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Text File | 2005-05-10 | 14.0 KB | 319 lines

GEISS is entirely copyright (c) 1998-2000 by Ryan M. Geiss, as well as all images generated with it. All rights are reserved. QUICK INSTALL: The PIMP installer should copy vis_geis.dll into your plugins directory for you. Your job is to go to Winamp's PREFERENCES menu (CTRL+P), and on the left under 'plugins' select 'visualization'. Then, on the right side, select 'Geiss for Winamp.' Click 'Configure' to set it up, and 'Start' to check it out! WHAT IS GEISS? -------------- GEISS is sound-reactive eye candy for your computer. It comes in two forms: one version is a screensaver for Windows 95/98 and the other, a visualization plugin for Winamp. Geiss uses hand- tuned x86 assembly language to reach blazing speeds, generating smooth and graceful realtime graphics... and it can hear whatever your computer hears and synchronize the graphics it generates to the sound you're hearing. You can hook a microphone, stereo, TV, or anything into your sound card... you can also play an audio CD in your CD-ROM drive if you have the CD audio cable connecting it to your sound card. Whatever the sound source, Geiss will create a fluid, visual image that matches the sounds you're hearing. You've downloaded the Winamp plug-in version of Geiss. If you don't know what "Winamp" or an "mp3" is, you've downloaded the wrong thing... go get the screensaver instead! SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- 1. Microsoft DirectX 3.0 or later. 2. Microsoft Windows 95/98. (Should work on NT4 with Service Pack 4.) 3. Pentium-200 or faster processor. MMX is highly utilized if present. 4. **Winamp VERSION 2.10 OR LATER, for access to all the keyboard shortcuts while the plugin is running. INSTALLING GEISS ---------------- Just put the file VIS_GEIS.DLL into your WINAMP\PLUGINS directory, then select it as your plugin through Winamp. *********************************** EXPLANATION OF NEW FEATURES IN 4.00 *********************************** 1. PRESETS: these will allow you to save your favorite screens for later recall. Items that are saved include the map #, its random parameters, the palette, the waveform, any extra effects that were running, and the wave scaling (j/k keys). saving: once you get a screen to look how you want it, you need to press 3 keys - the right bracket ']', then the 2-digit number of the slot you want to save it in, from 00 to 99. Use the keys above the letters on your keyboard for this - NOT the numeric keypad. loading: hit the left bracket '[' key, then enter the 2-digit code. note that these presets are saved in the GEISS.INI file (which is in your Windows directory), so you can share them with other people if you want to. The GEISS.INI file will be created automatically the first time you save a preset. (If you're having trouble finding it, try 'enabling debug info' from the config panel, then running Geiss once. Look at C:\G_DEBUG.TXT. In the first few lines it will give you the full path & filename to your INI file). WARNING: don't mess with the numerical parameters in the file, it's likely to crash your system, and it's your own responsibility. 2. CUSTOM MESSAGES: you can now chuck your favorite sayings up on the screen and watch them fade away. To show a custom message while Geiss is running, hit 'M', then enter the two-digit code of the message. For example: to show number 3, type 'M03'. However, you first have to program your messages. You can place them in GEISS.INI in the [CUSTOM MESSAGES] section. GEISS.INI can be found in your Windows directory. If it doesn't exist, go ahead and create it. If the [CUSTOM MESSAGES] section does not exist, go ahead and create it too. It needs to look something like this: [CUSTOM MESSAGES] MESSAGE 0=This is Geiss 4.0 MESSAGE 1=This program rocks. MESSAGE 99= --- Welcome to Mecca --- ...except you can make the messages say whatever you want. The message numbers range from 0 to 99. 3. DIRECTLY ACCESSING THE MAPS: there are now a total of 25 maps, numbered 1 through 25, all accessible by a 2-key command string. The command string is simply the two digits to make up the map number. You must use the keys from 0 to 9 at the TOP of your keyboard - not from the numeric keypad. For single-digit maps (1-9), pad them with a zero. For example, to select map 12, you would enter '1' then '2'. For map 5, you would press '0' then '5'. You can press 'ESC' after the first digit to cancel the map selection. (Pressing it again will exit.) 4. RATING SYSTEM: Do you have any screens that you just hate? Or some you really, really love? Wouldn't you like a rating system where you could rate each screen, in order to control how frequently it gets randomly chosen? Now you can. When you're at the screen you want to rate, use the '<' and '>' keys to give it fewer or more 'stars,' respectively. A screen can have anywhere from 0 to 5 stars. Zero stars means it will never be randomly chosen, while 5 means that it will be chosen more often. (The formula is simple: the probability that a mode will be chosen is equal to that mode's rating, divided by the sum of all the modes' ratings.) If you give a mode zero stars, then the only way you'll ever see it again is by directly selecting it with the numbers at the top of your keyboard (or if you load a preset for that screen). +-------------------------+ | CONFIGURATION PANEL | +-------------------------+ This section describes the function of each control in the configuration panel. Graphics Options: Video Mode - this dropdown box lets you pick what video mode you want to run the screensaver in. The lowest possible is 320 pixels by 200 pixels (320x200). The highest possible is 1024x768 for the screensaver and 640x480 for the plugin. In addition, you can select the color depth: 8, 16, or 32-bit. 8-bit mode gives you 256 colors, and you can the color palette during the program with the 'p' key. In 16-bit color, 65000 colors are available, but the 'p' key has no effect. In 32-bit color, 16.7 million colors are available. The hicolor modes (16 and 32-bit) are substantially slower because 3 buffers must be processeds (one for each red, green, and blue channel) whereas in 8-bit mode only 1 buffer must be processed. Also, 16-bit mode is further slowed for technical reasons (three 8-bit values must be clipped & shifted into one 16-bit value for every pixel of every frame). MMX is used to the highest possible extent in all screen functions, bit-chomping, and memory moves. The default video mode is 640x480x8. Newer video cards will be