@database Heddley
@master WORK_GAMES:PROJ/AnimatED/AnimatED.Guide
@remark Created with Heddley v1.1 (c) Edd Dumbill 1994

@node "Introductie" "Introduction "
@{b}What is AnimatED?@{ub}

Welcome to AnimatED, an animationprogram which makes it possible to make
your animations just that little bit better. AnimatED allows you to add all
kind of different events to your animations. With just a few clicks of the
mouse you will, for example, be able to assign a soundsample to a particular
frame in your animation or make a frame pause for some time. You can use
your favourite drawingpackage, which uses the IFF-Anim standard, to draw
your animation and when finished use AnimatED to make your animation really
stand out from the rest. Let's introduce some powerful features available in
AnimatED:

* Support for IFF-animations (modes 5 and 7).

* Support for (almost) all screenmodes (including AGA).

* IFF-soundsamples, which can be played through any channel you like.
You can also set the volume and the pitch at which the sample will be
played. Looped soundsamples are supported.

* Timing, change at any point in your animation the speed at which
your animation is played. The speed is measured in Frames Per Second.

* Wait, pause your animation for an amount set in seconds.

* Play Sound-/Noise-/ProTracker or Med modules during your animation.

* Your finished productions can be easily played back in realtime using
the stand-alone freely distributable AnimatEDPlay program.

* Create stand-alone self-running disks with ease. Use animations, edited
with AnimatEDPlay as intro's to your games/demos.
@endnode

@node "Disclaimer" "Disclaimer "
@{b}Disclaimer@{ub}

The author of AnimatED can not be held responsible for any damage that this
program or the manual that came with it might cause. If you are using
AnimatED, you will do so at YOUR OWN RISK.
@endnode

@node "Registratie" "Registering"
@{b}Registration@{ub}

AnimatED is shareware, which means it may be freely distributed and copied,
as long no alterations are made to the programs or the archive. If you find
AnimatED good enough to cheer up your animations you might consider to
registrate AnimatED. When you send me the registration fee you will receive
a disk containing the latest version of AnimatED and a special personalised
keyfile. When you copy this file to the same directory as AnimatED, AnimatED
won't bring up the shareware notice at the beginning. Also scripts saved out
with a registered version of AnimatED will remove the requester which is
displayed when playing your animations using AnimatEDPlay. Your keyfile is
personal and it contains your name and registrationnumber, so don't give it
to other persons. I also would like to state that if you do register that
all future updates of AnimatED will be free for you. This means that you
don't have to pay extra money to use the latest version. Updates of AnimatED
should be available through Aminet(-CD's).

If you want to register please send me 10 English pounds OR 20 American
dollars OR 25 Dutch guilders in cash or use an Eurocheque. Other currencies
or methods of payment will NOT be accepted! Inning foreign cheques costs
money and accepting this method of payment forces me to increase the
shareware fee, so therefore only cash payment and Eurocheques are accepted
and the shareware fee is as low as it can be. Please use the
'AED_OrderForm.txt' (included in the archive) for your order.

When paying by EuroCheque please check out the following notes:

-Dutch Guilders only : FL 25,- (vijfentwintig gulden)
-Cardnumber on the Backside
-Signature on Front AND Backside

NOTE: Sending money to me is doing so at your own risk! I cannot be held
responsible if things go wrong. Don't be too afraid for sending money in
cash. I have registered users from Mexico, Canada and Australia, so it all
seems quite reliable.

Click here for the @{"address" link "Adres" 0}.
@endnode

@node "SystemReq" "System Requirements "
@{b}System Requirements@{ub}

To use AnimatED you need at least Kickstart 2.04 and 2 Mb of memory, But if
you really want to benefit from all AnimatEDs features, more memory is
recommended. Also the following libraries should be in your LIBS: drawer:

- diskfont.library
- asl.library
- mathtrans.library

The AED.font (size 8) should be located in your FONTS: drawer. See also
@{"Installation" link "Install" 0}.

AnimatED has been tested on the following systems:

A1200 / A1230 / A2000 (030).
@endnode

@node "Install" "Installation "
@{b}Installation@{ub}

This shouldn't be a real problem as all you have to do is copy the AnimatED
executable to wherever you like (your harddisk for example). Even easier,
double clik the Install icon and everything will be copied automatically
(including the AED.font, which will be copied to FONTS:).

