Animator 1.0b

This software has been released due to requests from several users wanting to save animations. Be forewarned that this is beta software!!!!! Animator may give an error resulting in a need to reset your Newton. Though I do not see it damaging any data besides its own soup, I take no responsiblity for any data being lost or damaged as a result of using Animator.

6/17/2002

Animator has made it to a full blown application! Now you can save your creations and beam them to other Newtons! See Look at what's new! for the latest enhancements.
Animator lets your imagination run wild by allowing you to create flip book type animations.
Save and share them with other Newton users!

Who will find Animator useful?  Anyone who likes to doodle. People who are bored. Maybe advertising designers trying to get a rough idea how a TV commercial will look. Animators getting a sense of how a storyboard will flow. Maybe no one! If Animator is useful then please me know!

Animator has been tested on a MP130 and 2100.

Look at what's new! Wow!
1. Save your animations!
2. Beam them to another Newton (which must have Animator 1.0 installed on it).
3. Loop button for continuous playback.
4. Select different playback speeds.
5. "Onionskin" view to use as a drawing guide.
6. Keep one frame as a Background so you don't have to keep drawing static items.
7. Link saved animations together to create a longer one! Useful for changing backgrounds.

How to use
Install package using NCU or NBU.
When you first start Animator, an empty view or frame will appear. This is where you'll draw your pictures to animate. On the bottom of Animator is a set of buttons. They are, from left to right: Info, play, loop, tools, load and frame speed. Tapping the toolbox will pop up a palette of drawing and animation controls. The '0' displays which frame you are currently working on.

The basic sequuence to create an animation is simple:
1. Draw your picture.
2. Save the frame! Make sure you do this.
3. Tap New or Dup to create the next frame in the sequence. Dup wil duplicate the previous frame. You'll use this more than the New button.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until your cartoon is complete.

Clear will wipe your current frame clean, Delete will delete the current frame.
You can play your animation using the button next to the frame number readout on the controls palette. There are also buttons to step forwards/backwards frame by frame and buttons to jump to the first or last frame.
There are also buttons to change the thickness of the pen, bring up the Styles palette and switch the shapes recognizer.

Tips
1. Animation speed is influenced by the number of objects in the frame. A square drawn using one continous line will animate faster than a square drawn with four seperate lines.
2. Use the Background feature for static objects that do not change during your animation. Put these in the Background (frame 0). Not only will it run faster but you'll also save space when saving your animation.

Good Things...
As great as your squiggly line drawings are, you do not have to be limited to them. You can make geometric shapes and add text. Pictures can be copied from other apps like the Notepad or NewtWorks stamps and even NewtPaint. Just highlght the picture or words and tap-tap -drag them to the side of the screen to copy them. Then switch back to Animator and drag the items onto the frame.

Bugs/Known issues
1. Beaming loses the links. Need to relink after receiving the animation.
2. Viewing the Onionskin and Background sometimes receives an error. You may need to reset.
3. Saving animations - make sure the name you give is unique. Animator does not have the best save GUI!
4. Rember this is beta software!

Things I'd Like to Add..
*- Save animations as Newton package to be downloaded.
- Sound(!)

(*highest priorty!)

Way-Chung Wong
Byte-Size Software
firstvln@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~firstvln/bytesize.html