Quick and dirty manual for FLICTC47.PRG please excuse my worse english... copyright: FLICTC47.PRG is FREEWARE - you may copy it for your friends and for non commercial purposes, but it has to be copied completely in a folder or in an archive including all files: FLICTCxx\ DEUTSCH\ CHANGES .TXT FLICTC .TXT FLICTCxx.PRG HYDRAMRK.TOS README .1ST SPEED .TXT ENGLISH\ FLICTCxx.PRG FLIC_TCE.TXT HYDRAMRK.TOS README_E.1ST SPEED_E .TXT The copyright still remains at me, changing the program or this documentation requires my written permission. FLICTC47.PRG mustn't be taken in any PD-series without my permission. Commercial use of FLICTC47.PRG requires my written permission, too. what is FLICTC47.PRG? FLICTC47.PRG is a _fast_ player for animations in .FLI/.FLC-format, now you're able to watch your animations in original speed! disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any damages or loss of data, which occur using this program or this manual, you use it on your own risk. system requirements: The program runs in all HiColor-resolutions (Atari calls them True Color...), with 320x200 pixels or bigger. advantages: -fast, most of the animations run at original speed, i.e. as fast as on a 486DX... -FLIs will be played directly from disk if necessary, i.e. file size is only limited by the capacity of your drive -compatible, all tested animations ran correctly (and there _are_ some traps!) -can be driven via command line -can be installed as a desktop icon: just drag a movie file on the icon, drop it, and enjoy! -switches to HiColor automatically (works fine with screen resolution enhancements) -flicker free because of optional double buffering -optimized code for 68000/68020 -automatic detection of the videohardware's word format (Motorola/Intel) (optional) -quietmode (no text outputs) -pausing -adjustable brightness -freeware disadvantages: -not a GEM program -directly accesses the screen memory -should have problems with MultiTOS because of this -doesn't support color cycling (which is not used in any .FLI known to me) -animation size is limited by screen resolution usage: The player can be started normally as a program, then there will be a file- selection box and you may choose any .FLI file which will be loaded and played immediately, or, you may install FLICTC47.PRG as an icon, as described in your system owner's manual, file type should be FL?. Following keys can be used while animation playback: <+> increase speed <-> decrease speed disable/enable double buffering, this will only work if double buffering was active at program start enable/disable synchronization via 200Hz timer enable/disable synchronization via vsync toggles waiting time after last frame on/off, some animations jerk cyclical, because the last an first frame are identical. This should fix the problem :-) or pause on, any key releases pause <0> resets all options to default values stops the animation after the last frame stops the animation immediately options via command line: Normally it should not be necessary to change these options, they are just mentioned for completeness. -a=0 disables screen resolution check (via LINE_A #0 (Init)) -a=1 enables screen resolution check for HiColor, it also uses LINE_A; the check routine works fine on the Falcon (default) -c=x colorscale to adjust brightness, x is a percantage value (default -c=100) -d=0 disable debug mode (default) -d=1 enable debug mode -D=0 double buffering disabled -> more free memory -D=1 permanent double buffering, animations are played flicker free, unfortunately double buffering is quite costly, so fast animations will be slowed down by this option -D=2 intelligent double buffering: slow animations will be played with double buffering, fast ones without, the limit for double buffering to be used can be set by -S= (default) -i=0 suppresses display of FLI-header information (default) -i=1 displays FLI-header information and waits for any key then starts playing animation -I=0 Motorola videomode (highbyte/lowbyte) -I=1 Intel videomode (lowbyte/highbyte) -I=2 automatic videomode detection (default) -l=0 disables looping of the animation, animation will only be played once -l=1 enables looping of animation (default) -L=0 normal pauses between frames (default) -L=1 no pause after last frame -k=0 keyboard-off-mode disabled, i.e. player can be controlled via keyboard during replay (default) -k=1 keyboard-off-mode enabled, the player will only stop when finished (if loop mode off) or mousebutton pressed (fine for use with quietmode) -m=x makes the player use only x kB of memory ( integer value) as a buffer, of course always a minimum amount is needed, e.g. bytes in Version 