This demonstation version of ADDmotion has all the features of the commercial version except the Save feature has been disabled. You will be able to create actors and props, record sounds, create animations, but you cannot save the resulting animation.
If you Export or Link and animation the program will go through all the normal procedures that the real version does, however, the animation will not saved into the stack. You will see the animation play when you click on the Linked button etc. Feel free to distribute this demonstation version to friends and colleagues.
We have included some sample B&W and Color animations with this demo version of ADDmotion. You will be able to play these animations without ADDmotion as they have the ADDmotion Runtime XCMD's installed in them. To modify them to get a feel for the ADDmotion environment open the stacks and then open the animations using the "Open Animation" command from the HyperCard File Menu. As you use ADDmotion you will see that it is extremely easy to use, and that it provides you with the necessary tools to start animating within minutes.
ADDmotion lists for $295 US.
It can be purchased at most Dealers, or through leading Mac Mail Order Specialists. If you can't find it in your area, call us at (604) 732-0289 to find an ADDmotion Dealer nearest you.
Running the ADDmotion Demo
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1. You must have HyperCard 2.0 or later to use this demo. You also must have 32 Bit QuickDraw in the System Folder if you wish to do color animation.
2. Copy the ADDmotion stack to your hard disk. You should put it in the same folder as HyperCard 2.0 and Home. If you try to run the ADDmotion stack from a CD-ROM it won't work as it needs to write information to disk. Make sure you copy it to a hard disk first.
3. Open the ADDmotion stack and click the "Install" button. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
4. Two new menu items are now available in the File menu. They are "New Animation…" and "Open Animation…". Use these to create and edit animations contained within stacks.
5. ADDmotion modifies the resource fork in stacks therefore some
Virus Protection programs may have a conflict with ADDmotion. We have tested ADDmotion with a number of the commercial and shareware and freeware Virus Protection programs and found no conflicts, but there are some that we haven't tested and they may cause problems. Turn the Virus Protection program off if you encounter any problems. Make usre you turn it back on after using ADDmotion.
6. Enjoy!
How to Use ADDmotion - The Basics to Get You Started
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This following will serve as a limited desciption of some of ADDmotion's tools and features. You should be able to pick it up right away as it is a very intuitive program.
After you named an animation using the "New Animation" menu item the Media Controller palette will appear. You will notice that the palette looks like a VCR controller with a set of special tools on the right.
The Paint Tool palette appears when you are creating or editing Actors or Props. To create a new Actor or Prop use the New Actor\Prop menu item from the objects menu. The Paint tools are color versions of HyperCard's Paint tools, but ADDmotion's Paint Tools work on two different object types:
Actors (single or multiple cels)
Props (single cel)
The following text describes the features of the Media Controller.
Frame Counter
When an animation is Played the frame counter will display the frame count in this area. To go to a specific frame doubleclick this area. A dialog will appear allowing you to go to a specific frame number.
Go To First Frame
Click this button to go to the first frame of the animation.
Loop Animation On/Off
If Loop animation is On, the animation will play over and over again in a continuous loop until you stop it. If it is Off, the animation will play once and stop on the last frame of the animation.
Sound On/Off
Toggle this button to turn the Macintosh sound speaker On or Off.
Go To Last Frame
Click this button to go to the last frame of the animation.
Play Reverse
Click this button to play the animation in reverse.
Stop Animation
Click this button to stop the animation.
Play (Forward)
Click this button to play the animation.
Step Frame Reverse
Click this button to step the animation one frame in reverse.
Pause
Click this button to pause the animation on a particular frame. Click it again to resume the animation.
Step Frame Forward
Click this button to step the animation one frame forward.
Fast Rewind (Skip)
Click this button to play the animation in reverse by the number of Skip frames. The number of Skip frames is set in the Animation Options dialog.
Fast Forward (Skip)
Click this button to play the animation by the number of Skip frames. The number of Skip frames is set in the Animation Options dialog.
Path Tool
The Path Tool is used to add, create, or change points on an Actor's path. To create a path for an Actor, choose the Path Tool and select an Actor. Click new points for the path of action or drag the mouse with the Command key held down to add points to the Actors single point path. To get the Actor's Path Information dialog to appear double-click the Actor. The Actor’s Path Information may be changed from this dialog. To get the Path Point Information dialog to appear double-click a Path Point. The Path Point Information may be changed from this dialog.
