AniMagic (TM) Version 1.0


AniMagic Copyright (c) 1993 Kavik Software
All Rights Reserved


KAVIK SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE
WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND
FUNCTIONALITY, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTEES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY
DISCLAIMED. NEITHER KAVIK SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED
IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE
FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE
USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT SHALL LIABILITY FOR
ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THIS SOFTWARE.
THE PERSON USING THIS SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND
PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Alabama and
shall inure to the benefit of Kavik Software. Any action or proceeding
brought by either party against the other out of or related to this
agreement shall be brought only in a state or federal court of competent
jurisdiction located in Madison County, Alabama.

CONTENTS

1...............INTRODUCTION
1.1.............SHAREWARE
1.2.............WELCOME
1.3.............CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
2...............REQUIREMENTS
3...............THE FLI FORMAT
4...............INSTALLING AniMagic
5...............GETTING STARTED
5.1.............STARTING AniMagic
5.2.............MAKING SURE YOUR MOUSE WORKS
5.3.............QUITTING ANIMAGIC
6...............USING THE MOUSE
6.1.............PROBLEMS WITH THE MOUSE
6.2.............ACTIVATING A CONTROL
7...............USING THE CONTROL PANELS
7.1.............EXITING A CONTROL PANEL
7.2.............BUTTON CONTROLS
7.3.............DEFAULT CONTROLS
7.4.............SLIDER CONTROLS
7.5.............EDIT BOXES
8...............WORKING WITH FRAMES
8.1.............DRAW MODE
8.2.............THE SCRATCH FRAME
8.3.............ADDING FRAMES
8.4.............POSITIONING THE CURRENT FRAME
8.5.............MODIFYING AN EXISTING FRAME
8.6.............INSERTING A FRAME
8.7.............DELETING A FRAME
9...............WORKING WITH COLORS
9.1.............PALETTE COLOR ZERO - THE INVISIBLE COLOR
9.2.............THE SYSTEM PALETTE
9.3.............THE FRAME PALETTE
9.4.............SELECTING A COLOR
9.5.............DEFINING A FRONT PLANE COLOR
9.6.............MODIFYING A PALETTE COLOR
9.7.............SAVING THE PALETTE
9.8.............LOADING A PALETTE
9.9.............GETTING A COLOR FROM THE SCREEN
10..............THE FLASH FRAME OPTION
10.1............FLASH INTERVAL
10.2............FLASH PERSISTENCE
11..............OBJECTS
11.1............WHAT IS AN OBJECT ?
11.2............CREATING AN OBJECT
11.3............THE "PUT SETTINGS"
11.4............POSITIONING AN OBJECT ON THE FRAME
11.5............THE BACKGROUND PLANE
11.6............THE OBJECT PLANE
11.7............THE FRONT PLANE
11.8............THE OBJECT HOOK
11.9............OBJECTS AND MULTI-FRAME GENERATION
11.10...........DEFINING AN OBJECT PATH
11.11...........PREVIEWING THE ANIMATION
11.12...........GENERATING THE ANIMATION
11.13...........SAVING AN OBJECT
11.14...........LOADING AN OBJECT
11.15...........REBOUND
12..............THE BACKGROUND BUFFER
12.1............DEFINING A BACKGROUND
12.2............DISPLAYING THE BACKGROUND
12.3............BACKGROUND SETTINGS
12.4............BACKGROUND PRELOAD
12.5............BACKGROUND CARRY
13..............DRAWING TOOLS
14..............FRAME EDITING
14.1............UNDO
14.2............ERASE
14.3............CUT
14.4............COPY
14.5............PASTE
15..............SPECIAL EFFECTS
15.1............MAPPING A FRAME IMAGE ONTO A BRESENHAM CIRCLE
15.2............MIRROR IMAGES
15.3............PIXELATE
15.4............SKEW
15.5............FLIPPING A FRAME IMAGE
16..............PCX FILES
17..............VIEWING THE ANIMATION
17.1............ADJUSTING THE PLAYBACK SPEED
18..............ERRORS
19..............CONTROL PANELS AND CONTROLS
19.1............HOT KEYS
19.2............THE MAIN PANEL
19.3............THE EDIT PANEL
19.4............THE COLORS PANEL
19.5............THE COLOR SELECT PANEL
19.6............THE COLOR MIX PANEL
19.7............THE FRAME PANEL
19.8............THE TOOLS PANEL
19.9............THE SPRAY TOOL SETUP PANEL
19.10...........THE OBJECTS PANEL
19.11...........THE MULTI-FRAME PANEL
19.12...........THE BACKGROUND PANEL
19.13...........THE FLIC PANEL
19.14...........THE OPTIONS PANEL


1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 SHAREWARE

AniMagic (TM) is ShareWare. You are allowed to try AniMagic for 30 days.
After the 30 day trial period you must either remove it from your computer or
pay the registration fee. See the file "REGISTER.DOC" for the registration
order form. By registering AniMagic, you encourage the development of
future products and encourage further enhancement of AniMagic.

You are free to give the ShareWare version of AniMagic to your friends and
upload it to electronic Bulletin Boards as long as all files are present and
original.

DISTRIBUTORS : You may distribute the ShareWare version of AniMagic provided
the only fee charged is a nominal fee for the distribution media and/or
copying the files to the media.

1.2 WELCOME

Welcome to the exciting world of computer animation. AniMagic (TM) is an
animation design tool that allows you to create and edit colorful 256-color
computer animations. Create animations from scratch using the provided set
of drawing tools or turn a series of images rendered by an external ray-tracer
into a frame-based animation. AniMagic will allow you to define a complete
256-color palette for each frame of your animation. This allows an almost
unlimited array of colors. AniMagic is designed to get you "up and running"
immediately. A little imagination is all you will need to create spectacular
animations.

1.3

If you have problems or comments you may send Post Mail to :

Kavik Software
P.O. Box 261
Huntsville, AL 35804

Or on CompuServe :

Duane Violett ID #71371,3046


2 REQUIREMENTS

The requirements for AniMagic are :

IBM-compatible 286 or higher
DOS 3.0 or higher
VGA card
VGA color monitor
590K free low memory
A Microsoft-compatible mouse and driver
Hard Disk - about 2 Meg free


3 THE FLI FORMAT

First of all, what is the .FLI (flic) file format ? The .FLI file format
is a frame-based animation file format. The flic file format provides a means
of storing a series of frames by saving only the portions of each frame that
differ from the previous frame. This includes palette differences and will
allow for a new 256 color palette for each frame. These frames, when played
back, appear to be animated. The effect is similar to movie reels where each
frame differs slightly from the previous frame. Of course, if your frames
differ greatly you will not have an effective animation.

