NAME

       animate - animate a sequence of geomview files

SYNOPSIS

       animate [-p] [-b] [-s speed] [-o] [-S script] [-hide] [-f file1 file2 ...]

DESCRIPTION

       Animate  is  an  interactive  animation  tool specifically designed to be used with Geomview. It provides
       several simple animation controls such as looping, bouncing,  and  single  frame  stepping,  as  well  as
       adjustable  speed  playing. The program works by telling geomview to read in a sequence of geomview files
       and then telling geomview to display each frame of the sequence in order.

       There are two methods that Animate provides for specifying which frames one wants to have in the sequence
       being viewed. The first method is to enter the name of every frame into the  text  input  box  and  press
       return or click on load. The name of each frame must correspond with the name of a geomview file existing
       in the file system.

       EXAMPLES

              pict1 pict2 pict3 pict4
              pict*
              pic??

       The  second  method  of loading frames is to first create an animation script file outside of animate and
       then load the script in by typing its name in the input box  and  clicking  on  the  script  button.  The
       advantage of this method is that you can more easily specify the exact order in which you want the frames
       to  be shown. The format of the script file is a list of frame names each followed by a newline. Comments
       prepended by a # sign are allowed.

       EXAMPLE SCRIPT FILE

              # list of frames for
              # my rotating cube movie
              cube.02
              cube.04
              cube.03 # get rid of this frame later
              cube.01
                .
                .
                .
              cube.90

       Loading frames into memory may take a little time, especially if each frame is a particularly large file.
       Be sure the machine you're using has sufficient memory to load all the frames you desire. Once all frames
       have been loaded, an 'animate' object will appear in the geomview object browser. It is now  possible  to
       begin animating.

       Scrolling  through frames can be accomplished in several different ways.  The first, and most obvious way
       is by 'playing' the frames. Clicking on the Play button causes  animate  to  begin  playing  through  the
       frames  in  order, starting with the first frame or whichever frame has been selected.  The corresponding
       name of each frame being shown is shown in the pink text-entry box.  Click on Stop to cease playing.

       Animation speed depends on the size and complexity of the object in each frame. Thus different  sequences
       can  have  considerably  different  top playing speeds. Use the Speed slider to set an upper limit to the
       animation rate.  You can also play slowly through the frames can also by clicking  repeatedly  on  either
       step button.

       Press  the Bounce button to enter bounce mode.  While in bounce mode, direction of play reverses whenever
       the first or last frame is reached.  Clicking on either Step button determines the playing direction.

       Clicking on Once puts animate in 'once' mode.  While in this mode, upon reaching the first or last  frame
       (depending  on which direction you are going) of a specified sequence, animate will stop playing.  Normal
       playing can be resumed by clicking on Once again to exit this mode.

       The Info button will bring up a short menu containing helpful hints for program usage.  Clicking  on  the
       exit button will cause the program to exit.

OPTIONS

       -p     Start playing through the frames right away upon startup.

       -b     Go into bounce mode upon startup.

       -s speed
              Set  the  speed of play upon startup. The value of speed may be an integer between 0 and 100 which
              roughly signifies the percentage of top playing speed.

       -o     Set animation to play through only once upon startup.

       -S script
              Specify name of script containing filenames  for  objects  to  be  read  in  upon  startup.  Takes
              precedence over -f option if present.

       -hide  Makes  animate  invisible  upon  startup.  *Warning* all animate commands must be specified on the
              command line when this option is used since there is no way to access the main window.

       -f file1 file2 ...
              Specify names of files containing objects to be read in upon startup.

BUGS

       When loading sequences one after another, geomview will often not load a sequence on the first try.  This
       can often be remedied by telling animate to load the sequence yet again.

SEE ALSO

       geomview(1) oogl(5)

AUTHOR

       Daeron Meyer
       The Geometry Center

                                                December 12, 1994                                   animate(1gv)