Title:    INSTANT ANIM CREATOR - EASY TO USE
Keywords: MAKEANIM ANIM IFF ILBM FRAMES ANIMATION KEITH DOYLE

   Hi.

   Here's an update to the ANIM standard compressor which now supports
   DCTV resolution images and ANIMs with varying colormaps.

   This is a freely distributable version, which does not support
   all the features in the commercial version soon to be available
   (in The Director Toolkit version 2) such as single buffered ANIMs
   and OP 5 XOR reversible ANIMs.  This version does not run from
   the Workbench.

   This ANIM file compressor can take a series of IFF files and 
   combine them into a single animation file that can be played 
   back with ShowANIM, as well as the Director and DPaintIII
   (provided it suits DPaint's choice of resolutions).  To create a 
   compressed ANIM file, construct a text file with a list of file 
   names of frames to be assembled, one per line:

   pictures/frame01
   pictures/frame02
   pictures/frame03
   pictures/frame04
   pictures/frame05
   pictures/frame01
   pictures/frame02

   Files can reside on different disks, just enter the entire path
   name (including disk name).  A requester will pop up when it's time
   to put in the appropriate disk.

   If you want to create an endless loop, make sure the first two
   frames are repeated at the end of the file as in the example above.

   Once the list file is created (let's call it FLIST) you then
   issue the command:

   MakeANIM FLIST test.anim

   This will read the frames in one by one and create the ANIM file
   with the name "test.anim".  This file can then be played back with
   the abovementioned player programs, and many others.

   The program should work in any resolution including HAM, but don't
   try to mix resolutions.  DCTV resolution images are now supported.
   This version now handles palette changing on the fly.  Colormaps
   are only included when changes in the map are encountered.  This
   version cannot force colormaps to be included on every frame.

   This program has been successfully used to construct standard format
   ANIM files from Animate3D frames, as well as individual files created
   by paint programs.

   How much memory do you need?  Good question.  The program will
   create 4 buffers the size of the IFF image during compression.
   Only one buffer is required to be in CHIP memory.  Lo-res shouldn't
   be any trouble for anybody, but I don't know exactly where the dividing
   lines are otherwise.

Keith Doyle
Right Answers, Inc.
4/2/91