AnimatED will look for it's prefs-file (if available) in the same drawer
AnimatED was started from.

You should also have the following libs and font installed.

LIBS:asl.library
LIBS:diskfont.library
LIBS:mathtrans.library

FONTS:AED.font

Libraries are not included as these are part of WorkBench and should be on
your WorkBench-disk. NOTE: AnimatED needs version 38.25 or higher of the
asl.library. The version included with WorkBench 2.x will NOT do!
@endnode

@{b}AnimatED v1.21@{ub}

AnimatED is a @{fg shine}SHAREWARE@{fg text} product

Read the distribution section for information on distribution
and registering.

@{" Disclaimer " link "Disclaimer" 0} Use it at your own risk.
@{" Introduction " link "Introductie" 0} What is AnimatED?
@{" System Requirements " link "SystemReq" 0} What does AnimatED need?
@{" Installation " link "Install" 0} How to install AnimatED.
@{" Main Screen " link "MainPanel" 0} What are all those buttons for?
@{" Events " link "Events" 0} What and which events?
@{" AnimatEDPlay " link "CartoonPlayer" 0} I want to be famous!
@{" Questions+Answers " link "QenA" 0} I've got a problem?!
@{" History " link "History" 0} Story of my life.
@{" Future " link "Future" 0} What's next?
@{" Distribution " link "Registratie" 0} I want to register!
@{" Credits " link "Adres" 0} Not that spectaculair.
@endnode

@node "MainPanel" "Main Screen"
@{b}Main Screen@{ub}

From the main screen, which can be in any screenmode or the Workbenchscreen,
you'll be able to control all of AnimatEDs features.

AnimatED can be quit by pressing the close window button of the Project
Window.

You are free to drag any of the windows around. New windows positions will
be stored in memory as long as AnimatED is running. You can save new
windowpositions by clicking the Save button on the AnimatED prefs page of
the Prefs window. Windowspositions will be automatically saved if the
@{"Auto-save prefs" link "Options" 0} option is enabled.

Here is a description of the functions of all those windows:

@{b}Project window@{ub}

@{" Load Anim " link "LoadAnim" 0} Load an IFF-animation.
@{" Unload Anim " link "Unload" 0} Unload an animation & script
@{" About " link "About" 0} Display program info.
@{" Load Script " link "Load Script" 0} Load an AnimatED-script.
@{" Save Script " link "SaveScript" 0} Save an AnimatED-script.
@{" Options " link "Options" 0} Change/Save the prefs.
@{" Cont Anim " link "Cont Anim" 0} Start animation from the current frame.
@{" Start Anim " link "Start Anim" 0} Start animation from the beginning.
@{" Show Frame " link "Show Frame" 0} Show the current frame.

@{b}Frames window@{ub}

All frames are displayed in this window. On the bottom is the currently
selected frame. All further actions will affect this frame. Click on a
framenumber to make that frame the current frame. You can resize this window
to make more frames easy accessible.

@{b}Events window@{ub}

Shows a list of all events availble in AnimatED. Events which are attached
to the current frame have a checkmark. Clicking on one of the events causes
that particular eventwindow to open. Only 1 event of it's kind can be
attached to a single frame.

@{b}Search for event window@{ub}

Select an event to search for using the cyclepad and then use prev and next
to search backwards or forwards for the selected event starting from the
current frame. When a frame contains the event searched for it will become
the current frame. If nothing is found the screen will flash.

@{b}Information window@{ub}

Shows information and error messages. If something doesn't go as you
expected look at this window to see if there is an (error)message displayed.
@endnode

@node "LoadAnim" "Load Animation "
@{b}Load Anim@{ub}

When you press this button AnimatED will bring up a file-selector and from
here you should select your IFF-Anim and click Ok. AnimatED will then load
your animation in memory. If for some reason AnimatED failed to load your
animation, due to low memory for example, an error message will be
displayed. Don't forget that at the moment AnimatED only supports IFF Anim5
and Anim7 animations. Also animations can only be loaded into contiguous
memory. Which means it is important to have a big largest free memory block.
For animations it doesn't matter if this is fast-memory or chip-memory. See
@{"Q+A" link "QenA" 0} for more information about memory usage.

