COPYRIGHT 1988, 1989 BY DANIEL WOLF - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MegageM 1903 Adria Santa Maria, CA 93454 805 349 1104 September 27, 1989 REVISED Nov. 13, 1989 AutoMag v3.0 Documentation BE WISE - BACK UP THE ORIGINAL AUTOMAG DISK IMMEDIATELY ***** What is AutoMag? AutoMag3.0 is a fractal art animation package companion for HAMandel3.0. AutoMag can generate sequences of images of HAM fractals (Mandelbrot Set, Julia Set, and two more) for creating smooth animations. AutoMag3.0 is a substantially upgraded version which includes 4-direction 'pan' motion as well as zooming in and zooming out motions. AutoMag is interactive and the individually numbered image sequences are easy to control. The main way to use AutoMag3.0 is to load a HAMandel3.0 picture and set one of 6 motions, then start a 'sequence'. More details of program operation are given below. Those interested in fractal art have seen some of the beautiful images in Scientific American (August, 1985) and The Beauty of Fractals (by Peitgen and Richter - Springer Verlag). There are also videos of animated sequences of Mandelbrot Set images. Now HAMandel lets Amiga fractal enthusiasts compute these (and more!) images in hundreds of color shades. The beauty of the results is comparable to that of the highest quality published images noted above. The AutoMag program extends Amiga fractal art creativity to the realm of animation. AutoMag images are rendered in a standard HAM (Hold And Modify) graphics mode on the Amiga using 6 bit-planes. AutoMag always uses the maximum graphical resolution of HAM, that is 320x400 pixels (interlaced screen). AutoMag is a full-featured, multi-tasking, Intuition-based program. It has the familiar Amiga user-interaction standard including: Four pull-down Menus with Keyboard alternatives Four different fractal types including Mandelbrot and Julia sets HAM shading control, palette color requester, and color cycling Save and Load images as IFF files (with coordinates) Choice of 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, or 4096 iterations. Select 6 motions and increment, toggle automatic 'save' option DRAW, PAUSE, toggle (on/off) screen title bar, SEQUENCE controls HAM 320x400 Interlace screen for maximum detail up to 256 colors Auxiliary window on the WorkBench screen shows coordinate values and current file path name Program operation from CLI or WorkBench Icon Full Amiga Multi-tasking. The program will fail gracefully or exit if a low memory condition occurs. Its designed with error- checking and crash-resistance in mind! All hand-crafted in 680x0 Assembly Language by Daniel Wolf Ph.D., author of Compute!'s AMIGA MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING GUIDE (with Doug Leavitt, the creator of the ASM68010 Amiga assembler). Intuitive ease of use. Coordinates are displayed at all times so you can make records of your fractal explorations. Coordinates are also saved as text files whenever you save a picture to disk. Julia Sets aren't available on some Amiga Mandelbrot programs. They are very beautiful and you can easily switch back and forth between Mandelbrot and Julia Sets with AutoMag. Compatibility with ALL AMIGA SYSTEMS with at least 512K memory. No expansion memory is required, but HAMandel will work just fine with expansion memory systems. It will use expansion memory whenever possible to minimize gobbling up precious CHIP memory real estate. FAST. That means the arithmetic does NOT use Floating Point routines, which can be slow on most Amigas. The fixed-point arithmetic in HAMandel is much faster than floating point. That means nice pictures in from as little as minutes to a few hours. ***** USING AutoMag You can start AutoMag two ways: DoubleClick the WorkBench Icon or Type AutoMag (return) in a CLI or AutoMag f filename Whichever way you start, AutoMag always begins using 256 iterations per