Slideshow Animator shareware version 1.0 by Tola Dalton ------------------------------------------------------- Slideshow Animator is a basic animation program that is designed to be easy to use, and to be a powerful tool at the same time. The following pages will cover: * Installation and setup * A basic introduction to Slideshow Animator and its features * A tutorial to help you get aquainted with the program * Limitations of Slideshow Animator * Registration * About the author Installation and setup ---------------------- To install Slideshow Animator, start up Windows, and run INSTALL.EXE in the directory that contains the Slideshow Animator files. Type in the directories that it asks for, and click the Install button. IMPORTANT: You cannot install Slideshow Animator to the same directory that the source files reside in. This is a bug in the install program that I don't know how to fix. Hopefully I will be able to fix this bug in the deluxe version. If you are wondering why the installation program asks you to type in your Windows system directory, this is just so it can copy the file VBRUN300.DLL into that directory. This is a file that Slideshow Animator needs in order to run. The installation program doesn't mess with your WIN.INI file or anything like that. If, for some reason you can't install Slideshow Animator because of errors, you will need to delete the newly created destination directory that the install program has made. If you would like to create an icon and program group for Slideshow Animator, from the Windows Program Manager, select New from the File menu. Select "Program group" and click OK. Under description, put "Slideshow Animator". Click the OK button. Now that you have created a program group, you need to create a program item. Select your new program group, then select New from the File menu again. This time, select "Program item" and click OK. In the description box, type "Slideshow Animator". In the command line box, type for example "c:\animator\animator.exe" (if you have the program installed to the c:\animator directory). Click OK and you should have your new program item. A basic introduction to Slideshow Animator and its features ----------------------------------------------------------- Slideshow Animator lets you put together pictures that you have drawn in a graphics program into pieces of animation that can be up to 10 frames long (20 in the deluxe version). It can then display the animation with a variety of user selected options which are shown below. * You can import a background picture for the animation to be shown against. * You can select between a single line, double line, or no frame to go around your animation. * The speed that the animation plays at can be set at 20 different levels. * You can have the animation play in a continuous loop, or just one time through. The frames in the animated image can be almost any size, however it is not wise to have two or more frames in the animation be different sizes (this is explained in greater detail in section 4). Tutorial -------- To start the program, double click on the Slideshow Animator icon in its program group, or you can run ANIMATOR.EXE in the Animator sub directory on your hard drive from File Manager. Once the program has started up, pull down the File menu and click on New. This will bring up a dialog box that asks you how many frames the animation you will be creating will have. Set the scroll bar at 10 frames and click on the OK button. This will bring up the Frame Setup window. The Frame Setup window is where you pick which pictures to use as the frames for the animated image. Click on the box in the upper left part of the window. This brings up a dialog box that asks you to pick the file name of the image that will be used for frame 1. Select the file EXAMPLE0.BMP in the Animator sub directory on your hard disk, then click OK. A picture should now be displayed in the box that you clicked on. Continue the same process, selecting EXAMPLE1.BMP for the second box, EXAMPLE2.BMP for the third, etc. until you have filled all 10 boxes. If you would like to see a preview of what the animation will look like, click the Preview button. Click OK when you are done. The window that comes up now is the window that displays the finished animation. Click on the Start button to play the animation, then click on the button again to stop it. Now you can adjust some of the settings. Click on the Controls button. The Controls dialog box now appears. First, try un-checking the Loop check box by clicking on it. Then click the OK button to return to the previous window. Start the animation again and you'll notice that the it plays just one time through and then stops. Click the Controls button again so you can adjust some other settings. Let's make the animation play a little faster. Move the Speed scroll bar to 15. You can also choose a background for the animation to be shown against. Click on the Set background button, select the file BCKGRND1.BMP in the Animator sub directory on your hard drive and click OK. Since you now have a background for your animation, it would be good to have no frame around it. Select None in the Frame Style area of the dialog box, and click OK. You have just created a complete animation project using Slideshow Animator! You can change some settings around if you want, to get it just right. All that is left now is to save your project. Pull down the File menu and select Save As. Choose the file name and directory you wish to save your project to, and click OK. To exit, choose Exit from the file menu (duh). Limitations of Slideshow Animator --------------------------------- Slideshow Animator has several limitations that you should be aware of. It is best to keep all of the frames in an animation project the same size. You can have frames of different sizes, but it is bound to not look very good. After you save an animation project, you can not move the picture files that make up the frames of the animation. This is because of the way Slideshow Animator saves files. In order to conserve disk space, instead of saving the actual picture files the animation is made up of, the program saves the directory and file names of the picture files. Registration ------------ If you like this program, I would really appreciate it if you could help me get something in return for all of the work I put into Slideshow Animator. There are two methods of registration to choose from. * Basic Registration - $5 -You become a registered owner of Slideshow Animator. -Plus, you get word of any upgrades or other programs that I make. * Full Registration - $10 plus $2 for shipping -You get all of the above plus the deluxe version of Slideshow Animator! -Slideshow Animator Deluxe contains new features such as 20 frame animation, more different speeds at which to play the animation, and the ability to move an animated image across the screen. -Slideshow Animator Deluxe will be ready by January '95. You can print the file REGISTER.TXT for a complete registration form. Send the completed registration form along with your payment to: Tola Dalton P.O. Box 216 Ben Lomond, CA 95005 About the author ---------------- My name is Tola Dalton, and I am 16 years old. This is my first major program, so making it has been a learning experience for me. I feel that I have gradually made this program into something that can be fun and useful for people, and I am hoping that it will be a success. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to write to me at: edalton@ix.netcom.com