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Text File | 1988-02-20 | 19.3 KB | 355 lines | [TEXT/MSWD]

DAfx 1.11 - 1.20 Release Notes 2/20/88 [Font: Monaco 9 point. Tabs set at 4] This file contains bugs and changes that are not noted in the documentation. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you read about using version 1.11 with MultiFinder. If you don't, it is likely that DAfx will "hang" the computer (losing all work not saved in other applications). *** DAfx 1.10 Bugs * Double clicking the eraser tool to erase the current drawing area does not set the "changed" flag. Meaning that if a new picture is opened or created and only the drawing area is erased, opening a picture or creating a new picture again will NOT bring up the "Save Changes" dialog. (fixed in 1.11) * The first paragraph describing the preferred customer package (in the text registration form that was "stuffed" with DAfx 1.10) contains some invalid information that shouldn't have appeared. The documentation and the registration form stuffed with DAfx 1.20 contains the correct version. (MS Word strikes again!) *** DAfx 1.11 Features: (These apply to 1.12 & 1.20 also) * Version 1.11 now works with MultiFinder. It hasn't be extensively tested, but if the following precautions are followed, there is a very low risk of failure (BOMB!). - The most important thing to do when opening DAfx in MultiFinder is to HOLD DOWN THE OPTION-KEY while selecting "DAfx" from the Apple menu. This will load DAfx into a different area than "normal". Usually when DAs are opened in MF, they are lumped into an area controlled by the "DA Handler" that comes with MultiFinder. This area is too small for DAfx to operate and the system can BOMB in a matter of minutes if DAfx is continued to be used. (This "DA area" is signified by the little suitcases in the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar.) If DAfx is opened while holding down the option-key, it is loaded into the Finder's memory area, just as if it had been opened without MultiFinder running. Because of this, it is recommended that DAfx be opened only after ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS have been opened. This lets the applications have the first grab at memory. (The "little Mac" will be displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar.) - Because memory is hard to come by under MultiFinder, version 1.11 also has a new menu item under the Apple menu. It's called "What's Up Doc?..." and it will bring up the "Inside Macintosh" dialog. This dialog lists the amount of free memory in the various areas of the Macintosh. + The first item in the dialog is "Free Memory" which displays the amount of free memory in the "Application Area" (the memory area where applications are loaded, normally called a "heap"). This actually represents the largest contiguous "block" of memory that's available. It's possible that more memory is available than the number represented here. An acceptable value is more than 20K of free memory. (If MultiFinder is running, this will represent the amount of free memory in the Finder's memory area.) + Next is the "Stack Space" that displays the amount of memory available on the "stack", which is an area of memory that is the heart of the Macintosh. If the stack runs out of memory, the Mac dies (bombs)! There should be at least 6K of stack space. If not, close DAfx IMMEDIATELY! + Then there's the "MF Memory" which displays the amount of memory that's available in MultiFinder's temporary memory area. This area is for large temporary memory usage by all applications running under MultiFinder. The Finder uses this area to copy files, for example. There should be 30K or more in this area before becoming worried. + The last item on the dialog is the "Condition" of DAfx. This will display one of four available messages on what DAfx thinks about the current memory conditions. They are: "OK!" is displayed if DAfx has plenty of memory to run normally. "Getting Tight" means that the amount of free memory isn't in great abundance. "CLOSE DAfx NOW!" means that DAfx should be closed at once with no questions asked. "HIT THE DIRT!" isn't a good sign. If this message is displayed, chances are that the Macintosh will bomb upon leaving the dialog or shortly thereafter. Click the OK button to return to DAfx. * DAfx always had a memory alert condition where it will display a shortage of memory dialog if there is less than 20K of available memory. I personally hadn't seen this dialog for about 6 months, until I ran DAfx inside MultiFinder. DAfx will display a dialog that memory is getting sparse if there is less than 20K available. If MultiFinder is running, you should close DAfx immediately. * To be on the safe side, DAfx 1.11 now monitors the available "stack space" (described above). You will also get a dialog stating that DAfx should be