Crawly Crypt Collection 1/crawlyvol1.bin/crm_demo/chronos/cdst_120/chronos.hlp

Text File | 1991-04-15 | 71KB | 2,593 lines

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44 topics
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Help on Help
            HELP ON HELP

To View the Help Index:

1.   Select the Index button to see the
     Chronos list of all available help
     articles.

To View a Help Article:

1.   Select an article from the Help
     index.
2.   Select the Topic button to see the
     contents of the article.

To Scroll Through an Article or Index:

Click on the slider arrow buttons to
scroll through the index or article a
line at a time.

Or

Click on the scroll bar outside of the
scroll box area to increment a page at a
time or by 11 lines at a time.

Or

Drag the scroll box to move around
freely within the article or index.
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Clipboard
               CLIPBOARD

The Clipboard is special space in memory
that is used to temporarily keep objects
and frames that are cut or copied from
an animation.
   The Clipboard functionality includes
the Cut, Copy, Paste, and Paste Motion
options. When you Cut or Copy frames for
selected objects, you place the cut or
copied information into the clipboard.
   When you paste, the frames and
associated object information is copied
from the clipboard and placed back into
the animation.
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Cycles
               CYCLES

In Chronos, you can create motion in
many ways. Besides simple motion, where
you move and position objects to create
action, you can create complex motion.
In complex motion, objects change shape
and transform while they are moving.
   The Cycle command can create complex
motion sequences. With Cycles you move
an object normally, but in each frame of
its motion, you replace the object with
a different object or variation of the
same object.  This creates the effect
that the object changes shape as it
moves.

To Create a Cycle:

1.   Make sure to load all objects you
     want to cycle. You load Cycle
     objects just like any other object.
     If you haven't loaded them, load
     them using the Load command in the
     File menu.
2.   Select the object you want to
     cycle. This object's motion will
     decide where each object in the
     cycle will be positioned when it
     appears.
3.   Select a range of frames for the
     cycle using the Frame Window. This
     step is optional because you can
     redefine the range of frames later
     from within the Cycle dialog.
4.   Choose the Cycle command from the
     Object menu. The Cycle dialog
     appears.
5.   In the Object list box, click the
     name of each object you want to be
     in the cycle and click the Add
     Object button. Add each object in
     the order you want them displayed.
     As you add each object, its name
     will appear in the Cycle list box.
6.   Click the Hide check box to hide
     all objects added to the cycle in
     every frame unless it appears as
     part of the cycle. If you do not
     select this option, the objects
     will appear in the cycle and in
     every other frame of the animation.
        Do not use this option if you
     want to use the cycle objects
     elsewhere in the animation without
     reloading them. This is here simply
     as a convenience.
        Most often the objects in a
     cycle list will not be used for
     anything else, and therefore you
     would want to hide them.
7.   Click the OK button to accept the
     cycle. The cycle will start on the
     first selected frame and will end
     on the last selected frame.
        The letter C will appear in each
     frame that the cycle has been as-
     signed to. A capital C represents a
     Key Frame and lowercase c
     represents a tween frame.
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Deleting Frames
          DELETING FRAMES

If you make a mistake or if you add too
many frames, you may want to delete
frames from one or more timelines.

To Delete Frames:

1.   You can delete frames from one or
     more timelines or from all
     timelines. To select timelines,
     select the objects whose timelines
     you want to edit.
2.   Select the frames you want to
     delete. Select one frame or a range
     of frames. See the previous section
     on selecting frames.
3.   Choose the Delete Frames command
     from the Frame menu or press the
     Delete key. The Delete Frames
     dialog appears.
4.   If you want to delete frames from
     the timelines of the selected
     objects, click the Selected
     Timelines button. If you want to
     delete frames from every timeline
     in the animation, click the All
     Timelines button.
5.   Click the OK button or press the
     Return key to delete the selected
     frames.
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Dialogs
               DIALOGS

Dialogs are boxes that appear in the
middle of the Chronos screen in response
to a command or action. Chronos displays
dialog boxes when it needs more
information and when you need to make a
decision. Menu commands that have an
ellipsis (...) following their name
display dialogs.
   Chronos dialogs cannot be moved and
are modal. Modal means that no other
function can be used until you close the
dialog.
   Normally, you close dialogs by
clicking the OK or Cancel button. Record
Setup is an exception to this rule
because it has Record, Preview and
Cancel buttons instead.
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Edit menu
               EDIT MENU

The Edit menu functions give you greater
control over object manipulation, object
selection, and error recovery.

The Edit menu provides the following
functions:

*    Undo or redo changes to an
     animation made with a tool over one
     frame or over many.
*    Cut and Copy selected frames or
     timelines for selected objects.
*    Paste frames for selected objects
     into an animation at a selected
     point, that were previously copied
     or cut from an animation.
*    Paste motion for selected objects
     so you can reuse a series of object
     motion over and over again.
*    Specify object's center point for
     using the rotation, scale, and
     shear functionality.
*    Specify the Home or base point
     which can be used for object
     rotations and quick object
     manipulations.
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Editing Frames
            EDITING FRAMES

Frames are created and edited using the
Frame window and the Frame menu. The
Frame window lets you visualize and
select the frames in your animation. The
Frame menu command let you insert,
delete and clear frames within the
animation.
   When editing an animation, you select
or deselect frames to select and
deselect the point in time you wish to
change.
   A single frame, multiple frames, or
all frames can be selected at any given
time.

To Select Single Frames:

1.   Point to the desired frame and
     click the left mouse button.
     Chronos highlights the selected
     frame.

To Select a Frame Associated With a
Specific Object:

1.   Select the object.
2.   Select the frame.

To Select a Range of Frames:

1.   Point to the first frame in the
     range of frames you want to select
     and click the left mouse button.
2.   Point to the last frame and
     Shift-click the left mouse button.
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Editing Modes
           EDITING MODES

The Editing Mode tools consist of four
icon buttons at the top the tool pal-
ette. The four icons include:

*    Director Icon
*    Camera Icon
*    About Center Icon
*    About Home Icon

The first pair, representing the
director and camera  modes determine
whether you are currently viewing and
modifying the Director's or Camera's
view.
   The second pair, the About Center and
About Home modes determine what point
you will use to move about when
rotating, scaling or skewing an object.
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File menu
            FILE MENU

The File menu controls the flow of
information into and out of Chronos.
The File menu provides the following
functions:

*    Open and Save an entire animation.
*    Load individual objects or frames
     into the animation.
*    Revert to a previously saved
     version of the current animation.
*    Delete files from disk.
*    Replace your animation's objects
     with new objects.
*    Record a rendered animation to
     disk.
*    Play a previously recorded
     animation.
*    Check and configure the amount of
     memory available to Chronos.
*    Quit Chronos.
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Frame menu
             FRAME MENU

The Frame menu commands are used to
insert, delete, clear, and edit ani-
mation frames. The File menu provides
the following functions:

*    Display the Frame Window
*    Add frames to your animation.
*    Delete frames from your animation.
*    Specify tweening smoothness
*    Clear Key Frames and return them to
     tween frames.
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Frames
                FRAMES

A frame is a single image in an
animation. It represents an instant in
time. A good way to understand frames is
to think of an animation as a movie
film.
   Each image in a strip of film is
equivalent to a single frame in Chronos.
Also, like film, each frame in the
animation is a still picture. Only by
viewing the frames in rapid succession,
can you create the illusion of motion.
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Frame Window
            FRAME WINDOW

The Frame Window command displays the
Frame Window. You can use the Frame
window to select, edit, and display the
frames of an animation.