We chose the .FLI format because of the numerous .FLI flics available on
BBS's and because we do not wish to introduce yet another file format.
AniMagic allows you to edit existing .FLI animations or assemble your own
animation and store it as a .FLI animation file.


4 INSTALLING AniMagic

To install AniMagic :

1) Create a directory to hold AniMagic :

MKDIR ANIMAGIC

2) Move to the new directory :

CD ANIMAGIC

3) Copy the files from the supplied disk to the directory.

COPY A:*.* .

Note that if your disk is on drive B: use the command :

COPY B:*.* .

4) AniMagic is now installed in the directory "animagic".


5 GETTING STARTED

5.1 STARTING AniMagic

First, change to the directory containing AniMagic. If the directory
containing AniMagic is named \ANIMAGIC type "CD \ANIMAGIC". You must run
AniMagic from the directory in which it has been installed since there
are files which AniMagic looks for at startup.

To start AniMagic type "ANIMAGIC". This will start AniMagic and display
the startup screen. You may also be presented with a notice panel. To get
rid of the notice strike the or key. You will now be in draw
mode and your current frame will be the scratch frame. Your current drawing
tool will be the "brush" tool. Right-clicking the mouse will bring up the
Main panel.

5.2 MAKING SURE YOUR MOUSE WORKS

Now let's see if your mouse is working correctly. First make sure
you are in draw mode. If any panels are displayed strike until
all panels have been cleared. If no panels are displayed you are in
draw mode. To verify that your mouse is functioning correctly perform
the following steps.

1) Right-click the mouse to activate the Main panel.

2) Activate the Tools panel by positioning the mouse in cursor in the
"TOOLS" button and left-clicking the mouse.

3) Select the "LINE" button from the Tools panel.

4) Right-click the mouse to exit the Tools panel.

5) Right-click the mouse to exit the Main panel.

6) Position the mouse cursor to the upper left corner of the screen.

7) Left-click the mouse to set the starting point of the line.

8) Drag the mouse cursor to the center of the screen.

9) If the line appears to be connected to the center of the crosshair
cursor your mouse is functioning correctly. Right-click to cancel
the line draw operation and you are ready to create your animation.
If the line is not connected to the center of the crosshair right-
click the mouse to cancel the line draw operation and perform the
following steps.

10) Right-click the mouse to activate the Main panel.

11) Activate the Options panel by selecting the "OPTIONS" button.

12) Select the "MOUSE CHECK" button from the Options panel. This will
toggle the "MOUSE CHECK" setting and create the file "anm.cfg".
The new setting is active until toggled or until the file "anm.cfg"
is deleted.

13) Right-click the mouse to exit the Options panel.

14) Right-click the mouse to exit the Main panel.

15) Repeat the line draw operation to verify the new setting. If the
line is still not connected to the center of the crosshair cursor
your mouse is not compatible with AniMagic.

5.3 QUITTING AniMagic

To exit from AniMagic select "EXIT" from the Main panel or strike the
key when in draw mode. A notice panel will verify that you wish
to exit.

6 USING THE MOUSE

AniMagic requires that you have a Microsoft-compatible mouse driver
loaded. If you do not have a mouse, AniMagic will terminate and display
the message :

"Error - Mouse disconnected, not installed, or unsupported"

If you have installed a mouse driver and still get this message, make sure
the mouse is connected to the proper port. See your mouse installation
manual for directions.

6.1 PROBLEMS WITH THE MOUSE

Occasionally the mouse cursor may become "invisible" or hard to see
after loading a PCX file. This occurs when the palette color for the
mouse cursor (palette index 16) is too close to the background color.
The mouse cursor color is also modified when the RGB components of
palette index 16 are modified using the color mix panel.

6.2 ACTIVATING A CONTROL

A control is selected from a control panel by positioning the mouse
cursor over the control and left-clicking the mouse to select the control.
You left-click by depressing the left mouse button and releasing it.


7 USING THE CONTROL PANELS

The control panels are designed such that related functions are contained
on the same panel. The panels may contain push buttons, click buttons,
slider controls, or edit boxes. A panel is active when it is the topmost
panel displayed. The mouse cursor will be limited to the region defining
the active panel.

7.1 EXITING A CONTROL PANEL

You may exit an active control panel any of the following ways.

1) Right-clicking the mouse.
2) Striking the
3) Striking the key. This method will activate the default
control upon exiting the panel. Not all panels have a default control.

7.2 BUTTON CONTROLS

Button controls are activated by positioning the mouse cursor within the
button and left-clicking the mouse. Some click buttons allow only one
button in a group to be selected at a time. These buttons are used for
setting mutually exclusive attributes.

7.3 DEFAULT CONTROLS

Some panels contain a button with red text. These are default controls
and are automatically selected by striking the key when the panel
is active.

7.4 SLIDER CONTROLS

Slider controls are activated by positioning the mouse cursor within the
slider control tab, the part that would move on a real slider, depressing
the left mouse button, then dragging the mouse left and right. The mouse
cursor will turn off when the slider control is activated and turn back on
when the mouse button is released.

7.5 EDIT BOXES

An edit box is activated by left-clicking the mouse cursor within the edit
box window. The text cursor will appear in the edit box at the point where
the mouse was clicked. The text is modified by typing in corrections and/or
using the and keys. The key will delete the
character at the text cursor, the key will delete the character
in front of the text cursor. To remove a region of text, select the region
by positioning the mouse cursor over the first character in the region and
hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse cursor over the
characters to be included in the region. This will highlight the selected
region. Type a valid character to replace the region with the character.
To delete a selected region strike the key.


8 WORKING WITH FRAMES

The frame is the basic unit from which an animation is created. An
animation is nothing more than a series of frames played in sequence.
The positioning of items in each frame and the speed at which the frames
are displayed determine how realistic the animation appears.

Frames are created by drawing a frame then "shooting" it or by
creating a series of frames using an "object". See the tutorial file
"FLASH.TUT" for the lesson on creating an animation by shooting individual
frames. See the tutorial file "PATH.TUT" for the lesson on creating an
animation using object paths.

8.1 DRAW MODE

You are in draw mode when there are no active panels displayed. Draw
mode allows you to modify the current frame image with the current draw
tool.