closed immediately if the stack space is less than 6K. (This is why it is extremely important that DAfx be opened with the Option-key in MultiFinder. If the Option-key is not held down, DAfx is loaded in a tiny area that gives it about 3K of stack space. Meaning that it's opened with an extremely dangerous small amount of stack space!!) * Because of the possibility of opening DAfx 1.11 without the option-key in MultiFinder, DAfx will refuse to open if there is less than 6K of stack space. * The DAfx window also knows if MultiFinder is running. If you zoom to full screen and MultiFinder is running, the right-hand area of the screen will not be covered. But the window can still be changed to the full screen using the "pop & size" window control. These conditions were all tested on a 1MB Mac Plus. If you have more memory and/or are experiencing some problems with DAfx and MultiFinder, please notify me immediately! *** DAfx 1.12 Features (1.20 too) DAfx 1.12 includes a complete "FatBits" environment for pixel-by-pixel editing of pictures. There are two ways to invoke FatBits: one is to click the Magnifying Glass tool in the tool palette or you can select "FatBits" from the Goodies menu. Both methods activate FatBits in exactly the same way. But if the Tool Palette is hidden, it's easier to select FatBits from the menu. After FatBits is activated, the window will change into FatBits "mode". The most obvious way to determine if FatBits is active is by the window display. It can also be determined if FatBits is active by seeing if the "FatBits" item in the Goodies menu has a check mark next to it or if the Magnifying Glass tool in the tool Palette is highlighted. When FatBits is active, there will be two drawing areas shown of different sizes. The area on the left-hand side of the screen is the "normal view" (what the picture looks like at "1x"). The area on the right- hand side displays the "magnified view" of the "normal view" at the current magnification level. The normal view displays the "active drawing area" that can currently be edited. The size of this area depends on the magnification level (ML). The higher the ML, the smaller this area will become. DAfx automatically figures out what the greatest viewing area can be and still display the entire magnified view in the window. Therefore, the larger the window size, the more area can be edited. There are five levels of magnification that can be used: 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, and 32x. Unless you have a large screen display, 16x is the highest ML that should be used on a standard Macintosh screen (32x leaves about a 10 x 10 pixel "active area"). The current ML is always displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the DAfx window when FatBits is active. There are two ways to change the ML, by either using the Magnifying Glass tool or the keyboard. To increase the ML using the Magnifying Glass, simply click the Magnifying Glass tool in the tool palette. It will move to the next highest ML, if there is one. Holding down the Option-key while clicking the Mag. Glass tool will use the previous ML, if there is one. If the Tool Palette is hidden, you can change the ML by using the keyboard. Pressing the "+" (plus) key will increase the ML, and the "-" (minus) key will decrease the ML. The "=" key can also be used to increase the ML, so it isn't necessary to hold down the shift key. And, if the shift- key is accidently held down while pressing the "-" key, the "_" (underscore) key will also decrease the ML. The "+" and "-" keys on the numeric keypad can be used too. Now that we know how FatBits looks, lets find out how to use it! When the mouse (cursor/pointer) is moved into the "normal view" area, it will change to the hand cursor. Dragging the mouse while in this area will move the picture and it works exactly the same as before (auto-scroll/turbo mode, etc.). The "magnified view" area is also refreshed during the movement so you know exactly where you are. If the mouse is moved into the "magnified view" area, it will change into the pencil tool. If the mouse is dragged at this time, drawing will begin and all changes are immediately reflected in the "normal view" area. It may not be surprising, but DAfx is different from "other" FatBit modes. Maybe it should have been called "FatLine" mode? Because you don't simply toggle pixels on and off, you can actually draw lines! In fact, ALL the features of the Pencil tool are available in FatBits mode. Such as the pen size, paint pattern, paint mode, shift-key, and double-click features! And because you can fly across the picture if the "turbo" grabber is active, holding down the Space-bar while in the "magnified area" will change the cursor into the hand. But moving the picture in this area will override "turbo" mode and the picture can be moved with greater control (try it in 32x