point (Count) for up to 256 colors in the image. Once the program is running, you can set Count differently if you wish (see MATH menu, below). ***** WORKBENCH STARTUP When AutoMag is started from the WorkBench it simply presents the FILE REQUESTER to LOAD a picture . You NEED to load in a HAMandel3.0 or AutoMag picture! Using the Project Image Load MENU option you can load one. First the file requester will appear: use your mouse and keyboard to set the PATH and FILE items (for example, PATH = df1: and FILE = PIC1). If you have the AutoMag disk in disk drive #1 the example will work just fine. Otherwise you can write a PATH and FILE leading to a HAMandel3.0 picture. Then click on the OK button of the File Requester window. The 'Load AutoMag Pic Really?' requester appears with two choices: Yes and No. Click on the Yes button and AutoMag will load a starting picture. For more information on the File Requester and Loading/Saving images, see the HAMandel3.0 Doc file. It's pretty straightforward. 1. IF AutoMag FINDS AN IMAGE WITH THIS FILE NAME, it loads it and displays it on the main HAM screen. It then enters PAUSE mode and permits you to manipulate most of the menu selections (see how to use them below) and return to the DRAW mode to make a new picture. Along with the picture file that is loaded, a text file named: df1:Pic1.XYW is loaded which has the values for X, Y, and W to place in the AUXILIARY WINDOW. 2. IF THIS IMAGE CAN'T BE FOUND, AutoMag will return to the PAUSE mode. For the WorkBench startup, you've now got things in hand. You can skip to read about the rest of the Menu operations. ***** CLI STARTUP You can exercise a good deal of control using the CLI. Here are some examples: AutoMag ? Shows usage format and examples, then quits AutoMag Same as WB startup AutoMag f df1:frac1 Begins by trying to load the named file and its .XYW coordinate file, enters PAUSE mode CLI STARTUP SUMMARY CLI - Type AutoMag to start from the FILE REQUESTER or type AutoMag plus file path information to begin by loading in a file of your choice and bypass the FILE REQUESTER NOTE: In the examples above, I've asked you to type AutoMag as if you were working in a CLI and had AutoMag in whatever directory was current for that CLI. If you are working in a CLI which doesn't have AutoMag in its current directory, you'll need to supply the full path name, not just AutoMag. For example, if your CLI is working with RAM: as the current directory and the AutoMag program is on a floppy disk in drive 1 (df1:), you'd have to type df1:AutoMag instead of just AutoMag. IMPORTANT AutoMag AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTS TO THE WIDTH VALUE AND TURNS ON X(extended)PRECISION MATH IF NECESSARY. See MATH MENU operation, below. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION BEFORE YOU WORK WITH AutoMag! AFTER YOU LOAD A PICTURE WHEN YOU FIRST START AutoMag: FIRST: SELECT WHICH DIRECTION YOU WANT TO MOVE (Right, Left, Up, Down, Z(oom) In, or Z(oom) Out) FROM THE THIRD MENU. SECOND: SELECT YOUR INCREMENT (1/16 OR 1/32 OF A PICTURE PER PICTURE) FROM THE THIRD MENU. THIRD: TURN OFF AUTOSAVE IF YOU JUST WANT TO WATCH AND NOT SAVE PICTURES TO DISK FOURTH: TURN ON 'SEQUENCE' IN THE CONTROL MENU AND FIFTH: STAND BACK - LEAVE YOUR MACHINE - OR GO ON MULTITASKING WITH YOUR AMIGA. IT MAY HELP TO START A NEW SHELL AND USE THE CHANGETASKPRI COMMAND TO INCREASE THE NEW SHELL'S PRIORITY TO +1. THEN AutoMag WILL RUN IN THE BACKGROUND (YOU'LL HARDLY NOTICE ANY SLOWDOWN OF AutoMag IN MOST CIRCUMSTANCES THIS WAY - AND AutoMag DEFINITELY WON'T INTERFERE WITH YOUR NEW SHELL'S OPERATION. REMEMBER THAT AutoMag is EXTREMELY PROCESSOR-HUNGRY. SIXTH: READ ALL THE DOCUMENTATION AND LEARN HOW TO SUSPEND THE SEQUENCE TO CHANGE DIRECTIONS AND CONTINUE ON WITH QUITE INTERESTING LONG SEQUENCES. SEQUENCES HAVE BEEN MADE WITH HUNDREDS OF PICTURES WHICH START BY MOVING LEFT, THEN