visual Workshop will remember the path and timing.  Hold it down while zooming and the zoom pattern will be remembered.  Unfortunately, you cannot do both at once.  (You can edit the playlist as a text file and intersperse the >move and >grow commands if you wish, adjusting the timing which is the last number on the command)

TRY THIS:

1. Open hello.c95 and delete the items as in the above exercise.

2. Edit | Add | object/actor and select ball.bmp.

3. Click & hold on the center of ball, press the Ctrl key, and drag it somewhere.

4. Preview the card - see it trace your path!

Hold the Shift key while dragging an object and it will leave a trail.  This works with zooming also.  You can make a card in which you write a word or draw something.  This is fun!  There are some cautions & limitations:

1.  Move SLOWLY or E-Card will not be able to keep up on playback

2.  Only have one object in a drawing frame - other objects will slow the

     the drawing, and will blur if they are moved.

3.  Limit the amount you do to about half a minute or less, total.

4.  You may move & then draw, but then change frames to reset draw mode

5.  Object used for drawing should be VERY small, 10 to 20 pixels square.

TRY THIS:

1. Select File | New, then File | Set Directory and pick any file in [demos]

2. Select Visual Mode (you'll be prompted), and select believe1.gif as background,

    with a frame hold of 1 second.

3. Edit | Add | actor/object, select pen.bmp

4. While dragging the object, press the Shift key.  It will leave a mark.  During edit,

    you will get a mark on pressing the key, but you must then drag with the Shift down

    at least a little way for the mark to show on playback.  You may have to move

    slowly to record a continuous mark.  Here's my mark:

Drawing Tools:

There is a small library of images to use as drawing tools for these "live drawings" and to give you ideas how to make your own.  It's in the category [tools], an object named draw_tls.c95.  A shortcut for loading them is load tools on the Draw menu.  The pick tool selection is the same as pose group, but it won't clear what you've drawn.  If you have loaded the tools, just pick one from the list that comes up.  You may get some stray marks when picking a new tool, but they should not show up in your final drawing.

Sample drawing tools:

[see also control tools below]

Show drawing will show what you've drawn (it'll get cleared when you change frames, etc.).

Draw in place will make a single copy of an image.  This is useful to draw an object in several places on the screen.  It will stay there until you change the background image.  It is also useful for drawing a large number of different objects.  Put them all in one 'actor' and use next pose to switch between them.  This overcomes the limit on the total number of actors for drawing dozens of objects.

Tool color will let you select one of the tool image files and change the color.  It only works on the drawing tools (things with names like mkr_blk.gif for 'black marker'), and will trash other files without warning.  Remember, drawing will occur by repeated display of images.  It is not efficient to draw this way unless you want the "live drawing / automatic writing" effect.

Growing

Since zooming works from the center, if you want something to appear to grow, draw it only in the top half of an image.  Below illustrates a rose image which I grab by the zoom corner and reduce.  Next I will press the Ctrl key and slowly expand the rose.  If I get any spurious motion, I will edit the playlist to take out the offending >move commands.

TRY THIS:

1. Continuing from the above exercise, Add | Frame, same background.

2. Edit | Add | object/actor selecting growdemo.bmp

3. Place it in the grass, grab the left corner exactly, zoom it down and

    let go - this sets the initial position.

4. Grab the corner again as shown above.  The rose will un-zoom, but this

    is not recorded.

5. Zoom it back down, then press the Ctrl key and grow it up and out.  Preview

    the card to see the effect.  Note that you see draw & grow only when a card

    is playing, not as you edit.

TRY THIS: On your own, add a 3rd frame to the above card, and try to draw

some more with pen.bmp.  You'll notice it is very slow.  This is because there

are other objects in the frame.  You'll want to draw only in uncluttered frames.

Simultaneous Motion

If you move two objects in a frame with the Ctrl key, they will appear to move first one, then the other.  Select the simultaneous option (see menu below) to get them to move together.  This could SLOW DOWN your playback speed a lot, but it's cute.  OR, you could edit the playlist as text, and cut and past the sequences of move commands up into the actor definition.  This will be about twice as fast, but will not work if the actor is used in more than one frame, etc.  See the [demo] wreck.c95 for a sample of the simultaneous option.

TRY THIS:  Create a new visual mode card (File|New) with hello.bmp.  Add both the ball.bmp and pen.bmp.  Drag each around a little with the Ctrl key down.  Preview the card to see the result.  Now select Edit | Options | Simultaneous, and preview again.  Hopefully this will work on your computer.

Text...

You will be asked if you want to edit a text panel if you click on it.  There are 0 thru 9 text panels, and Visual Workshop automatically assignes the next available panel when you add new text, re-using 9 if it runs out.

TRY THIS:  Using the believe1.gif example we have been working with, Select Edit | Text... and

add a personal message.  Try picking different colors and font options.  A cursor will appear in the upper left corner of the screen.  Drag it where you want to start typing.  Close the window when done, or click outside the text region to say you are finished.  Click again on the text to re-edit it.

