@DATABASE BT @NODE Main "BT User Manual" B L U F F T I T L E R 1 . 1 A Realtime 3D Titling System for the Amiga Computer Design & Coding by Michiel den Outer Copyright © 1994-1995 by Michiel den Outer Populierenlaan 59 NL-2925 CP Krimpen a/d IJssel The Netherlands @{" Introduction " link Introduction } @{" The Font Requester " link Font} @{" System Requirements " link SystemRequirements } @{" The Palet Requester " link Palet} @{" Installing " link Installing } @{" FAQs " link FAQs} @{" How to make a Simple Show " link SimpleShow } @{" Program History " link ProgramHistory} @{" Gadget Functions " link Gadgets} @{" Menu Functions " link Menus} @ENDNODE @NODE Introduction "BT Introduction" Introduction ------------ BLUFFTITLER is a Realtime 3D Titling program. It allows you to animate 3D texts in all sorts of 3D effects using a simple to use graphical interface. BLUFFTITER can be used in the following ways : 1)Computer Presentations ------------------------ You can start BLUFFTITLER animations from the Shell or from an Amiga DOS script by using a BLUFFTITLER animation file as an argument. 2)Video Titling without Genlock ------------------------------- It's easy to connect a VCR to your Amiga and record the animation to tape. 3)Video Titling with Genlock ---------------------------- If you got a Genlock you can overlay BLUFFTITLER animations onto video sources. You no longer have to use difficult,expensive and slow 3D rendering software to make those stunning 3D leaders. All you need is BLUFFTITLER !! And because BLUFFTITLER works in realtime, you can immediately start recording your leader to video . No more heavy disk operations, memory problems and single frame recorders : simply start BLUFFTITLER and press the record button on your video ! Since computer power is limited you can't expect broadcast quality from a realtime titler, but the result is perfectly suitable for: -computer presentations -home video's -semi-professional productions -cable networks Another BLUFFTITLER Bonus over 3D rendering programs is the use of Amiga's Copper chip. BLUFFTITLER uses this chip to produce a shaded background and to simulate shading of the characters. On AGA machines this results in more than 400 different colours on screen at the same time !!! There are 4 reasons why you can't do this on a PC: 1)The Amiga is capable of producing Overscan 2)The Amiga can be easily connected to a TV/VCR/Genlock 3)You won't find the Copper Chip inside a PC 4)SVGA is limited to 18 bit colours (64 grey tones instead of 256) @ENDNODE @NODE SimpleShow "BT How to make a simple Show" How to make a simple Show ------------------------- First select the Menu item 'New Show'. A requester will be presented allowing you to enter the total Show Length. Since this is an example let's limit ourselves and enter 3 seconds. Then use the 'Text Gadget' in the upper right to enter the text you want to animate. Type in the word 'Test' and don't forget to press . Your text is now visible in the preview box. Now is the time to think out the 3D effect you want to make. Let's make a simple zoom. We need 2 Keys to do that. To make the first Key, set the time slider to 0. Set the 'Editmode Gadget' below the 'Text Gadget' to 'Eye Position' and set the 'Depth Slider' to -16000. The text will now appear very small. Press the 'Insert Button' and the first Key is stored. A small vertical line representing this Key is now visible above the 'Time Slider'. Then drag the 'Time Sider' to the right to last position and drag the 'Depth Slider' until the text fills the whole preview box. Don't forget to store this second Key by pressing the 'Insert Key'. You have now defined 2 Keys and it is time to watch the preview. Set the 'Time Slider' back to the beginning, press the 'Start Button' and watch the result. If everything looks fine, select the Menu item 'Show/Start' and enjoy your Show in all it's glory ! If you start experimenting with more exciting effects, always remember to use the right sequence to make a Key: 1)Drag the 'Time Slider' to the time you want to create a new Key 2)Use the 'Editmode CycleGadget' and the 3 Sliders below to get the right picture 3)Press the 'Insert Button' @ENDNODE @NODE SystemRequirements "LSD System Requirements" System Requirements ------------------- BLUFFTITLER requires - a 68020 Processor or higher - Amiga DOS 2.0 or higher - a 15 KHz monitor or TV AGA users will enjoy 24 bit colours, 256 grey tones and more then 400 colours on screen at the same time ! Non-AGA machines are limited to 12 bit colours (16 grey tones). You can make your animation more smooth by installing : -fast ram -32 bit ram -a faster/newer processor -BLUFFTITLER is not very memory hungry, but be sure to have some fast ram because it's twice as fast ! -Since this program uses integer maths the use of a mathematical coprocessor will not affect performance at all. @ENDNODE @NODE Installing "BT Installing" How to install BLUFFTITLER -------------------------- To install BLUFFTITLER simple drag the BLUFFTITLER Drawer to the desired place on your HardDisk. BLUFFTITLER requires `BLUFFTITLER:' to be assigned to the directory where you store your BLUFFTITLER files. This directory will be used as the default directory by the file requester. Example: If you installed BLUFFTITLER in the directory 'dh1:Gfx/BLUFFTITLER' you have to add the following line to the file S:User-Startup Assign BLUFFTITLER: dh1:Gfx/BLUFFTITLER The workbench files you need are: -asl.library in the libs directory @ENDNODE @NODE Gadgets "BT Gadgets Functions" Summary of Gadget Functions --------------------------- Time Slider ----------- Indicates the current time. Everytime you drag the time slider, the preview window will be updated. Left to the slider is the time printed in standard time code format: minutes:seconds.frames. Text Gadget ----------- Type here the text you want to animate. Don't forget to press If the 'All Keys' Button Gadget is checked, the text is copied to all the Keys. If this Button is not checked you can change the text during the Show allowing you to make short stories. BLUFFTITLER supports the complete ABC, all the numbers 0,1,...,9 the characters !"