Making an Animation Sequence #1

    The Animation Studio can be very
useful, particularly when developing
sequences of images for animation in a
game. The Studio allows you to view up
to 32 sequences in order which are
stored in memory. A range of parameters
affect each individual sequence and are
as follows:
    Delay: The time it pauses between
each frame (image).
    Step: Skips equally spaced numbers
of images in a sequence.
    Repeat: Determines the number of
times you wish a sequence to be
animated before moving onto the next
one.
    Screen: Determines which work
screen all of the sprites for that
sequence are to be taken from NOTE: if
you wish a sequence to overlay screens,
you will need to use more sequences (1
for each screen).
    BackTrack: After the sequence has
been animated normally (forwards), if
this option is on, that sequence will
also be animated in reverse.
    Size: This determines the size of
all the images in that sequence. These
are the same sizes as selected on the
Grid Specbox. If you wish to use an
image size which is not there, you must
change the Width and Height options
(Grid Specbox).
    Start Image: This value indicates
the index value of the first image in
the sequence. Don't worry about what
the value itself is, you can use the
on-screen selector to choose which
image you want (see Start/End Image
Infobar Descriptions earlier in this
manual).
    End Image: The last image in the
sequence.

              To Begin...

    Now, having given brief
explanations of the parameters
involved, we should attempt to create a
sequence...
... 1) Set up the size of image which
you want from the Grid Specbox. Choose
40 by 40 for this example.
    2) Decide what you want to animate.
We'll take a pulsing blob - just to be
simple!
    3) Next set up the necessary
colours needed in the palette by using
the Colour Specbox and changing the
values of various colours on the RGB
sliders. You may choose whatever
colours you like!  We'll only be using
1 colour anyway.
    4) There are 2 ways of drawing the
image - either edit the work screen
directly using HotSpot or use the Zoom
mode. My personal preference is the
Zoom mode method. If you choose this it
is a good idea to draw a grid of
sqaures 40 by 40 over the top in a
colour you are not likely to use on the
image itself (use the Grid mode). In
doing this, you can see exactly where
the edges of each image are. If,
however, you choose to use the HotSpot,
You should set up a Window around the
image that you are going to draw first
(very top-left of the work screen=image
0). The procedure is to first switch on
Gd-Lock, then set up the Window around
the image you want. Then turn off
Gd-Lock. Both of these methods have
their advantages - the Zoom offers a
stable screen and easier plotting
whereas the HotSpot allows you to use
any of the other Modes together with
the various effects such as Mirror,
Shadow and Fill Patterns etc. When
using the HotSpot method it may prove
useful to switch on the Grid Overlay
(Grid Specbox) option so that you can
see where the image edges are as you
work.
<<<NOTE !! Only the Zoom method will be
       explained from now on>>>
    5) Go into Zoom by using the Zoom
mode and making sure the top-left part
of the zoom box covers the top-left of
where the image is to be (at least) and
enter the Zoom Studio.
    6) Since you have the Grid layed
out, you will be able to see where the
edges of the image you want to create
are. If the Zoom window does not show
all these edges, change the
magnification (click on the '-' of the
Zoom Plus/Minus Bar). Repeat this until
you can see the whole image.
    7) To draw the image itself, select
the colour you want and draw a small
round(ish) blob roughly in the centre
of the image - it is not important to
be too accurate for the purposes of
this example. Don't make it too large
though.
    8) Follow the same sort of
procedure for 2 more images. The second
image is positioned directly to the
right of the first and the third is to
the right of that on the work screen.
These numbers stop at the end of the
line and carry on to the next. NOTE
that if only half an image is on the
right of the screen, it does NOT count
as a proper image - it is ignored when
you Animate (the image index numbers do
not include it). Draw the second image
so that it's diameter (make it a sort
of circle) is about half the Width of
the image, and the third image's
diameter should be the whole width.
NOTE that where there is a line (part
of the Grid drawn earlier) to the left
or top of the image, that area actually
belongs to the image.
    9) Ok. Now that the images have
been drawn, you need to get rid of the
Grid, or else that too will be
animated!  Do this by going into Block
Mode. Choose the Replace Block Mode.
This will bring up the Brush Specbox -
don't worry about this, you will still
be in Block mode - look at the mode
icon selector. Select the colour which
you drew the grid with by changing the
colour on the Rep Colour Icon Selector
and select the background colour on the
main Colour bar at the bottom of the
Main Menu. Now perform the Replace on
the work screen. There is no need to
Replace the whole screen, since you
only have three images - you might just
as well only replace the area around
the images.
    10) Right!  Now you are ready to
set up the Animation Sequence. Enter
the Animation Studio and turn on
sequence 0 on the On/Off Multiple-Icon
Selector. Set the Delay to 999, Repeat
to 0 and Step to 1. Set Screen to
whichever screen you drew the images on
(this value is displayed on the Options
Specbox). Set the Size to 40 x 40 and
turn BackTrack on. Click on the
triangle parts of the Start and End
Image Infobars to select the start and
end images - these values should be 0
(start) and 2 (end) since you drew 3
images (0 to 2).
    11) To animate this sequence click
on either the 'Sequence' or 'All'
options. At last - your first animated
sequence!
    Obviously, if you wanted to, you
could animate just about anything in
any size. This example, for instance,
could include more images - having,
say, 5 different sizes of blobs would
be better than 3 as this would make the
animation smoother. Use your
imagination!  If you're a bit uncertain
about the layout of images, load in the
"INVADERS.CPT" picture file and the
"INVADERS.SEQ" sequence file which
demonstrates quite a few sequences I
made up. These files can be found in
the "_ANIMATE" folder.