ZOOMING IN, THEN MOVING DOWN, THEN ZOOMING OUT, ETC. SEVENTH: MAKE A FANTASTIC ANIM FILE WITH THE TOOLS SUPPLIED AND YOU CAN VIEW IT WITH SHOWANIM5.3 OR THE NEW TASS SYSTEM 'DISKANIM'. THIS NEW PROGRAM WILL PLAY BACK ANIM FILES OF UNLIMITED SIZE DIRECT FROM HARD DISK! YOU CAN GET IT ON Amiga Plus Magazine Issue #4 Disk. IT IS GREAT FOR USE WITH LIMITED MEMORY MACHINES WITH HARD DISK. YOU CAN PLAY BACK A 3 MEG ANIM FILE ON A 1 MEG MACHINE EASILY WITH 'DISKANIM'. EIGHTH: SEND A COPY OF YOUR TERRIFIC VIDEO RECORDING OF YOUR SEQUENCE TO MegageM! WE'RE COMPILING A TAPE OF THE BEST ONES! YOU SHOULD ALWAYS START YOUR PICTURE PROCESSING WITH AutoMag BY USING THE SEQUENCE CONTROL - THE DRAW AND PAUSE OPTIONS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR NORMAL OPERATIONS, ONLY FOR SPECIAL PURPOSE ADJUSTMENTS. BE SURE TO READ THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTIONS OF SEQUENCE CONTROL AND USE OF DRAW AND PAUSE OPTIONS IN SPECIAL SITUATIONS. WHEN YOU ENTER AutoMag YOU WILL INITIALLY FIND THE DRAW AND PAUSE OPTIONS 'GHOSTED' IN THE MENU. THAT'S JUST A REMINDER YOU SHOULDN'T EXPECT TO USE THEM RIGHT OFF. THE SEQUENCE CONTROL IS YOUR MAIN MODE OF CONTROL AND IT'S AVAILABLE WHEN YOU START. ***** SEQUENCE CONTROL The most important MENU option in AutoMag is the SEQUENCE control in the CONTROL MENU (all the way on the right). Once you've loaded a picture and selected a motion (see the OPTIONS MENU, below) you start a SEQUENCE by making this MENU selection. SEQUENCE has a 'checkmark' on its menu selection. When you start a SEQUENCE: 1. The current picture is saved (to disk or wherever you direct) 2. Most MENU options are 'ghosted' 3. The next picture is created with a unique new number 4. Proceed again with Step 1. You can also turn SEQUENCE off whenever AutoMag is drawing a whole new picture or simply filling in 'strips' (when 'panning' the image). When you turn SEQUENCE off: 1. The current picture is completed (this may take some time) 2. AutoMag enables all MENU options 3. AutoMag PAUSEs and awaits your next command (which, if it is SEQUENCE ON, will save this picture and continue the SEQUENCE) The SEQUENCE control is pretty natural. You use AutoMag to load in a starting picture, select a motion, then generate a SEQUENCE. When you're finished with a SEQUENCE, simply select its MENU item and turn it off. The current picture will be finished and you can go on to make a new motion selection, reset the picture numbering, and start a new SEQUENCE. ***** DRAW MODE AND PAUSE MODE AutoMag has DRAW and PAUSE modes similar to HAMandel. Whenever AutoMag creates a new picture (either panning or zooming) it must 'DRAW' at least some part of the picture. When panning, it may only have to DRAW a small strip of the picture. When zooming, it DRAWs a new picture completely each step. Usually DRAW and PAUSE are controlled by SEQUENCE. You simply don't use the DRAW and PAUSE options as much with AutoMag. In fact, it may be you won't need to use them at all. When SEQUENCE is ON, you can't use either of them (they're 'ghosted'). When SEQUENCE is OFF, you can use them (but you'll usually want to turn SEQUENCE ON instead). IN GENERAL: DRAW AND PAUSE MENU OPTIONS ARE SELDOM USED IN AutoMag. IMPORTANT: DON'T USE THE DRAW MENU OPTION TO START A SEQUENCE DRAW MODE - When in DRAW mode, most of the menus are 'ghosted' so you can't use them. Only NOBAR and SEQUENCE options can be selected in DRAW mode. DRAW mode also is obviously detectable from the message on the title/menu bar. The DRAW mode 'message' says: AutoMag Mandelbrot or AutoMag Julia Set or AutoMag Z^3 + Z Set or AutoMag Z^3 + C Set PAUSE MODE - You can enter the PAUSE mode two different ways in AutoMag. All usual MENU option selections are made in PAUSE mode. You may enter PAUSE mode: 1. by turning SEQUENCE off during DRAW mode and waiting for the current picture to finish 2. by