%*+-='`./\|_:;<>()? and the following exotic characters : Character Key Combination -------- --------------- À alt g,a Á alt f,a  alt h,a à alt j,a Ä alt k,a Å alt q,a Æ alt a Ç alt c È alt g,e É alt f,e Ê alt h,e Ë alt k,e Ì alt g,i Í alt f,i Î alt h,i Ï alt k,i Ñ alt j,n Ò alt g,o Ó alt f,o Ô alt h,o Õ alt j,o Ö alt k,o Ù alt g,u Ú alt f,u Û alt h,u Ü alt k,u ß alt s Use the Key combination ' x' to delete the entire text Use the special character '@' to start a new line. Editmode Cycle Gadget --------------------- The effect of the 3 sliders below this Gadget depends on the state of this Gadget. You can choose 4 editmodes: 1 Text Position 2 Text Rotation 3 Eye Position = Camera Position = Observer Position 4 Eye Rotation = Viewdirection If you hold the shift Key down while clicking, the list will cycle backwards. VR Mode Button -------------- It is also possible to change the eye position and eye rotation in this Virtual Reality mode. Use your mouse to navigate, press to quit. -Use mouse up/down to walk forward/backwards -Use mouse left/right to change direction -Use mouse left/right with right Button pressed to step to the left/right -Use mouse up/down with left Button pressed to look up/down -Use mouse up/down with both Buttons pressed to control height Use the + and - Keys to adjust your speed. Also try out the following keys: Walk Mode Drive Mode Fly Mode Insert Button ------------- Stores the current Key. Memory is reserved for 100 Keys. Delete Button ------------- Deletes the current Key. Use the Prev/Next Button to select a Key Copy Button ----------- Copies the current Key into a buffer Paste Button ------------ Copies the buffer to the current time Begin Button ------------ Jumps to the beginning of the Show Previous Button --------------- Jumps to the previous Key Next Button ----------- Jumps to the next Key Preview Button -------------- Starts the Show from the current time in the preview window in the editor window. Press the 'Stop Button' to stop the show. Start Button ------------ Starts the real Show from the current time in full screen and full colour. If you want to start the Show from the beginning, use the Menu item 'Show/Start' or press the 'Begin Button' first. Stop Button ----------- Stops the Show in the preview window. If you started the Show from the Menu item 'Show/Start Show' you can stop the Show by pressing the left mouse Button. @ENDNODE @NODE Menus "BT Menu Functions" Summary of Menu functions ------------------------- Project/New ----------- Select 'New Show' to begin a new project. Don't forget to save the current project. Project/Load ------------ A file requester will be presented, allowing you to select and load a Show from disk. Project/Save ------------ Saves the current Show in the current name. Project/Save As... ------------------ A file requester will be presented, allowing you to save the Show to disk. Project/Delete... ----------------- You can use this Menu item to delete a file. Project/Set Length ------------------ Use this Menu item to change the Show length. The maximum length is 8 minutes (480 seconds). You can either stretch the Show to the new length, add some workspace or throwing away some Keys. Project/Demo Mode ----------------- Plays all the saved Shows stored in the BLUFFTITLER:Shows directory in a eternal loop. Press the Left Mouse Button to stop. Project/About ------------- Check this one out for yourself Project/Quit ------------ Quits BLUFFTITLER. Don't forget to save your current Show. Show/Start ---------- Starts the Show, full colour and full screen. Press the left mouse Button to stop the Show. After the Show, don't forget to reselect the BLUFFTITLER window by clicking somewhere in the window. You can also play a Show from the CLI by using the BT filename as an argument. Example: BLUFFTITLER:BLUFFTITLER BLUFFTITLER:Shows/Test.BT This option can be handy if you use BLUFFTITLER in a script based computer presentation. Show/Genlock ------------ Turns Genlock synchronisation on. CopperShades ------------ BLUFFTITLER uses the famous Amiga Copper chip for a shaded background and to simulate shading of the characters. Use this Menu item to turn this effect on/off. Show/Overscan ------------- Turns Overscan on/off. Interlace fills the whole video screen, preventing the boxed computer look. Show/Interlace -------------- Turns interlace on/off. Use interlace for Video and non interlace for a computer monitor. Show/Dimmed ----------- The Amiga is capable of producing 'Video illegal colours'. This option tries to prevent them by keeping the colour values below 200. Of course it is always possible to dim the colours manually by using the Palet Requester. Show/Blanking ------------- Adds 3 seconds blanking before and after the Show, letting you start and stop your VCR. Show/Loop --------- Plays the Show in an eternal loop. Press the left mouse Button to stop. Show/Fading ----------- Fades in from black in the first second and fades out in the last. Show/Explosion -------------- Explodes the text in the last second of the Show Show/Implosion -------------- The opposite of explosion, try it and you'll understand ! All the above preferences flags are stored in the .BT file. So if you start a BLUFFTITLER animation from the Shell or a Script, you got the right prefs ! Font/Change Font ---------------- Selecting Change Font from the Font Menu will produce @{" the Font Requester " link Font} Palet/Change Palet ------------------ Selecting Change Palet from the Palet Menu will produce @{" the Palet Requester " link Palet} @ENDNODE @NODE Font "BT Font Requester" Font Requester -------------- Select the Menu item 'Font/Change Font' to enter the Font Requester Width ----- The horizontal size. The default is 100 Height ------ The vertical size. The default is 100 If you want a square font set width to 100 and the height to 60 Depth ----- The depth size. The default is 100. If you want extreme depths, use small widths en heights. Shear ----- 500 means 45 degrees (if Width=Height). The default is 0 Spacing ------- The space between the characters. Zero means no space. The default is 200 Please note that it is possible to let the characters penetrate into each other by using a negative value. @ENDNODE @NODE Palet "BT Palet Editor" Palet Requester --------------- Select the Menu item 'Palet/Change Palet' to enter the Palet Requester There are 3 colours that can be changed: Text ---- The colour of the text Top --- The top of the screen Bottom ------ The bottom of the screen BLUFFTITLER fades the top colour to the bottom colour. If you want a single backround colour, copy the top colour to the the bottom colour, or turn of the coppershading in the Menu 'Show/Coppershades' The current colour can be modified using the Red,Green and Blue sliders. Select the Menu item 'Show/Start' to watch the result ! @ENDNODE @NODE FAQs "BT FAQs" Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- Why don't you make it possible to load a backdrop image ? ---------------------------------------------------------- One of the reasons why BLUFFTITLER is so fast, is that it uses a 4 color screen. All those beautiful 24 bit shaded colours are produced by the copper chip. More colours on screen,necessary for picture backdrops, means a slower animation speed. A double playfield screen mode (used for example by platform games to produce parallax scrolling) might be a solution, so I am experimenting with that. How do you do the multiple line entries ? ----------------------------------------- Use the special character '@' to start a new line I like higher resolutions and anti alias ---------------------------------------- Higher resolutions look nice, but also mean a slower frame rate. That's the big compromise : picture quality against animation speed. Believe me, animation speed is the most important thing. I want a BLUFFTITLER player --------------------------- The editor is also the player. You can play a show from the Shell/Amiga DOS Script by using the .BT file as an argument. For example: BLUFFTITLER:BLUFFTITLER BLUFFTITLER:shows/test.bt See DemoScript for a complete example I like to synchronise events like playing Music Modules, Samples, etc --------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess that's called MultiMedia ;) the next version of BLUFFTITLER will most certainly support this kind of sexy,funky things. Why is this program called BLUFFTITLER ? ---------------------------------------- Just show a BLUFFTITLER anim to a friend. Tell him you made this by using a very expensive 3D modeller like Lightwave and that it took 10 hours to render all the frames. He now will see you as a professional 3D artist. Never tell him you used BLUFFTITLER and that it took 10 seconds to do it.. hahahaha...I think that's called Bluffing ! Beschreibung bitte wenn moglich in Deutsch ------------------------------------------ Sie mußen mich glauben, meinem Übersetzung soll dich nichts weiter hilfen ;) What about a BLUFFTITLER FONT designer ? ---------------------------------------- Yes that would be very nice. Unfortunately, writing a user friendly font designer is not a quick and easy thing to do....well everything depends on the succes of this version... I would like to have the assembler source code ---------------------------------------------- That'll be $10.000,- please (in other words: I am not going to give away my programming secrets) @ENDNODE @NODE ProgramHistory "BT Program History" Program History --------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0, September 1994, FL 25,- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- First release ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.1, Januari 1995, FL 25,- free update for registered users ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Genlock compatability It's now possible to overlay BLUFFTITLER animations onto video sources -Exotic characters support German : Ü ß Scandinavian : Æ Ø Å Spanish : Ñ Í À French : Ç È É Ê Ë -New Effects -Loop -Fade In -Fade Out -Explosion -Implosion -Virtual Reality Mode -The possibilty to change the text per key : making stories ! -All the preferences flags are stored in the .BT file. -New Start Button: it's now possible to start the anim by pressing a button. -The possibility to speed up/slow down the complete show, for example making it fit in exactly 3 seconds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- @ENDNODE