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)