turning SEQUENCE off during DRAW mode AND THEN selecting PAUSE (which loses its 'ghost' if SEQUENCE if OFF). If you choose this method the SEQUENCE option will become 'ghosted' and you MUST select DRAW to restart where you left off. THIS METHOD IS RECOMMENDED ONLY IF NECESSARY (ONLY WHEN ZOOMING OR UN-ZOOMING). WHEN PANNING, IT IS BEST TO USE METHOD 1 (SIMPLY WAIT FOR THE DRAWING PART TO BE COMPLETED AFTER TURNING OFF SEQUENCE). After you enter PAUSE mode, you can make other MENU option selections (see below) like a different COUNT value or switch off the AutoSave feature, then you'll want to get things going again. If you used method 1. to PAUSE, then simply turn SEQUENCE on again. If you used method 2. to PAUSE, then select the DRAW MENU option. IMPORTANT: WHENEVER YOU ENTER THE PAUSE MODE MOST MENU SELECTIONS BECOME AVAILABLE ***** AutoMag'S AUXILIARY WINDOW In addition to the main HAM screen you immediately see when AutoMag starts, there is another AUXILIARY WINDOW on the Workbench Screen. To see it, pull the HAM screen down in the usual way with the mouse by grabbing its title bar. The long thin window on the Workbench screen shows the coordinates of the current image and a file name (you can modify this string gadget to supply file path names of your own for loading and saving images, see below). The upper row of three string gadgets shows the X, Y, and W numerical values for the current Mandelbrot Set or Z^3 + Z Set (these two are closely related). The second row of three string gadgets shows the X, Y, and W numerical values of the current Julia Set or Z^3 + C Set (which are also closely related). ***** CONTROLLING AutoMag - THE FOUR MENUS AutoMag has the same Project and Math Menus as HAMandel3.0. We won't explain their operation here, just provide a few pointers. Please either become thoroughly familiar with them by using HAMandel3.0 or by studying the doc file for HAMandel3.0. A few things to keep in mind about the Project and Math menus: 1. They respond automatically (Fractal type, Count, and Red, Green, and Blue options) when you LOAD in a HAMandel3.0 picture. 2. Use them only when PAUSEd by one of the means described above. 3. Usually you won't want to make any changes to them (except you might want to color cycle once in a while). Here's why. When you make a sequence for animation, you won't want to change the Fractal type or color palette since the animation usually must have a single unchanging color palette for all pictures. You may change Fractal types if you wish but be prepared for the quick change in your animation sequence. Usually you can leave the Fractal type to the control of whatever starting pic you load in. You can change the COUNT value as appropriate when you're making a zoom in or zoom out sequence. 4. You can enter PAUSE mode and use the LOAD item to bring in a completely new picture and start sequencing over again. In summary, the Project and Math menus operate the same way they do in HAMandel but you'll normally have much less call to use these menus at all. ***** CONTROL MENU - DRAW, PAUSE, NOBAR (far right on the menu bar) ITEM 1 DRAW (RightAmiga D) In AutoMag, the SEQUENCE item does most of the control of DRAW. You only use DRAW to restart from a true PAUSE (see 'method 2.' above) While AutoMag is drawing, the DRAW menu item is 'ghosted' (you can't select DRAW while AutoMag is already in that mode). Note also that when AutoMag is drawing, the other three menus are all totally ghosted. You can't do anything with the menus until you get AutoMag to PAUSE (by turning SEQUENCE off and waiting, or by turning SEQUENCE off then selecting PAUSE - see above). ITEM 2 PAUSE (RightAmiga P) Whenever AutoMag SEQUENCE is turned off and drawing is taking place, you can select this menu item to get it to PAUSE. This is an alternative to turning SEQUENCE OFF and simply waiting for the picture to finish. If you PAUSE