mode and see for yourself!). * FatBits Nitty Gritty: As for undoing any changes in FatBits mode, the same undo rules apply as before. Such as using the "Use Screen" for the undo buffer and activating other windows or the "pop & size" window control. The "Use Hard Disk" works as it should too. You can edit in FatBits, deactivate FatBits mode, move the picture, open other windows, activate FatBits again, and still undo the LAST FatBits change. (Every mouse-click with the Pencil tool in the "magnified area" is considered a change.) DAfx only supports the pencil in FatBits mode at this time. If any of the other tools are selected in the Tool Palette or a Paste is performed or the Invert menu item is selected; FatBits will be deactivated. And as a safety precaution, double-clicking the eraser tool while in FatBits will deactivate FatBits, but it WILL NOT clear the active drawing area. Instead, the Pencil tool is activated. This prevents the accidental erasure of the "normal" drawing area (which can be much larger than the FatBits viewing area). * Also note that the grids DO NOT WORK while FatBits is active, even if "Draw with free-hand tools" is active in the Grids dialog. * When FatBits is activated, the default magnification level is 2x. There currently is no way to override this. * When using different paint patterns in FatBits mode, it's more apparent that the patterns in DAfx do not exactly line up when the picture is moved. This isn't the case when the picture is moved with the "turbo" grabber. ** Other improvements ** * Fuzzing: The performance of the Fuzz effect have been increased 3 & 2/3 times! The benchmark of the old Fuzz took 2 minutes and 45 seconds to fuzz the DAfx window at its original size (after opened on a standard Mac screen). The optimized version took only 45 seconds! (Your results may vary because the time depends on the size of the selection and the complexity of the picture.) * Pencil/Eraser Tools: The performance of these tools has also been improved. Curves can now be drawn smoother because of the increased response time. * DEGAS NOTE: Beginning with DAfx 1.12, there is no longer a size restriction on ANY of the DEGAS formats. Therefore, only the file name extensions of ".PI1", ".PI2", and ".PI3" will be recognized. This doesn't mean to go out and open a bunch of junky files, as this hasn't been extensively tested! *** DAfx 1.20 Features DAfx 1.20 introduces the Lasso tool, which makes the tool palette complete and working. The Lasso tool works pretty much the same as in other paint programs except for its appearance on the screen. Most programs draw a rotating outline of the lassoed object. But due to memory requirements, DAfx only draws a selection rectangle around the lassoed object. When the Lasso tool is active, the cursor changes into a lasso when it is moved into the active drawing area. Dragging the mouse at this time will form a area that is made up of all mouse movements until the button is released. This area must be a closed loop, so when the mouse button is released, the ends are joined no matter where they are in the drawing area. Notice that the lasso tool draws with a "gray" outline. This allows you to track the mouse movement over black areas. After the "Lasso area" is formed, the outline is erased and the selection rectangle will encase it. When the mouse is moved into the lasso area (selection rectangle), the cursor changes into the "four-leaf-arrow" cursor signifying that it can be moved if the mouse is dragged at this time. Moving a lasso selection is the same as moving a "pasted selection". The auto-scroll and the Option-drag act the same way (Option-drag will "stamp" a image of the selection at its current location). ** Other Lasso Tricks: - DAfx may be the only program that allows you to lasso an object that is contained on a black background. This is accomplished by either holding down the Option-key while forming the "lasso area"; or it will happen automatically if the "Black Background" is selected in the preferences dialog (the Option- key has no effect on the latter case). [What this means is that most programs usually look for a black edge to "bump up against" when forming the lasso area. This is fine if the object is on a white background. But if the object is on a black background, the lasso formation immediately bumps up against the black background. Thus ignoring the object within the lasso area and leaving a black border around the edge of the object. Using the above methods, this problem is totally eliminated. Notice that holding down the Option-key or having "Black Background" enabled while lassoing an object on a WHITE background will have the above mentioned problem (but with a white border around the object instead of black).] If you activate the Selection tool while a lasso is active, the lasso area will be converted to a normal selection. Note