8.2 THE SCRATCH FRAME

The scratch frame is the work sheet on which you create images to be
used as objects or create frame images that are to be added to an animation.
When stepping through the frames of an animation the scratch frame is
located after the last frame in the animation. The scratch frame is
actually an AniMagic buffer and is not really part of the animation until
it as added with the "SHOOT" function.

8.3 ADDING FRAMES

To add a frame to your animation, first create the image on the scratch
frame then select "SHOOT" from the Main panel. This will add the frame to
the end of the animation and create a new scratch frame with the currently
defined background. See the section "THE BACKGROUND BUFFER" for a descrip-
tion of background images.

8.4 POSITIONING THE CURRENT FRAME

The current frame is the animation frame which is displayed when you
are in draw mode. To step through the frames of an animation use the "<"
and ">" controls from the Main panel or use the left and right arrow keys
when in draw mode. If using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad be sure
"Num Lock" is turned off.

8.5 MODIFYING AN EXISTING FRAME

To modify an existing frame, position the current frame to the frame to
be modified. Make the changes to the frame image then select "SHOOT"
from the Main panel. This will overwrite the frame image in the animation
with the new image.

8.6 INSERTING A FRAME

To insert a frame, first position the current frame to the point in the
animation where the new frame is to be located. The frame will be inserted
before the current frame. Select "FRAME" from the Main panel then select
"INSERT" from the Frame panel. This will insert a new frame in the
animation before the current frame. The inserted frame will contain the
currently defined background image. See the section "THE BACKGROUND BUFFER"
for a description of background images.

8.7 DELETING A FRAME

To delete a frame select "FRAME" from the Main panel then select "DELETE"
from the Frame panel. This will remove the current frame from the
animation.


9 WORKING WITH COLORS

The palette is the currently available set of drawing colors. AniMagic
allows an active palette of 256 different colors. Each frame of an animation
may have a different palette.

9.1 PALETTE COLOR ZERO - THE INVISIBLE COLOR

Palette color 0 (zero) is considered an invisible color. This color is
used to define transparent regions in an image or transparent regions in
an object. The transparent regions will appear to be "holes" in the
object through which the background image is visible.

9.2 THE SYSTEM PALETTE

The system palette is the default palette. Modifying a frame palette
color does not affect the corresponding system palette color. The system
palette can only be modified by loading a palette or by loading a flic
file.

9.3 THE FRAME PALETTE

The frame palette defines the active drawing colors for the current frame
and may be modified using the Color Mix panel. The current frame palette
is displayed by selecting "PALETTE" from the Colors panel.

9.4 SELECTING A COLOR

Select a drawing color by selecting "PALETTE" from the Colors panel and
left-clicking the mouse cursor inside the box containing the desired color.

9.5 DEFINING A FRONT PLANE COLOR

Front plane colors are used in object animation. They define the palette
colors that comprise the front plane. See the section "THE FRONT PLANE" for
more information.

To define a front plane color select the "PALETTE" control from the Colors
panel to display the current palette. Position the active color cursor to
the desired color and strike the "F" key to toggle the front plane attribute
for that color. A dashed-line rectangle drawn around the color square
indicates that the color is a front plane color. To clear all front plane
colors strike the "C" key while the color palette is displayed. Position the
active color cursor to the desired drawing color before leaving the palette
display panel.

Front panel colors are active in all frames in the animation not just the
current frame.

9.6 MODIFYING A PALETTE COLOR

A frame palette color is modified using the Color Mix panel. The Color
Mix panel is activated by selecting "MIX" from the Colors panel or by
double-clicking on a palette color square. A frame palette color may be
reset to the system palette color or the entire frame palette may be reset
by selecting the appropriate control from the Color Mix panel.

The Color Mix panel contains three slider controls defining the Red,
Green, and Blue color component values. Modifying the component values
alters the active drawing color of the current frame palette. See the
section describing the Color Mix panel for more information.

9.7 SAVING THE PALETTE

Save the current frame palette to disk by selecting "FILES" from the
Colors panel. Enter the palette file name to be created in the edit box
and select the "SAVE" control to create the file. The file written to
disk will have the extension ".APF".

9.8 LOADING A PALETTE

Load a palette file from disk by selecting "FILES" from the Colors panel.
You may browse available files or enter the palette file name in the edit
box. Select the "LOAD" control to load the palette file. This will replace
the system palette and the current frame palette with the loaded palette.

9.9 GETTING A COLOR FROM THE SCREEN

Sometimes it may be necessary to set the drawing color to a color displayed
in the current frame. To do this select "GET" from the Colors panel.
Position the end of the "needle" (the narrow part at the bottom of the
cursor) over the desired color and left-click the mouse to get the color.
Right-clicking the mouse abandons the get function.


10 THE FLASH FRAME OPTION

The flash frame option will flash the last frame of the current animation
onto the scratch frame. Flash frame is only active when the current frame
is positioned to the scratch frame and the user is in draw mode. Flash frame
is useful when positioning an object relative to the last frame.

To set flash mode on/off select "OPTIONS" from the Main panel and select
the appropriate "ON"/"OFF" control for "FLASH FRAME".

10.1 FLASH INTERVAL

The flash interval is the time delay between flashing of the previous
frame. The smaller the time delay value, the shorter the time delay between
flashes. Define the flash interval by activating the "FLASH INTERVAL"
slider control.

10.2 FLASH PERSISTENCE

The flash persistence is the length of time the "flashed" image stays on
the screen. The smaller the persistence value, the shorter the length of
time the flashed image is displayed. Large persistence values may prove to
be annoying. Define the flash persistence value by activating the
"PERSISTENCE" slider control.


11 OBJECTS

The use of objects is a complicated subject and may be better presented
by going through the tutorials "FLASH.TUT" and "PATH.TUT".

11.1 WHAT IS AN OBJECT ?

The object is the principal element of animation. It is similar to an
actor in a movie or a sprite in sprite based animation.

Object manipulation involves two panels, the Objects panel and the Multi-
Frame panel. The Objects panel contains controls for manipulating the current
object's size and rotation. The Multi-Frame panel contains controls used for
multi-frame object manipulation.

Upon activating the Objects panel, the current frame image will be cleared
and the currently defined object will be displayed in the upper left corner
of the display. If the object is partially covered by the panel select the
"VIEW" control to view the entire object. Upon exiting the Objects panel
the current frame image will be restored on the display.

An object does not retain palette color settings. Objects are displayed
from the current frame palette.