To display the Frame Window:

1.   Choose the Frame Window command in
     the Frame menu or press the Ctrl-F
     keys. The Frame Window appears at
     the bottom of the Work area.
       Once displayed, the Frame Window
     can be moved to any location within
     the Chronos Work area. To move the
     window, point the title bar and
     drag the window to a new location.

To Expand the Frame window:

1.   Click the Expand button in the
     upper right corner of the Frame
     Window. The Frame window expands to
     show multiple timelines.

To Close the Frame Window:

1.   Click the Close button in the upper
     left corner of the Frame Window.
     The Frame window will be removed
     from the Work area.
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Help menu
             HELP MENU

The Help menu function allows you to
display the Help Window which displays
an index of Help topics and in-depth
Help articles.
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Inserting Frames
          INSERTING FRAMES

The Insert Frames command adds frames to
one or more timelines. It inserts the
frames at the selected insertion point.
   You can insert frames after, before
or between any frames. To insert frames
you must tell Chronos where to insert
them. This is done by selecting an
insertion point.

To Select an Insertion Point:

1.   In the Frame window, move the mouse
     pointer inside the line that lies
     below the frame numbers and above
     the frames. Click the mouse button
     above and between two frames. The
     insertion point appears as a small
     black triangle.

To Insert Frames:

1.   You can add frames to one or more
     timelines or to all timelines. To
     select timelines, select the
     objects whose timeline you want to
     edit.
2.   Select your insertion point.
3.   Choose the Insert Frames command
     from the Frame menu or press the
     Insert key. The Insert New Frames
     dialog appears.
4.   Enter the number of frames you want
     added.
5.   If you want to add the frames to
     the timelines of the selected
     objects, click the Selected
     Timelines button. If you want to
     add frames to every timeline in the
     animation, click the All Timelines
     button.
6.   Click the OK button or press the
     Return key to insert the frames.
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Item Selector
            ITEM SELECTOR

Every Atari comes with a standard Atari
Item Selector but many people have
substituted the Atari Item Selector for
one with more functionality. If you have
chosen to use a different Item Selector,
whenever this manual refers to using the
Item Selector, refer to the user's
manual that accompanies your selector.
   But because most Gem-based Item
Selectors have many things in common,
you can follow these basic guidelines.

CHANGING DRIVES AND DIRECTORIES
Enter a new drive letter and directory
path at the Directory text field. After
you change drives, click the button in
the upper left corner of the Item
Selector list box, to refresh the list
of files.
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Keyboard Controls
          KEYBOARD CONTROLS

Besides using the mouse, you can use the
keyboard to help you work faster and to
let you access commands while you are
using the Work screen.

ASSIGNED KEYS
Assigned keys are keys that will invoke
a function or will select a tool. It is
a single keystroke, usually a letter.

SHORTCUT KEYS
Shortcuts are a set of keystrokes
designed to let advanced users access
Chronos functions more quickly and
easily. Shortcuts are usually a letter
used in combination with the Shift,
Control or Alternate keys.
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Key and Tween Frames
        KEY AND TWEEN FRAMES

In Chronos, there are two different
kinds of frames, Key and Tween frames.
Key Frames define how and where an
object moves. You, the master animator,
define which frames should be Key
frames.
   The second type of frames, tweens,
lies between the Key frames (hence,
their name). For each tween frame,
Chronos calculates where the object will
be, based on the number of tween frames
and the objects' position in the
previous and next Key frames.
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Loading Objects
          LOADING OBJECTS

Once you have chosen and created your
actors or objects, the next step is to
load the objects into the current
animation.
  You can load 3D objects created in
Antic's Cyber format (CAD-3D,
CyberSculpt, or CyberTexture) or
Lexicor's .3D4 format. Also, you can
load objects translated to either of
these formats using Rosetta-3D File
Translator.
   Rosetta-3D will allow you to
translate many different types of 3D
files into the .3D4 format, so look into
this option if you have another type of
3D object you wish to load into Chronos.

To Load an Object into an Animation:

1.   Open an animation. Use the File
     menu's Open command to open an
     existing animation. Use the File
     menu's New command to start a new
     animation.
2.   Choose the Load command from the
     File menu or press Alt-L. The Load
     File dialog appears.
3.   Click the Object button under File
     Type.
4.   Select the file format you used to
     create your objects.
     Click the .3D2 button to load
     CAD-3D, CyberSculpt, and
     CyberTexture objects.
     Click the .3D4 button to load
     objects from Lexicor's Clip Art or
     translated from other file formats
     by Rosetta-3D File Translator.
5.   If you wish to save time and load
     more than one object file at a
     time, click the Multiple checkbox.
     This will cause the Item Selector
     to display repeatedly until you
     click the Item Selector's Cancel
     button.
6.   Use the Item Selector to select an
     object file.
7.   If you selected the Multiple
     checkbox in the Load File dialog,
     continue selecting object names and
     clicking the Item Selector's OK
     button until you have chosen all
     the objects you want. When the Item
     Selector appears for the last time,
     click the Cancel button to stop
     loading objects.
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Main Screen
             MAIN SCREEN

The Chronos main screen can be divided
into five distinct areas. These areas
include the Title bar, the Status area,
the Menu bar, the Work area, and the
Tool palette.
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Menus
               MENUS
In Chronos, commands appear in menus. To
use a menu, you display it and then
choose a menu command.
   Each menu displays many options. Each
menu option represents a Chronos command
or function.
   Menu options that have an ellipsis
(...) after the menu option name, will
display a dialog. Menu options without
an ellipsis, will perform a function on
the currently selected object(s).
   Some commands have keyboard
equivalents. Keyboard equivalents are a
set of keys you press to invoke a
command instead of choosing a command
from a menu.
When a menu command has a keyboard
equivalent, it displays the keys you
need to press next to its name in the
menu.

To Display A Menu:

Point to the menu name in the action
bar.

To Select A Menu Option:

Once the menu appears, point to the menu
option. When the menu option appears
highlighted, click the left mouse
button.
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Motion tools
           MOTION TOOLS

The motion tools consists of two columns
of icons. The left column has four tool
selection icons and the right column has
four tool option icons. Each tool has
its current option displayed directly to
the right of the tool button.

The four motion tools include:

*    Move tool
*    Rotate tool
*    Scale tool
*    Skew tool
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Move tool
               MOVE TOOL

The tool that you will probably use most
often is the Move tool. Simply put, the
Move tool moves an object from one place
to another. When you run Chronos, the
Move tool will be selected by default.

The Move tool options include:

*    Move Any Direction
*    Move Left/Right
*    Move Up/Down
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Object menu
            OBJECT MENU

The Object menu allows you to add and
set lights, duplicate, and delete
objects. Also the Object menu contains
commands that let you set object
properties and view object statistics.

