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VisionaleV1.1-D1.adf
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1992-03-16
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Visionaire 1.1
--------------
February 25th, 1993
Thank you for buying Visionaire. This file contains last changes to
the documentation and to the program that didn't make it to the
manual, as a result of the continuous development effort put into
Visionaire.
Additions to the Manual
-----------------------
NORMAL AND FP VERSIONS
Two different executables of Visionaire are provided, "Visionaire" and
"Visionaire_FP". The FP version is specially cutomized to take full
advantage of a 68030 or higher CPU and a 68881 or higher FPU (note
that a 68040 CPU includes a 68881 compatible FPU). If you don't have
at least a 68030, however, DO NOT RUN the FP version! Note that if
you have a lower CPU (like a 68000) and a properly installed 68881,
the normal version of Visionaire will detect its presence and take
advantage of it.
GRAPHICS MEMORY
You should make sure that you have enough FAST memory free (about 1Mb
at least) before you run Visionaire. Visionaire will only use
graphics memory for its data if there is no more FAST memory
available. When this happens, the performance drops dramatically, as
a result of current Amigas architecture.
8-BIT ILBM
8-BIT SUN RASTERFILE
Visionaire can now output images in two additional formats: 8-bit Sun
rasterfiles and 8-bit ILBM's. Visionaire uses a sophisticated color
choosing algorithm, which is combined with Floyd-Steinberg dithering
to produce convincing 256 color images. The 256 color ILBM's can be
loaded in compatible software or shown directly on the newest Amigas.
To use these new output formats, all you have to do is select the
approrpriate format in the "Output Format:" gadget in the "Animation
Settings" requester.
HAM8
HAM8 INTERLACED
Visionaire is now able to directly output HAM8 images and animations,
compatible with the newest Amigas (A1200 and A4000). To use these new
output formats, all you have to do is select the approrpriate format
in the "Output Format:" gadget in the "Animation Settings" requester.
DITHER
There is a new gadget in the "Animation Settings" requester that
allows you to select the type of dithering that you want applied to
the output images. Currently you can choose either "None" (for no
dithering) or "F/S" (for Floyd-Steinberg dithering). Note that
dithering is not effective for 24-bit images.
AGA CHIPSET
Besides the newer 8-bit (256 colors) and HAM8 output formats, which
are compatible with the new AGA chipset, Visionaire also allows you to
open its screen in the newer display modes. It is now possible, for
instance, to work in an 8-bit deep mode, with your previews using up
to 256 colors. And Visionaire is able to load HAM8, 256 color images
or any other mode compatible with the new chip set.
DITHERED PREVIEWS
There is a new mode for displaying the previews, "Dithered", that can
be easily selected in the "Editing Settings" requester. When this
mode is active, the previews will be displayed in shades of gray, with
the use of dither to increase the number of shades displayable. The
custom dithering routines were optimized to obtain high quality
previews, but with a performance that is still quite acceptable. Note
that in this mode Visionaire will use less graphics memory (it will
use more fast memory, however).
RESTORE SETTINGS
There is a new menu item in the Settings menu, "Restore". When this
item is selected, Visionaire will restore the settings to their state
before the last change you made. You can choose this item after you
have used wrong values in one of the Settings requesters, or if you
have loaded a project that included settings different from the ones
you were using. Selecting "Restore" a second time will undo the
effect of the first selection.
ZOOM ON SELECTED
There is a new menu item in the Window menu, "Zoom On Selected". This
feature allows you to directly zoom on a particular feature of one of
the images: select a set of vertices of the mesh that cover the
important feature and then select this menu item -- the preview of the
window that was active will be resized and moved accordingly.
ZOOM GADGETS
Besides the functionality described in the manual, the Zoom gadgets
can now be used in conjunction with the keyboard to execute different
functions:
Shift + Zoom In = zoom in by a smaller step
Shift + Zoom Out = zoom out by a smaller step
Alt + Zoom In = same as the menu item "Window/Zoom On Selected"
Alt + Zoom Out = same as the menu item "Window/Fit Image"
SCALEIMAGE
The SCALEIMAGE ARexx command currently outputs only 24-bit images,
regardless of the type of the input.
TOOLTYPES
Visionaire accepts three more Workbench TOOLTYPES besides those
mentioned in the manual (Questions & Answers):
SCREEN=name
Sets the name of the Public Screen that Visionaire opens.
PORT=name
Sets the name of the ARexx port opened by Visionaire.
NOAREXX
Add this tooltype if you do not have ARexx installed in your Amiga,
and you don't want to be informed about that every time you run
Visionaire. Note that if ARexx is not installed, you won't be able
to use some of Visionaire's features.
SHOWIMAGE.VIRX AND SHOWANIM.VIRX
The information in the manual concerning the customization of the
ShowImage.virx and ShowAnim.virx files has changed. ShowImage now
receives as arguments the name of the file (a string) and the format
of the image (an integer). The format can be one of:
0 - for HAM images
1 - for interlaced HAM images
2 - for 12-bit ILBM images
3 - for 24-bit ILBM images
4 - for 24-bit Sun rasterfiles
5 - for 8-bit Sun rasterfiles
6 - for 8-bit ILBM images
7 - for HAM8 images
8 - for interlaced HAM images
ShowAnim.virx now receives as parameters either the format (coded as
above) and the name of an ANIM file, or the format followed by the
keyword "SCRIPT" and the name of a script (the script format is still
the same as described in the manual).
FIXASPECT
Visionaire uses an aspect ratio information, included in every ILBM
file, when scaling the previews. This allows Visionaire to always
show you a "correct" preview: it corrects the image so that it
doesn't look stretched or squashed, regardless of the display mode you
are using. However, many programs generate incorrect or too
simplified aspect ratio information, and in these cases Visionaire
will generate a somewhat squeezed preview.
A simple program, called FixAspect, has been included on the main disk
to address this problem. It must be used from the CLI or the Shell,
and it allows you to change the aspect ratio information of any IFF
ILBM image. Type "FixASpect ?" at the shell prompt for an usual
AmigaDOS help template, or type an additional "?" at the template
prompt for additional help. The program can be found in the C
directory of the Visionaire: disk.
Corrections to the Manual
-------------------------
Page 56: At the the last paragraph, it should read:
"The other meshes will be automatically created, and will be
very close to what you would have done by hand."
Page 69: At the first paragraph, it should read:
"The selected points are scaled as if their center was fixed
to the image."
Page 168: The answer to the second question should have added:
"Note that the mesh shown in the previews is always represented
by straight lines, regardless of the smoothing settings --
smoothing affects just the output images."