IMPORTANT! AnimatED expects your animation to have looping frames at the
end, so when the end of your animation is reached your animation will start
all over again from the beginning. However some programs don't add these
frames to the animations they save and when playing such an animation in
AnimatED it will when it loops around become a real mess. I have done a
little test of which programs fail to save IFF-animations with looping
frames and I have come to the following conclusions:

Program Looping frames?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DeluxePaint III,IV(AGA),V Yes, no problems with this classic.

Brilliance 1 & 2 Same story here, no problems at all.

Main-Actor v1.55 Save the animation as IFF and when the
program has saved your animation it will ask
you if it should add looping frames. Simply
answer this with a yes, and it works fine
with AnimatED.

Personal Paint 6.1 This seems to be the only troubleshooter at
the moment, as it won't add looping frames.

If you're animation doesn't have looping frames there are several things
you can do:

- Load your animation in a program which does add looping frames and
save it from there.

- Add looping frames yourself by adding frame 1 and 2 to your
animation.

- Let AnimatED do all the work and select 'No looping frames' from
the @{"Options-window" link "Options" 0}.

It's best to add looping frames and don't let AnimatED do the work.
@endnode

@node "Load Script" "Load Script "
@{b}Load Script@{ub}

This button, when pressed, will bring up a file-selector and allows you to
select an AnimatED-script. Only files with a .AED extension are displayed.
This script contains all the events-data and the names of the used animation
and possibly used soundsamples and/or trackermodule. When you load a script,
AnimatED will also automatically load your animation and possible
soundsamples/trackermodule. AnimatED will try to load these files from the
same directory they were originally loaded from. Therefore it may be
possible that AnimatED asks you to insert a disk containing those files. If
you don't have that disk anymore or you have copied the files to another
disk, AnimatED is not able to locate the needed files.

However AnimatED will also look in the same directory where you're
scriptfile was loaded from, for that particular file needed. Please read the
@{"AnimatEDPlay" link "CartoonPlayer" 0} section for information on this.

If still a particular file can't be found both AnimatED and AnimatEDPlay
will try to play the animation anyway. Except, of course, if it can't find
the animation itself... :)
@endnode

@node "SaveScript" "Save Script"
@{b}Save script@{ub}

With save script all the events-data will be saved. AnimatED will
automatically add a .AED extension to the name you have given to save your
script and an icon. Remember that AnimatED does not save your animation,
soundsamples and trackermodules. AnimatED does however save the directories
where it can find these files, so if you load the script another time in
AnimatED it will try to load these from the disks/directories they were
originally loaded from. If this fails it will also look in the same
directory where the script was loaded from. See for more information
@{"Load Script" link "Load Script" 0}.
@endnode

@node "About" "About "
@{b}About@{ub}

This brings up a requester which shows what amount of free memory you have.
Especially important are the largest free memoryblock and CHIP memory. See
@{"Q+A" link "QenA" 0} for more information.
@endnode

@node "Events" "Add Event "
@{b}Events@{ub}

@{" Freeze frame " link "Wait" 0} Freeze a frame temporarily.

@{" Timing " link "Framerate" 0} Set the playback speed of your animation.

@{" Soundsample " link "Soundsamples" 0} Load and play IFF-soundsamples.

@{" Trackermodule " link "Tracker" 0} Load and play a Trackermodule.

@{" Medmodule " link "Medmodule" 0} Load and play a Medmodule.

@{" Channel Mask " link "Channel Mask" 0} Mask Tracker- or Med Channels.

@{" Load Script " link "Load Script" 0} Load a new script.
@endnode

@node "Wait" "Freeze frame event "
@{b}Freeze frame event@{ub}

Here you can make the current frame wait for an amount of time set in
seconds (maximum 600 seconds), a mouseclick/keypress or both. If you set the
waiting time 10 seconds and also tick the wait mouseclick/ keypress box,
AnimatED will wait 10 seconds before it continues the animation, but if the
user presses a key or the left-mouse then AnimatED will also continue your
animation.

Be sure to have set the correct Refreshrate of the display mode you are
using, otherwise it could suddenly happen that a second isn't a second
anymore. :)
@endnode

@node "Framerate" "Timing event"
@{b}Timing event@{ub}

Here you can set the speed at which your animation from the current frame
will be played back. 1 frame per second is the minimum 50 frames per second
the max. On slow Amiga's it is possible that animations with a big
resolution don't achieve the specified speed.