AutoMag this way, manipulate menus as you desire, then be sure to restart things with DRAW. In AutoMag, the PAUSE item is there really for convenience only. You usually start and stop the operation of AutoMag with the SEQUENCE control, but PAUSE comes in handy when zooming in or out since waiting for the picture to end may take some time. This item lets you 'shortcut' to the PAUSE mode without waiting for a very long period. Since you've taken this shortcut, you must restart by activating DRAW. IMPORTANT Be sure you know how to work with the PAUSE and DRAW items in the CONTROL menu. ITEM 3 NOBAR (RightAmiga N) This menu item is never ghosted. If you select it once, the menu/title bar at the top of the screen will disappear as soon as possible. When you select this item again the menu/title bar will reappear as soon as possible. You can 'toggle' the menu/title bar using this option at any time. If you want to 'pull the screen down' or use the screen's front/back gadgets you need to have the menu/title bar showing. If you just want to see or save the 'clean' fractal image, you can use this option to hide the bar. ITEM 4 SEQUENCE (RightAmiga U) This menu item controls the drawing of sequence of images. A checkmark accompanies this item. The checkmark appears when SEQUENCE is on and disappears when SEQUENCE is off. SEQUENCE plays a dominant role in controlling the behavior of AutoMag and is described above. When you turn SEQUENCE on, AutoMag cycles through a process of saving and creating the 'next' picture in a sequence. The DRAW mode is started and stopped automatically. That's why you won't need the ***** OPTIONS MENU - Move, Increment, Start Over, Zoom, Reset#, AutoSave NOTE - This menu is completely ghosted during DRAW mode. To use it you must PAUSE AutoMag. ITEM 1 MOVE You can select one of six motions with this MENU item. It has six 'submenu' items: Left, Right, Down, Up, Z(oom) In, and Z(oom) Out. When you use Left, Up, or Down, the sequence of pictures is made by 'sliding' one picture in the direction chosen by either 1/16 or 1/32 (see Increment, below). If you chose Right or one of the Z(oom)s, then each picture must be calculated from scratch (the screen will blank and a completely new picture made each time). If you chose either Left, Up, or Down then the next picture is made by 'sliding' over most of one picture and simply drawing in the new 'missing strip' required for the next picture to be complete. The Amiga Blitter makes this very fast - just about in the twinkling of an eye. Because only a thin strip of each picture really needs calculations, these three directions of 'panning' make very fast sequences of pictures. You may get dozens of pictures per hour on a 68020 or 68030 Amiga. ITEM 2 INCREMENT You can select one of two magnitudes of 'panning' or 'zooming'; either 1/16 or 1/32. These are relative. When you select 1/32, for example, then set to MOVE LEFT and turn SEQUENCE on, the picture will pan leaving only a thin (1/32 of a picture) strip on the right for calculations. If you set 1/16 Increment, then the strip will be twice as wide (1/16 of a picture's width). Increment affects zooming in and out the same way; each subsequent picture is 1/32 or 1/16 larger or smaller region of the 'complex' plane. ITEM 3 Start Over (RightAmiga Z) During PAUSE mode you can select this option to assure that the screen is cleared when you reactivate DRAW. This is very useful. For example, say you PAUSE and change the Count value, then restart DRAW. Your resulting image will have portions with two different Count settings. If you use the Start Over item, your picture will clear and begin fresh from the bottom of the screen. ITEM 5 RESET# This item can be selected when you're sequence is suspended and you'll reset the picture numbering to -000. ITEM 6 AUTOSAVE This item has a checkmark and it shows when AutoSave is turned on (checkmark