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FLIFLC
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README.1ST
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1994-03-16
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FLIPLAY PACKAGE - FLI/FLC Animation support for MMPM/2
This package is a pre-release version and is provided "as is".
Author: John E. Parsons Internet: parsonsj@vnet.ibm.com
Contacts: Maria Ingold Internet: ingoldm@bcrvmpc2.vnet.ibm.com
Lauren Post Internet: lpost@bcrvm1.vnet.ibm.com
System Requirements
-------------------
This program requires OS/2 2.1 GA with the MMPM/2 digital video
extensions installed. For good performance you will need a
system which has SVGA or XGA display capabilities running in 256
or 64K color mode.
Installation & Use
------------------
1.) If you don't have MMPM/2 1.1 digital video installed then
install it and come back here after you reboot.
2.) Type FLIFLC to automatically extract all the FLIPLAY files.
3.) Copy ALL the FLIPLAY files to a directory somewhere on your
PC, then run MINSTALL on that directory. Select the animation
package, press INSTALL and relax.
4.) After a reboot, you can play FLI/FLC files with any application
which plays AVI. For instance, our MMPM/2 digital video player, or
any OS/2 screen saver which supports AVI. You can also simply
double click on the files.
5.) For the best performance, make sure your display is in 256
or 64K color mode if possible.
4.) Also included is a performance and TEST driver, AUTODESK.EXE,
so you can see the performance statistics and make the animation
loop. Press the rewind button to make this option take effect.
You also have to press rewind after a movie plays to the end before
it can be played again. The MMPM/2 CSD or the Manufacturing Refresh
CSD is needed to make this work. Otherwise the error "Digital Video
Blowed Up!" "Invalid Stream Protocol Specified" will occur.
>>> I'd also like to say CUA? What's that???
>>> It's a TEST driver OK?
5.) There is currently a debug environment variable PM_DEBUG which
will force all output through PM if set. Otherwise the driver will
utilize direct VRAM decode.
File Definitions
----------------
AUTODESK.EXE ................... The player
AUTOPROC.DLL ................... The FLI/FLC I/O Proc dll
SSMINI.DLL ..................... Yanked out of the Manufacturing Refresh CSD
SVSH.DLL ....................... Yanked out of the Manufacturing Refresh CSD
ANIMATE.ICO .................... Icon for the player and Minstall
CONTROL.SCR .................... Script file for Minstall
AUTOPROC.INI ................... Needed for Minstall
AUTOPROC.LST ................... Needed for Minstall
AA05.FLI ....................... Sample flics
BACKHOE.FLI .................... "
CAMERA.FLI ..................... "
MARVIN.FLI ..................... "
README.1ST ..................... This readme
Current Limitations
-------------------
1.) Performance may be poor for any color depths other than
256 or 64K colors.
2.) If any compressed frame in the animation exceeds 188K bytes,
the player will terminate with the bogus error of "invalid
buffer length".
3.) Seeking is currently disabled. If you try it, the animation
will start all over again.
4.) Palette animation is not supported. Nothing bad
will happen, but the visual results may not be what you
expect.
5.) Clipping is currently brute force and low performance. Also,
"holes" will be left in the animation when previously clipped
areas are uncovered.
Known Bugs
----------
1.) Stepping in the MMPM/2 1.1 digital video driver is not
reliable. It usually steps two frames, or not at all. There is
nothing I can do about this. The MMPM/2 CSD fixes this
problem.
Implementation Notes
====================
General
-------
The FLI/FLC animation support plugs into the MMPM/2 architecture as
an IOProc and codec. This allows the system to understand a completely
new file format, and to decompress the FLI/FLC compressed frames. No
changes were made to standard MMPM/2 which ships in every copy of
OS/2 2.1.
This approach was taken to allow all existing AVI applications to
automagically play animation with no changes. Some examples to date
are screen savers, Builder/2, and our own MMPM/2 player.
Parallel Audio
--------------
Every time a FLI/FLC file is opened, a check is made to see if a
corresponding *.WAV file exists. If so, an audio track is interleaved
on the fly during playback. Performance will probably only be acceptable
on a hard drive due to seeking between the two files. Additionally,
the audio will only remain synchronized if the system has adequate
video performance. The audio will not get behind, but it may get ahead
for now.
The audio stops when the animation runs out. If the audio file is too short,
silence will be generated until the end of the animation.