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1995-04-22
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RAPID GRAPHICS CONVERTER
By Charles Jackson
Antic Technical Editor (Originally Published Nov. 1985)
Convert your picture files between any commercial Atari graphics
software format -- in less than 60 seconds. The Rapid Graphics
Converter also overcomes many longstanding compatibility roadblocks.
This BASIC program works on all 8-bit Atari computers with 48K and a
disk drive.
Rapid Graphics Converter is a supercharged version of Easy Graphic
Converter which I wrote for the September 1984 Antic. This new program
lets you switch disk formats of picture files created with the 10 most
popular commercial graphics programs for Atari. It does a file
coversion in less than 60 seconds and with fewer compatibility hassles
than ever before.
The program works with pictures created on the following software:
Micro Illustrator (* ALL VERSIONS)
Micropainter (Datasoft)
Fun With Art (Epyx)
Paint (Atari or Reston)
Visualizer (Maximus)
Moviemaker (Reston)
Graphics Master (Datasoft)
Atarigraphics (Atari)
Graphics Machine (ESI)
* Note that Micro Illustrator is the software that's provided
(under various names) with a wide variety of graphics products
including: KoalaPad, KoalaPen, Atari Touch Tablet, Chalk Board PowerPad
and Tech-Sketch Light Pen.
Now you can mix and match the best features of virtually all Atari
graphics software in a single picture.
For example, you could tape a photo over your video screen and
trace it with a light pen program. Then you could fill in color
patterns from your touch tablet software. And you could even animate
the scene with MovieMaker!
USING RAPID GRAPHICS
After the title screen, you'll see a menu of available conversions.
Find the name of the program that you used to create your Source
picture, and type in its corresponding
number. If you need a disk directory, type a zero.
Type in the filename of your Source picture using the "D:filename"
format. To see a directory at this point, type [RETURN] without the
filename.
Now type in the menu number and create a different filename for
your Destination picture. The conversion begins when you press [START].
EASY ILLUSTRATOR
You don't need to press the [INSERT] or [CLEAR] keys when
converting Micro Illustrator pictures -- as is required with many
"old-fashioned" converters. The Rapid Graphics Converter accepts a
compressed Micro Illustrator picture as is.
Micro Illustrator files created by the converter are not compressed
-- they're always 63 disk sectors long. However, you can still take
advantage of Micro Illustrator's complex machine language compression
routines and store many more pictures on your disk. Simply run your
Micro Illustrator program, load your converted 63-sector picture and
re-save it under the same filename.
HIDDEN PAINT FILES
In some versions of Paint software, picture files cannot be
accessed by DOS 2 and BASIC.
If your Paint picture files are stored this way, you can load and
save them with the converter's Paint (Reston) option. Select number 5
from the menu.
After selecting 5, you can look at a Paint disk directory by typing
[RETURN] at the filename prompt. The converter automatically adjusts
its disk directory routines to fit your picture file category.
ANIMATION
You can animate your favorite microscreens with the converter and
MovieMaker. Just convert that favorite screen into a MovieMaker
Background file. Then load it into the MovieMaker program.
MovieMaker lets you change pieces of your background screen into
shapes which can be animated and used in your Movie files. For more
details, see the Easy Graphics Converter article (Antic, September
1984).
Certain graphics products require special filenames, and
the converter will not create pictures with illegal filenames.
For example, all Paint picture filenames must have a extenders. If
you forget to type in one of these special extenders, the converter will
remind you to include a legal filename.
RESOLUTION SOLUTION
The converter works with pictures drawn in Graphics Modes 7, 8 and
15. Since the pixel size and number of colors available differ among
various modes, pictures drawn in one mode may look slightly different
when translated into other modes. (See below.)
When picture files are converted from mode 8 (a two color mode) to
a mode with more colors, such as four-color mode 15, the converter
program adds any necessary default colors. You should also remember
that you'll be sacrificing some of the finer details of your high
resolution microscreens when converting them to lower resolution.
Finally, feel free to experiment with the converter. If your
favorite drawing program isn't mentioned in the main menu, try
converting your files with one of the available options. The length of
a picture file may help you decide which conversions to try first.
Picture files which are 62 disk sectors long might be loaded as
Micro-Painter, Graphics Master or Graphics Machine files. Try the Fun
With Art option with picture files slightly longer than 62 sectors.
Micro Illustrator files vary in length from one sector to 63
sectors.
Picture files which are about 31 sectors long might be loaded as
Visualizer or Paint (Atari) files.
Programmers wishing to modify the converter should examine the
special Break-disable routine in lines 40-70. When you RUN the program
normally, the [BREAK] key is disabled. However, if you press the
[SELECT] key while typing RUN [RETURN], the [BREAK] key will be enabled,
allowing you to halt and examine the program at any point.
GRAPHICS MODE SUMMARIES
Graphics Mode 8 (ANTIC mode F)
One foreground color, one background color. Screen measures 320
columns by 192 rows. Software: Graphics Master, Graphics Machine.
Graphics Mode 7 (ANTIC mode D)
Three foreground colors, one background color. Screen measures 160
columns by 96 rows. Software: Paint, MovieMaker, Visualizer.
Graphics Mode 15 (ANTIC mode E)
Three foreground colors, one background color. Screen measures 160
columns by 192 rows. Software: Micro-Painter, Micro Illustrator, Fun
With Art, AtariGraphics.