present) or off (checkmark absent). When AutoSave is on you'll save each picture during a sequence. The path is shown in the auxiliary window and can be changed by using the File Requester or by manipulating the file path string directly in the auxiliary window. When AutoSave is off, the image sequence will proceed normally but simply skip saving the pictures. IMPORTANT - AutoMag3.0 is compatible with the picture and .XYW files only from HAMandel3.0. If you try to load in a picture saved with HAMandel2.0 or 1.0 you may have to adjust the Fractal type and color (Red, Green, or Blue) and set the Count yourself after the picture itself is loaded. IMPORTANT - Compatibility with loading AutoMag2.0 Mandelbrot and Julia Sets has been made as good as possible. Those images have .XYW files which end with either a M or a J (no Count or Shade characters). AutoMag3.0 will try to correctly assign the Fractal type for these pictures but will not set the Count or Shade. Please set them manually and re-save the picture so that it will be completely compatible in the future. IMPORTANT - The new extra characters at the end of the .XYW files permit AutoMag3.0 to load in the color palette FROM THE PICTURE ON DISK! The new Shade character lets AutoMag3.0 know which Shade was used on the picture and the color palette can be loaded correctly. For example, if you saved a picture with AutoMag3.0 in RED Shade mode, then the .XYW file ends with an R character. When that picture is loaded, AutoMag3.0 sees the R character and sets RED mode, then loads the color palette which was saved with the picture. AutoMag3.0 ignores the color palette with pictures saved by AutoMag2.0. The required information for loading those color palettes is just not available in their .XYW files. A FIRST TIME TUTORIAL (making a sequence without saving to disk) 1. Place the AutoMag disk in df1: 2. open a CLI 3. type in the CLI: AutoMag:AutoMag3.0 f AutoMag:Pic1 (RETURN) That gets AutoMag3.0 started with Pic1 from its own disk It's a Mandelbrot Set with 512 count and 'Blue' color palette, and when the pic is fully loaded, you can see these items checked on the appropriate menus. Don't change them now. 4. Select UP from the OPTIONS MOVE sub-MENU 5. Select 32nd from the OPTIONS INCREMENT sub-MENU 6. Select AutoSave on the OPTIONS MENU and release it so its checkmark goes off. 7. Now select SEQUENCE on the CONTROL MENU 8. Watch as you create a sequence of sliding images (AutoSave is OFF, so no pictures are saved to disk) 9. Watch and wait as several pictures are made. Pull down the screen and see that the image number is changing in the 'auxiliary window'. Each new picture gets a new number. 10. After you've seen the process go by a few times, select SEQUENCE again to turn it off (look and see its checkmark has gone) and simply wait until the current picture is finished. 11. Now the process has stopped (the title bar says AutoMag3.0 Copyright 1989 by Daniel Wolf) and you can use the menus. 12. Select QUIT from the PROJECT MENU. A SECOND TIME TUTORIAL (making a sequence with saving to disk) 1. Place the AutoMag disk in df1: 2. double-click on its icon 3 wait for the program to start and present its blank screen 4. Select LOAD from the PROJECT MENU 5. When the File Requester appears, clear the PATH string gadget then type DF1: into the PATH string gadget and PIC1 into the FILE string gadget, then click on the OK button. 6. Click on YES when the 'really?' requester appears. 7. The picture should load in, same as we used in the first tutorial. 8. Select UP from the OPTIONS MOVE sub-MENU 9. Select 32nd from the OPTIONS INCREMENT sub-MENU 10. Now select SEQUENCE on the CONTROL MENU 11. Watch as you create a sequence of sliding images (AutoSave is ON, so pictures ARE saved to disk) 12. Watch and wait as several pictures are made. Pull down the screen and see that the image number is changing in the 'auxiliary window'. Each new picture gets a new number. 