APPENDIX E: THE AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER PROGRAM The Autodesk Animator Player program (aaplay.exe)is a flic "projector" program that lets you play your animations or display your pictures. You can freely distribute this program, along with the aaplay.doc file, and your animations to friends and business associates. The aaplay.doc file contains instructions for using the Autodesk Animator Player program. The Autodesk Animator Player can be used either interactively, with mouse or keyboard, or through scripted control. Scripted control uses an ASCII text file to instruct Autodesk Animator Player to display a sequence of animations or pictures in any order, with assigned individual speeds and other special effects. INTERACTIVE CONTROL The Autodesk Animator Player program is in the directory in which you installed Autodesk Animator. To run Autodesk Animator Player in interactive mode: 1. Go to the directory containing Autodesk Animator Player. 2. Enter the following at the DOS prompt: aaplay A black screen appears with a menu bar at the top and control sliders at the bottom. You can use Autodesk Animator Player with a Microsoft-compatible mouse or by keyboard. (Be sure to copy the appropriate mouse driver to the directory containing Autodesk Animator.) This appendix describes mouse input first then keyboard input. If you do not have a mouse device, skip ahead to the section on keyboard input. MOUSE INPUT This section describes how to use a mouse to load a flic, play a flic, view individual frames, and change a flic's speed. Loading a Flic Use the following steps to load a flic using a mouse: 1. Select Fli Load from the File menu. The file selector appears. If desired, you can exit the file selector (and take no further action) by right-clicking on the viewing screen. AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 1 2. If the flic you want is listed in the file window at the left, double-click on the flic's name to select and load the flic. Another method is to click once on the flic name (which will appear in the File field), then click on OK. The flic files (extension .fli) are listed in the window at the left of the file selector. If there are more flics than will fit in the window display, scroll through the window by clicking on the up and down arrows in the slider bar to the left of the window or by dragging the slider bar up and down. (To drag, point the mouse at the slider, hold down the left mouse button, and move the mouse. Release the button to release the slider.) If the flic is located in another drive or directory, click on the following icons: A: D: to go to another drive. Each drive you have is represented by a drive button. \ to go to the root directory of the current drive. .. to go up a directory. You can enter any directory listed in the file window by clicking on that directory's name. (Directories are listed in the window preceded by a slash (\) mark, for example, \FLICS.) Note: Autodesk Animator flics are designed to be played from a hard disk or a RAM disk. If they are played from a floppy disk drive, the animation speed will be very slow. After you have loaded a flic, it will appear on the screen with menu displays that let you view individual frames, play the flic, change the flic's speed, load another flic, and exit Autodesk Animator Player. You can toggle the menu displays by right-clicking on the viewing screen. Playing a Flic The slider bar at the bottom of the screen is the playback bar, which lets you view individual frames or play the entire flic. To play the entire flic, do this: 1. Click on the double-arrows: The menus disappear and the flic plays through. 2. To stop the flic, right-click on the viewing screen. The flic stops and the menus reappear. AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 2 Viewing Individual Frames The slider bar at the bottom left of the screen also lets you view individual frames of a flic. Click on these icons to perform the following actions: up arrow moves to first frame. left arrow moves back one frame. right arrow moves forward one frame. down arrow moves to last frame. slider bar drags to desired frame. Click within the numbered bar to jump to another frame in the animation. For example, clicking on the right side of the numbered bar takes you to a frame near the end of the flic. Changing a Flic's Speed The slider bar at the bottom right of the screen controls the flic's playback speed. The numbered bar represents the duration of pause for each frame. A lower speed setting plays the flic faster, a higher speed setting slows the flic down. To change a flic's speed, click on the left or right arrows to adjust the speed by single increments or drag the bar to a desired speed. The speed you set is temporary. After you exit the flic, the original speed settings return. The following section describes keyboard input. If you have a mouse device, see "Further Keyboard Input," later on in this appendix, for keyboard controls available during flic playback. KEYBOARD INPUT This section describes how to use the keyboard to load a flic, play a flic, view individual frames, and change a flic's speed. You can use the keyboard for these functions even if you have a mouse. Selecting Menu Items Select any item in the menu bar by