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1987-04-21
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MOVIE MASTER
Superb animation with NO programming
There must be many users of the Atari ST who have seen some of
the superb animation produced and wished to be able to create
something similar, but lacked the necessary programming ability.
Well now you can with Movie Master!
With Movie Master it is possible to load a number of background
screens, and define movement of multiple sprites over those
backgrounds.The movement of all sprites is defined simply and easily
using the mouse.Backgrounds and sprites can be changed at any time,
colour cycling and spot sound effects are also available.
Movie Master can load screens created with most of the art
software currently available for the ST, providing that the
resulting picture files can be saved in, or converted to,
Degas/Degas Elite, NEOchrome, or Art Director formats.
Although Movie Master is primarily designed to display
animated sprites produced with Sprite Master, it is also possible
to cut blocks from a screen produced with any of the art packages
compatible with Movie Master. Blocks are single frame sprites
which are cut from a picture file. These blocks function exactly the
same as sprites within Movie Master, except that because they only
consist of a single frame the only animation possible is movement of
the block around the screen. Animation produced in this way may be
all that you require, however you may want to produce more
sophisticated animation. For this you will need to animate
the sprites by cycling the sprite image through a sequence of
frames. For example, a man walking across the screen will look much
more impressive if his arms and legs are moving at the same time as
the image moves across the screen.
Superb animated sprites can be created with Sprite Master,either
the original Animatic Sprite Master produced by Soft Bits, or the
new improved Sprite Master GOLD, also produced by Soft Bits.
Not to be confused with the Sprite Master produced by Budgie and
available from many P.D. libraries. Very good though it is, files
produced by the Budgie Sprite Master are NOT compatible with
Movie Master.
PLEASE READ THIS BIT
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Movie Master is being distributed as shareware. For those of
you unfamiliar with the concept of shareware this means that you
are able to give copies to your friends, upload it to bulletin
boards or include it in Public Domain libraries providing the this
text file is included on the disk, together with any demonstration
animation files and none of the files are altered in any way.
However, if you use Movie Master you are expected to pay for it
just as you would pay to buy a commercial program. Naturally there
is no way you can be made to pay, but if you consider the
advantages to you, the user, then perhaps you will see that it
makes sense.
First a brief explanation of why we have decided to release
Movie Master as shareware. A few years ago we produced a sprite
editor (Sprite Master), it received generally very favourable
reviews in the computer press, but sold very few copies. The cost
of packaging and advertising, especially advertising, took all the
profits from sales (and more), so we ended up having put in a lot
of effort and losing money into the bargain. We have put a lot of
thought into where we went wrong, we think it comes down to
several factors.
1. The price. The price of Sprite Master was set at around
twenty five pounds. This sounds a lot, but there is very
little of that which actually gets to the writers of the
program. Distributors expect a around about a 65% discount
off the ex-VAT price, in the case of Sprite Master this
left us with about seven pounds fifty for each copy sold.
Out of which we had to pay for the disk duplicating,
packaging, printing of the manual and advertising plus odd
miscellaneous items, stationery, postage etc. In our case
this meant, because it wasn't selling in any numbers we
were losing money on the deal. Our original rather naive
intention was to sell it at a lower price, but we found
distributors very reluctant to take a utility any lower
than the price it was eventually sold at.
2. The type of software. Sprite Master, as a utility could
never be expected to sell the same quantities as a game,
and the more copies you sell, the lower the cost per copy
is for the previously mentioned items, packaging,
printing, etc. This means that it is not feasible to
expect to make enough money to cover the work and costs
involved in producing that type of software.
This presents us with a problem, there must be Atari ST
users who want utility software, but not enough of them to make it
a commercial proposition to produce. We think the answer can only
be to eliminate the costs involved in production and distribution.
That must be good for you the user, it means you can get the
software you need at a very low cost, you can try it out without
paying, and you only pay if you consider it worth paying for.
It does mean that you don't get any fancy packaging, and the
manual is only a text file on the disk, but do you really need all
that? After all it is what is on the disk that you will be using.
It must also be good for the programmer, once the program is
written all he has to do is send out copies to Public Domain
libraries, and they take care of all the initial distribution.
Hopefully then it will spread among users all over the country,
and perhaps even around the world.
As long as those of you who use the software send payment to us we
will be happy, and will produce more shareware, that way everybody
benefits.