The Object Menu functionality includes:
<<<MARK>>>

*    Display the Object Window
*    Add additional light sources to an
     animation to create lighting
     effects.
*    Specify the type and attributes for
     a selected light source.
*    Rename an object.
*    Remove an object completely from an
     animation.
*    Specify the type of shading,
     dithering and smoothing to use with
     Solid rendering when recording or
     previewing an animation.
*    Substitute a box for the selected
     object to reduce rendering and
     editing time.
*    Define an object's visibility to
     create fade and transparency
     effects.
*    Create sequences of motion
     consisting of different versions of
     objects.
*    Display name and size statistics
     for a selected object.
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Object Window
            OBJECT WINDOW
The Object Window command displays the
Object Window. You use the Object window
to select objects by name and to view
which objects are loaded into the
animation.

To Display the Object Window:

1.   Choose the Object Window command
     from the Object menu or press the
     Ctrl-O keys. The Object window
     appears in the far right area of
     the screen.
        Once displayed, the Object
     Window can be moved to any location
     within the Chronos Work area. To
     move the window, point the title
     bar and drag the window to a new
     location.

To Close the Object Window:

1.   Click the Close button in the upper
     left corner of the Object Window.
     The Object window will be removed
     from the Work area.

To Select an Object:

1.   Point to the name of the object you
     wish to select and click the left
     mouse button.

To Select Multiple Objects:

1.   Select the first object by clicking
     on the object name in the Object
     window.
2.   Press and hold the Shift key.
     Shift-click on the additional
     object names.
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Objects
               OBJECTS

Because Chronos cannot create the
objects you need for animations, you
must create them in 3D Modeling
applications or use a 3D Clipart object.
   If you are creating your own objects,
there are many things to keep in mind.
Chapter Ten, "Putting It All Together"
lists special considerations and
problems that you may need to think
about when you are creating objects.
   The most important thing to remember
when creating objects is that to get
predictable tweening and motion, you
should always center your objects about
the Modeling application's center point
or origin point.
   If you are creating a complex object,
where the actor has many smaller parts,
you should align the group of objects
and then center the group as if it's a
single object.
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Playing animations
          PLAYING ANIMATIONS

Chronos can playback any animations
created using Lexicor's Film format or
Antic's Delta Format. You can playback
all animations you create in Chronos
plus animations created in other
applications.

To Play an Animation:

1.   Choose the Play command in the File
     menu or press the Alt-P keys. The
     Play Animation dialog appears.
2.   Click a File Type option to choose
     the type of animation you wish to
     play.
     Click the .FLM button to play a
     Film file animation.
     Click the .DLT button to play a
     Delta file animation.
3.   Choose a Play From option to choose
     whether you would like to play an
     animation from RAM (memory) or from
     disk.
4.   Choose a Playback option to choose
     whether you want the animation to
     be repeated in a loop or play
     forwards and backwards as a ball
     travels in a ping-pong game.

Note: Ping-Pong is not selectable if you
are playing a .DLT animation.

5.   Click the Double Buffering check
     box if you wish to take advantage
     of the monitor's double buffering
     capabilities.
6.   Enter the speed you wish to play
     the animation in the text field or
     click a speed option button to
     automatically fill in the field for
     you.
7.   Click the OK button or press Return
     when you are ready to select the
     filename of the animation you wish
     to play.
8.   The Item Selector appears and the
     "Select File to play" message
     displays in the status bar. By
     default, Chronos displays the
     appropriate file extension for the
     type of file you are playing. Use
     the Item Selector to enter a
     filename.
9.   Click the OK button or press
     Return.
10.  Once the animation is playing, you
     can return to Chronos by clicking
     either mouse button or by pressing
     any key except a function key.
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Quick View tools
          QUICK VIEW TOOLS

The Quick View tools consist of six icon
buttons. These tools let you quickly
move the current view, whether it is the
Camera or the Director, to a standard
view.

The six Quick View tools include:

*    South View
*    North View
*    West View
*    East View
*    Top View
*    Bottom View
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Recording animations
        RECORDING ANIMATIONS

Once you have created an animation and
you wish to preview it or output the
rendering to a file, you can Record your
animation.

To Record an Animation:

1.   Choose the Record command in the
     File Menu or press Alt-R. The
     Record Setup dialog box appears.
     This dialog defines 2D animation
     file options including image,
     color, and rendering options.
2.   Enter the frame numbers of the
     frames you wish to render.
     Click the All or Selected button to
     select which frames you wish to
     record.
3.   If you choose Selected, enter the
     frame numbers of the first and last
     frame you want to record and enter
     the frame divisor.
4.   Choose your rendering check box
     options.
5.   If you wish to only preview the
     selected frames, click the Preview
     button. Chronos will immediately
     start to render and display each
     frame you selected.
6.   If you wish to record the
     animation, click a Format button to
     select the type of 2D animation
     file format to record and click the
     Record button or press Return.
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Rendering Modes
            RENDERING MODES

WIRE FRAME RENDERING
Use the Wire frame rendering options to
render only the edges of object surfaces
(faces). Wire frame rendering is quick
and can give an object a wire or
ethereal effect. Also Wire frame's All
Edges rendering can be combined with
depth-cued shading.

Click the All Edges button to render all
surface edges including lines that would
be hidden from view.

Click the Visible Edges button to render
only those surface edges that are
visible. This option will not show
hidden edges or internal components that
do not appear in the current view.

SOLID RENDERING
Use the Solid rendering options to
render the faces of objects in an
animation. To see shading effects like
gouraud, phong or flat shading, you must
select solid rendering.

Click the Faces button to render all
surfaces that appear in the current
rendering view. This option will not
render face edges and will give better
shading effects for objects that don't
contain sharp or faceted edges.

Click the Faces & Edges button to render
all faces and their edges that appear in
the current rendering view.
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Rotate tool
             ROTATE TOOL

The Rotate tool pivots an object about
the X, Y, or Z axis, about a specified
pivot point. You choose the pivot point
by choosing a Editing mode icon (About
Center or About Home) and you choose how
to rotate the object by selecting a
Rotate tool option.

The Rotate tool options include:

*    Rotate about X (about your ear)
*    Rotate about Y (about your neck)
*    Rotate about Z (about your nose)
*    Rotate about X & Y Axis (combining
     the X and Y rotations).
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Saving animations
          SAVING ANIMATIONS

When you have finished an animation and
periodically while you work, you should
save your work. Saving copies your
animation to your hard or floppy disk so
that you may archive your work.
   Saving periodically while you work,
helps lessen your losses in the case of
power, hardware, or heaven forbid,
software failure.

To Save an Animation:

1.   Choose the Save command from the
     File menu or press Alt-S.
2.   The Item Selector appears and the
     "Select File to Save to" message
     appears in the status bar. Use the
     Item Selector to specify the new
     file name or just accept the
     current name by clicking on the OK
     button.
     Note: When you save an animation,
     all objects, lights, camera
     settings, tripod settings, object
     properties and motion are auto-
     matically saved in the animation
     file.
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Scale tool
               SCALE TOOL
The Scale tool lets you scale or squash
objects. Whether you scale or squash an
object depends upon which Scale tool
option you use.
   Scaling shrinks or enlarges an object
in one or in all dimensions. The other
dimensions are left exactly the way they
were. Squashing scales an object in one
dimension and inversely scales the other
dimensions so that the object maintains
its total volume.

The Scale Tool Options Include:

*    Scale All Directions
*    Scale Left/Right
*    Scale Up/Down
*    Scale In/Out
*    Squash Left/Right
*    Squash Up/Down
*    Squash In/Out.
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Selection
             SELECTION

In Chronos, you can select objects and
frames. To select an object use the
Object window or click the object of
your choice. To select a frame, open the
Frame window and click the frame of your
choice.
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Shear tool
               SKEW TOOL

The Skew tool slants or tilts objects so
that they appear angular or in motion.
When skewing, you choose the pivot point
and the axis to skew along. You can tilt
the vertical axis and hold the hori-
zontal axis still. Or you can tilt the
horizontal axis and hold the vertical
axis still.
   You also choose whether you want to
skew the object about its center point
or about the Home point. You choose the
pivot point by choosing an Editing mode
icon and you choose how to rotate the
object by selecting a Skew tool option.

The Skew Tool Options Include:

*    Skew Left/Right
*    Skew Up/Down
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Status bar
               STATUS BAR

The Status area displays the current
frame number, the name of the selected
object, and the current tool and option.
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Timelines
               TIMELINES

Most animations contain many frames.
Each object you load into an animation
displays in every frame. But each object
can be positioned and moved separately
from the other objects. This is because
each object has its own timeline.
   Timelines hold information about the
object's position and motion for each
frame of the animation. Timelines keep
track of where an object's key and tween
frames lie.
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Tool Palette
            TOOL PALETTE

The Tool palette is used to select the
tool you wish to use to manipulate
objects and to set the tool's options.

The Tool Palette is always displayed on
the left side of the Chronos Main
Screen. The Tool Palette includes four
Mode tools, four motion tools and their
options, and six Quick View tools.
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Traces
               TRACES

Object traces are lines that show where
the object has been in past frames and
where it is going to go in future
frames.  Traces show an object's path in
the animation. This trace line passes
through every position the object moves
for every frame in its timeline.
   This function is very useful because
it is helpful to know past and future
position while positioning an object in
the current frame. Traces can be shown
or hidden for one, multiple, or all
objects. By default, traces are hidden
for all objects.

To Show Object Traces:

1.   Select the objects you want to
     trace.
2.   Choose the Show Trace command from
     the View Menu. Chronos displays the
     Traces until you hide them or until
     you quit Chronos.

To Hide Object Traces:

1.   Select any objects that currently
     have their traces displayed.
2.   Choose the Hide Trace command from
     the View Menu. Chronos hides the
     selected objects' traces.
@
Tracking
               TRACKING

The Track command lets you aim one
object at another object. You can aim
the Camera or a light source or an actor
object at any other object.

To Track an Object:

1.   Select the frame or range of frames
     where you wish to track the object.
2.   Select the object you want to aim.
3.   While holding the Shift key, select
     the object you want to aim at or
     track.
4.   Choose the Track command from the
     View menu. When the Track alert
     appears, click the Continue button.

Important: If you track an image over
one frame, Chronos will create a key
frame for the object you are aiming for
that frame. If you track an object over
a range of frames, Chronos will create a
key frame for the object's timeline on
the first and last frame of the range.
In either case, it will not create key
frames for the object you are tracking.
@
Undo
                 UNDO

Like most Atari applications, you can
use the Undo key. The Undo key removes
the last change you have made to your
animation. This key is equivalent to
choosing the Undo command from the Edit
menu.
   Undo will help you recover from an
unintentional change or mistake. It also
lets you view a change to see if it is
what you want.

To Use Undo:

1.   Press the Undo key. The last change
     you have made will be removed and
     the frame or picture you are
     working on will be returned to the
     state it was in before you made the
     change.
2.   Select Undo again to replace the
     change.

Undo will only remove a change made with
a Motion tool or the Home command.
@
Using the Mouse
            USING THE MOUSE

In Chronos you use the mouse just like
you do in any other Atari application.
If you have had experience with a mouse
in the past, using the mouse with this
program will be easy.

If You Haven't Used The Mouse Before:

1.   To use your mouse, you need a flat
     surface about the size of your
     screen. At first you may need more
     space, but when you get used to the
     mouse, you will get better at
     manipulating it with less and less
     available space.
2.   Roll the mouse in any direction.
     The mouse pointer usually appears
     as an arrow or cross-hair. Notice
     that the mouse pointer on your
     screen moves relative to how you
     move the mouse itself. Experiment
     and notice how the mouse pointer
     and mouse respond.
Note: Because the mouse moves the
pointer relative to its current
position, you can pick up the mouse and
move it if you run out of room and it
will not affect your cursor position.

MOUSE BUTTONS
In Chronos, you use both mouse buttons.
Special functionality can be achieved
using the left mouse button with the
Shift, Alternate and Control keys.
   Chronos uses the left mouse button
for selecting objects, tools and tool
options. It also uses this button to
manipulate objects and controls. You use
the right mouse button to switch between
the Main screen and the Work screen.
   Use either mouse button to exit the
Play function when you are viewing a
recorded animation.

MOUSE TECHNIQUES
The manual refers to four different
mouse techniques. These techniques
include Moving, Pointing, Clicking, and
Dragging.
   Pointing is when you move the mouse
so that the mouse cursor is over or on
top of an object.
   Moving the mouse refers to sliding
the mouse in any direction.
   CLICKING refers to the noise the
mouse makes when you quickly press and
release a mouse button. You click to
select a button or command. Two
variations of clicking include
double-clicking and shift-clicking.
   DOUBLE-CLICKING refers to pressing
the mouse button twice very quickly. You
use a double-click to select files in
the Item Selector. Double-clicking on a
filename is equivalent to clicking once
on a file name and then clicking the OK
button.
   SHIFT-CLICKING refers to holding the
Shift key and clicking additional
objects. You use a shift-click to select
multiple objects or frames.
   DRAGGING refers to pointing to a
location or object, pressing a mouse
button, and then moving the mouse while
the button is still down. You drag an
object to move it to a new location.
Dragging is the same as picking up an
object and sliding it to a new spot.
@
View menu
            VIEW MENU

The View menu commands give you control
over how your objects appear in the
animation during the editing stages of
the animation process.

The View Menu Functionality Includes:

*    Display the View Window.
*    Set the current view's rendering
     mode, color palette, and view
     options to increase your rendering
     quality or object manipulation
     speed.
*    Display objects as a box instead of
     their actual form to speed
     rendering and editing.
*    Define and display a grid to use
     for to align and position objects.
*    Define constraints for moving
     objects.
*    Move quickly to frames and
     viewpoints.
*    Store view (camera or director)
     position and settings to a reusable
     camera tripod.
*    Cause an object, such as the Camera
     or a spotlight to track or look at
     an object for one or more frames.
*    Show and hide objects in selected
     frames.
*    Show and hide motion traces in
     previous and future frames to view
     where objects have been or are
     moving to.
@
View Window
               VIEW WINDOW

View Window displays the on-screen view
manipulation tools and a template for
the keyboard view manipulation tools.
For a detailed description of view
manipulation tools, see Chapter Eight,
"Lights, Camera...".