Also be sure that the specified Refreshrate matches the refreshrate of the
used displaymode. Otherwise unpredictable things can happen. :)
@endnode

@node "Soundsamples" "Soundsamples event"
@{b}Soundsample event@{ub}

Here you can load samples and assign one of them to the current frame. The
samples loaded in memory are displayed in the listviewer on the left and the
currently selected one is displayed on the bottom. You will see that there
is already one sample present, namely Sound Off. This sample does exactly
what you expect, namely turning the currently playing soundsample off (this
is if you specify the same channels ofcourse).

Load - This will bring up a file-requester and allows you to load
8SVX IFF soundsample into memory. IFF soundsamples are used
a lot on the Amiga and there are thousands available in the
Public Domain. You can also sample your own sounds using
a soundsampler and some samplesoftware which can save the
samples in the required format (almost all do). You can't
load soundsamples which are bigger than 128.000 bytes. You
can load a maximum of 250 different soundsamples.
NOTE: soundsamples can only be loaded in CHIP memory.

Kill - This option deletes the currently selected soundsample from
memory. All frames which had this soundsample assigned to
itself will lose their event-data.

Hear - Plays the currently selected sample with the current volume-,
pitch- and channelsettings.

Stop - Stops the currently playing soundsample.

Channel - Here you can select through which channels your soundsample
should be played. The Amiga has 4 different channels with
which you can make any combination possible.

Volume - This allows you to set the volume from silence (0) to
very loud (64).

Pitch - Controls the pitch at which the soundsample will be played
back ranging from high (100) to low (600).

Loop - When turned on this will loop the soundsample. NOTE:To loop
an IFF soundsample it must have looping information.
Soundsamples saved without this information will NOT loop
and produce some afwul noises instead.

Led - Turns the soundfilter on/off.

Ok - Accepts the current settings and assigns it to the current
frame. The Sound-event window will be closed.

Cancel - Restores the old settings. You won't get back previously
killed soundsamples!

Remove - If a soundevent is already attached to the current frame
than this option will be available. It allows you to remove
the soundevent from the current frame.
@endnode

@node "Tracker" "Trackermodule event"
@{b}Trackermodule event@{ub}

With the tracker event you can load a sound-/noise-/pro-trackermodule which
can be started or stopped at any frame in your animation. It is possible to
play both a trackermodule and a soundsample simultaneously, see @{"Channel Mask" link "Channel Mask" 0}
@{"" link "Channel Mask" 0}for more information.

Load - Will try to load a trackermodule into chip-memory. NOTE:
trackermodules can only be loaded in chip-memory, which
means it may happen that you have plenty fast-memory left
but still get an out of memory error if there isn't any
chip-memory left. Also note that there is no
filetype-checking on trackermodules, so loading in any
other file than a trackermodule will probably crash
AnimatED!

Start - Starts the trackermodule from the specified pattern.
Pressing the Ok button will now assign a start
trackermodule event to the current frame.

Stop - Stops the currently playing trackermodule and/or when
pressing the Ok button will now assign a stop
trackermodule event to the current frame.

Pause - Pause the currently playing trackermodule. Pressing the
Ok button will assign a pause trackermodule event to the
current frame.

Cont - Continue the paused trackermodule. Pressing the Ok button
will assign this as an event to the current frame.

Kill - Remove the module from memory. All frames which had
trackermodule events assigned to itself will lose their
trackermodule event.

Pattern - Here you can specify from which pattern your
trackermodule should start.

Volume - Use the slider to set the volume of the
trackermodule.

Ok - Assign the last selected option to the current frame.

Cancel - Nothing will change.

Remove - Removes the trackerevent attached to the current
frame.

When playing back your animation and you have for example assigned a
trackermodule event to frame 1, which starts the trackermodule, then if your
animation loops around it won't start the trackermodule again at frame 1 but
continous playing. This should be very handy, if you think otherwise you can
ofcourse always assign a stop trackermodule-event to the frame before it
needs to start all over again.

Also don't try to play a trackermodule and medmodule simultaneously.
@endnode

@node "Medmodule" "Medmodule "
@{b}Medmodule event@{ub}

With the Medmodule event you can load a 4 channel MMD0 or MMD1 Medmodule
which can be started or stopped at any frame in your animation. It is
possible to play both a trackermodule and a soundsample simultaneously, see
@{"Channel Mask" link "Channel Mask" 0} event for more information.