As an added incentive a when you register enclose a blank
formatted disk with your name and address on the label and we will
copy onto it Sprite Master GOLD. This is also shareware and the same
requirements apply as with Movie Master. Try it out and if you
like it and use it then send us the registration fee of five pounds
for Sprite Master.
The registration fee for Movie Master is just five pounds,
please send to:-
SOFT BITS
5 Langley Street
London
WC2H 9JA
Tel 071-836 2533
Registering will ensure that we are able to continue to
improve and support Movie Master and Sprite Master, and maybe we
will be able to produce more software for distribution as shareware.
ANIMATION LIBRARY
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We are also hoping to collect a library of of animations
produced by users of Sprite Master and Movie Master. This library
will be free only to registered users of either Movie Master or
Sprite Master, or both. All you need do is send your animations
with a stamped self addressed envelope and we will send back your
disk with a selection of the best animations we have received.
MANUAL
¯¯¯¯¯¯
While stocks last, the first registered users will also get a
40 page Sprite Master manual containing extensive information for
producing animation within programs. So that you can write your own
programs which include animation, for example games. Those of you who
are a little slow in registering will still get full instructions,
but they will only be in the form of a text file on the disk which
you will have to print out yourself.
EXISTING OWNERS OF SPRITE MASTER
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Existing owners of Sprite Master do not need to register as
Movie Master users, we have decided that the price they paid for
Sprite Master was sufficient to include the registration fee for
Movie Master. However they can take advantage of the offer of a
free upgrade from Sprite Master to Sprite Master GOLD. Just by
sending back the original Sprite Master disk with a stamped self
addressed envelope and we will send a copy of Sprite Master GOLD
absolutely free.
The main improvements incorporated into Sprite Master GOLD
are:-
1. Greater enlargement of sprite.
2. Movable edit window.
3. Insert and delete functions.
4. Faster, easier editing.
5. Compatible with a greater range of picture files.
This copy of Movie Master includes some sprites produced with
Sprite Master, so you will be able to see for yourself the type of
animation which can be produced. It is recommended for use with
Movie Master and for more advanced programmers who want to include
animated sprites in their own programs.
FIRST STEPS WITH MOVIE MASTER
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To run Movie Master just double click on MMASTER.PRG. The first
screen you will see is the title screen, with a box containing the
message LOAD SCRIPT and two buttons Y and N.
Two further options are available from the title screen, they
are accessed from the keyboard. If you wish to change the current
disk drive, you may select either drive A or B, press D and choose
the drive from the Alert box. If you want to change the screen
Hertz press H. The default is 50Hz, changing this to 60Hz
increases the depth of the the screen image. Note that some
televisions and monitors will not function properly at 60Hz.
EXAMPLES
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If you would first like to see an example of the type of
animation which can be produced you need to load the script file
which is on the disk. Click on the "LOAD" button on the title
screen and you will be presented with the file selector box showing
all Movie Master Script (.MMS) folders containing scripts. Open a
folder and select a file and it will load. If it is an auto-
run file it will load and run, otherwise it will load and the
control panel will be displayed. In which case click on the button
beneath RUN on the control panel.
There are two example animations,one for those of you with
one meg or more and one for half meg machines. They are basically
the same, but because of memory restrictions the half meg demo has
less sprites and one less screen than the one meg demo.
The animation will run continuously, to stop it click on the
RIGHT mouse button or press the space bar. The control panel will
appear at the base of the screen. You may want to play around with
the control panel now, but a full description of each of the
functions available is given shortly. But first a description of
how parameters need to be set ready for creating a script.
SETTING PARAMETERS
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If you want to set up your own animation it is necessary to
first set the parameters relating to which files to load, whether
sound is required, etc.
The parameter screen will be displayed if you click on the
button next to "MAKE" on the title screen. If you have just run the
demo script and now have the control panel displayed press the Q key
on the keyboard and you will be presented with an alert box with the
options QUIT, CANCEL. Select QUIT and re-run Movie Master from the
desktop, this time select N.
Now you should have the PARAMETERS box with six options
displayed. These are used for setting all the initial parameters for
animation, as follows. All parameters must be set from this screen
before loading of sprites and screens can begin. The options for
selection are as follows:-
SPRITES
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Sprites produced with Sprite Master can be loaded directly into
Movie Master. The number of Sprite files, if any must be set in the
parameters box. Position the mouse pointer over the right or left
pointing arrows and click the left mouse button. The number of files
is shown in the window alongside the buttons. Click the right mouse
button to move to the next selection.
