aegis animator scripts to iff (anim)

[atonal]

so i would like to save iff images for every step/frame of my aegis animator vectortween scripts.
in the time menue, it seems animator allows my only to jump to the keyframes only of each automated tween(which i could save as an iff then) but not to step trough the individual inbetween steps that actually make up that tween to save them all out for further use in dpaint. no access to those...
what can i do?
any ideas?

[emufan]

i cannot find an IFF-anim converter, but using WinUAE you can record an avi.
in winuae config ( f12) -> Output. enable avi record if you click on "Avi output enabled".
choose output-folder for recorded avi.

after recording you can use XnView and open the movie and use XnView menu -> Tools -> Extract Movie Frames
set output to "Amiga IFF".
thes resulting images should be converted to 32 colors ( or less ) and reduce size of the single pictures.
xnview has also a batch-processing option, so this can be a good solution

Edit: better solution - "Extract Movie Frames" and convert to jpg. then use: XnView -> Tools -> "Batch Processing":
choose source files and set output-format to "Amiga IFF" ( make a new folder for converted files )
Transformation tab:

Convert -> Convert to colours ( 32 or 16 )
Image -> Resize ( 320x200 )
press "go"

Edit: on amiga side you can use Mainactor Broadcast 1.04 - it can read the iff files, which XnView was producing .
here you can make an iff-anim from those single frames -> save Anim 5 or Anim 7 with matching color-depth.
not tested, but this anim can be read by DPaint (anim5 for sure)

Mainactor Broadcast you can find on the fileserver - tosec archive
folder: /Commodore_Amiga/TOSEC/Applications/[ADF] (TOSEC-v2012-12-21_CM)/

Edit: fileserver got version 1.0 - in the zone you can find version 1.04.

[atonal]

oh missed your answer. wow thx i will try the next day and report if i made it

great effort so far already thank you very much emufan

[atonal]

alright i managed the first steps

1- recorded avi, extracted jpegs
2-have jpeg off the recorded video made iff with xnviewer
3-got broadcaster version 1.04 from the zone

i never actiually used a harddisk on my amiga 500 back in the days nor did i use them on winaue yet which is probably really a laugh for most people here.
i tried to find out this morning for the first time basically.

so far i found out the following:

in the harddisks section of winaue i first chose Add directory or Archive.
I type in DF1 for device name and anthing for volume label.
as Path i select for directory a folder i made in my laptop deskotp.
now in winaue with dpaint adf running, i could save into that folder.
files from dpaint were saved without any file extension and with a second info file next to them.

if i manually added iff to the filname by renaming, i could then open them in xnview.
so basically i brought out winaue iffs i saved in dpaint directly to the pc world by this with the help of xnview you recommend to me.
But i want to go the opposite way of course which did not work for me first.

those iffs i created form the avi following your tips, if i put them into the same folder and try to open in dpaint to bring them from the pc world into the winaue directly, they were not found/listed if i tied to open in dpaint.
(that was some mistake by me or a missing restart, it worked later on)
if i removed the iff ending (because the files saved from dpaint were like this) i does not work as well and of course there is no second info file, for those iff i made from avi jpeg extraction put into the folder as there is when i "save out" in dpaint.
If i use the copy of an existing info file created with a regular dpaint save in 16 colours and 320*256 size as well, change it to the same name as one of my xnview iff files (for which i remove the iff ending by renaming), i can then browse and open it in dpaint but it does not work.

as you said the broadcaster can directly read the iffs from xnviewer (which dpaint did not do for me the way described above), but i could not get the broadcaster running at first.
i just have had no experience with amiga harddisks whatsoever and thus initially failed with the HD thing for the broadcaster programm.
in winaue i always used an amiga 500 with 1.3 rom.
If i loaded my workbench 1.3 adf in from the winaue df0 floppy drive for that configuration and swap it for broadcaster disk 1 once workbench is loaded, but i get a dos icon that does not open.

edit 1:
i guess i have to figure out first how to to do a workbench HD install for this 1200 configuration and install broadcaster from there.
so i am moving slowly but some progress 

edit 2:
got me an winaue 1200 with worbench 3.1- hd install done -
i keep going

edit 3:
got me broadcaster installed and...have no idea how to work with it.