first pressing the key on your keyboard corresponding to the first letter of the menu title, and then pressing the key corresponding to the first letter of the menu item. For example, to select GIF Load from the File menu, press the F key (to select File), then the G key (to select GIF Load). AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 3 How Keyboard Entry Works in the File Selector There are two modes of keyboard entry when the file selector is on screen: keyboard entry mode, and keyboard alternate mode. Keyboard entry mode lets you enter text. When the cursor in any one keyboard entry box (such as the File or Dir) is a solid box, you are in keyboard entry mode, and keys you press will enter text in the keyboard entry box in which the cursor appears. Keyboard alternate mode lets you enter commands. When the cursor in all keyboard entry boxes is a thin vertical line, you are in keyboard alternate mode, and keys you press perform selections on the file selector-in much the same way as pointing with a mouse. When the file selector is displayed, press the following keys as needed: KEY: FUNCTION: TAB Toggles the keyboard entry mode (as well as the cursor display) and to move from field to field ESC Clears a field left arrow key Moves the cursor left right arrow key Moves the cursor right up arrow key Scrolls up the list of files in the file selection window down arrow key Scrolls down the list of files in the file selection window BACKSPACE Deletes characters left of the cursor A B C etc. Selects another disk drive. Each drive you have is represented by an alphabetical key. \ Moves to the root directory of the current drive . (period) Moves up a directory ENTER Selects OK Loading a Flic To load a flic using the keyboard: 1. Press the F key (to select File), and then press the F key again (to select Fli Load).The file selector appears. If AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 4 desired, you can exit the file selector (and take no further action) by pressing Tab followed by the spacebar. 2. Press TAB until the block cursor is active in the File keyboard entry box. 3. Press ESC to clear the field, then type in the name of your flic. (You don't have to type in the .fli extension, which is assumed.) 4. Press ENTER to load the flic. The first frame of the flic appears on screen to indicate that it is ready to be played. If the flic is located in another drive, do this: 1. Press TAB until the cursor is in the Dir field. 2. Press ESC to clear the field. 3. Enter the flic's pathname (e.g., c:\directory\filename). After you have loaded a flic, it will appear on the screen with menu displays that let you view individual frames, play the flic, change the flic's speed, load another flic, and exit Autodesk Animator Player. You can toggle the menu displays by pressing the spacebar. Playing a Flic The slider bar at the bottom of the screen is the playback bar, which lets you view individual frames or play the entire flic. To play the entire flic: 1. Press ENTER. The menus disappear and the flic plays through. 2. To stop the flic, press the spacebar. The flic stops and the menus reappear. Viewing Individual Frames The slider bar at the bottom left of the screen also lets you view individual frames of a flic. Press the following keys as needed: KEY: FUNCTION: up arrow key Moves to first frame AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 5 left arrow key Moves back one frame right arrow key Moves forward one frame ENTER Plays flic down arrow key Moves to last frame Changing a Flic's Speed The slider bar at the bottom right of the screen controls the flic's playback speed. The numbered bar represents the duration of pause between frames. For example, a high setting will slow the flic down, not speed it up. Press the - (hyphen) key to increase the speed by single increments; press the + key to decrease the speed by single increments. The speed you set is temporary. After you exit the flic, the original settings return. To enter a specific speed (e.g., a setting of 4), see "Further Keyboard Input," below. FURTHER KEYBOARD INPUT The following keys, which can be used by both mouse and keyboard users, affect the flic during playback. KEY: FUNCTION: BACKSPACE Freezes current frame (press any key to continue playback + Increases speed setting by single increments. The flic is slowed down. - Decreases speed setting by single increments. The flic is sped up. F1 Speed 0 F2 Speed 3 F3 Speed 6 F4 Speed 9 F5 Speed 12 F6 Speed 18 F7 Speed 24 F8 Speed 36 F9 Speed 48 F10 Returns to original speed (speed loaded with flic) ESC Breaks loop (only during script playback) Locking the Keyboard During a Playback A "keyboard lock" is a command you enter to render the keyboard inactive until the next time you enter the keyboard command. You AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 6 can use a keyboard lock any time an animation or a script of animations is running. It is designed to keep curious fingers from halting your demonstrations. To lock the keyboard, do this: 1. Hold down the CTRL key and press any alphabetical key (A through Z). Note: For an 80286 machine, hold down the CTRL key and press the M key. Be sure to remember which key you pressed! If you forget, the only way to exit is to reset your computer by pressing