Object animation involves three color planes, the background plane, the
object plane, and the front plane. See the sections "THE BACKGROUND PLANE",
"THE OBJECT PLANE", and "THE FRONT PLANE" for descriptions of the color
planes.

11.2 CREATING AN OBJECT

An object is created by selecting the "GET" control from the Objects panel
and selecting a region from the current frame. Remember that the palette
color zero is considered transparent. The background of the current frame
image will always show through the regions of an object that are of palette
color zero. After selecting an object control is returned to the Objects
panel and the object is displayed in the upper left corner of the display.

11.3 THE "PUT SETTINGS"

The interaction of the object image with the background plane of the
current frame image is defined with the "put settings". These are controls
on the Objects panel labelled "OVR", "UND", "OR", "XOR", and "AND". Only
one of the "put settings" may be active at a time. The put settings are only
used when the object image is applied to the current frame. The default
setting is "OVR", which causes the object image to be displayed over the
background plane. Selecting "UND" causes the object image to be displayed
behind the background plane. Selecting "OR" will "or" the pixel values of
the object image with the pixel values of the image on the background plane.
Selecting "XOR" will "exclusive or" the pixel values of the object image with
the pixel values of the image on the background plane. Selecting "AND" will
"and" the pixel values of the object image with the pixel values of the image
on the background plane.

11.4 POSITIONING AN OBJECT ON THE FRAME

The currently defined object is placed on the current frame by selecting
the "PUT" control from the Objects panel. Position the object on the frame
by moving the mouse then set the object by left-clicking the mouse. Cancel
the put operation by right-clicking the mouse. The interaction of the
object with the frame image is determined by the "put settings" and the
colors in the front plane.

11.5 THE BACKGROUND PLANE

The background plane contains all pixels of the current frame image not
containing front plane colors. The background plane is behind the object
plane unless the "put setting" "OVR" has been selected.

11.6 THE OBJECT PLANE

The object plane contains the object image. The background plane is behind
the object plane unless "OVR" has been selected.

11.7 THE FRONT PLANE

The front plane contains all pixels of the current frame image containing
front plane colors. The background plane and object plane are always behind
the front plane.

11.8 THE OBJECT HOOK

The hook is the point where the mouse cursor attaches to the object and
is used when applying the object image to a frame. The hook does not have
to be a point directly on the object image. The default position for the
object hook is the center point of the rectangle defining the object image.

The object hook is modified by selecting "SET HOOK" from the Objects panel
and left-clicking the mouse cursor at the desired hook position. Right-
clicking the mouse will abandon the set hook operation.

11.9 OBJECTS AND MULTI-FRAME GENERATION

An alternative to creating animation frames by hand is the use of object
paths to define the path of an object over multiple frames.

The Multi-Frame panel is activated by selecting "MULTI" from the Objects
panel. The FRAME START edit box defines the starting frame position of the
multi-frame operation and must be greater than zero. The FRAME COUNT edit
box defines the number of frames to be generated along the object path.

NOTE : If the FRAME COUNT value is greater than the number of points
defining the object path, the last frames will position the object
at the end point of the path.

At each point along the object path the object will undergo the operations
specified in the Multi-Frame panel. For example, if the "ROTATE" and
"SHRINK" controls are selected, the object image will undergo a rotation and
a shrink operation after having been applied to the frame. The parameters
for the object manipulation functions and the "put settings" are defined
in the Objects panel.

11.10 DEFINING AN OBJECT PATH

The object path defines the path an object will follow during a multi-frame
operation. Define the object path by selecting "SET PATH" from the Multi-
Frame panel. Position the mouse cursor at the position where the path is to
start and depress the left mouse button. Hold down the left mouse button and
drag the mouse cursor over the path you wish to define. This will draw a
series of points defining the path. Release the left button to end the path.
Click a mouse button to return to the Multi-Frame panel.

The object path is defined over the current frame image but the frame
at which the animation will begin is defined by "START FRAME".

11.11 PREVIEWING THE ANIMATION

After defining an object path and setting the desired object manipulation
controls you may want to preview the animation without creating it. This
is accomplished by selecting the "PREVIEW" control from the Multi-Frame
panel. The animation will be displayed without modifying the frames so that
further adjustments can be made. The playback speed during preview does not
reflect the actual speed of the animation. To halt the preview at any point
strike the key.

11.12 GENERATING THE ANIMATION

When you are satisfied with the animation you may generate it by selecting
the "GENERATE" control from the Multi-Frame panel. This will actually
generate the frame images and enter them into the animation. To halt the
generation at any point strike the key.

11.13 SAVING AN OBJECT

To save the currently defined object to disk select the "FILES" control
from the Objects panel. Enter the name of the object file in the edit box,
without an extension. Select the "SAVE" control from the Browse panel.
This will create a file with the extension ".ANO".

11.14 LOADING AN OBJECT

To load an object file select the "FILES" control from the Objects panel.
Enter the name of the object file in the edit box, without an extension.
Select the "LOAD" control from the Browse panel. This will load the object
file into the current object buffer.

NOTE : When loading an object from disk remember the object will be
displayed using the current palette.

11.15 REBOUND

The rebound operation will generate a reverse sequence of the current
animation and add it to the end of the animation. This will create a
smooth "rebounding" effect. The first and last frames are not duplicated
when rebounding.


12 THE BACKGROUND BUFFER

The background buffer is used to store a frame image over which an object
can be animated. The background buffer is also useful for temporarily
storing an image or for transferring images between frames.

Portions of the background having colors defined as front panel colors
will be moved to the front panel.

12.1 DEFINING A BACKGROUND

To define the background image, position the current frame to the desired
frame and select "CAPTURE" from the Background panel. This will load the
currently displayed frame image into the background buffer.

12.2 DISPLAYING THE BACKGROUND

To display the background buffer over the current frame select the "PUT"
control from the Background panel. This will overwrite the frame image
with the background image.

12.3 BACKGROUND SETTINGS

The background settings determine the default image for newly created
scratch frames. Whenever you "shoot" a scratch frame a new scratch frame
is created. You may wish the new scratch frame to be cleared or contain
a specific image.

The default background setting is "NONE". This means that each time a new
scratch frame is created it will be erased.

12.4 BACKGROUND PRELOAD

Selecting "PRELOAD" from the Background panel will cause the background
image to be loaded onto the new scratch frame. A new scratch frame is created
after "shooting" the scratch frame.

12.5 BACKGROUND CARRY

Selecting "CARRY" from the Background panel will carry the current scratch
frame image to the new scratch frame after "shooting" the frame.