with MABroadcaster i can browse any files under "new project"??
but then how do i proceed and save out the iff in a way for dpaint4 to read ? i just dont get it yet, i dont see a "save as" menu or something.

with MVBroadcast, the player probably, i can preview or show stuff, for example the iffs i made succesfully, so broadcaster directly accepts the iffs from xnviewer

edit 4: no progress with broadcaster for me by now.. but some unexpected dpaint4 success:

if i convert in xnviewer to amiga iff with size: 320*200 and colour 8 bit grayscale(instead of colour) with 16-colours it works.
you can directly open the iff in dpaint4 on winaue, without broadcast for resaving.

but the same settings for size in xniew but now with 8 bit colour instead of grayscale, 16-colours and it will go wrong(asks for 320*200 with 1677 colours on import???? if you say yes to this, its an I/o Problem and does not open.

so i am still trying to understand broadcaster to resave single iff or rows of them as anim to open in dpaint, or to save the iff format in xnviewer in a setting that will open up fine in dpaint.

[atonal]

i just managed to save colour iffs fine one by one in cosmigo pro motion(save as amiga iff) that dpaint 4 on the winaue will read directly.

so right now i could only do this or transfer 8-bit grayscale iff (16 colours)from xnviewer to dpaint also one by one

but of course frame by frame will not work for me in the long run and i need the sollution you proposed working somehow.

broadcast: i can transfer 8-bit colour iff (16) from xnviewer to Broadcaster Player(the same file wont work in dpaint)- but still dont understand the main programm of broadcast, which i want to use to open all iffs of the recorded avi in a row and export as anim for dpaint.

[atonal]

hey emufan great news:

actually there is a direct animator scripts to anim converter around!!!

For that i got me Zeotrope by Jim Kent of Aegis Animator.
Zeotrope comes with 2 converters, which allow you to first convert animator scripts to .rif( zeotropes Animation Format) and after that to convert from rif to .anim which dpaint will read perfectly


Mission accomplished

[emufan]

sorry for not answering anymore - just found the posting now again

zeotrope is new to me, i'll have alook. it is an easier way converting the movies.
thanks for reporting back

Originally Posted by atonal

so i am still trying to understand broadcaster to resave single iff or rows of them as anim to open in dpaint, or to save the iff format in xnviewer in a setting that will open up fine in dpaint.

hmm, well, just in case you want retry: once you start MainactorBroadcast:
- the control-window let you load images or animation, just click on the upper "universal" button ( left side )
and choose the 1st image of the saved sequence, then press "ok" in file-chooser, then next filechooser ->
select "Last" image of the sequence".
- the list of images will be shown in "project-window"
- menu -> selection -> select-all
- then in control-window "right side" "Save" -> choose anim-type (click on little arrow) - choose anim-5
( for example) on next window.
- if anim-type window is closed, cklick on name of anim-type in control windows (right under "save" ) - it
will ask for color depth (256), then just save anim.

since 256 colors may be too much for dpaint ( maybe dpaint 5 can handle such colornumbers)
try to reduce color-number in anim:

- after selecting the image-files, you can change display-settings - in "display-window" - choose
"special" -> color-map" and change with slider - # of colors to 32.
- in anim-save-dialog it will offer to save animation with 32-colors (display).

I hope this will help to cope with MABroadcast a bit

[atonal]

its supereasy to use(even i instantly got it and means is something if you follow my thread here with the hardisks setup and so on )

the 2 Bonus programms that come with zeotrope "anitozoe" and "cropper" do the script to anim conversion in 2 steps and its really good with fluent results 1:1, no difference to the scriptanimation i would say.
you can even alter/set the tempo(=number of frames baked from the script) or stick to the the default tempo(=time) which is just fine.

the only downside i could mention is the fact that the anim then opens in dpaint with 64 colours even if i had only 2 or 3 colours in my animator vectorscript and its not possible in dpaint4 to change the screenformat down to 2 or 4 colours from an active/existing 64 colour animation.

this is why so far i saved all the Pictures from the anim one by one and reloaded them into a blank 2 coloured Animation i created also Frame by Frame again which then i resaved as an anim.-quite tedious.
maybe there is way in zoetrope to limit the colourpalette of the anim before bringing it into dpaint, i must see.
Because i use several Amiga 500 in an array with numerous genlocks i actually dont want more than 2 or 4 colours in my anims for maxium realtime flexibillity and speed.