You can add, delete, move, scale and smooth Path Points using the Path Tool.
To make a path move off the screen hold the Option key down and move the window with the hand tool, then click the new path points in the offscreen area. To restore the window to it's original position hold the Option key down and double-click with the hand tool.
Object Selection Tool
The Object Selection Tool (also know as the Pointer tool) allows you to move and manipulate placed Actors and Props. To get the Actor Information dialog to appear double-click a placed Actor or choose Get Info... from the Media menu. The Actor’s object information can be changed from this dialog. The Prop Information can be obtained in a similar manner.
Place Actor
Click the Place Actor icon to place a new Actor starting on the current frame in the animation. When you click this icon the Select an Actor dialog appears allowing you to select an Actor from the library. If there are no Actors available you can create one using the New command. (You can also use New Actor\Prop from the Objects menu)
Place Prop
Click the Place Prop icon to place a new Prop starting on the current frame in the animation. When you click this icon the Select a Prop dialog appears allowing you to select a Prop from the library. If there are no Props available you can create one using the New command.
(You can also use New Actor\Prop from the Objects menu)
Add Cue
Click the Cue icon to add a new Cue to the animation. The Cues dialog will appear allowing you to type a HyperTalk message in the Cues field. Cues allow for a level of interaction between ADDmotion and HyperCard. The most common Cue is to use the wait command
eg.( wait 3 sec ) Cues can also be used to start other XCMDs etc. such the a CD ROM drive.
Add Sound
Click the Add Sound icon to add a sound to the animation. The Select a Sound dialog will appear allowing you to select a sound. Once you have selected a sound, you will be presented with the Sound Information Dialog. You can adjust the frame count, sound and channel priority (to play more than one sound at the same time) and you can also edit the sound.
Bring To Front
Select an Actor or Prop object, then click this icon to move the object to the front of the appropriate layer. There is no keyboard equivalent for this tool.
Bring Closer
Select an Actor or Prop object, then click this icon, or Command-Plus (+), to move the object one position forward in the appropriate layer. You would want to move an object forward when a second object is covering it, not allowing you to select the object. You can also use this command to move an object to a desired position in the layer. Keep using the command until the object is in the layer that you want. If the object is in the top of the layer the command has no effect.
Note! Actors reside in their own layer and are always placed in front of Props.
Send Further
Select an Actor or Prop object, then click this icon, or Command-Minus(-), to move the object back one position in the appropriate layer. The Send Further command moves the selected object one layer further back in its layer, relative to the other objects in the layer. You would want to move an object further back when it’s covering a second object, not allowing you to select the object. You can also use this command to move an object to a desired position in the layer. Keep using the command until the object is in the layer that you want. If the object is in the furthest position in the layer the command makes no difference.
Note! Actors reside in their own layer and are always placed in front of Props.
Send to Back
Select an Actor or Prop object, then click this icon to move the object to the back of the appropriate layer. There is no keyboard equivalent for this tool.
The TimeLines Window
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Every time you add an object to the animation it will added to the TimeLines Window. When you open the TimeLines Window each object appears over time. The lines are the length of time (over frames) that the object appears in the animation.
Cues and Sounds are not represented as actual objects on the screen like Actors or Props, therefore the only way to edit or delete them is to use the TimeLines Window. You can doubleclick on any item in the TimeLines to edit the objects information. You can also use the TimeLines to adjust the frame length of an object.
Moving the Whole Object Line
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The whole object line can be moved horizontally left and right by grabbing the line in the center and dragging the highlighted outline to a new position in the TimeLine window.
To drag the whole line:
1. Select the object line in the TimeLines window.
The whole line of the object will become highlighted.
2. Drag the highlighted object line to a new frame position.
The whole line of the object will become highlighted. The object’s Start and End Frame numbers will change as you drag the line horizontally.
The Start Frame of an object line can be moved horizontally left and right by grabbing the Start of the line and dragging the highlighted outline to a new position in the TimeLine window.
To drag the Start Frame:
1. Select the Start Frame of the object line in the TimeLines window.
The Start Frame line of the object will become highlighted.
2. Drag the highlighted object line to a new frame position.
The object’s Start Frame number will change as you drag the line horizontally. Apply the same method to adjust the End Frame.
There are many more features within ADDmotion that you can explore before making a decision to purchase the real thing. We are currently hard at work on new animation features and System 7 enhancements to make animation creation even easier, so stay in touch. If you want the details, call us.