3.5.0. Default value is about 2GB (-m=2000000), so all free memory will be used. -s=x sets the display speed to fps (default off) -S=x sets limit for intelligent double buffering: apropriate values for standard falcons should be x=10..x=14 fps, for faster falcons x=14.. x=18 fps (default value: x=14 fps) -t=0 disables synchronization via 200Hz system timer, the player still synchronizes with the vsync if not disabled seperately (-v=0), this should only be necessary for statistic purpose (oh wow - another 3.1415% faster!!!!!!) -t=1 enables the synchronization via 200Hz timer, the player tries to play the .FLI at the speed found in the file header. Because the player uses the 200Hz timer instead of a 70Hz timer, there may be a difference of about 5% in playing speed (with vsync disabled) (default) -v=0 FLICTC47.PRG ignores the vsync - faster, but there may be flickering -v=1 enables synchronization with vsync which reduces flickering to a minimum (default) -z=0 does not try to change screen mode -> only works in HiColor (default) -z=1 if Falcon videohardware is detected, the player tries to change the screen mode if not in HiColor. WARNING: you use this option at your own risk - I take no responsibility for any damages that may occur! frequently asked questions: problem: animation runs too slow solution:(does your CPU run at full speed? are the caches enabled?) -Turn off double buffering (-D=0), because double buffering is extremely costly, at 14 fps 80-90% of processing time are spent on double buffering (!), you may use intelligent double buffering (-D=2) instead of turning it completely off -Try reducing screen resolution, your computer will speed up if you switch to a lower resolution, 320x200 should be enough for any .FLI file (because of the 64kB segment size of some intel CPUs (hihihi)), of course the player would be able to play bigger .FLIs ... If the animation is still too slow, try disabling the synchronization with the vsync via -v=0 in the command line (see above). Still too slow? Try -t=0 in the command line Could be faster? Try -t=0 -v=0, that's it, you have maximum speed, the animation should now be fast enough, even too fast! problem: animation is played jerky or still too slow (see above) solution:looks like the animation is too big to fit into your computers free memory and is played directly from disk. If you can free some more memory you should try this first (accessories, resident cpx-modules, etc - is the player allowed to use all free memory or is the <-m=x> option enabled?); next you may copy the file from floppy to your harddisk drive. If it's still bad, try using a small(!) harddisk cache, to speed up file operations. problem: animation jerks cyclical solution:Probably the first and last frame of the FLI/FLC are identical, try the <-L=1> option or simply press the key during playback. Better now? ;-) (doesn't work fine with double buffering turned on) problem: animation too fast solution:enable timer synchronization via -t=1 in the command line problem: animation flickers solution:enable vsync synchronization via -v=1 in the command line, if it's still flickering then your machine is too slow, try using a lower resolution, 320x200 should be enough ... problem: not enough memory solution:free more memory, the player only needs about 200kB, also in this case the animation will be played from disk. problem: player crashes with trash on the screen solution:a) retry on a Falcon b) switch to HiColor, enable the screen resolution check! c) looks like your .FLI file is badly damaged. If THIS file runs with another player or on another computer, please send me a copy of the .FLI file and I will try to fix the error (?) in my player, but please retry with another player/computer first!!! problem: animation is displayed in strange colours (e.g. blue faces) solution:wrong graphics mode selected (Intel/Motorola), try: a) -I=2 : automatic detection (default) b) -I=0 : Motorola mode (highbyte, lowbyte) c) -I=1 : Intel mode (lowbyte, highbyte) development system: Falcon using Omikron.BASIC 3.6 & Compiler 3.6, TurboAssembler reference: This program is based on an article in c't 8/94 credits: -Petra for moral assist -Alexander Clauss for his frequent bug reports and some information about the FLC format -Lars Weinrich for correcting some mistakes in this doc -Christian "Chrisker" Krger for his resolution switching routine -Daniel Hedberg for several bug reports -Torsten Lang for his constructive suggestions Have fun using the Player, please send criticism and new ideas to my address Sven Bruns Metzstr. 52 24116 Kiel Germany email: NIP70@rz.uni-kiel.d400.de (until 15.2.96, perhaps longer) [EOF]