HVS Animator User Manual

The Preview

The Main Preview window (which always has the file name as the first part of its title) always reflects the state of the original, unreduced animation processed with the current animation options. A Reduction Preview reflects the state of a reduced animation with the current animation options, where the number of colors and amount of dithering in the reduced animation is displayed in the title of the Preview. To play an animation, click the Play button in that Preview, or double-click in the main editing window on the frame number. The animation can be played with or without looping, as indicated by the state of the "Loop" check box in the main window.

You can select an individual frame to view by clicking on the corresponding indexed panel in the main window. To step through the frames sequentially, click on the "<<" or ">>" buttons in the Preview, or choose "Step forward" or "Step back" from the Animation menu.

Frames can be viewed in one of two modes, as indicated by the state of the Full Render check box. When Full Rendering is off, each frame is displayed individually.

When Full Rendering is on, each frame is displayed as it will appear in the animation, with all previously visible frames drawn behind it.

Frame transparency can also be set via the main Preview by selecting a color on the palette or by holding down the Option key while clicking and dragging on the frame image. NOTE: if you change the transparent index for a frame in an animation, it will invalidate and close any open Reduction Previews. This is because the color reduction algorithm must know in advance which color is being used for transparency in a given frame.

Frame offsets can also be set via the Preview. Clicking on a frame image while holding down the Command key will display the current offsets for that frame in the status bar at the bottom of the Preview. These can then be changed by dragging the frame image to the desired location. When you release the mouse, the frame image will be redrawn with the new offsets. As the frame is dragged, Animtor will draw a rectangle showing the bounds of the frame and its current position.