@database tapdl.guide @remark Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers. @master tapdl.guide @node main @title "TALDP 1.4 Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers." TAPDL 1.4 Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers. This is a residentable DL animation player for 020+ machines with KS 2.0 or better, and which supports ECS, AGA and the Picasso II. For machines without AGA or a Picasso II, see the @{" GRAY " link "cli"} option. @{" Requirements " link "requirements"} @{" Supported formats " link "formats"} @{" Making DL files " link "makedl"} @{" CLI Parameters " link "cli"} @{" Operation " link "operation"} @{" Credits " link "credits"} @{" Distribution " link "distribution"} @{" Contact Info " link "contact"} @{" History " link "history"} DISCLAIMER: It works on my machine. @endnode @node requirements @title "Requirements" The minimum requirements for TAPDL are an Amiga with a 68020 CPU, KS 2.0, the ReqTools library, and the XPK libraries. The mimimum requirements for @{" MAKEDL " link "makedl"} are KS 2.0 and Christian Weber's IFF library. The ReqTools and IFF libraries can be found on Aminet in util/ libs, and the XPK libraries can be found on Aminet in util/pack. TAPDL will work best on a 68040 CPU or better, KS 3.x, and with AGA or a Picasso II graphics board. @endnode @node formats @title "Supported Formats" DL files are a kind of animation once found only on PCs. The animations are 320x200 or smaller, in 256 colours. The colours are 18 bits each, six per gun. There are currently three versions of the DL format. TAPDL supports all three as follows... o Version 1. Always 160x100. o Version 2. One of 320x200, 160x100, and 80x50. TAPDL also supports a 24-bit palette if the DL file has been created with one by @{" MAKEDL " link "makedl"}. o Version 3. Any width and height up to 320x200. TAPDL does not support the fabled audio or password features of this version, as I have been unable to find any animations that use these features. @endnode @node makedl @title "Making DL files" The MAKEDL utility distributed with TAPDL is a CLI-based DL animation creator for machines with KS 2.0 or better. It creates version 2 DL files based on a script that you give it, much like MKANIM and similar programs. The command template is: DL/A,SCRIPT/A,24BIT/S The DL option is the name of the DL file you want to create, and must be present. The SCRIPT option is also required, and is the name of the script file that will define what goes into the animation. The script file format is described below. The 24BIT option lets you force the palette in the DL file to be a 24-bit palette. The format really wants an 18-bit palette, but the TAPDL player on the Amiga is capable of handling both. Be warned that an animation with a 24-bit palette will NOT play back correctly on a PC, and I don't think that the difference in colour quality is really worth the hassle. SCRIPT FILE FORMAT A script file is a simple text file containing a number of lines of the form " = ". The items are... title A title for the animation. This has a maximum length of 20 characters. author The author of the animation. Put your name here. This field also has a maximum length of 20 characters. model This is a number, either 0, 1 or 2. These represent the dimensions of the animation, either 320x200, 160x100, or 80x50 respectively. frame The name of the IFF file containing a frame of the animation. There can be more than one frame field, and they should appear in the same order that you will index them in the command field. The dimensions of each frame should match the dimensions you select with the model field, but this isn't totally necessary. The IFF library tries to clip or pad bitmaps as required. command A command sequence for controlling the playback of the animation. This is a list of values seperated by commas, where a value can be one of... 1. A frame index, counting from 0. The frame you select will be the frame displayed at this point, with a default delay of 15/100ths of a second between frames. 2. A loop indicator, L, where N is the number of times that the loop should be executed. Note that the entire animation will loop ad infinitum, so an L is only required for sub-loops. 3. An end-of-loop indicator, E. 4. A pause indicator, P, where the pause will be N/100ths of a second long. As a test, I created 6 160x100/8 brushes that scrolled down the centre of a picture (debanimation). The script file to create a DL anim from these brushes looked like... title = TEST ANIM author = John Bickers model = 1 frame = suelin1.iff frame = suelin2.iff frame = suelin3.iff frame = suelin4.iff frame = suelin5.iff frame = suelin6.iff command = 0,1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 HISTORY 94.07.25 Created 1.0. 