zoetrope was new to me as well but i thought before i molest jim kent via email about a vectorsoftware he did 30 years ago, i better try to find more about him and his softwares first.
so i found out about zoetrope for which i then got a used manual in german from ebay these days.

thnx for responding again i already thought due to my overboarding journey/story above in getting it done you lost interrest^^

sure will get back to Braodcaster again with the help of your new tips because i still have fantavision movies which does not have converters to my knowledge so the videograbbing workflow is still relevant for me.

[emufan]

Originally Posted by atonal

...
its not possible in dpaint4 to change the screenformat down to 2 or 4 colours from an active/existing 64 colour animation.

i also tested the cropper tool and played/tested resulting anim with multiview from workbench. it did work as described

if you got familiar to MABroadcast, you may load the resulting animation into it, and change display-color number - then resave the animaton with selected display-color-number. this should work somehow.

Because i use several Amiga 500 in an array with numerous genlocks i actually dont want more than 2 or 4 colours in my anims for maxium realtime flexibillity and speed.

sounds like a nice setup - if you are bored once, make some pictures and post them in the "Hardware pics" section

zoetrope was new to me as well but i thought before i molest jim kent via email about a vectorsoftware he did 30 years ago, i better try to find more about him and his softwares first.
so i found out about zoetrope for which i then got a used manual in german from ebay these days.

he really did answer? heh, cool

thnx for responding again i already thought due to my overboarding journey/story above in getting it done you lost interrest^^

sure will get back to Braodcaster again with the help of your new tips because i still have fantavision movies which does not have converters to my knowledge so the videograbbing workflow is still relevant for me.

nono, not loosing interest, just missed the new posts in the thread

MAB will do the job - once you find out how it works - or someone else comes up with a fantavision converter

[atonal]

so i understood the concept of selecting the first Image and then the last Image of the anim row. then to select all- so far so good
but i still find no save button??? it seems i just cant see the controlwindow you mention...

when i start the Programm, first i see this




from there on i go for "new Project" from the main menue(<-which offers 1.Project/2.Selection/3.Misc /4.Settings as categories for Dropdown with rightclick)



after i chose "new Project" from the project dropdonn of the main menue, instantly a new window Shows up
and i must pick the Images:



so now with all selected i dont find a save button still...

[emufan]

the attached image is grey now, but you may see what you have to do:
menu of MAB and select Control and Display window from "window" menu.

there you have the "universal" buttons ( for load - left side )
once you select some files/images - save will be enabled on the right side.
"text buffer windows" you can open too, gives status messages.
in "Settings" menu you can change the MABroadcast Screen - choose maybe 640-400/512 4 colors - so you can arrange all 4 windows.
my versions does open on workbench screen - last entry in screen-mode-selector "window on workbench screen"

Edit:
- 2nd image -> once selected the files, you can change "Display Window" settings:
Special -> Color Map -> use slider the change number of colours ( here 4 )

- in "Control Window" click on "iff-anim 5" -> in new window "Animation saver settings"
change "number of colors" to "Display (4) - so the saved anim will have 4 colors only.

- next to "special" ( display window ) -> "More" you can enable/disable dithering and set "fixed palette" - you must play with this settings, maybe "fixed palette" gives better results.

[atonal]

ah! it was really a display/screen settings issue.

as you see in my screenshots the last section on the main menu- "window" dropdown was just not displayed when i started broadcaster it was completly cutoff-with me not having a clue it was there at all!
which resulted in me having no idea where to find save options etc or leading me to the conclusion that there were none.

now in hi res screenformat or in worbench display mode you proposed with full acess to all menus i can of course follow all the steps you described before-i just did not have the "windows" menue so far that was all (and was not clever enough to figure out that there was a missing s in setting(s) which would have hinted at that issue).
thx again .)

[emufan]

Originally Posted by atonal

ah! it was really a display/screen settings issue.
...
thx again .)

yes, i can see the small screen now. good you can start with the real task. post a result if you are done

btw: if you want create small gif-animation you can read here. an example is here