that this is the only way to use the "F/X" menu items (except invert) on the lasso area. If the Lasso tool is selected and a "normal" selection was active, the selection will be converted into a lassoed selection (the Option-key and Black Background settings are used while doing this, as mentioned above). - Note that switching between a lassoed selection and any normal selection behave this way. Such as switching from a rotated selection and pasted selection. DAfx does not support PASTED lasso selections. Therefore, selecting the lasso tool after a paste is the easiest way to simulate that type of operation. - DAfx, however, DOES support lasso COPIES to the clipboard. That is, when a lassoed area is copied to the clipboard, it will be treated as a lassoed object in other paint applications or any application that supports the "MacPaint Lasso". (Note that a "lassoed object" can only exist if the application that it is pasted into supports them. Also note that copying a lassoed object can only be performed if DAfx is unlocked.) - The Invert operation in the "F/X" menu behaves differently with the Lasso tool than might be expected. The Invert option will invert the "lassoed area" of the current lassoed selection. This "effect" can come in handy sometimes and it can be used to achieve some special "f/x". - Also notice that the lasso selection outline rotates in the same direction as a "pasted selection" does (left and up). ** Also new to version 1.20 * The "turbo grabber" is even faster. You might say it is "fuel-injected" now! It may be the fastest grabber on the planet, because it can move the picture from the top to the bottom before you can say "Mac". * The "jitters" that where a side-effect of the "turbo grabber" have been eliminated. * The "New" menu item in the File menu will erase the entire picture to black if the "Black Background" option is enabled in the preferences dialog. * A new feature in the "Preferences" dialog is called the "Option-Fuzz Threshold". It is a editable text box where a number from 0 - 15 can be entered. This number sets the "threshold" or cut-off point for the Option- Fuzz effect (achieved by holding down the Option-key while selecting Fuzz). The lower the number, the darker the selection will be fuzzed. The higher the threshold, the brighter the selection is fuzzed. Entering a "1" (the default until saved) makes the Option-Fuzz effect behave as it did in previous versions. The thresholds from 2 to 8 can be used to darken or lighten digitized images. The results depend upon how dark the image was digitized (or scanned). Using these thresholds (2-8) can also be used to strip gray-scale patterns from images! This new threshold setting opens up infinite possibilities. I haven't even had the time to test them with the seven other paint modes! Have fun and explore!! [Note that the preferences settings for version 1.20 will continue to use the default settings until they are saved to replace the old 1.1x settings.] * New in the File menu: Print Registration Form. Selecting this option will print the registration form to a DIRECTLY CONNECTED IMAGEWRITER OR EQUIVALENT. You will be warned before printing the form and you can cancel the operation if needed. This means that you can't print it to the LaserWriter or other AppleTalk output device. * The Undo edit item has been unlocked permanently. Now you can undo your changes even if DAfx is locked. * I think it's documented, but when "Use Application Menus" from the Apple menu is used, clicking anywhere in the DAfx window will re-activate the DAfx menus. They can also be re-activated by selecting "DAfx" in the Apple menu (after the application menus are displayed), beginning with version 1.20. That's it! I hope!? Don't be surprised if you come across some undocumented features. They are added almost daily and it's hard to keep track of all of them. Please let me know if you find one so we can let others know too! Also, THIS MARKS THE END OF THE DAfx version 1.xx series! (Unless some major bug is found.) Version 2.00 will soon be underway and will have many new and exciting features. Got a suggestion? Get it in now! And if you're contemplating signing up for DAfx, you had better do it soon! Effective with the 2.00 release, there will be a price increase of all packages. (Current preferred customers are locked in until the color version. Which implies that version 2.00 WILL MOST LIKELY NOT HAVE COLOR.) Finally, DAfx will be available on CompuServe beginning with version 1.20. James K. Miles Mi Concepts P.O. Box 8822 Kentwood, MI 49508 CIS: [71121,3421] GEnie: jmiles Product Support: GEnie CMUG BBS: category #5, topic #103. The dirt and grime: DAfx versions 1.xx were written in MPW Pascal and assembly. Beginning with version 2.00, I hope to have DAfx completely in MPW C and assembly to reduce the size of the DA and to improve performance.