13 DRAWING TOOLS

AniMagic provides a complete set of drawing tools. Select a drawing tool
from the Tools panel. The drawing tool will use the current drawing color
when activated. To activate the drawing tool press the left mouse button
when in draw mode. See the section describing the Tools Panel for more
information.


14 FRAME EDITING

Frame editing controls are accessed from the Edit panel. To activate the
Edit panel select "EDIT" from the Main panel.

14.1 UNDO

To undo the last frame-modifying operation select the "UNDO" control from
the Edit panel. This will restore the current frame to the image prior to
the modification. Selecting "UNDO" again will cancel the undo operation.

NOTE : Moving to a new frame and selecting "UNDO" will apply the image
prior to the last frame-modifying operation to the current frame.

14.2 ERASE

To erase the current frame image select "ERASE" from the Edit menu.
Erasing the frame image has no effect on the actual frame in the animation.
It only affects the currently displayed image.

14.3 CUT

To cut a rectangular region from the current frame image select "CUT"
from the Edit panel. This will write the selected region into the paste
buffer and remove it from the current frame image.

To cut a region :

A) Select "CUT" from the Edit panel.
B) Position the mouse cursor to a corner of the rectangular region
to be cut.
C) Left-click the mouse. Right-clicking the mouse at this point
will cancel the cut operation.
D) Drag the mouse cursor to enclose the region in the cut box.
Right-clicking the mouse at this point will cancel the cut operation.
E) Left-click the mouse to cut the selected region. Right-clicking the
mouse at this point will cancel the cut operation.

14.4 COPY

To copy a rectangular region from the current frame image select "COPY"
from the Edit panel. This will write the selected region into the paste
buffer.

To copy a region :

A) Select "COPY" from the Edit panel.
B) Position the mouse cursor to a corner of the rectangular region
to be copied.
C) Left-click the mouse. Right-clicking the mouse at this point
will cancel the copy operation.
D) Drag the mouse cursor to enclose the region in the copy box.
Right-clicking the mouse at this point will cancel the copy operation.
E) Left-click the mouse to copy the selected region. Right-clicking the
mouse at this point will cancel the copy operation.

14.5 PASTE

To apply the paste buffer to the current frame image select "PASTE" from
the Edit panel.

To paste the image in the paste buffer :

A) Select "PASTE" from the Edit panel.
B) Position the buffer image by moving the mouse cursor. Right-clicking
the mouse at this point will cancel the paste operation.
C) Left-click the mouse to paste the image. Right-clicking the mouse at this point will cancel the copy operation.


15 SPECIAL EFFECTS

The Frame panel contains seven controls that manipulate the current frame
image : "B MAP", "L MIRR", "R MIRR", "PXLTE", "SKEW", "H FLIP", and "V FLIP".

15.1 MAPPING A FRAME IMAGE ONTO A BRESENHAM CIRCLE

The "B MAP" control on the Frame panel maps the current frame image onto
a Bresenham circle. This effect is similar to mapping the image to a sphere.

15.2 MIRROR IMAGES

The "L MIRR" control on the Frame panel replaces the right half of the
display with a mirror image of the left half of the display. The "R MIRR"
control replaces the left half of the display with a mirror image of the
right half of the display.

15.3 PIXELATE

The "PXLTE" control on the Frame panel "pixelates" the current display
image. The unit of pixelation is defined with the "PX UNIT" slider control
located at the bottom of the Frame panel. The greater the value of the unit
of pixelation - the greater the size of the rectangles. The maximum value
for the unit of pixelation is 50.

15.4 SKEW

The "SKEW" control on the Frame panel will enter skew mode. The skew
factor is controlled using the left and right arrow keys while in skew mode.
The current skew factor is displayed in the upper-left corner of the display.
To exit skew mode and retain the image hit the key or click a mouse
button. To exit skew mode and restore the original image strike the
key.

15.5 FLIPPING A FRAME IMAGE

The "H FLIP" control on the Frame panel flips the current frame image
about the Y axis. The "V FLIP" control flips the current frame image about
the X axis.


16 PCX FILES

AniMagic allows you to load and save PCX files. The PCX files must be
256-color images for AniMagic to load them. Images with resolution greater
than 320x200 will be reduced to 320x200, which will result in loss of detail.
Only resolutions of the same aspect ratio as 320x200, like 640x400 for
example, can be loaded without distortion. At this time, AniMagic only
supports the PCX file format. There are several ShareWare packages available
that will resize images and convert other image formats to PCX format.

To load a PCX file select "PCX" from the frame panel. Enter the name of
the file in the edit box, or select the file with "BROWSE", and select
"LOAD PCX". The PCX image will be loaded onto the current frame. If the
PCX image must be reduced, loading will be slower. The PCX palette will be
loaded into the frame palette but will have no effect on the system palette.
The system will adjust the panel colors to attempt to match the original
panel colors after a PCX file has been loaded. If the file cannot be loaded
an error panel is displayed.

To save the current frame image select "PCX" from the frame panel. Enter
the name of the file in the edit box, without any extension, and select
"SAVE PCX". This will create a PCX file containing the current frame image
and frame palette. The file will have the extension ".PCX".


17 VIEWING THE ANIMATION

To view the current animation select the ">>" control from the Main panel.
This will display the animation at the current playback speed. Strike any
key or click a mouse button to stop the playback.

17.1 ADJUSTING THE PLAYBACK SPEED

The playback speed can be adjusted by selecting the "OPTIONS" control
from the Main panel and adjusting the "PLAYBACK SPEED" slider on the
Options panel. Note that the playback speed increases as the "PLAYBACK
SPEED" value decreases.

Playback speed can be modified during playback using the arrow keys.
The left arrow key and the down arrow key slow down playback. The right
arrow key and the up arrow key speed up the playback.


18 ERRORS

You may experience "strange" behavior if you try to execute AniMagic
with less than 590 Kbytes of DOS memory available. One of the familiar
error messages that will appear with insufficient memory is the message
"ERROR - did not terminate correctly". You may also get an error message
stating that a control panel could not be created. Please make sure that
you have sufficient memory available before executing AniMagic.


19 CONTROL PANELS AND CONTROLS

19.1 HOT KEYS

By default, the user is placed in "draw mode" on the current frame.
In draw mode the following keys are active.

"Left Arrow" - Go to previous frame in animation.

"Right Arrow" - Go to next frame in animation.

"F1" - Activate Main panel.

"F2" - Activate Palette panel. Same as "PALETTE" on Colors
panel.