able to enumerate all their video modes, so everything on the list is a video mode that will work for you. Older video cards don't have this capability; in this case, ALL possible video modes are listed. Some will not work. If you select one and try to run the program, and it reverts to the default video mode, then your video card can't handle that mode. Try a different one. SLIDERS Vertical screen size - this lets you set what percentage of the screen is filled by graphics. You can set it from 30% to 100%. A setting near 50% or 60% creates a nice letterbox effect. The entire width of the screen is always used; this just sets the vertical size. Higher settings are proportionally slower. Frames between screen changes - this lets you set how many frames will display between map (screen) changes. While you watch one map or screen in the program, the next one is being generated in the background, and when it is finished, it immediately takes effect (unless you lock the screen with the 'L' key). A lower setting will make the program slightly slower because larger chunks of the map will have to be generated each frame. A setting of about 300-400 is recommended. Frame idle delay - set this to 0 (zero) if you want maximum speed out of the program. However, if you like the resolution you're at and the animation is too fast, set this to 10 milliseconds or so. The program will then pause every frame for this many milliseconds and let Windows or Winamp do its processing, and you'll see slower, smoother animation. After getting the screen dimensions & color depth set to your tastes, if you're getting more than 30 frames per second, adjust this slider so that you only get 30 frames per second. Trust me - it will look better! Use coarse palettes - this lets you set how often a 'coarse palette' is used. This only applies to 8-bit color modes. A 'coarse palette' has a rough band in the dark area of the palette; this brightens up the screen and heavily accentuates the dither patterns. Use solar palettes - this lets you set how often a 'solar palette' is used. This only applies to 8-bit color modes. A 'solar palette' has soft, repeating bands of color in it. The non-monotone nature of these palettes is their sale point. 8-bit gamma correction - if the screen is too dark for you, crank this up. This only applies to 8-bit color modes. Default wave scaling - you can use the j/k keys during the program to scale the amplitude of the sound waves down & up, respectively. If you always find yourself scaling them to a certain size every time you start the program, you can adjust this slider so that they start there automatically. However, it is highly recommended you adjust Windows' volumes (for the screensaver) or Winamp's volume (for the plugin) before doing this. These volumes should always be set to 50% (halfway) for optimal results. Random song title popups - this slider lets you pick how often the song titles should randomly pop up on the screen. If the "suppress song title popups" option is on, this slider will have no effect. Sound Options: Sound input device - the only option here is Winamp. Suppress 'press h for help' message - every time you move the mouse, the program pops up a message that says something like 'press h for help - ESC/click to exit'. If this bugs you, use this checkbox to turn it off. Suppress song title popups - whenever the song changes, Geiss will pop the new song name up on the screen for a fractional second and then let it blur into the background. To disable song title popups, check this box. Minimize Winamp before running [FIXES FLICKER] - this will minimize Winamp's main window while Geiss is running. This saves CPU time (as Winamp is not trying to redraw itself) and alleviates problems where Winamp tries to paint over the DirectDraw surface (Geiss) (this is the "flicker"). If you have problems with Winamp not being accessible after Geiss is run (i.e., it couldn't be un- minimized properly), try disabling this checkbox. Otherwise, leave it on. Generate debug info in c:\g_debug.txt - if you're having problems or think you've found a bug, enable this checkbox and run the program until the bug occurs. Then e-mail the file c:\g_debug.txt to me, along with a description of the bug. Helpful information to include is your operating system, version, Winamp version (if using the plugin), machine speed, RAM, how many and what other programs were open, version of DirectX, whether or not the problem happens every time, etc. TIPS ---- 1. You should try all the video modes listed to see which one looks and runs best on your system; there are vast differences between them, in image quality, speed, and color depth. 8-bit color modes are recommended for their superior speed/efficiency. 2. If you really want to squeeze out a higher frame rate, minimize other applications before running Geiss. This can also help to reduce choppiness. 3. 'GEISS' rhymes with 'ice'. It starts with a hard 'g' sound, as in 'gastrocnemius'. 4. Don't miss the help screen - press 'h' to turn it on/off at any time. UPDATE INFORMATION ------------------ web: http://www.geisswerks.com/ The web site will always have the most up-to-date version of Geiss available for download. It also hosts installation instructions and up-to-date troubleshooting tips for both the plugin and screensaver. TERMS OF USE / COPYRIGHT INFORMATION / PUBLIC DISPLAY ----------------------------------------------------- Geiss is 100 percent free for personal use. No registration is required. Any commercial use of this program, however, requires the consent of the author. For large ventures this will involve a licensing fee. Be wary that every image or video sequence generated with this program is the sole copyright of Ryan M. Geiss and can not be reproduced or displayed in public without permission. LICENSE AGREEMENT ----------------- You may personally use and copy Geiss freely. However, you may NOT charge money for distributing Geiss. Don't try to sell this program - it's free. DISCLAIMER ---------- The author is not responsible for any damages or loss of data that occur to your system for using Geiss. Geiss is distributed freely, and if you choose to use Geiss, you take all risk on yourself. If your system appears to have problems when Geiss is run, you should immediately discontinue using Geiss. The author is also not responsible for any damages to YOU for watching or using Geiss. If you are epileptic, have a weak heart, or have any other conditions which might make using this program dangerous to your health, you should not use this program.