Load - Will try to load a medmodule into chip-memory. NOTE:
medmodules can only be loaded in chip-memory, which
means it may happen that you have plenty fast-memory left
but still get an out of memory error if there isn't any
chip-memory left.

Start - Starts the medmodule from the specified pattern.
Pressing the Ok button will now assign a start
medmodule event to the current frame.

Stop - Stops the currently playing medmodule and/or when
pressing the Ok button will now assign a stop
medmodule event to the current frame.

Kill - Remove the medmodule from memory. All frames which had
medmodule events assigned to itself will lose their
medmodule event.

Pattern - Here you can specify from which pattern your
medmodule should start.

Volume - Use the slider to set the playback volume of the
medmodule.

Ok - Assign the last selected option (Action) to the current
frame.

Cancel - Nothing will change.

Remove - Removes the medevent attached to the current
frame.

When playing back your animation and you have for example assigned a
medmodule event to frame 1, which starts the medmodule, then if your
animation loops around it won't start the medmodule again at frame 1 but
continous playing. This should be very handy, if you think otherwise you can
ofcourse always assign a stop medmodule event to the frame before it needs
to start all over again.

Also don't try to play a trackermodule and a medmodule simultaneously.
@endnode

@node "Channel Mask" "Channel Mask "
@{b}Channel Mask event@{ub}

This events allows you to mask out audio channels needed by soundsamples
stopping the medmodule or trackermodule using them.

Normally when you try to play a soundsample when there is also a
med-/trackermodule playing will produce an afwul noise. Here you can specify
which channels should be masked so a soundsample can be played using these
channels. Ofcourse it is also possible to turn channels on again so the
med-/trackermodule can use them again.

Don't try to do nasty things like playing a medmodule and trackermodule
simultaneously.
@endnode

@node "Load Script Event" "Load Script event"
@{b}Load Script event@{ub}

This event allows you to load a new AnimatED script from within another
script. NOTE: This only works when playing your scripts using AnimatEDPlay!

Actually this event shouldn't be an event, it should have been an option in
the (animation)prefs window. This because it doesn't necessarily is of
influence on the frame this event is attached to. It was easier to code this
as an event than rather an option, so that's why I made it an event.

This event deletes the currently playing project from memory and then
AnimatEDPlay starts loading the specified new one. There are several options
when this needs to happen.

Tick the checkbox to activate the Load Script event. Now you can select an
AnimatED scriptfile.

There are 3 possibilities when AnimatEDPlay loads the script:

- When the current frame has been reached.
- When the animation is quitted (by pressing the right mousebutton).
NOTE: Also if the animation ends this option will execute the Load
Script event.
- When the animation has ended (if the animation isn't played in an
infinitive loop).

Ofcourse this event can be only attached once to a frame in particular
animation. If event already exists and you attach this event another time
to a different frame then the previous one will lose it's eventdata.
@endnode

@node "Options" "Prefs"
@{b}Prefs@{ub}

There are 3 pages of options which can be accessed using the cyclegadget.
One of the pages contains options for AnimatED itself only, the other two
are of influence on the currently loaded animation. Which means they can't
be accessed when no animation has been loaded.

@{b}Animated Prefs@{ub}

Select Display - Allows you to select any screenmode available for
AnimatED to display it's windows on. Screens must
be at least 640 x 200 in size.

Use Workbench - Use the WorkBench screen.

Show Framenumber - Shows the framenumber of the current frame in the
top-left corner when playing your animation or
showing a frame.

Auto-save prefs - Saves the prefs, including windowspositions,
when AnimatED is quitted.

Save - Saves the above options and all windowspositions
to a prefs-file. This file is called
AnimatED.prefs and is located in the same drawer
as AnimatED. At start-up AnimatED will look for
this file and read the prefs if possible.

@{b}Animation Prefs@{ub}

Select Display - Allows you to select a different displaymode for
your animation to be played in. Please be
careful with this, selecting some displaymodes
may cause a software failure.

Refresh rate - Sets the amount of times the screen is updated
per second. On normal PAL-screens this is 50
times ont NTSC-screens this is 60 times. A
screenmode like Euro72 for example updates 72
times a second. The Timing is based on this
value. So calculating a framespeed based on a PAL
screen (50 times) but played on an Euro72 screen
(72 times) isn't very wise.

Single Palette - Since version 1.2 of AnimatED different palette
per frame animations are supported. Unfortunately
on some (non AGA) Amiga's a wrong palette is
initialized with some animations. As a default
this option is turned on to keep AnimatED
compatible with all Amiga's.

