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PRIMER.IG
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1990-05-01
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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: