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- G#I>0:s>0:k>0:H>0:C>2,0:B>0,179,639,200,0:
- A primer in IG.
-
- Instant Graphics is a powerful tool, but understanding it was
- hard for me at first. So I thought I'd try something to see if it might
- help others, and make IG more successful at the same time.. You must
- have your IG accessory file turned on. If you don't, most of the
- following will look like electron hell.
-
- There are 30 second timing delays set at the end of every screen, so
- when you want to move on just press a key. So here goes..
-
-
-
- << Press any key when your ready for the next page>>
- G#I>0:t>30:s>0:S>0,0,4,7:C>1,3:S>3,7,7,7:
- First, lets talk about speed. For IG to be successful, the
- speed of the graphic idea needs to be presented as FAST as possible!
- No one wants to wait and wait while thousands of bytes march through
- the modem to create your masterpiece on the their screen. There are
- shortcuts that dramatically increase the speed of presentation.
-
- I've seen some screens that first draw a box, sometimes line by line.
-
- <press 'dat key!>
- G#S>2,0,4,7:C>2,2:O>220,125,90:C>2,0:O>220,125,80:C>1,2:T>2,0,9:
- G#L>278,98,158,151:G>1,3,125,80,315,170:C>2,0:B>175,80,265,170,1:
- G#C>1,3:T>2,1,1:M>2:
- G#t>30:C>3,3:W>190,110,G#L 50,100,150,100:@L>50,100,150,100:b>11:t>1:
- G#W>190,120,G#L 150,100,150,150:@L>150,100,150,150:b>11:t>1:
- G#W>190,130,G#L 150,150,50,150:@L>150,150,50,150:b>11:t>1:
- G#W>190,140,G#L 50,150,50,100:@L>50,150,50,100:b>17:E>0,8,0:
- G#W>196,150, A total of 80 bytes.@E>4,8,0:
- G#W>186,158,including carriage returns@t>3:b>8:
- ...When a simple box command is..
- G#E>0,9,0:W>425,120,G#B 50,150,150,150,0:@
- G#E>4,8,0:W>445,130,A total of 22 bytes@
- G#W>415,138, including carriage returns@t>3:b>4:S>2,7,0,0:
- G#G>2,7,125,80:t>2:b>8:W>275,190,<Press a Key>@t>30:t>1:s>0:
- And then, they usually put some text in the box and then fill the box
- with a color or pattern. The problem with that is the fill command is very
- slow, and it slows down even further when it encounters odd surfaces, like
- text. Also it leaves holes in the fill on closed letters..A,B,D,Q,O,P etc.
- Lets take a look at the "old way"...press a key.
- G#t>30:C>2,1:A>2,8,1:H>1:B>40,50,610,181,0:C>3,2:E>1,20,0:
- G#W>212,120,FIRST THE BOX@b>8:t>2:H>0:C>2,0:B>42,51,608,180,0:
- G#E>0,9,0:W>225,70,OOO THEN THE TEXT OOO@b>8:
- G#W>190,100,T'was brillig and the slithy toves@
- G#W>190,110,Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.@
- G#W>190 120,All mimsy were the burrough groves@
- G#W>190,130,And the mome raths outgrabe!@t>2:b>8:E>16,10,0:
- G#W>235,160,And then the fill@t>1:
- G#A>1,8,0:C>2,1:F>300,115:t>1:C>2,0:
- G#S>3,7,0,0:b>4:G>2,4,220,65:t>2:B>39,49,611,182,0:b>17:s>0:
- Why not just draw a filled box right from the start, then drop the text
- down onto the box in the transparent mode? The speed difference is
- considerable, and the letters look filled in correctly....like so..
- G#C>3,3:S>3,7,7,7:E>0,9,0:W>250,100,Press a key@
- G#t>30:H>0:C>2,1:B>40,50,610,181,0:E>4,10,0:M>2:
- G#b>11:W>195,110,One heck of lot faster then the@
- G#W>227,130,the "old way", eh mate?@t>5:b>17:
- G#s>0:S>0,0,7,7:
- FASTER IS BETTER!
-
- There are many other ways to pick up speed dramatically, and if any of
- you show interest, I'd be glad to continue this discussion in other
- posts.
-
- Two things I feel I must mention though....
-
- One: The IGS Editor
-
- As it operates now, it produces the...<go on press it!>
- G#E>0,20,0:C>3,2:t>30:M>2:W>90,120,THE SLOWEST POSSIBLE CODE@b>1:
- G#W>150,150,IN THE UNIVERSE!!!@t>2:
- G#s>0:S>0,7,3,3:S>2,7,7,7:S>3,0,0,7:
- Please don't get me wrong! The IGS Editor is a very useful tool.. Anthony
- Rau and Kevin Moody should be congratulated for their efforts. Instant
- Graphics screens would be very difficult to create without the Editor.
- The correct placement of text, circles, arcs and fills would become so
- frustrating, that IG would probably be avoided by most budding artists.
-
- Unfortunately, the code produced by the Editor is less then optimum.
- If you draw, say, a series of boxes, the code might look like this...
- << press anything >>
- G#b>8:E>0,9,0:C>3,2:A>2,4,1:t>30:W>50,80,G#C 2,3:@W>50,90,G#A 2,4,1:@
- G#W>50,100,G#A 2,4,1:@W>50,110,G#B 300,90,350,120,1:@
- G#W>50,120,G#A 2,4,1:@W>50,130,G#B 325,100,400,140,1:@
- G#W>50,140,G#A 2,4,1:@W>50,150,G#B 350,110,450,160,1:@
- G#W>50,160,G#A 2,4,1:@W>50,170,G#B 375,120,500,180,1:@C>2,3:
- G#B>300,90,350,120,1:B>325,100,400,140,1:B>350,110,450,160,1:
- G#B>375,120,500,180,1:C>2,0:A>2,8,0:M>1:t>3:b>8:B>0,0,639,71,0:p>0,1:
- Commands, once stated, are in effect until changed by a statement of the
- same type, but with different values. All of these redundant statemements
- slow the graphic down considerably. Use a text editor to eliminate them.
- G#W>28,50,These commands are unessasary.@
- G#C>1,2:L>20,47,8,47:D>8,157:T>2,1,52:L>8,97,42,97:L>8,117,42,117:
- G#L>8,137,40,137:L>8,157,40,157:t>5:b>8:W>375,80,<Press a key, dood>@
- G#t>30:s>0:b>17:S>0,7,7,0:S>2,7,0,0:
- And second..
-
- All of us are creative beings. We all create art, music, ideas,
- and just about everything else that exists in todays social world.
- Along with the joy of that creation, comes pride in our own
- efforts. I create my screens without putting my name on them since
- I feel it detracts from the feeling that the artwork belongs to all
- of us.......which it does.
-
-
- I also realize that there have already been some misguided
- people who have been putting their own name on my efforts and
- claiming to be the author. I can only feel sorry that those folks
- feel it necessary to lie about something so silly as that, and
- deface something beautiful in the process...tsk, tsk.
-
-
- I'm tossing my creative contributions out into the electronic
- ether so that you can enjoy them, and I hope to be seeing some
- of yours soon. Let's make movies!!!
-
- Mr. Rodgers <<Happy Trails!!>>
- G#C>3,1:E>0,8,0:W>30,190, <Press a key and adios! >@
- G#t>30:b>4:G>2,7,200,57:t>2:b>17:s>0:I>0:
-