@database tapavi.guide @remark Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers. @master tapavi.guide @node main @title "TAPAVI 1.5 Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers" TAPAVI 1.5 Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers. This is a residentable AVI animation player for 020+ machines with KS 2.0 or better, for the Picasso II graphics board. @{" Requirements " link "requirements"} @{" Supported Encoding " link "encoding" } @{" CLI Parameters " link "cli" } @{" Workbench ToolTypes " link "wb" } @{" Operation " link "operation" } @{" XAnim " link "xanim" } @{" CD-ROMs " link "cd-roms" } @{" Credits " link "credits" } @{" Distribution " link "distribution"} @{" Contact Info " link "contact" } @{" History " link "history" } DISCLAIMER: It works on my machine. @endnode @node requirements @title "Requirements" The mimimum requirements for TAPAVI are an Amiga with a 68020 CPU, KS 2.0, a Picasso II graphics board, and the ReqTools library. The ReqTools library can be found on Aminet in util/libs. As of version 1.4, support for ECS and AGA has been removed. I have no intention of putting it back without being bribed to do so, as things are much easier (and faster!) on the Picasso. @endnode @node encoding @title "Supported Encoding" TAPAVI's implementation of AVI codecs is based on the source code to Mark Podlipec's @{" XAnim " link "xanim"} program. I will add more codecs as I need them. I think the best source for AVI files is on @{" CD-ROM " link "cd-roms"}, so as I get new CDs I will extend TAPAVI's support. CRAM(8) 8-bit video. CRAM(16) 16-bit video. RGB(8) 8-bit video. CVID(24) 24-bit video. PCM(8) 8-bit audio. Each byte is an unsigned value. PCM(16) 16-bit audio. Each word is a signed value. @endnode @node cli @title "CLI Parameters" The command template for TAPAVI is... FILES/M,BUF/K/N,DELTA/K/N,LOOP/S,NOSHOW/S,RAW/K,SKIP/K/N,SOUND/S, TIME/S,VERBOSE/S FILES A list of AVIs that you want to play. The default is to use a file requester. BUF The size in KB of the buffers to use when reading the animation file. Two buffers of this size are allocated and smaller values may make the animation smoother. The default is 512. DELTA The frame delay, in 100ths of a second, to be used for each video frame. If a frame is drawn in less time than this value, then TAPAVI will wait until the time expires before continuing. The default value is taken from the AVI file, which contains a microsecond value that TAPAVI converts with DELTA = (N / 10000) - 2. LOOP Enables looping of the animation when it finishes. The default is to move on to the next file or exit when an animation ends. NOSHOW Disables decoding of the AVI's video stream. RAW A file name to which the AVI's audio stream will be saved. It may be possible to play this file using a program like Thomas Wenzel's Play16. This option is only effective when the SOUND option is used. SKIP A number N indicating that every Nth video frame should be skipped. SOUND Enables audio. The default is to have sound disabled. VERBOSE Enables the output of some of the AVI header chunks that TAPAVI looks at. @endnode @node wb @title "Workbench ToolTypes" These tooltypes are only used if they are present in the TAPAVI icon. By the time animation icons can be inspected, the configuration that these options control has already been done. BUF=N N is the size in KB of the buffers to use when reading the animation file. The default is 512. DELTA=N N is the frame delay, in 100ths of a second, allowed for each video frame. The default is taken from the AVI file. LOOP=ON Enables looping. The default is OFF. SKIP=N N is a number indicating that every Nth frame should be skipped. SOUND=ON Enables audio. The default is OFF. @endnode @node operation @title "Operation" AVIs that cannot be played back at the frame rate they are expecting will tend to have stuttered audio. Smaller BUF values tend to smooth out marginal animations by spreading the IO load. If you have enough memory, then a BUF value large enough to hold the entire animation would remove the IO load altogether. Adjusting the DELTA value to a little less than the AVI's expected frame delay may help cure problems where the audio goes faster than the video. This has no effect