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1994-07-06
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VFD(tm) Video for DOS Shareware Version
Release 1.1b (07/07/94)
Copyright (c) 1994 by Bob Williamson CIS 76570,2752
VFD(tm) is a DOS command-line motion video cross-compiler for creating
.FLC, .FLI and .AVI files from:
Windows .DIB files (all BMP & RLE)
Windows .BMP files (1, 4, 8, 16 & 24-bit)
Windows .RLE files (4 & 8-bit, including deltas)
IBM OS/2 .BMP files (1, 4, 8 & 24-bit)
Truevision .TGA files (8, 16, 24 & 32-bit rle & uncmp)
CompuServe .GIF files (PC & Mac 87a, 89a) *registered version*
Zsoft .PCX files (8 & 24-bit) *registered version*
Autodesk .FLC and .FLI files (all)
Windows .AVI files (RLE and 8, 16, & 24-bit literals)
MPEG .RAW files produced by DMPEG.EXE v1.1 (8 & 24-bit)
VFD will extract a numpic file series from .FLC, .FLI, .RAW, and .AVI
(RLE & literals only) in .BMP, .RLE, .GIF, .PCX or .TGA formats.
Direct conversion of the listed motion video and image formats is also
supported.
VFD uses an advanced method of color quantitization called Hilite
Promotion (Scaleable Adaptive, Histogram-based). Hilite Promotion
produces 8-bit motion video with high color fidelity and image
resolution from a diverse range of image files and palettes by using
scaleable quantitization (color reduction) and variable dither
intensity. Hilite Promotion can be used to create an optimum palette
containing both the most popular colors and the most diverse colors
from the input images.
Hilite Promotion was developed as a solution to the motion video color
quantitization problem of multiple images and palettes. It may be
used for building compatible Windows identity palettes for two or more
bit-mapped images to be displayed by Windows, as well as motion video.
PARAMS:
VFD options may be invoked by use of command-line parameters. The
parameters follow the infile, preceded by a space and either a forward
slash '/' or a hyphen '-'. The params may be in any order and are case
insensitive. Typing 'VFD <enter>' will display a list of the options:
VFD infile [params]
-I create .FLI (default is .FLC)
-An create .AVI n=1 8-bit literal, n=2 RLE
-En Extract numpic series n=1 8-bit .BMP, n=2 .RLE delta, n=3 .GIF
n=4 8-bit .PCX, n=5 8-bit .TGA uncmp
-Sn playback Speed in frm/sec n=0.1 to 99 (default=15)
-Ofname Outpath [d:\path\]fname (default fname=infile w/ outtyp .ext)
-Tn1[,n2] Total frames n1=start, n2=total count (disables B2 pingpong)
-Mn CoMpression n=1 50%, n=2 67%, n=3 75%, n=4 80%, ..., n=99 99%
-Kn Keyframe interval n=1 to 65535 (Default is no keyframes)
-Bn Backward n=1, pingpong n=2, mirror n=3 (B1,B2: numpic only)
-Rn Resize n=1 1/2, n=2 2x n=3 override dflt FLI aspect correction
-Cn Color count n=2 to 255 (default=256)
-Hn Hilite promotion (range 1 to 255) (default=256 most pop colors)
-Dn Dither (intensity range 2 to 255)
-L±n[,c] Luminance n=1 to 32 (+ lite, - dark) (c=r,g,b: red,green,blue)
-Wn Windows identity palette n=1 mapped, n=2 not mapped
-Fn Fixed Windows id pal n=1 256 colr, n=2 gray, n=3 hlftne, n=4 b&w
-Pn write Pal n=1 RIFF .PAL, n=2 DIB .PAL, n=3,4 AA,AAPro .COL,
n=5 PicLab .MAP, n=6 PSP .PAL, n=7 NeoPnt .PAL, n=8 generic .PAL
The infile may be any of the above listed image file formats. VFD
will read a numpic series if wildcards ('*' or '?') are used in the
file name. The infile may include the path. The output file path is
the current default. Examples:
VFD pretty00.bmp (produce a one frame .FLC
PRETTY.FLC)
VFD pretty*.rle (produce a 100 frame .FLC
starting w/ pretty00.rle
thru pretty99.rle named
PRETTY.FLC)
VFD d:\pretty\pretty??.rle -a2 -w1 (produce PRETTY.AVI with a
Windows identity palette)
VFD pretty.avi -i (produce PRETTY.FLI)
MAKEFILE:
Typing 'VFD -? <enter>' will display the following:
The infile for VFD may be a text file with the extension of .MAK which
lists the source image files and optional keywords. If a motion video
file is used in the makefile, it must be the only input image file.
The keywords are:
REPEAT_n (repeat the previous input file 'n' times)
PINGPONG (read the previous numpic series in reverse order)
BACKWARD (read the following numpic series in reverse order)
MIRROR_ON (the following frames will be mirror-image)
MIRROR_OFF (turn mirror-image off)
KEYFRAME (the following frame will be a keyframe)
CD-ROM (the AVI video chunks will be padded for CD-ROM playback)
CROP_n1,n2,n3,n4 (n1=top, n2=left, n3=width, n4=height) zero base
Keywords are not case-sensitive. The comment character is a semicolon.
Example text of PRETTY.MAK:
;216 frames, 320x240, identity pal
pretty.pal
d:\pretty\pretty00.bmp
REPEAT_8
d:\pretty\pretty??.bmp
d:\pretty\pretty99.bmp
REPEAT_8
PINGPONG
The above example will produce PRETTY.FLC containing 10 frames of
pretty00.bmp, 98 frames of pretty01.bmp thru pretty98.bmp, 10 frames
of pretty99.bmp and 98 frames of pretty98.bmp thru pretty01.bmp. The
palette file pretty.pal will be used for the motion video palette.
PINGPONG repeats the previous numpic series in reverse, omitting the
first and last frames.
The maximum frame count is 65535. The maximum makefile size is 16kb.
Numpic series with the same base name are limited to a maximum of 8190
frames. VFD reads stdin for response to input prompts. VFD may be
invoked in a batch file (.BAT) using redirection of a text file for
input response. The system date, time and command line params are
inserted as the first comment line in the makefile each time the
makefile is processed by VFD. Input image files are opened read-only.
The .MAK extension is not required on the command line. 'VFD pretty'
is equivilent to 'VFD pretty.mak'.
HILITE PROMOTION:
Any combination of input image types and color formats (1 to 32 bit)
may be combined in a VFD makefile. If the total color count exceedes
256, Hilite Promotion and dither should be used to obtain the optimum
output for 8-bit video. VFD builds a popularity histogram of all the
colors from the input images. The motion video palette consists of the
256 most popular colors less the Hilite Promotion value. The Hilites
are then added to the motion video palette from the remaining colors in
the histogram. The Hilites are selected as those colors in the
histogram having the greatest difference from the colors already
included in the motion video palette. If the '-Cn' (color count) option
is used, the Hilite value is subtracted from the color count. Black, by
default, is always the first color in the motion video palette.
A Hilite value of 255 (true-cut) will produce results similar to the
standard unbiased median-cut method of color reduction. With Hilite
pr