Pose Control

Next moves an object/actor to its next image, if you included more than one.  You might emulate walking, for example.  You must either change frames before a re-pose, or use segments of continuous motion (otherwise there is no delay between the poses).  Next group selects a different group of poses, e.g. standing instead of walking.  These you may have included as a separate actor, or you may have custom defined an actor with multiple groups (see animation).

Options

Apply perspective - see Animation section.

Simultaneous motion, discussed above, applies for the rest of the card.

Grabbable object allows the person viewing a card to drag an object.  They could, for example, put presents under a tree.  To get your card to do something with this information, you'll have to puzzle out the Advanced Features.

Pose time allows you to set an actor cycling through its poses.  This will remain in effect until the pose image group in the actor reaches the end of its repeat count, if any.  Use a pose time of 99 to suspend any previously initiated posing.

TRY THIS:  This is our graduation exercise!  Draw a simple scene.  Could be just a pale blue background to represent sky, or put clouds & trees in if you wish.  Make it the background of a new Visual Workshop card.  Add an object flap1.bmp, and this time say YES to that multiple poses prompt you've been getting and add flap2, 3 & 4 also.  Place the bird in the sky, and select the Pose time option, specifying 0.5 seconds.  Press the Ctrl key and drag the bird around a little, then preview the card.  I'm sure you can draw much better animations, but you get the idea.

TIP:  To make an actor stop posing, set a pose time of 99.  This is an indefinite delay.

SHORTCUT:  You can make a card that has just the poses you want, no objects or backgrounds, and save it.  Then just include this card with the Add | actor/object and it will be set up as an actor/object.  By including several frames, you can vary the delay time between poses, and add sound.

Title bar allows you to replace the 'E-Card' title with one of your own.

Options for Interactive Brochures, Tutorials, Stories, etc.

The options below are intended to facilitate these applications.  See also the Special Uses section.  If you use E-Card for commercial purposes, be sure to obtain the commercial license.

On click go to allows you to define a sensitive region which when clicked sends the card to another frame.  If you are trying to define a region that covers an object, you'll have to start just outside or inside the true corner to avoid 'zooming' then object instead of defining a click region!  Use the clear option below to reset click regions before re-defining.  See 'Note on clicks & controls' just below.

If you use a frame hold time of 999, the card will stop and do nothing but wait for clicks.

Control Tools:

Instead of defining click regions, you can just select Edit|add|object and go to the [tools] subdirectory and choose one of the control-.c95 objects that handles user input.  Clicking the right arrow goes to the next fram, the left arrow goes back, and the box restarts.  These tools clear text panels 2-9.  Note: with this simple system, moving objects that extend across more than one frame will not work correctly.when you back up to a previous frame.

Note on clicks & controls:

Keep in mind that Visual Workshop is heavily dependent on a sequential play assumption, and you could wind up with your move commands (inserted whenever you move an object) applying in the wrong place.  The clear option below will give you a clean slate.  You can redefine the action of a single click region by using playlist mode, and copying the >click definition exactly, just changing the 'loop' clause.

clear all prev effectively resets the card, removing previous objects, text & click regions.  Put this option in a frame all by itself to be sure it doesn't cancel new items you are defining.

exit after frm. ends the card after the frame in which you add the option.

auto print frm. causes the frame in which it is inserted to be automatically printed.

Editing (changing) Frame Content

From Visual Workshop, you mostly have to delete and re-add, except for frame time (see below).  You can switch to Playlist Mode and edit individual commands, if you wish.  The remove feature below is more useful for removing the long sequences of >move's that get generated.

Frame time

Click on the frame time on the main menu to change it.  Frame hold time begins after in-frame continuous motion or drawing.  Use 999 to wait indefinitely for the user to click something (see on-click above).  Frame hold does NOT wait for any independent actor motion you have generated with Playlist Edit, so allow enough time for your actors to finish, or they might just stop (unpredictable).

Pace Frames

You can set a sequence of frame times using mouse clicks.  Let's say you play a music file in frame 1, and want frames 2, 3 & 4 to coordinate with the music.  Select Pace frames... and the music will begin.  Click >> whenever you want a frame change.  Click anything else to stop the process.

Removing

The simplest thing, and one thing to try when a card behaves strangely, is to remove | frame and re-create it.  If you select remove | item, the selected object/actor is removed from the card.  Remove pose & movement operate only on the current frame and selectred object, but will not remove an initial pose or position.

Other Menu Selections

Most of these do the same thing as in Playlist Edit (see Composing).  Create just runs the application you have associated with the given file type.  Duplicate frame is a quick way of getting a new frame of the same background.  Edit as list takes you to Playlist Edit (Compose), and highlights the >delay at the end of the current frame to show where you are.  Sometimes you can edit quicker this way, or spot something out of place.  Visual Workshop works pretty well as you build a card, not requiring you to make too many choices.  But with re-edit, sometimes the motions do not get added where you want them.

Enjoy!

Originally intended for beginners - something between personalizing cards and editing a screen full of playlist text - Visual Workshop turned out to be quite an involved project.  But now that its done, I even use it myself.  I hope you enjoy it!