"F3" - ACtivate Objects panel. Same as "OBJECTS" on Main panel.

"F4" - Play the current flic. Same as ">>" on Main panel.

"F5" - Shoot the current frame. Same as "SHOOT" on Main panel.

"F6" - Activate the Tools panel. Same as "TOOLS" on Main panel.

"F7" - Activate the Edit panel. Same as "EDIT" on Main panel.

"F8" - Get a color from the current image display. Same as
"GET" on Colors panel.

"F9" - Quick exit - get out now - no prompting.

Please be sure Num Lock is turned off if using the arrow keys on the
numeric keypad.

19.2 THE MAIN PANEL

The Main panel is activated by clicking the right mouse button when in
draw mode. The name of the active flic will be displayed at the top of
the panel. If no flic is active the word "UNTITLED" will be displayed.

The current frame number is displayed in an edit box at the bottom of the
main panel. The total number of frames currently in the flic is displayed
below the edit box. To go to a specific frame in the flic, left-click in
the edit-box, enter the frame number, and right-click to go to the frame.
If an invalid frame number or any non-numeric entry is input the flic will
advance to the Scratch frame. If the Scratch frame is the active frame
the letters "SCR" will appear in the edit box.

The following controls are available when the Main panel is active.

"EDIT" - Activates the Edit panel. The Edit panel contains frame
editing controls.

"COLORS" - Activates the Colors panel. The Colors panel contains
palette-related controls.

"FRAME" - Activates the Frame panel. The Frame panel contains
frame-related controls.

"TOOLS" - Activates the Tools panel. The Tools panel allows the user
to select a drawing tool.

"OBJECTS" - Activates the Objects panel. The Objects panel allows the
user to create and manipulate animation objects.

"BKGRND" - Activates the Background panel. The Background panel allows
the user to define a background image.

"FLIC" - Activates the Flic panel. The Flic panel allows the user to
save, load or reset the flic.

"SHOOT" - Loads the current frame into the active flic. If the user
"shoots" a frame that is within the active flic, the new
frame will replace the corresponding frame in the flic.
If the user "shoots" the scratch frame, the frame is appended
to the end of the flic and the flic frame count is incremented.
Note that if the user shoots the scratch frame, the current
frame is advanced to a new scratch frame.

"<" - Sets the active frame to the previous frame in the flic. Note
that the scratch frame is between the last and first frames.

">" - Sets the active frame to the next frame in the flic. Note that
the scratch frame is between the last and first frames.

">>" - Plays the currently active flic. Flic play is interrupted by
striking any key or clicking a mouse button.

"OPTIONS" - Activates the Options panel. The Options panel contains
controls that affect the performance of AniMagic.

"EXIT" - Terminate and return to DOS. The user is prompted for
verification before terminating.

19.3 THE EDIT PANEL

The Edit panel provides frame editing functions. The following controls
are available when the Edit panel is active.

"UNDO" - Undo the last frame-modifying operation. The undo
operation can also be undone.

"ERASE" - Erase the current frame.

"CUT" - Cut a rectangular region from the current frame and put it
in the paste buffer.

"COPY" - Copy a rectangular region from the current frame and put it
in the paste buffer.

"PASTE" - Apply the paste buffer to the current frame.

19.4 THE COLORS PANEL

The Colors panel provides palette-related functions. The following
controls are available when the Colors panel is active.

"PALETTE" - Activate the Color Select panel. The Color Select panel
allows the user to select a color from the current 256-color
palette.

"GET" - Get a color from the current frame. A color is selected by
positioning the "needle", the narrow portion at the bottom
of the cursor, over the desired color and left-clicking the
mouse. Right-clicking the mouse will return to the Colors
panel without selecting a color.

"MIX" - Activate the Color Mix panel. The Color Mix panel allows the
user to custom mix the selected color.

"FILES" - Load/Save a color palette file. A browse panel will allow
the user to load an existing ".APF" palette file or save the
currently defined palette as a ".APF" palette file. Loading
a palette will replace the default system palette with the
loaded palette.

19.5 THE COLOR SELECT PANEL

The Color Select panel allows the user to select a drawing color. The
current drawing color is marked by a surrounding active color cursor. The
active drawing color is selected by left-clicking the mouse within the box
containing the desired color. The color may also be selected by positioning
the active color cursor with the arrow keys. Please be sure "Num Lock" is
turned off if using the numeric keypad.

A custom color may be created by left-clicking the mouse pointer within
the active color box which activates the Color Mix panel. The Color Mix
panel may also be activated by pressing from the Color Select
panel.

The "Front Plane" color attribute for the active color is toggled by
striking the "F" key. Striking the "C" key will clear all Front Plane
colors from the palette. A Front Plane color is marked with a surrounding
dashed-line rectangle. Palette color zero is considered transparent and
cannot be assigned to the front plane.

19.6 THE COLOR MIX PANEL

The Color Mix panel allows the user to define a custom color. The active
drawing color is modified by increasing or decreasing the Red/Green/Blue
color components. Modifying the RGB color values only affects the frame
palette and will not alter the system palette. Locking slider controls
together causes the controls that are locked together to move in unison.

The following controls are available when the Color Mix panel is active.

"RG" - Lock the Red and Green slider controls together.

"RB" - Lock the Red and Blue slider controls together.

"GB" - Lock the Green and Blue slider controls together.

"RGB" - Lock the Red, Green and Blue slider controls together.

"IND" - Move the Red/Green/Blue sliders independently.

"RESET COLOR" - Reset the RGB color values of the current color to the
values of the system palette.

"RESET PALETTE" - Reset the RGB color values of each color in the
current palette to the values of the system palette.

19.7 THE FRAME PANEL

The Frame panel provides frame-specific functions. The following controls
are available when the Frame panel is active.

"B MAP" - Map the current frame image onto a Bresenham circle.

"L MIRR" - Copy a mirror-image of the left half of the display onto the
right.

"R MIRR" - Copy a mirror-image of the right half of the display onto the
left.

"PXLTE" - Pixelate the current frame image. The unit of pixelation is
defined using the "PX UNIT" slider control at the bottom of
the Frame panel. A value of one for the unit of pixelation
will leave the image unchanged.

"SKEW" - Enter "skew mode". This option will skew the image. The
skew factor is displayed in the upper-left corner of the
display and is adjusted using the left/right arrow keys
while in skew mode. To exit skew mode, and retain the skewed
image, strike the key or click a mouse button. To
exit skew mode, and restore the original image, strike the
key.