13. After you've seen the process go by a few times, select SEQUENCE again to turn it off (look and see its checkmark has gone) and simply wait until the current picture is finished. 14. Now the process has stopped (the title bar says AutoMag3.0 Copyright 1989 by Daniel Wolf) and you can use the menus. 15. Select QUIT from the PROJECT MENU. Picture Saving and Numbering in AutoMag When you start your first sequence after turning on AutoMag, the generated pictures each get unique numbers. These numbers accompany the file names when the pictures are saved on disk. Here's a couple of examples: 1. You start AutoMag with a CLI: AutoMag:AutoMag3.0 f AutoMag:Pic1 Then the initial picture name (see in the auxiliary window) is AutoMag:Pic1. The first 'created' picture in the sequence is Pic1-001. The second one is Pic1-002. And so on. The only thing which can change the numbering is the RESET# item in the OPTIONS MENU. If you select that item, then the numbering returns to -000. After such a sequence has operated a few times, your AutoMag disk will have Pic1, Pic1-000, Pic2-001, Pic1-002 and so on (along with their .XYW files). 2. You start from the WorkBench then use the File Requester in AutoMag to load in a file named df1:K3. Then the initial picture created by a new sequence would be K3-000. After a few rounds of making and saving pictures in sequence, the df1: disk would have K3-000, K3-001, K3-002, etc. and all their .XYW files, too. AutoMag for Floppy Disks We recommend you give yourself plenty of room if you are saving sequences of AutoMag images to floppy disk. First load your starting picture from this disk or some other disk of HAMandel3.0 pictures. Then insert a plain formatted floppy into floppy drive df1: then directly change the auxiliary window's file name to (for example) DF1:AUTO. Then start your SEQUENCE. (When you make freshly formatted disks for AutoMag to save pictures, it may be most convenient to always give them the name AutoMag. Then you can always refer to AutoMag: as a source or destination of pictures.) When the floppy fills up you'll get a requester (a system requester) and just put a fresh formatted floppy into drive df1:. Then click on the 'Cancel' button of the system requester. The last picture won't be saved but the new disk will have the .XYW file for it and you can use it to create the same complete picture with HAMandel3.0. To make a convenient working disk for AutoMag, take your backup of the original AutoMag disk and copy the AutoMag3.0, AutoMag3.0.info, and PIC1 and PIC1.XYW files over to a fresh formatted diskette. Then you can easily use the new disk to work with AutoMag and have plenty of room left for saving some sequence pictures. AutoMag for Hard Disks Simply copy the AutoMag3.0, AutoMag3.0.info, PIC1 and PIC1.XYW files from your backup of the original AutoMag disk onto any desired directory in your hard disk. Since AutoMag doesn't go through an automatic picture loading operation when it starts, you have no startup confusion. You usually start by being presented with the FILE REQUESTER so you can select a picture to load and then get under way. AutoMag Defaults When you start, AutoMag sets MOVE LEFT, INCREMENT 1/16, AUTOSAVE ON, BLUE Color Palette, and same default coordinates as HAMandel3.0. The default picture name is AutoMag:Pics/Pic0. If you use the AutoMag f xxxxxxx CLI startup option, the xxxxxxx will replace the default file name. The default file name is also replaced if you use the File Requester to select a PATH and FILE and click on the OK button. You can also manipulate the file name directly by changing the string gadget in the auxiliary window. AutoMag Disk Contents There are four different possible starting pics on the AutoMag disk: PIC1, PIC2, PIC3, and PIC4. Each one is a different fractal type and will give good results.