CTRL- ALT-DEL simultaneously. (Or you could try every letter in the alphabet while holding down the CTRL key.) 2. To unlock the keyboard, hold down CTRL and press the same key. SCRIPT FILE CONTROL A script file is simply a text script containing a list of flics and/or GIF pictures to display in succession. GIF files are single pictures, which you can load and display individually by selecting GIF Load from the Files menu. In script mode, you can display a GIF file and leave it on the screen for a specified number of seconds. Note: Autodesk Animator GIF files are 320X200 resolution only. Use the Converter utility to translate other resolution .gif files prior to using Autodesk Animator Player. You can write a script file with any text editor or word processor that produces a standard ASCII (or DOS text) file. Script files can be created in Autodesk Animator itself, if desired. To do so, use the Text tool to enter the script text. It is recommended that you create the text using the System (default) font, since it creates the dash necessary to specify parameters (e.g., -S). After you exit Autodesk Animator, the script text is saved in a .txt file (e.g., myscript.txt), which then can be loaded in Autodesk Animator Player as a script file. Caution: The native file format of most word processors is not ASCII and does not work as a script file. However, most word processors have the ability to save text in ASCII format. At its simplest level, a script file that plays three flics and a picture in sequence looks like this: D:cartoon.fli C:\flic\astonish.fli C:\pics\portrait.gif D:bounce.fli AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 7 Notice that you must specify the full filename and extension for each flick or GIF picture. However, you need to specify the drive path only if the file is not in the same path as Autodesk Animator Player. Note: You can use any mixture of upper- or lowercase letters to create a script file. PLAYING A SCRIPT FILE You can give the script file any filename and/or extension. Assuming the above script file is named myscript, you can invoke it in one of two ways: o From the DOS prompt, enter the following command: aaplay myscript o From within the Autodesk Animator Player, select Script Load from the Files menu, and then select myscript from the file selector. In the four-file script example described earlier, the first two listed animations each play through once, the GIF picture is displayed for 5 seconds, and then the last animation plays through once. At the end of the last animation, you are returned to the DOS prompt if you start myscript from the DOS prompt or to the Autodesk Animator Player screen if you started myscript from the Autodesk Animator Player. Note: Because of the time taken to decompress GIF files, GIF pictures display relatively slowly, sweeping down the screen as they appear. We recommend that you make your GIF pictures frames in a flic then load the flic from the script file. (If desired, use a slow playback speed for a slide-projector effect.) Additional Script Options In addition to its function specifying which flics or pics to play, the script file can include these parameters and options: o Special parameters describing how to play the flic (such as its playback speed). o Special options describing how may loops (or cycles) that each flic (or script file) plays through, and choosing whether to return to DOS or the Autodesk Animator Player at the end. AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 8 Script Parameters Script parameters consist of a hyphen followed by a single code letter specifying the speed, the number of loops, and the type of transition between the flics. The parameter letters and a control number or word are listed behind the flic filename in the script file. Parameters you can set are listed in the table below: PARAMETER: CONTROL EFFECT DEFAULT -L 0..999 Loops 0 -S 0..120 Speed File speed -T FADEIN..FADEOUT..CUT Transition Cut -P 0..14400 (14400=4 hours) Pause FLI=0, GIF-5 You can list one, two, all three, or no parameters behind each listed filename in your script file. If no parameters are listed after a filename, the default flic playback is a single loop at the speed specified by the file with no transition (a clean cut). Loop, speed, or pause parameters are simply a matter of listing the parameter letter followed by its control: fli1.fli -L3 -S6 fli2.fli -S3 fli3.fli -L2 pic1.gif -P10 fli4.fli -P20 In the above example, fli1 plays through three times at a speed of 6; fli2 plays once at a speed of 3, and fli3 plays twice at the speed at which it was originally saved. pic1.gif remains on screen for 10 seconds. The last frame of fli4 remains on screen 20 seconds. Note: Loop (-L) and speed (-S) have no effect on GIF files. Transitions are fades to or from a white screen, and they require one or two control words following the parameter to describe the type of transition at the beginning and end of the flic playback. If one control word is omitted or if both are, a straight cut is assumed for the transition: fli1.fli -t fadein fadeout fli2.fli -t cut fadeout fli3.fli -t fadein cut fli4.fli -t fadeout fli5.fli -t fadein fli6.fli In the above example, fli1 fades in from a white screen, and fades out to a white screen; fli2 cuts in, and fades