BLOCKS
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Blocks are single frame sprites which are cut from a previously
drawn and saved picture file in either Degas, NEOchrome or Art
Director format. Only one screen can be loaded, but any number of
blocks can be cut from it as long as you have sufficient free
memory. The number of blocks required is set in the same way as for
sprite files.
Click the right mouse button again to move to the next selection
TIMER
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This is used to set the maximum length of an animation
sequence. It doesn't really matter if this is set to too great a
value, it will just waste a little free memory which is only likely
to be a problem with half meg. ST's when, because graphics use such a
lot of memory it is wise to save every possible byte of memory.
There are no hard and fast rules, but as you gain more experience
with Movie Master you will be able to judge the number of frames
required.
A brief explanation of how an animation sequence (which from
now on will be referred to as a script) is set up will probably be
of use here.
The default setting of the timer is 500. This will give a
maximum of 500 screens of animation. Think of it as though you
had a length of movie film with 500 frames. Each individual frame
can have the positions of a number of sprites set and those
positions are retained so that the sprites will always appear in the
correct place as each frame is shown when the script is run.
The timer setting is increased or decreased in the same way as
sprite and frame numbers. If the timer is set to more than the
figure actually used when setting up a script Movie Master will
automatically adjust to the required length, but you will not be
able to exceed the initial timer setting.
SCREENS
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
This sets the number of background screens required for the
script. The number which can be loaded varies, depending on the
number of sprites and blocks loaded. This will probably only be a
problem with a half meg. machine. As a rough guide, on a 520 ST
it should be possible to load 3 or 4 screens, but this will drop
rapidly if a large number of sprite files are loaded
The screens need not all use the same colours, Movie Master
will set the screen colours as each screen is displayed. However
the sprites will take their colours from the screen, so you need
to work out carefully the range of colours when designing your
screens.
Click right.
SET DRIVE
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Click here to change drives.
Click right for the last time.
START
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If you are ready to begin, click on Y. To reset any of the
parameters click on N to begin again.
LOADING
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Now the loading procedure begins, first sprites. Use the file
selector to select the files one at a time. First Movie Master will
count the frames in each of the files. The maximum number of frames
allowed in any single sprite file is 30. If your sprite file
consists of more than this number, you should use Sprite Master
to split it into 2 separate files.
Once the files have been counted, Movie Master will load them.
The panel at the base of the screen will tell you the number of the
sprite file, the filename, the number of frames and the amount of
free memory left. You may find it worth keeping track of this last
figure, as it may give some indication of the memory left available
for loading blocks and background screens. Movie Master will keep
track of the amount of free memory and will inform you if there is
likely to be insufficient memory to load screens.
Movie Master only uses Sprite Master sprite and mask files,
the colour and co-ordinate files are not needed when saving a file
created with Sprite Master.
BLOCKS
¯¯¯¯¯¯
Once all the sprites have loaded, if a number of blocks was
previously selected, the next step is to load a screen and cut
blocks from it. Select the screen file from the file selector box,
the screen will load and you will be able to cut blocks. To cut a
block point to the top left corner of the required area, click and
release the left mouse button and dragging out a box to surround
the required area. Click again with the left mouse button to cut
the block, or with the right button to cancel and try again.
Continue cutting blocks until the pre-selected number has been
reached. The block cutting procedure will terminate if you do not
have sufficient memory left available for the number of background
screens selected.
Although the area of the block is defined by a square, the
shape of your block can be any shape contained within that square.
Movie Master will make the background colour within the block
transparent,providing that the background is the default
background colour for Neochrome, Degas etc.
SCREENS
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Once all blocks have been cut you will be prompted to specify
the the type of screen for the first background. As each screen
has loaded it will be stored and you will be prompted to load
another. It is possible to mix the types of screens loaded.
Once loaded the screens will be stored as Screen 1, Screen 2
etc. The method for using screens in a script is described later
when instructions for the use of the control panel are given.
__________________________________________________________________
THE CONTROL PANEL
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When the loading procedure is complete screen 1 will be
displayed with the control panel overlaid at the base and frame 1
of sprite 1 at the top left .
The various options available are as follows:-
COLOUR SCROLL SELECTOR BAR
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This is displayed across the top of the control panel, it shows
all the colours in the current background. A range of colours can be
scrolled during animation and editing. The colours are set by
pointing to the boxes at each end of the bar, holding down the
left mouse button and moving the box. Any users of Neochrome will
find this method quite familiar.