To Display the View Window:

1.   Choose the View Window command from
     the View menu or press the Ctrl-V
     keys. The View Window appears.

To Expand the View Window:

1.   Click the Expand button in the
     upper right corner of the View
     Window. The expanded section
     displays the on-screen view
     manipulation buttons and also
     serves as a template for the
     keyboard keypad controls.

To Close the View Window:

1.   Click the Close button in the upper
     left corner of the View Window. The
     View window will be removed from
     the screen area.
@
Work Screen
             WORK SCREEN

The Work screen gives you a larger work
area and clears the screen of
unnecessary windows and the tool palette
to make editing easier and to give you a
full screen perspective.
   The Work screen contains a Title bar
and a status area at the top of the
screen. The status area displays the
current frame number, the name of the
selected object and the current tool and
option.
   While you are manipulating an object,
a field is displayed that shows how your
manipulation is affecting the object.

DISPLAYING THE WORK SCREEN
You can switch to the edit screen by
clicking the right mouse button. You can
return to the Main window area by
clicking the right mouse button again.
   When you use a tool to manipulate an
object, you automatically switch to the
Work Screen. As soon as you start to
drag an object, the edit screen
displays. When you release the mouse,
Chronos switches back to the Main
Screen.
@
35 dialogs
@
          ABOUT DIALOG

The About Chronos dialog gives you
important information about Chronos
software. This information is important
to know when you call Lexicor's customer
support for assistance.

VERSION X.XX
This is the current level of Chronos
software that you have loaded onto your
system.

SERIAL NUMBER
This is a unique number assigned to your
copy of Chronos.

SECURITY DEVICE NUMBER
This is a unique number assigned to your
security device.
@
           HELP DIALOG
The Help dialog has no help button, this
text will never be displayed!
@
          LOAD FILE DIALOG
This dialog lets you select a file type
and format to load.

FILE TYPE
Select what type of file you want to
load into the current animation: objects
or frames.

Object
     Loads 3D objects into the current
     animation.

Frames
     Loads or merges an animation,
     stored on disk, into the current
     animation.

FORMAT
If you are loading objects select a
format option.

.3D2
     loads CAD-3D objects.
.3D4
     loads Lexicor objects obtained from
     Lexicor's Clip Art or translated
     from other file formats by Rosetta-
     3D File Translator.

If you are loading frames, specify where
the frames should be loaded into the
animation by entering a frame number.

MULTIPLE
Check the multiple check box when you
want to load more than one object or
animation file at a time. This will
cause the Item Selector to appear
continually until you click the Item
Selector's Cancel button.
@
          CONFIGURATION DIALOG

This dialog lets you change and modify
the system memory and hardware
configuration.

JRI 4096 COLOR BOARD
Check the JRI 4096 Color Board option if
you are currently using the John Russel
Innovation's 4096 Color Board.

GRAYSCALE
Check the Grayscale option if you are
currently running Chronos on a Atari TT
and you wish to use their Hyper Mono or
Gray scale mode.

RECONFIGURE MAX
Click the Reconfigure Max button to
redefine the maximum number of objects
that can be loaded into Chronos.

STATUS FIELDS

Total Objects
     the total number of objects
     currently loaded into the
     animation.

Maximum Objects
     the total number of objects that
     can be loaded into the current
     animation.

Total Frames
     the total number of frames you have
     created in the current animation.

Bytes in Objects
     the number of bytes of RAM that
     objects in the current animation
     are using.

Bytes in Frames
     the number of bytes of RAM that
     frames in the current animation are
     using.

Total Bytes
     The total amount of RAM used by the
     current animation and the Chronos
     application.
@
  CONFIGURE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF OBJECTS

This dialog lets you change the maximum
number of objects allowed in an
animation.

ENTER NEW MAXIMUM
Enter a number to represent the new
maximum number of objects that can be
loaded into Chronos.

APPLY BUTTON
Click the Apply button to update the
Memory Used: Field.

MEMORY USED
displays the number of bytes of RAM
needed to support the maximum number of
objects you have specified. If you
configure Chronos to allow fewer
objects, less memory will be needed.
@
   OBJECT INFORMATION DIALOG

Displays status information on a
selected object.

NAME
the name of the selected object. This
field can be edited to change the
current object's name.

NUMBER
displays the internal database number
used by customer support for database
troubleshooting.

TYPE
displays the type of object currently
selected. Types include 3D solid, light,
and camera.

POINTS
displays the number of 3D points used to
define the selected object.

FACES
displays the number of triangles used to
create the selected object.

RAM
displays the number of bytes of Random
Access Memory (RAM) used by the selected
object. This is important when you are
trying to manage your memory to create
complex animations on hardware with
limited memory capabilities.
@
       GRID OPTIONS DIALOG

The grid dialog allows you to define a
three dimensional grid. Once defined you
can choose whether to display the grid
and its directional labels.

SHOW GRID OPTIONS
These options turn the grid on and off.
If the grid is on, it will appear in
every frame of the animation.

On
     Click the On button to display the
     grid.
Off
     Click the Off button to remove the
     Grid from the display.

GRID HEIGHT
Enter a Grid Height to display the grid
at higher or lower Y coordinate. The
default value is -50.

SQUARES PER SIDE
Enter the number of squares you want on
one side of the grid. The number of
squares in the grid will be this number,
squared. This number must be an even
number.

SQUARE SIZE
Enter the size of each square in Chronos
units.

SHOW LABELS CHECK BOX
Click the Show Labels check box if you
want to display the North, East, South
and West directional labels.
@
          SHOW OBJECTS DIALOG

This dialog lets you display previously
hidden objects.

OBJECT SELECTION BOX
Click object names to select the objects
you wish to display. Click a name a
second time to deselect it.

ALL BUTTON
Click the ALL button to select all
hidden objects within the object
selection box.

NONE BUTTON
Select the None button to deselect
objects currently selected within the
object selection box.
@
          HIDE OBJECTS DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose to hide only
the selected objects or hide all objects
except those that are selected.

HIDE OPTIONS
Click a button to choose which objects
to hide.

Selected
     Hides only those objects currently
     selected.

All Except Selected
     Hides all objects except for those
     that are currently selected.
@
        SET TRIPOD DIALOG

This dialog lets you specify which
tripod number to assign to the current
view. The default setting for every
tripod is the standard southern view.
@
           GOTO DIALOG

This dialog is used to specify the type
of view you want to move to.

FRAME BUTTON
This option moves you to a new frame.
Click the Frame button and enter a frame
number.

TRIPOD BUTTON
This option moves you to a view tripod.
Click the Tripod button and click the
number of the tripod you wish to move
to.