94.11.19 1.1. Fixed bug where CLI arguments weren't being freed. @endnode @node cli @title "CLI Parameters" The command template for TAPDL is... FILES/M,DELTA/K/N,GRAY/S,NOPICASSO/S,TIME/S FILES A list of DLs that you want to play. The default is to use a file requester. DELTA The frame delay, in 100ths of a second, to be used for each frame. If a frame is drawn in less time than this value, TAPDL will wait until the time expires before continuing. The default value is 15 100ths of a second (F6). GRAY Uses a 4-bit grayscale display. This option should be used on machines without AGA. NOPICASSO Disables detection of a Picasso II board. Normally only used for testing the AGA display. @endnode @node operation @title "Operation" On machines without AGA, be sure to use TAPDL's GRAY option. The following input can be used to control TAPAVI. It is similar to the control allowed by SPARTA Inc's ShowANIM. Esc, RMB End the current animation. ^C, break End the program. F1,...,F10 Set different speeds. F1 is the fastest. Down Pause the animation. Right, LMB Forward one frame. Up Resume the animation. @endnode @node credits @title "Credits" TAPDL is written by John Bickers using SAS C 6.51. Thanks to Christian Geisert for a variety of sample files, bug reports, and valuable suggestions. Thanks also to Andy Philpotts for supplying me with my first version 3 DL file. And thanks to Keith Stewart for testing TAPDL on a non-AGA machine. The DL file format and PC programs were created by Davide Tome' and Luca De Gregorio. The format of a DL file was obtained by looking at sample files, and running Davide and Luca's DL-VIEW.EXE under Microsoft's CodeView debugger. The "dlview3" font included with TAPDL is copied from their PC program, with some changes. It was made with Adam Costello's BMFC, as modified by Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert. The excellent chunky-to-planar routines used are written by Peter McGavin. See Peter's Flick animation player on Aminet for more information. ReqTools is Copyright (c) Nico François. The xpkmaster.library and sublibraries are the work of U. Dominik Mueller and colleagues. @endnode @node distribution @title "Distribution" TAPDL is Copyright © 1994,1995 by John Bickers. Distribution is via normal channels. That is, distribute it for free or for Fred Fish like costs, but not more. And remember to include the documentation. If you want to contribute something to the cause of PC animation playback, you might want to consider sending me a CD of anims, or a movie CD. If you're putting together a CD of animations and you want to put TAPDL onto it, by all means do so. Send me a copy of the CD in lieu of any fee. @{" Contact me " link "contact"} if you want any customisation of the program done. @endnode @node contact @title "Contact Info" I can be reached at: John Bickers Level 6, Grand Arcade 16 Willis St Wellington New Zealand Or: jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz Or: +64 4 801 8768 (home) +64 4 474 6625 (work) @endnode @node history @title "History" 94.07.12 Created 1.0. 94.07.21 1.1. Handles multiple filenames on the command line. Handles multiselect in file requester. Sets wait pointer while doing chunky -> planar stuff. Title/Author screen falls back to topaz.font. 94.07.25 Fixed bug where 80x50 anims left title displayed. 94.08.22 1.2. Resets screen color before opening file requester. Added GRAY option, so it doesn't strictly require AGA. 94.09.12 Sets wait pointer while loading file (XpkUnpack()). Uses header seq. length to avoid trailing junk bytes. 94.11.16 Added support for type 3 DLs using MOUTH.DL. Finally fixed screen font bug, I think. 94.11.18 Removed GRAY option, too much hassle for my c2p code. 94.11.19 Fixed bug where CLI arguments weren't being freed. Added FONT option. Changed default font from DarkParticle to dlview3. 94.11.21 1.3 Improved tapc2p a little. 94.11.28 Now uses c2p_020 instead, smooth for worst-case. 94.12.05 Custom double-buffering, so KS3 no longer required. Restored GRAY option, so AGA no longer required. 94.12.08 1.4 Checks for ^C and so on more thoroughly. Fixed bug in playing 80x50 animations. 95.02.11 Removed double-buffering and title/author screen. Removed FONT option. Replaced c2p/cpublit phases with straight c2p. Upgraded c2p code to new Peter McGavin routines. Added Picasso II support using vilintuisup.library. Added NOPICASSO option. Renamed DELAY option to DELTA. @endnode