out to a white screen; fli3 fades in from a white screen and ends with a cut; AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 9 fli4 works like fli2; fli5 works like fli3; and fli6 cuts in and out. As you can see, the control word cut may be left out in all cases. Here are some other examples: fli1.fli -L3 -S6 -t fadein fadeout fli2.fli -S3 -t fadein fli3.fli -L2 -t fadeout In the above example, fli1 fades in, loops through three playbacks at speed 6, and fades out; fli2 then fades in, plays once at speed 3, and cuts; fli3 cuts in, loops twice at its file speed, and then fades out. Script Options You can affect the playback of the entire script by using the following option commands: OPTION: EFFECT: LINK FILENAME Loads and plays the specified script file LOOP 0..999 Loops through the statements above this statement (999 means loop infinitely) EXITTOPLAYER Exits to the Autodesk Animator Player after playing the script file EXITTODOS Exits to DOS after playing the script file Note: You can enter the above option words in any combination of upper- or lowercase, but you can't include spaces between the letters (for example, ExitToPlayer is fine but Exit To Player isn't). These are examples of script options: fli1.fli fli2.fli -l2 -s5 fli3.fli -t fadein loop 3 Fli1 plays once; fli2 loops twice at a speed of 5; fli3 fades in from white and plays once; this entire combination repeats three times before ending. Another example: fli1.fli fli2.fli loop 999 fli3.fli AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 10 Fli1 and fli2 alternately play through once in an infinite loop, which you can halt by pressing ESC. Fli3 never plays since it follows the loop command. Here is yet another example: fli3.fli fli2.fli fli3.fli loop 2 link d:\flic\script1 Fli3 followed by fli2 followed by fli3 loops through twice, followed by the combination of flics described by the script1 script file plays. Scriptfile Formatting The Autodesk Animator Player lets you arrange the text in your script files in a very free fashion. As mentioned earlier, letters can be either upper- or lowercase. In addition, you can list parameters after the flic filenames in any order, and you can use any number of white spaces, tabs, and carriage returns: fli1.fli -s 2 -l 3 -t fadein is exactly the same as the culmination of upper- and lower-case: FLI1.FLI -l3 -T FADEin -S2 Keystrokes During Script Playback Unless the keyboard is locked, the keystrokes described in the "Further Keyboard Input" section earlier affect only the flic currently playing. Thus if a keystroke breaks out of the current flic's loop, the next flic listed in the Script file immediately begins playback. If the speed is altered by the keyboard during the cycle of one flic, the following flic in the script file reverts to its programmed speed. If a script loop (as opposed to a flic loop) is in effect, only the ESC key breaks out of that loop. When you have locked the keyboard by pressing CTRL and another key, all keyboard activity is inactive until you repeat that same CTRL key combination. Error Messages If you have made a typing mistake in your script file or included an instruction the Autodesk Animator Player does not understand, a message similar to the following one appears: AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 11 ERROR NEAR LINE 5 IN SCRIPT1.TXT ERROR IN PROCESSING SCRIPT FILE [4] FLI1.FLI -L3 -S5 [5] FLI2.FLI S7 [6] FLI3.FLI -L2 The first two lines of the message might change, depending on the error. The line most probably containing the error is displayed between the preceding and subsequent lines of the script file. Examine the lines closely for an error. (In the above example, the hyphen was left out before the speed parameter in line 5.) Note: In some cases the error might have occurred somewhere other than in the indicated line. If you can't find an error in the noted line, examine your entire script file carefully for a mistake. If you still can't find it, use a process of elimination by first making a backup copy of the script file, and then deleting certain lines until the script file works. EXAMPLES OF SCRIPT FILES The following are some example of valid script files: Example 1 \fli\astonish.fli \fli\frogger.fli \fli\bounce.fli \gif\boats.gif \fli\cartoon.fli \fli\redbaby.fli \fli\starring.fli \fli\test_jet.fli Example 2 \fli\astonish.fli \fli\bounce.fli \fli\cartoon.fli \fli\test_jet.fli \fli\frogger.fli \gif\boats.gif \fli\edbaby.fli \fli\starring.fli \gif\oldman.gif Example 3 \fli\astonish.fli -l 10 \fli\frogger.fli \fli\bounce.fli -l 2 \gif\boats.gif \fli\cartoon.fli AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 12 \fli\redbaby.fli \gif\oldman.gif \fli\starring.fli \fli\test_jet.fli loop 999 Example 4 \fli\astonish.fli -l 10 \fli\frogger.fli -p2 \fli\bounce.fli -l 2 \gif\boats.gif -t fadein fadeout \fli\cartoon.fli -l 4 -p10 -t fadein \fli\redbaby.fli \gif\oldman.gif -p 30 \fli\starring.fli -l999 \fli\test_jet.fli loop 3 link a:\script3.txt Example 5 ExitToPlayer \fli\astonish.fli -l 10 \fli\frogger.fli -p2 \fli\bounce.fli -l 2 \gif\boats.gif -t fadein fadeout \fli\cartoon.fli -l 4 -p10 -t fadein \fli\redbaby.fli \gif\oldman.gif -p 30 \fli\starring.fli -l999 \fli\test_jet.fli loop 3 link a:script3.txt AUTODESK ANIMATOR PLAYER (08/31/89) Page 13