X Pos & Y Pos - Allows you to set the coördinates at which the
animationscreen must be displayed. This is useful
for Overscanscreens which seem to be displayed
wrong most of the time. Negative values are
accepted.

Play anim x times - Sets the amount of times the animation must be
played. 0 means an infinitive loop. This option
is only of influence when playing your animation
with AnimatEDPlay.

Can't quit anim - Normally a press of the right-mousebutton will
quit the animation. When the checkbox is marked
this can't be done. This option is only of
influence when playing your animation with
AnimatEDPlay.

Set password - This allows you to password protect your scripts.
You may enter a password up to 10 characters
long. The correct password is needed to load the
script into AnimatED. For playback using
AnimatEDPlay the password is NOT required.

Info requester - This allows you to select an ASCII-text which
will be displayed once in a requester before
your animation starts. This option only works
when playing your animation using AnimatEDPlay.
NOTE:Don't use lines longer than 50 characters.
Don't use too many lines of text either, as it
otherwise may not fit on (some peoples)
WorkBench.

No looping frames - If your animation doesn't contain looping frames
you'll notice the last 2 frames of your animation
are missing. If this is the case tick this box or
even better add looping frames to your animation.
See @{"LoadAnim" link "LoadAnim" 0} for more information.

@{b}Animation Prefs@{ub}

Directory paths - Here it shows all the directories and filenames
of the animation, soundsamples, trackermodule and
medmodule which AnimatED needs to load a script.
I think it's wise to make make a backup of your
original script before changing any paths or
filenames in the options-menu.

NOTE:You can change the filenames of samples, trackermodule and the
animation, but please be careful, as if you accidentally specify a wrong
file AnimatED will probably crash. Also notice that you can't change the
animation itself! This should always be the same file when loaded the first
time in AnimatED using the LoadAnim button.
@endnode

@node "Cont Anim" "Cont Anim "
@{b}Cont Anim@{ub}

This option will start your animation from the frame currently displayed. It
will take notice of any rate-events which may have occurred before that
frame. It won't however continue sound/tracker-events which may still be
heard when running from the beginning of your animation. Press the
right-mousebutton to quit back to the editor.
@endnode

@node "Start Anim" "Start Anim "
@{b}Start Anim@{ub}

Surprise surprise, this option will actually play your animation from frame
one. Press the right-mousebutton to quit back to the editor.
@endnode

@node "Show Frame" "Show Frame "
@{b}Show Frame@{ub}

Shows the current frame. You can quit back to the mainscreen by pressing
the right-mousebutton. Pressing the left-mousebutton will show the next
frame. If 'Show framenumber' is selected in the @{"Options-window" link "Options" 0} the
framenumber will be displayed in the top-left corner of the screen.
@endnode

@node "Unload" "Unload Project"
@{b}Unload@{ub}

You wil be asked to confirm this option, which will delete the current
project from memory. So be sure you have saved you're scipt before selecting
this option. Otherwise all data will be lost.
@endnode

@node "CartoonPlayer" "AnimatEDPlay"
@{b}AnimatEDPlay@{ub}

Your Finished productions can be easily played back in real time. Record
onto video tape or distribute your production on disk, using the freely
provided, distributable AnimatEDPlay.

You can start AnimatEDPlay from the CLI, by typing:

AnimatEDPlay <Return>

or from Workbench by double-clicking on it's icon. In both these cases a
file-requester will pop up, allowing you to select an AnimatED scriptfile.
You can also start an AnimatED scriptfile by simply typing the directorypath
and filename where you're AnimatED script is held in the CLI:

AnimatEDPlay MYDISK:AEDscripts/greatanim.AED

This will load and start your animation directly. It wil thus load the
necessary files needed to play your animation (ie. the animation itself,
soundsamples etc.). At first AnimatEDPlay will look if the volume where they
were originally loaded from is avalaible. If it's not it will try to locate
the file in the same directory you're script was loaded from. So if you, for
example, have saved a script which looks for a file called 'greatanim.anim'
in the directory 'ANIMS:mine/' then if this volume isn't avalaible (ie. disk
not inserted for example) it will also look for that file in the directory
the script was loaded from. This is easy if you, for example, want to play
your animation from anywhere you like. Simply copying all the files, needed
by your script, to the same directory where your scriptfile was loaded from
will guarantee that your animation is played correctly.