The colour scroll function is turned on and off by clicking on
the 'ON' box beneath the heading 'COLOUR SCROLL'. The direction of
scroll can be set by clicking on the right or left facing pointers
with the right mouse button. The small arrow between between them
shows the current direction. When colour scroll is enabled the set
range of colours is scrolled continuously during animation or
editing. Click on the pointers with the left button to alter the
speed of scrolling.
SCREEN
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Any one of the previously loaded background screens can be
displayed at any time during an animation sequence.
When editing a script the current timer count is shown in the
top left corner of the screen. This, in conjunction with the screen
setting function controls when a screen is changed and which screen
is displayed. Full details of how this is done are given later under
the heading EDIT.
You may notice that the colours may not be exactly the same as
the original picture. Movie Master changes the palette slightly so
that the control panel is always legible. Don't worry about this,
the correct colours will appear when editing or animating a script.
To see the entire picture in the correct colours click on the box
between the pointers which has the screen number in it.
Next to the arrows in the 'SCREEN' box there is a the reset
button. When a script has been fully or partly edited you may want
to adjust the timing of some of the screen swaps, clicking on reset
will delete all the screen swap data. All sprite position data is
retained enabling you to run the script and insert changes at the
correct point. You will find this much easier than trying to
over-write existing data. You will need to set the sprite number to
0 and run through the script by holding down the right mouse button,
selecting screens as you go. It is advisable not to change screens
while editing a script in reverse (see 'BACK').
SPRITE
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The current sprite for use when editing a script can be set by
clicking on the arrows in the 'SPRITE'box. The number of the sprite
is shown between the arrows and the sprite image can be seen in the
top left corner of the screen.
Blocks cut from a picture file are treated exactly as sprites
within Movie Master, the sequence of blocks are assigned sprite
numbers running consecutively after the numbers of the actual
sprites.
The current animation can be viewed and stopped at any point
by setting SPRITE to zero and holding down the right mouse button.
FRAME
¯¯¯¯¯
Sprites produced with Sprite Master will generally consist of a
number of frames. While editing a script these sprites will normally
cycle through each frame automatically.
You may wish to start with a specific frame, if so click on the
left or right pointers in the 'FRAME'box. The frame number appears
between the pointers and the image of frame appears in the top left of
the screen. It is possible to turn off the automatic cycling, (for
further information see 'CYCLE'). In which case the frame selected
will be the only one plotted.
While editing the number of the current frame of the current
sprite appears at the top right of the screen. You will see it
after F= until the mouse button is pressed, while the mouse button
is pressed the number only will be displayed.
DELAY
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The speed at which Movie Master runs a script can be adjusted.
Normally you will probably want it to run at full speed, i.e. with a
delay of zero. To slow down the animation, increase the delay
setting using the pointers.
TRAIL
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Any one of the sprites can have a trail assigned to it. This
takes the form of a number of identical sprites which follow the
course of the initial sprite. Only one sprite can have a trail
assigned and it remains operative throughout the entire script.
Select the sprite for a trail in the same way as described for
'SPRITE' and 'FRAME'. Setting the sprite trail number to zero will
turn off this function.
SOUNDS
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Movie Master has a library of sound effects. Any one of these
effects can be inserted at any point in the script.
Use the right and left pointers to select the sound number,
which will appear between the pointers. To set a sound effect click
on 'SET'. You can set as many sound effects as you wish throughout
a script. The sound will be set for the current timer number and
will replay each time the timer reaches that number, while either
editing or running a script.
RUN
¯¯¯
Click on this to run a script. This can be either a complete
script loaded from disk or it can be used for testing one which is
in the process of being edited. While a script is running it can be
slowed by repeatedly pressing the minus - key, and speeded up by
pressing the plus + key. It can be returned to full speed at any
time by pressing the zero 0 key.
To stop the animation and return the control panel press the
right mouse button. When the animation stops the timer is set to 1
and all the sprites, blocks and the background are those specified
for timer 1.
SAVE
¯¯¯¯
To save a script click on this button. Movie Master scripts
are saved as a number of files within a folder, first enter in the
dialog box the name which you wish to give to the folder,
pressing the return key without entering a name will cancel the
save procedure. Next you can either enter the name of the script,
or just press return to give the script the same name as the folder.
Each file within the folder will be given the correct extension,
so you don't need to enter any extensions.
Also in the dialog box are icons showing whether you are
naming either a folder or a file, together with an indication of
the current drive.