CAMERA OR DIRECTOR
This option moves you the current
position of the camera or director. If
your current view mode is Camera then
the Director button appears. If your
current view mode is Director then the
Camera button appears.
@
   EDIT MULTIPLE FRAMES DIALOG

When you select more than one frame and
then manipulate objects, this dialog
lets you choose whether you want to
manipulate the objects relative to the
Chronos universe or relative to the
object.

Universe button
     Moves the object in each frame by
     the amount specified relative to
     its current orientation in the
     universe.

Object button
     Moves the object in each frame by
     the amount specified relative to
     modeling orientation.
@
         SET CENTER DIALOG

This dialog defines the center point for
an object or group of objects. Chronos
holds the center point stationary when
your are rotating, scaling, or skewing
an object when using the About Center
editing mode.

MODELER
Defines the selected objects' center
points as the origin point assigned to
objects in the modeler program they were
created in.

OBJECT
Defines the selected objects' center
points as their geometric center point.

GROUP
Defines the selected objects' center
points as the average center point of a
group of objects. Chronos calculates the
average center point based on their
geometric center points.

EXPLICIT
Defines the select objects' center
points as a user-defined value. If you
select this option, enter a set of X, Y,
and Z coordinates to define this center
point.
@
          SET HOME DIALOG

This dialog defines the position of
Home. Chronos uses the point defined as
Home as a pivot point when you are
rotating, scaling or skewing an object
the About Home editing mode.

UNIVERSE
Defines Home as the center of the
Universe (X,Y,Z coordinates 0,0,0).

GROUP
Defines Home as the average center point
of a group of objects. Chronos
calculates Home based on the geometric
center points of all selected objects.

EXPLICIT
Defines Home as a user-defined value. If
you select this option, enter a set of
X, Y, and Z coordinates to define Home.
@
       SET CONSTRAINTS DIALOG

This dialog defines motion constraints,
lets you turn constraints on and off,
and choose whether object movement
should be according to the current view
or according to the closest standard
view.

Off
     Turns motion constraints off. This
     option lets you move objects freely
     and manually.
On
     Turns motion constraints on. This
     option limits object motion to
     predefined increments.

MANIPULATION VIEWS
When manipulating objects from a
viewpoint other than a standard view, it
is difficult to predict how motion tools
will affect an object. To make motion
more intuitive, Chronos lets you move,
rotate, scale or skew an object, as if
you were viewing the object from the
closest standard view.
   The View Manipulation options in this
dialog, let you decide if you should
move the object relative to the closest
standard view or relative to your
current view.

Standard View button
     Manipulates objects relative to the
     closest standard view.

Current View button
     Manipulates objects relative the
     view you are currently in.

CONSTRAINT VALUES
Constraints limit motion to defined
increments. Constraint values define
those increments.

Movement Constraint
     Represents the minimum distance you
     can move an object at a time. The
     default value is 10 units.

Rotation Constraint
     Represents the minimum number of
     degrees you can rotate an object at
     a time. The default value is 10
     degrees.

Scale Constraint
     Represents the minimum percentage
     you can scale an object at a time.
     The default value is 10 percent.

Skew Constraint
     Represents the minimum number of
     degrees you can skew an object at a
     time. The default value is 10
     degrees.
@
       MOVE (EXPLICIT) DIALOG

This dialog lets you define exactly how
far to move an object. You describe
motion in terms of X, Y and Z
directions. Enter the number of Chronos
units you want the object to move in any
or all of these directions.
@
       ROTATE (EXPLICIT) DIALOG

This dialog lets you define exactly how
far to rotate an object. Enter the
number of degrees you want to rotate the
objects. The current Rotate tool option
determines the direction the objects
rotate in.
@
       SCALE (EXPLICIT) DIALOG

This dialog lets you define exactly how
much to scale an object.
   Enter the percentage you want to
enlarge or shrink the objects. Enter a
number larger than 100% to enlarge an
object. Enter a number smaller than 100%
to shrink an object by the specified
amount. The current Scale tool option
determines the direction the object
scales in.
@
       SKEW (EXPLICIT) DIALOG

This dialog defines exactly how much to
skew an object. Enter the number of
degrees you want to skew the object. The
current Skew tool option determines the
direction the object skews in.
@
         RECORD SETUP DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose which frames
to render, the type of file to record
to, and a variety of rendering and
lighting options.

Frames
     You can render all or a range of
     frames in the current animation.

All button
     Click this button if you wish to
     render and record all the frames of
     your animation.

Select button
     Click this button if you wish to
     render only part of the animation.
        Enter a beginning and ending
     frame number for the frames you
     wish to render and record. By
     default, The From: and To: fields
     will be filled in with the first
     and last frame number of any frames
     currently selected.

Every field
     This field lets you render every
     other frame, every third frame,
     etc., so that you can verify motion
     without rendering every frame.

RESOLUTION OPTIONS
You can render an animation in the
current resolution or you can select a
specific resolution.

Current
     Click this button to render the
     animation using the system
     resolution you were using when you
     ran Chronos (on a ST or TT, this
     means all modes except Low
     Resolution).

16 Color
     Click this button to render the
     animation in the ST Low resolution
     mode.

256 Color
     Click this button to render the
     animation in the TT Low resolution
     mode.

ISAC 1024 or 800
     Click these buttons to render the
     animation using the ISAC graphic's
     board high resolution and 16 color
     palette.

RENDER MODES - WIRE FRAME
Use these rendering options to render
only the edges of object surfaces. Wire
frame rendering gives the object the
appearance that it was sculpted out of
wire.
All Edges
     Click this button to render all
     surface edges including lines that
     would be hidden from view. This
     mode is typically known in 3D
     modeling packages as just "Wire
     Frame".

Visible Edges
     Click this button to render only
     those surface edges that are
     visible. This option will not show
     hidden edges or internal components
     that are normally hidden from view.
     This mode is typically known in 3D
     modeling packages as "Hidden Line".

RENDER MODES - SOLID
Use these rendering options to render
the faces of objects in an animation. To
see shading effects like gouraud, phong,
or flat shading, you must select a solid
rendering option.

Faces
     Click this button to render all
     faces that appear in the current
     rendering view.

Faces & Edges
     Click this button to render all
     faces and their edges that appear
     in the current rendering view.

SHADING OPTIONS
The shading options let you choose what
type of shading technique will be used
to render the animation.

None
     Click this button to turn shading
     off.

Lighted
     Click this button to shade
     according to the current light
     sources of an animation.

Object Depth Cue
     Click this button to override the
     current light sources and shade the
     object according to the depth of an
     object.

Group Depth Cue
     Click this button to override the
     current light sources and shade all
     objects in the current view
     according to their relative depth
     to each other.

World Depth Cue
     Click this button to override the
     current light sources and shade all
     objects in the current view
     according to their relative depth
     in the Chronos 3D world.

PALETTE OPTIONS
These options let you choose the type of
color system Chronos uses to create
object colors while rendering the
animation.

None
     Click this button to forgo using
     any palette. No colors are used.
     Shading effects are created using
     dither patterns of black and white.