"H FLIP" - Flip the current frame image about the Y axis.

"V FLIP" - Flip the current frame image about the X axis.

"INSERT" - Insert a frame before the current frame. The new frame will
contain the default background.

"DELETE" - Delete the current frame from the animation.

"PCX" - Load/Save a PCX file. A browse panel will allow the user
to load an existing ".PCX" file or save the current frame
image as a ".PCX" file.

"PX UNIT" - Define the unit of pixelation value used by the "PXLTE"
control.

19.8 THE TOOLS PANEL

The Tools panel allows the user to select the active drawing tool.
The drawing tool can only be activated in drawing mode. The following
controls are available when the Tools panel is active.


"BRUSH" - Select the brush drawing tool. This tool draws a freehand
line when the left mouse button is held down.

"LINE" - Select the line drawing tool. To draw a line, first position
The mouse cursor to the start of the line segement and left-
click the mouse to set the point. Position the mouse
cursor to the desired end point and left-click the mouse to
set the point. A new line segment will be active with the
starting point defined as the end of the last line segment.
To cancel the line drawing operation right-click the mouse.

"WIPE" - Select the frame wipe drawing tool. This tool will "wipe"
The current color over the entire frame.

"FILL" - Select the area fill drawing tool. This tool will fill a
region with the current color. To fill a region position
the mouse cursor in the region to be filled and left-click
the mouse.

"TEXT" - Select the text tool. This enables the user to place text
of the current font size on the current frame. A flashing
cursor marks the current text position. The "Delete" key
and arrow keys are not active with the text drawing tool.
The current text position can be adjusted by moving the
mouse cursor to the desired position and left-clicking.

"SM" - Select the small text font. This has no effect unless the
text tool is active.

"LG" - Select the large text font. This has no effect unless the
text tool is active.

"CIRCLE" - Select the circle drawing tool. This tool will draw a
circle of the current color. The circle is filled if the
"FILLED" option is active. To draw a circle, position the
mouse cursor to define the center of the circle, left-click
to set the center point, then move the mouse to define the
radius. To set the circle left-click the mouse. To cancel
the drawing operation right-click the mouse.

"ELLIPSE" - Select the ellipse drawing tool. This tool will draw an
ellipse of the current color. The ellipse is filled if
the "FILLED" option is active. To draw an ellipse, position
the mouse cursor to define the center of the ellipse, left-
click to set the center point, then move the mouse to define
the ellipse. To set the ellipse left-click the mouse. To
cancel the drawing operation right-click the mouse.

"RECT" - Select the rectangle drawing tool. This tool will draw a
rectangle of the current color. The rectangle is filled if
the "FILLED" option is active. To draw a rectangle,
position the mouse cursor to define a corner of the rectangle,
left-click to set the corner point, then move the mouse to
define the rectangle. To set the rectangle left-click the
mouse. To cancel the drawing operation right-click the
mouse.

"FILLED" - Toggle the filled option for drawing closed shapes.

"SPRAY" - Select the spray drawing tool. The spray tool will apply
a circular pattern of pixels to the current frame. To
use the spray tool, position the mouse cursor to the region
to be sprayed and hold down the left mouse button. The
spray tool will apply the current color unless "Confetti"
mode is on. If "Confetti" mode is on, a random distribution
of the current palette colors is applied.

"SETUP" - Activate the Spray Tool Setup panel. The options specified
in the Spray Tool Setup panel are only active if the spray
tool is active.

19.9 THE SPRAY TOOL SETUP PANEL

The Spray Tool Setup panel defines settings for operation of the spray
tool. The following controls are available when the Spray Tool Setup panel
is active.

"AIR PRESSURE" - Defines the density of the spray pattern. The density
is increased by moving the slider to the right and
decreased by moving the slider to the left.

"SPRAY WIDTH" - Defines the width of the spray pattern. The width is
increased by moving the slider to the right and
decreased by moving the slider to the left.

"CONFETTI" - Toggles "Confetti" mode. If confetti mode is on (Button
down) a random distribution of the current palette
colors is applied while spraying. If "Confetti" mode
is off (Button up) the current color is applied while
spraying.

19.10 THE OBJECTS PANEL

The Objects panel allows the user to define and manipulate "objects".
An object is an entity, similar to a sprite, that can be manipulated
across a series of frames. The object can be comprised of a single
color or as many as 256 colors.

Object animation involves three planes: the background plane, the object
plane and the front plane. The "OVR", "UND", "OR", "XOR" and "AND" switches
define interaction of the object with the background plane. The object itself
is contained in the object plane. The palette colors defined as "front plane"
colors make up the front plane. The object is always applied behind pixels
containing a front plane color. All pixels of value zero are transparent.

When the Objects panel is activated the current frame is removed and the
current object displayed. If no object is currently defined, the screen
behind the Objects panel is blank. The original screen is restored after
exiting the Objects panel.

"H FLIP" - Flip the current object about the Y axis.

"V FLIP" - Flip the current object about the X axis.

"SQUEEZE" - Shrink the current object in the X direction to the
percentage specified by the Shrink Percent Slider
while expanding the object in the Y direction by the
percentage specified by the Expand Percent Slider.
The effect of this action is similar to compressing
a balloon from the sides.

"SQUASH" - Shrink the current object in the Y direction to the
percentage specified by the Shrink Percent Slider
while expanding the object in the X direction by the
percentage specified by the Expand Percent Slider.
The effect of this action is similar to compressing
a balloon from the top and bottom.

"X STRETCH" - Expand the current object in the X direction by
the percentage specified by the Expand Percent
Slider.

"Y STRETCH" - Expand the current object in the Y direction by
the percentage specified by the Expand Percent
Slider.

"SHRINK" - Shrink the current object to the percentage
specified by the Shrink Percent Slider.

"EXPAND" - Expand the current object by the percentage
specified by the Expand Percent Slider.

"ROTATE" - Rotate the current object by the angle specified
by the Rotation Angle Slider.

Shrink Percent Slider - Specifies the shrinkage percentage to be used by
object shrinking functions. A value of 100
specifies that no shrinkage will occur. A value
of 50 specifies the object will be reduced to
50 percent or 1/2 of the current size.

Expand Percent Slider - Specifies the expansion percentage to be used by
object expanding functions. A value of 100
specifies the object will be expanded by 100
percent, which is twice the size. A value of 0
specifies no expansion will take place.

Rotation Angle Slider - Specifies the angle, in degrees, to be used by
object rotation functions. The current rotation
angle is displayed in the box to the right of the
Rotation Angle Slider.