Even simpler; also copy AnimatEDPlay to that same directory and now a double
mouseclick on the script-icon will run your animation automatically.

If a file can't be found a requester will pop up, asking you to insert the
volume where that file can be found. Press Ok if the volume is inserted,
press cancel to quit.

If you have selected an ASCII-textfile to be displayed as an intro-requester
this will be displayed of the specified text-file is found. If not, nothing
will happen and the animation will start playing anyway.

If you have saved your script with a not registered version of AnimatED a
requester will be shown before the animation starts. Please read the section
about @{"registering" link "Registratie" 0} for more information.

If you have set the value of 'Playing x times' in the options-menu of
AnimatED greater than 0, you're animation will be played as many times
specified and AnimatEDPlay will quit itself. Otherwise you're animation will
be played infinitive.

If you have selected the option 'Can't quit animation' in the options-menu
of AnimatED you're animation can't be quitted. Otherwise a press of the
right-mousebutton will quit your animation and AnimatEDPlay.

If you are making your own bootable disk, be sure you have copied the
'mathtrans.library' and the 'asl.library' to the LIBS-drawer of your disk.
Because both these libraries are needed by AnimatEDPlay.
@endnode

@node "QenA" "Questions+Answers "
@{b}Questions & Answers@{ub}

Here are some solutions for problems you may encounter.

Q: When my animation has reached the end it loops back to frame 1
but it makes a mess of the display.
A: Your animation doesn't contain looping frames, please read the
@{"Options" link "Options" 0} section for more information.

Q: My animation contains 2 frames more than AnimatED counts.
A: This means you're animation don't contain looping frames, please
read the @{"Options" link "Options" 0} section for more information.

Q: When I want to loop a sound it doesn't loop but makes some strange
noises instead.
A: Use an IFF-sample which actually contains looping-data. You
can add looping using any IFF-compatible musicprogram (Soundtracker,
Protracker, Med etc.) See also @{"Load Sound" link "Soundsamples" 0}.

Q: AnimatEDPlay won't run.
A: Be sure the 'asl.library' and 'mathtrans.library' are present
in the LIBS-drawer of your boot-disk.

Q: The animation isn't displayed in the correct screenmode.
A: Disable any screenpromoters. For example the one in IPrefs, which
is in your Prefs-drawer, promotes screens while it shouldn't.
Especially overscan screenmodes seem to suffer.

Q: The screen isn't positioned correctly.
A: This happens a lot with overscan screenmodes. First try disabling
any screenpromoters and if needed adjust the screenposition by
altering the X Pos and Y Pos values in the @{"Options" link "Options" 0} window.

Q: I have plenty free memory left, but I still get an 'Out of Memory'
error when I want to load something.
A: Soundsamples and trackermodules can only be played from Chip memory,
therefore you may have enough free Fast memory to load the file, but
soundsamples and trackermodules do need Chip memory.
The animation itself can be loaded in both Chip or Fast memory,
this must however be one block of contiguous memory. So it's
always important to have a big 'largest free memory block'.

Q: When there is a trackermodule playing than if I want to play a
soundsample I can't hear it or get some afwul noises instead.
A: In the @{"Sound-event" link "Soundsamples" 0} window you can specify which channels should
not be used by the trackermodule and therefore are available for
soundsamples. You can turn the trackerchannels on later by playing
a sample with the 'tracker'-checkboxes turned off.

Q: I want to assign more than one soundsample to the same frame, is
this possible?
A: Yes and no. No, because AnimatED doesn't support this and yes
because there are some solutions which can do the trick. You could
for example add that same frame right after the original frame and
then play these at twice the speed (if possible) the rest of your
animation is playing. It will look like just one frame is
displayed but it are actually 2 frames and thus 2 possibilities
to add a soundsample to the frame.
Another solution is using a trackermodule. Create a pattern with
the samples which should be played and play this pattern using the
Tracker-event.

Q: I have changed some filenames and now my script won't load.
A: It wouldn't be too bad if it was just the directorypath that had
been chanhged and not the filename. As both AnimatED and
AnimatEDPlay will also look for a file in the directory the script
is loaded from. See @{"AnimatEDPlay" link "CartoonPlayer" 0} for more information about this.
But if the script needs a file which doesn't exist then it's a
different story. You could try to load the scriptfile into a
text-editor and change the incorrect filename to one which does
exist.