if TAPAVI is just unable to decode and display video frames fast enough. The following input can be used to control TAPAVI. It is similar to the control allowed by SPARTA Inc's ShowANIM. Esc, RMB End the current animation. ^C, break End the program. F1,...,F10 Set different speeds. F1 is the fastest. Down Pause the animation, ignored if DELTA is zero. Right, LMB Forward one frame. Up Resume the animation. @endnode @node "xanim" @title "XAnim" The AVI codecs that TAPAVI supports are based on the source code to Mark Podlipec's XAnim program. XAnim supports a number of other AVI video codecs, as well as QuickTime files. I use Terje Pedersen's port of XAnim on the Amiga. If you run it with its +v option, it will display the video and audio codecs for the file. The latest version of XAnim can be obtained from the Aminet sites as gfx/show/xanim6.lha. There is another port of XAnim under way, but it currently requires KS3.1 so I have not been able to run it. The key differences between TAPAVI and XAnim for AVI files are... o XAnim is more powerful and more general than TAPAVI. o TAPAVI requires a Picasso II, which it is optimised for, and with which it can display 24-bit animations. @endnode @node cd-roms @title "CD-ROMs" I am compiling a list of the CD-ROMs that TAPAVI works with. If you would like to add to the following list of CDs, please email me the name and publisher of the CD and the output from TAPAVI's VERBOSE command. Best of the Best Volume 2: Girls on Girls, by Interactive Classics Inc. These are 10 frames per second, with CRAM(8) video and PCM(8) audio. Betty Boop Classic Collection, by Chestnut (CDRP Inc.). These are from 4 to 8 frames per second, with CVID(24) video and PCM(8) audio. X-Rated Bloopers, by Interactive Classics Inc. These are 10 frames per second, with CRAM(8) video and PCM(8) audio. @endnode @node credits @title "Credits" TAPAVI is written by John Bickers using SAS C 6.51. Thanks to Gregory Donner for donating the Betty Boop CD, which I used to add and test CVID(24) support! Thanks to Stephan Feinen for format information on the 00pc chunk. The XAnim program is written by Mark Podlipec. XAnim6 on the Amiga is a port by Terje Pedersen. The asynchronous file IO code is based on the ASendPacket example written by Phillip Lindsay, from Fish disk #66. ReqTools is Copyright (c) Nico François. @endnode @node distribution @title "Distribution" TAPAVI is Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers. Distribution is via normal channels. That is, distribute it for free or for Fred Fish like costs, but not more. And remember to include the documentation. If you want to contribute something to the cause of PC animation playback, you might want to consider sending me a CD of anims, or a movie CD. If you're putting together a CD of animations and you want to put TAPAVI onto it, by all means do so. Send me a copy of the CD in lieu of any fee. @{" Contact me " link "contact"} if you want any customisation of the program done. @endnode @node contact @title "Contact Info" I can be reached at: John Bickers Level 6, Grand Arcade 16 Willis St Wellington New Zealand Or: jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz Or: +64 4 801 8768 (home) +64 4 474 6625 (work) @endnode @node history @title "History" 94.12.21 Created 1.0. 94.12.24 1.1 Added async. file IO, making playback much smoother. Doubled size of audio buffer. Paid attention to AVI frame timing. 94.12.25 1.2 Rewrote CRAM(8) decoding in assembler. 94.12.26 Skips large idx1 chunks automatically. Added VERBOSE option. 94.12.27 Added RGB(8) video. Made pause behaviour consistent with TAPDL. 94.12.28 Added checking for tooltypes. 94.12.29 Added LOOP option. 94.12.30 Added CRAM(16) video in assembler. Changed tapavi.man to tapavi.guide. 94.12.31 1.3 95.01.02 Added GRAY option. 95.01.03 Updated c2p code to new Peter McGavin routines. Removed FONT option. Only opens screen when necessary. 95.01.04 Added 00pc chunk. Avoids IO when looping on files smaller than BUF. 95.01.08 Added NODB option. 95.02.13 1.4 Removed chunk-to-planar and draw-buffer stuff. Made it Picasso II only. 95.02.14 Added function keys for speed control. 95.03.01 Added CVID(24) video. 95.03.08 Added summary codec information output. @endnode