"GET" - Get an object from the current frame.
The current frame will be displayed and the user
may capture an object from the display. To define
an object, move the mouse cursor to a corner of
a rectangular region that will contain the object,
left-click and then drag the box to enclose the
object. Left-clicking the mouse will capture the
object. Right-clicking the mouse will cancel the
process. Control is returned to the Objects panel
and the captured object is displayed. The current
frame is not altered by this process.

"PUT" - Apply the current object to the current frame.
The current frame will be displayed and the user
may position the current object on the frame. The
interaction of the object with the frame is defined
by the "OVR", "UND", "OR", "XOR" and "AND" switches
along with the "front plane" colors. To apply
an object to the frame, position the object to the
desired location and left-click the mouse. To
abandon the "PUT" function right-click the mouse.

"UNDO" - Undo the last object-modifying function.

"VIEW" - Clear all panels to view the object. This is
useful for viewing large objects. Strike any
key or click a mouse button to return to the
Objects panel.

"OVR" - Apply the object over the background plane when
a put function is initiated.

"UND" - Apply the object under the background plane when
a put function is initiated.

"OR" - "Or" the object with the background plane when
a put function is initiated.

"XOR" - "XOr" the object with the background plane when
a put function is initiated.

"AND" - "And" the object with the background plane when
a put function is initiated.

"MULTI" - Activate Multi-Frame panel.

"FILES" - Allow the user to Load/Save a ".ANO" object file.
The object does not contain palette definitions,
therefore the object is viewed relative to the
current palette.

"SET HOOK" - Define the object attachment point. This is the
point on the object by which the object is moved.
The default hook is defined as the center of the
object.

"<" - Sets the active frame to the previous frame in the
flic.

">" - Sets the active frame to the next frame in the flic.

"RESTORE" - Restore the current object to its original size
and zero angle of rotation.

"SHOOT" - Loads the current frame into the active flic. If
the user "shoots" a frame that is within the active
flic, the new frame will replace the corresponding
frame in the flic. If the user "shoots" the scratch
frame, the frame is appended to the end of the flic
and the flic frame count is incremented. Note that
if the user shoots the scratch frame, the current
frame is advanced to a new scratch frame.

19.11 THE MULTI-FRAME PANEL

The Multi-Frame panel allows the user to create multi-frame effects
using the current object. The effect(s) selected are applied to the
frame sequence starting at "START FRAME" and continuing for "FRAME
COUNT" frames. The sizing operations "SQUEEZE", "SQUASH", "X STRETCH",
"Y STRETCH", "SHRINK", "EXPAND" and "NORMAL" are mutually exclusive.
Rotation may be applied in conjunction with the sizing operations.

"SQUEEZE" - Squeeze the object each time a frame is generated.

"SQUASH" - Squash the object each time a frame is generated.

"X STRETCH" - Stretch the object in the X direction each time a frame
is generated.

"Y STRETCH" - Stretch the object in the Y direction each time a frame
is generated.

"SHRINK" - Shrink the object each time a frame is generated.

"EXPAND" - Expand the object each time a frame is generated.

"NORMAL" - Do not size the object each time a frame is generated.

"ROTATE" - Rotate the object each time a frame is generated. Can
be used in conjunction with the sizing operations.

"SET PATH" - Define the path along which the object is to be
animated. The points defining the path will be marked
by alternating color pixels. If the number of points
defining the path is less than the number of frames
generated, the last frames remain at the last point
in the path. There is no interpolation between path
points. The path may be defined as a single point.

"PREVIEW" - Preview the currently defined object animation. This
will not modify the flic. To cancel the preview strike
the "Escape" key.

"START FRAME" - The first frame in the animation at which the object
animation will start. If there are currently no frames
in the flic enter frame "1" as the start frame.

"FRAME COUNT" - The number of frames to be created for the object
animation.

"GENERATE" - Generate the defined object animation. This will add/
modify the specified frames in the current flic.

"REBOUND" - Generate a reverse sequence of the current flic and
append it to the flic.

19.12 THE BACKGROUND PANEL

The Background panel allows the user to define a background image
and control the way the image is used during the creation of an
animation. By default, the new scratch frame is cleared after
shooting the current scratch frame. By creating a background image
and selecting "PRELOAD", the user can animate an object over the
defined background. The background buffer can also be used to
temporarily store images.

"CAPTURE" - Capture the current frame image and store it in the
background buffer.

"PUT" - Display the current background image on the current
frame.

The following background settings are only useful when shooting new
frames. They have no effect when re-shooting an existing frame.

"PRELOAD" - Put the current background image on the new frame
after shooting the scratch frame.

"CARRY" - Carry the scratch frame image to the new frame
after shooting the scratch frame.

"NONE" - Clear the new frame after shooting the scratch frame.

19.13 THE FLIC PANEL

The Flic panel displays the name of the current flic in the flic file
edit box. If the flic is new, "UNTITLED" will be displayed in the edit
box. To change the name in the edit box, first left-click the mouse cursor
within the edit box to activate edit mode, edit the name, right-click the
mouse to exit edit mode then select "SAVE". This will save the current flic
under the name specified in the edit box.

"BROWSE" - Display a list of available flic files.

"LOAD" - Load the flic file displayed in the flic file edit box.

"SAVE" - Save the current flic under the name displayed in the
flic file edit box. The disk file saved will have
the extension ".FLI".

"RESET FLIC" - Reset the current flic. This will clear all frames in
the flic. All other settings such as background image
and object settings remain unchanged.

"RESET ALL" - Reset AniMagic to the default settings. The current
flic will be cleared and all current settings lost.

19.14 THE OPTIONS PANEL

"PLAYBACK SPEED" - This slider control sets the flic playback speed.
The playback speed can also be adjusted using the
arrow keys during playback.

"MOUSE CHECK" - This control toggles the mouse centering module.
If your mouse crosshairs are not centered during
drawing try toggling this control to center the
mouse.

"FLASH FRAME" - The "ON"/"OFF" controls determine whether the "flash
frame" option is active. If flash frame is on, the
previous frame image will be "flashed" onto the
screen when in draw mode or when positioning an object
This is useful when positioning an object relative to
the previous frame.

"FLASH INTERVAL" - This slider control is used to set the number of
clock "ticks" between the frame "flashes".

"PERSISTENCE" - This slider control is used to set the number of
clock "ticks" the "flashed" image is displayed
before the original image is restored.