AUTO
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Clicking on the AUTO button will cause a tick to appear within
it, any script saved while this function is activated will run
automatically when it is loaded from the 'LOAD SCRIPT'box.
ZERO
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Click on this to set the timer back to zero prior to adding
another sprite, or re-defining an existing sprite path.
STEP
¯¯¯¯
When this is activated sprite positions are plotted one timer
count at a time. Press the left mouse button to plot, and release it
to move to the next screen.
BACK
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While this is activated the timer will run in reverse while
editing. This is useful for exact positioning of sprites.
You may find that background screens will not change at
exactly the right point when running in reverse. Just go past the
point at which you want to edit and then edit forwards again.
CYCLE
¯¯¯¯¯
Normally multi-frame sprites will cycle repeatedly through the
entire sequence of frames. If cycle is turned off only one frame
will be plotted. This can be selected using the 'FRAME' selection
box. This function can be turned on and off at any time during
editing and the effects will be recorded exactly as they were
while editing.
LOOP
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While editing a script, you may want to shorten its length.
To do this first set the sprite number to zero and run through the
script up to the point at which you want it to end by holding down
the right mouse button. When you have reached the required screen
press the space bar to replace the control panel. Then click on
'LOOP', and confirm your choice in the alert box. This procedure
only sets the point at which the script will end and loop back to
the beginning again, any existing position data will still be
retained and can be recovered by extending the loop again by
editing in the normal way.
EDIT
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This is where you begin to set up your animation. Clicking here
removes the control panel, sets the correct palette colours and get
ready to record sprite position data. The current sprite will be
displayed in "ghosted" form, this "ghost" image can be moved around
the screen using the mouse, but no position data will be entered
until the left mouse button is pressed. You will also see, in the
top left corner of the screen the timer indication showing the
number 1. Alongside this are the X and Y co-ordinates of the
"ghosted" sprite, use these when changing sprites if you want the
new sprite to follow on in exactly the same position.
Sprite movement is defined simply by holding down the left
mouse button and moving the sprite. When defining movement the
sprite will appear in solid form and the timer will increment.
Release the mouse button to stop.
To replay the movement of the sprite, press the space bar and
the control panel will re-appear. Point to 'RUN' and click the left
mouse button. The movement just defined will be played repeatedly.
Now you might want to add a second sprite to the script. Stop
the animation by pressing the right mouse button. The control panel
will re-appear, change the current sprite and click on EDIT again.
This time while defining movement for sprite 2 you will see sprite 1
displayed to enable you to synchronise with its movement. Stop
before you reach the end of the previously defined movement for
sprite 1 and hold down the right mouse button. Sprite 1 will
continue to follow the defined path but sprite 2 will not be
plotted. Release the right button, hold down the left button again
and move the mouse and sprite 2 will be plotted.
You can continue defining sprite movement in this way until all
loaded sprites have been plotted, you can break off to test run the
script at any time. It is not necessary to run the script between
setting sprites, just click on reset to return the timer to 1
If you want to change any previously defined sprite movement,
it can be simply be over-written by selecting the same sprite again
and defining new movement. A section of movement data can be
deleted just for the current sprite by holding down the right
mouse button for the duration of the movement you want to delete.
Screen changes and sound effects can be inserted at any point in the
script just by selecting them from the control panel.
KEYBOARD
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Most functions of Movie Master are available using only the
mouse. There are some however which are available solely or
optionally from the keyboard. They are as follows:-
Q=QUIT. Only from the keyboard, quit and return to the desktop.
D=DRIVE. Set current disk drive A or B.
SPACE. Replace the control panel while editing.
------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER INFORMATION
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PRIORITY
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When a sprite is displayed during a script it appears on top
of the background, in other words it has priority over the
background. So, what happens when two sprites pass over each
other?
Movie Master assigns priority to sprites in the opposite
order to the sequence in which they are loaded. For example,
sprite 2 has priority over sprite 1, sprite 3 has priority over
sprite 1 and 2 and so on. This may have to be considered when
working out the sequence in which the sprites are loaded. Of
course this means that blocks have priority over sprites. Using
this feature it is possible to hide sprites behind blocks and
therefore make it seem as though a sprite appears from behind a
section of background. Just cut a section of background and when
creating your animation place it over its original position. you
won't see the block in place, but if you place a sprite in the
same position and then move it, it will appear as though it has
appeared from behind the background. Of course, once the sprite
has appeared the block can be dispensed with.
Priorities will only appear correctly when a script is RUN.
While editing the current sprite has priority over all other
sprites.