Q: I have saved my script password protected, but now I can't
remember the password anymore.
A: Too bad, there is nothing you can do about it.

Q: AnimatED chrases at start-up.
A: Try deleting the prefs-file, if it exists. Maybe AnimatED tries to
open a screen which isn't available on you system (anymore).

Q: AnimatED crashes a lot.
A: Try starting Workbench without executing the 'startup-sequence'. Do
this by disabling the 'startup-sequence' in your early boot-up control
menu (hold both mousebuttons during a reset). If you now boot your
Workbench-(hard)disk you'll get straight in the CLI, start
AnimatED from here. Starting AnimatED this way means there
won't be any other programs in the background which could cause
troubles with AnimatED.

Q: HAM and EHB screenmodes aren't displayed correctly.
A: I hope to solve this problem as soon as possible.

Q: My animation is loaded Ok, but all I see is a black screen or
wrong colours.
A: I don't know what is causing this. Try to save your animation from
different packages to see it if it solves the problem. If not use
the Single Palette option from the Prefs-window. This should solve
your problem, but unfortunately you won't be able to use
animations with a different palette per frame. Anyway, please let
me know if you have this problem and tell me what your config is.
@endnode

@node "Future" "Future "
@{b}Future@{ub}

Well there are some things I want to add to AnimatED, for example:

- Support for OctaMed modules.
- Effects to display/remove a frame.

But it all really depends on how much feedback I get from you! It isn't
worth it further developing AnimatED if only a few people are interested.

Also as soon as I find out there is a cracked copy of AnimatED or
AnimatED-keyfile then AnimatED will NOT be further developed.
@endnode

@node "History" "History "
@{b}History@{ub}

* v1.0

- Internal testversion.

* v1.1

- Public release 22 february 1997.

* v1.2

- AnimatED now supports animations with a different palette per
frame (as supported by DPaint and PPaint).
- Added support for Med-modules.
- Added the Load Script event.
- Combined the 'Attach Event' and 'Events' window.
- Renamed the events.
- Animations can now be played in a selectable display mode.
- Seperated the Tracker-Mask options from the Sound-event, which now
has become an event on it's own.
- AnimatED now uses it's own special font, based on Thinpaz/XEN.
- Changed the arrowbuttons into sliders for the Timing and Freeze
Frame events.
- Completely changed the Prefs window, splitting it into 3 different
pages.
- Added the Auto-save Prefs option to the Prefs window.
- Added the Refresh rate option to the Prefs window.
- Added the Single palette option to the Prefs window.
- Added the Add icon to script option to the Prefs window.
- Added File-requester buttons to the filepaths in the Prefs window.
- Added a palette editor for the GUI screen in the Prefs window
- AnimatED now remembers where the script was loaded from and gives
this directorypath + filename as default when saving the script.
- AnimatED and AnimatEDPlay will now, when a soundsample,
trackermodule or medmodule can't be loaded, try to play the
animation anyway.
- Completely changed the format in which AnimatED saves it's scripts.
This makes it easier for me to keep old scripts compatible with new
versions of AnimatED.
- Coded the ScriptConverter utility to convert AnimatED 1.1 scripts
to the new format.
- Optimised the existing code a bit and removed some bugs.
- Added a nice background window...for which I borrowed the idea
from MainActor. ;)
- Created an Installer script using the standard Installer program.
- Public release 26 april 1997.

* v1.21

- Fixed a bug which locked AnimatED if it couldn't save the prefs on
exit.
- The Installer script now automatically installs a keyfile (if
available).
- Public release 30 april 1997.

@endnode

@node "Adres" "Address"
@{b}Credits@{ub}

AnimatED is written by Marco Vigelius using Blitz Basic 2.

For suggestions and the lot please write me at:

Kromme Zandweg 52
3319 GH DORDRECHT
THE NETHERLANDS

Email : vigi@cybercomm.nl
Homepage : http://www.cybercomm.nl/~vigi

Special thanks go to Dale Hemenway for testing AnimatED, giving some really
useful advice and suggestions and making the excellent AnimatED Talking Dog
animation.

I also would like to thank Jan Vloemans, because he otherwise weer zit te
mieren that I haven't mentioned him. :)

Visit the official AnimatED homepage for the latetest news, updates and
examples of projects created with AnimatED!
@endnode