Gray Scale
     Click this button to render the
     image in shades of gray (taking
     advantage of the TT's gray scale
     mode) or in shades of Blue and cyan
     (using any color monitor). Grey and
     Blue shading can create a crystal
     or ice-like effect.

Real
     Click this button to render an
     image using the color information
     associated with the object

VIEW OPTIONS
The View options lets you choose which
viewpoint to use when rendering
animations.

Current
     Click this button to render and
     record the animation from the view
     point that is currently displayed
     in the work area of the main
     screen. The whole animation will be
     rendered from this perspective
     regardless of the camera settings
     and position associated with the
     frames.

Camera
     Click this button to render and
     record the animation from the
     camera view point and settings
     previously setup for the frames to
     be rendered.

QUALITY OPTIONS
The Quality options determine which
rendering technique Chronos uses to
render an animation.

Draft
     Click this button to get a quick
     and dirty rendering of your
     animation.

Final
     Click this button to get a slower,
     but more precise rendering of your
     animation. Final supports the Z-
     buffering hidden surface technique.
     Use Final to render self-
     intersecting objects correctly.

FORMAT OPTIONS
The Format options let you choose what
type of sequential image file to create
when you record the current animation.

.FLM
     Click this button to record the
     animation to Lexicor's Film
     animation format. This format can
     be played using Chronos' play
     function or Lexicor's Kinetics
     Player program.

.DLT
     Click this button to record to
     Antic's Delta animation format.

WHITE BACKGROUND
Click this check box to render your
animation using a white background. By
default animations are rendered using a
black background.

CULL BACK FACES
Click this check box to prevent
rendering the back faces of an object.
Back faces do not refer to the back
faces in the current view.

SHOW AS BOXES
Click this check box to substitute the
objects in the current view with boxes
so you can quickly check motion and
rendering effects. Boxes render quickly
and illustrate rendering and motion
techniques effectively.

SHOW GRID
Click this check box to render the view
grid. The Grid always renders in
Wireframe.

SHOW CAMERA
Click this check box to render the
camera object. This will allow you to
view the camera motion as well as the
object motion. The camera always renders
in Wireframe.

SHOW LIGHTS
Click this check box to render the light
objects. This will allow you to view the
light motion as well as the object
motion. The lights always render in
Wireframe.
@
          ADD LIGHT DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose which type
of light to add to the current
animation.

POINT
Creates a light source that emits light
in all directions from a single point.
Unlike solar or ambient lighting, the
closer a point light source is to an
object, the brighter the lighting effect
is. If the effect of a point source
light is too dim, try increasing the
intensity past 1.0 or moving it closer
to the object you wish to illuminate.

SOLAR
Creates a light source that imitates a
distance light source, such as a sun,
where all rays emitting from the light
source are parallel. Solar lights cast
light toward the center of the Chronos
3D universe as if they are emitting
light from an infinite distance. Always
use intensity values from 0.0 to 1.0.

AMBIENT
Creates a light source that lacks
position or direction, only intensity.
It casts light evenly throughout the
animation. Always use intensity values
from 0.0 to 1.0.

SPOT
Creates a light source that is similar
to a point source light except that it
casts light only in one direction and
casts a cone-shaped light. This effect
is similar to a stage spot light or a
flashlight.
   Unlike solar or ambient light, the
closer a spot light source is to an
object, the brighter the lighting effect
is. If the effect of a spot light is too
dim, try increasing the intensity past
1.0 or moving it closer to the object
you wish to illuminate.
@
        SET LIGHTS DIALOG

This dialog lets you define global
illumination for the entire animation
and change light source attributes.

GLOBAL ILLUMINATION
If you didn't have light sources and you
turned Global illumination off, your
animation would render completely black.
It is recommended that you leave Global
Illumination set to its default value,
.20, unless you are trying to create
special lighting effects or are using an
ambient light for fill lighting.

INTENSITY
Light intensity determines how brightly
the light source will emit light. A
higher intensity creates brighter
lights. For ambient and solar light
sources, intensity should be between 0.0
and 1.0. For point and spot lights,
intensity can be set any value greater
than 0.0.

SPOT LIGHT SETTINGS.
Spot lights have more settings than the
other types of light sources. To create
a Spot lighting effect, you must define
the Spot lights inside angle, its
dropoff angle, and its beam
distribution.

Inside Cone Angle
     Inside cone angle determines the
     cone angle of the brightest part of
     the spot light.

Dropoff Angle
     Dropoff angle adds an additional
     area of light about the inside cone
     where light is much dimmer and
     fades. In other words, it is the
     angle between where the brightest
     part of the Spot light drops off or
     ends and the dimmer part ends.

Beam Distribution
     Beam Distribution determines how
     drastically the light fades to
     black in the Dropoff area. Enter a
     value between 0.0 and 2.0.
@
      OBJECT APPEARANCE DIALOG

This dialog lets you set shading, the
dithering, and smoothness attributes for
the selected objects.

DRAW ALL FACES CHECK BOX
Click the check box to override the
Record and View setup dialog's Cull back
faces options for a particular object.

SHADING METHOD OPTIONS
Shading options affect how Chronos
interpolates or calculates how an object
is shaded.

Flat
     Click this button to create a
     simple and quick shading effect.

Gouraud
     Click this button to create a
     shading effect that is more
     realistic than flat but takes
     longer to render.

Phong
     Click this button to realistically
     shade objects that use spot or
     point light sources for
     illumination.
@
          SHOW AS BOX DIALOG

This dialog lets you toggle an object's
Show as Box status.

On
     Click this button to show the
     selected objects as boxes.

Off
     Click this button to display the
     real version of the selected
     objects.
@
          VIEW SETUP DIALOG

This dialog lets you define how objects
will appear while you are editing the
animation.

RENDER MODES - WIRE FRAME
Use these rendering options to render
only the edges of object surfaces. Wire
frame rendering gives the object the
appearance that it was sculpted out of
wire.

All Edges
     Click this button to render all
     surface edges including lines that
     would be hidden from view. This
     mode is typically known in 3D
     modeling packages as just "Wire
     Frame".

Visible Edges
     Click this button to render only
     those surface edges that are
     visible. This option will not show
     hidden edges or internal components
     that are normally hidden from view.
        This mode is typically known in
     3D modeling packages as "Hidden
     Line".

RENDER MODES - SOLID
Use these options to display the faces
of objects in an animation. To see
shading effects like gouraud, phong, or
flat shading, you must select a solid
rendering option.

Faces
     Click this button to render all
     faces that appear in the current
     rendering view.

Faces & Edges
     Click this button to render all
     faces and their edges that appear
     in the current rendering view.

SHADING OPTIONS
The shading options let you choose what
type of shading technique will be used
to display the objects in the animation.

None
     Click this button to turn shading
     off.

Lighted
     Click this button to shade
     according to the current light
     sources of an animation.

Object Depth Cue
     Click this button to override the
     current light sources and shade the
     object according to the depth of an
     object.

Group Depth Cue
     Click this button to override the
     current light sources and shade all
     objects in the current view
     according to their relative depth
     to each other.

World Depth Cue
     Click this button to override the
     current light sources and shade all
     objects in the current view
     according to their relative depth
     in the Chronos 3D world.

PALETTE OPTIONS
These options let you choose the type of
color system Chronos uses to create
object colors while editing the
animation.

None
     Click this button to forgo using
     any palette. No colors are used.
     Shading effects are created using
     dither patterns of black and white.

Gray Scale
     Click this button to render the
     image in shades of gray (taking
     advantage of the TT's gray scale
     mode) or in shades of Blue and cyan
     (using any color monitor). Grey and
     Blue shading can create a crystal
     or ice-like effect.

Real
     Click this button to render an
     image using the color information
     associated with the object.

WHITE BACKGROUND
Click this check box to render your
animation using a white background. By
default animations are rendered using a
black background.

CULL BACK FACES
Click this check box to prevent
rendering the back faces of an object.
Back faces do not refer to the back
faces in the current view.

SHOW AS BOXES
Click this check box to substitute the
objects in current view with boxes to
speed screen effects. Boxes render
quickly and illustrate rendering and
shading techniques effectively.
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     OBJECT VISIBILITY DIALOG

This dialog lets you define the
opaqueness or transparency of an object.
   Enter a percentage value between 0
and 100 in the text field. Enter zero to
make an object completely invisible.
Enter a value between 1 and 99 percent
for partial visibility and 100 percent
for normal visibility.
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            CYCLE DIALOG

This dialog lets you create lists of
objects (cycle lists) that together,
make up sequences of complex motion.

CYCLE OBJECT
Displays the name of the object that the
cycle will be attached to. This object
was selected when you chose the Cycle
command from the Object menu.

HIDE CHECK BOX
This check box hides all objects in the
cycle in every frame except for the
cycle frames it is scheduled to appear
in. If you do not select this option,
the objects in the cycle list appear in
every frame of the animation as well as
in their scheduled cycle frames.

ADD OBJECT BUTTON
Adds the object currently selected in
the Objects list to the Cycle list.

ADD MORPH BUTTON
Adds a tween frame to the cycle before a
selected object name in the cycle list.

REMOVE BUTTON
Removes the currently selected object
name from the Cycle list.

REMOVE ALL BUTTON
Removes all object names from the cycle
list.

LOAD BUTTON
This button displays the Item selector
so you can retrieve a previously saved
cycle list. To load a cycle list, all
objects in the desired cycle list must
be already loaded into the animation.

SAVE BUTTON
This buttons displays the Item selector
so you can store the current cycle list
under as a file.
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            PLAY DIALOG

This dialog lets you define file and
player options so you can control how
Chronos plays animation sequence files.

File Type options
Chronos's player program lets you play
.FLM and .DLT files.

.FLM
     Click this button to play an Film
     file animation.
.DLT
     Click this button to play a Delta
     file animation.

PLAY FROM OPTIONS
These options let you choose whether you
want the animation to be played from RAM
or from disk.

RAM
     Click this button if you have
     enough RAM to contain Chronos and
     the animation file you wish to
     play. This will enable the
     animation to play at faster speeds.

Disk
     Click this button if you do not
     have enough RAM to load the entire
     animation. This feature lets you
     play very large animations, even on
     less powerful systems.

PLAYBACK OPTIONS
These options let you choose how you
want the animation to repeat while it is
playing.

Loop
     Click this button to continually
     play the animation, each time
     starting over at frame one.

Ping-Pong
     Click this button to continuously
     play the animation, each time
     reversing the order the frames play
     in. This option will play the
     frames backward until the first
     frame displays and then it will
     reverse again.

DOUBLE BUFFERING
This option eliminates screen flicker on
ST, STE, and TT monitors. This option
does not work with ISAC monitors.

SELECTING A SPEED
This option lets you determine how fast
the animation will play. You can enter a
speed as a value representing frames per
second (fps) or you can click on a speed
button.

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          REPLACE OBJECT DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose what type of
file you are going to replace the
selected object with.

FILE TYPE
Pick the format type that the object you
are loading was stored in.

.3D2
     Click this button to load an object
     file created in Antic's CAD-3D
     object file format.

.3D4
     Click this button to load objects
     obtained from Lexicor's Clip Art or
     translated from other file formats
     by Rosetta-3D File Translator.
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          MOVE VIEW DIALOG

This dialog lets you define exactly
where you want the current view to be
move to.
   Enter a set of absolute X, Y, and Z
coordinates to move the view to a new
location.
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        CUT FRAMES DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose to cut
frames from selected objects' timelines
or from all objects' timelines.

TIMELINES
Click a timeline button to choose
whether you want frames deleted from all
timelines or just the timelines of the
currently selected objects.

All Timelines
     Click this button to remove the
     selected frames from every timeline
     in the current animation.

Selected Timelines
     Click this button to remove the
     selected frames from the timelines
     of only those objects that are
     currently selected.
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        COPY FRAMES DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose to copy
frames from selected objects' timelines
or from all objects' timelines.

All Timelines
     Click this button to copy the
     selected frames from every timeline
     in the current animation.

Selected Timelines
     Click this button to copy the
     selected frames from the timelines
     of only those objects that are
     currently selected.
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     INSERT NEW FRAMES DIALOG

This dialog lets you enter the number of
frames to insert and to choose if the
frames are to be copied into the
selected objects' timelines or from all
objects' timelines.

ENTER NUMBER TO INSERT
This field is used to enter the number
of frames you want to add to the object
timelines.

TIMELINES
Click a timeline button to choose
whether you want frames inserted into
all timelines or just the timelines of
the currently selected objects.

All Timelines
     Click this button to copy the
     selected frames from every timeline
     in the current animation.

Selected Timelines
     Click this button to copy the
     selected frames from the timelines
     of only those objects that are
     currently selected.
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        DELETE FRAMES DIALOG

This dialog lets you choose to delete
frames from selected objects' timelines
or from all objects' timelines.

TIMELINES
Click a timeline button to choose
whether you want frames deleted from all
timelines or just the timelines of the
currently selected objects.

All Timelines
     Click this button to remove the
     selected frames from every timeline
     in the current animation.

Selected Timelines
     Click this button to remove the
     selected frames from the timelines
     of only those objects that are
     currently selected.
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     TWEENING SMOOTHNESS DIALOG

This dialog sets the tweening smoothness
that Chronos uses to generate tween
frames.

SMOOTHNESS
Smoothness makes your objects move in a
more life-like fashion. Key frame
animations can sometimes appear stilted
or angular. This option creates
smoother, more natural motion.
   You define Smoothness as a
percentage. The percent of smoothness
can range from 0 to 100 percent. The
default value for any frame or section
of frames is zero(0).
   Zero percent smoothness means no
smoothness will be used when creating
tweens, the object moves in a straight
path. 100 percent is the most smoothness
Chronos can generate. For life-like
smoothness, 50 percent is recommended.

TIMELINES
Click a timeline button to choose
whether you want smoothness added to all
timelines or just the timelines of the
currently selected objects.

All Timelines
     Click this button to add smoothness
     to the timeline segments of every
     timeline in the current animation.

Selected Timelines
     Click this button to add smoothness
     to the timeline segments of only
     those objects' timelines that are
     currently selected.
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