Re: screen video capture software

[Pim Blokland <nipp@plane.nl>]

Supertimer wrote:
> 
> It can be done on the IIGS.  Use of the PaintWorks animation format
> should do it.  The compression of this format is very rudimentary
> (RLE) but it is fast and the IIGS can handle it.

PaintWorks animation isn't Run Length Encoded, it is a much simpler
format than that.
The first frame is stored in raw SHR format (32K) and for the next
frames, the differences with the previous frame are stored per word
(16 bits), in the form: index, new value. That is 4 bytes for every
word that is different. If all the words of the screen are different
from the prev, the frame needs 64K, or twice the size of the
uncompressed image. RLE would never expand to much beyond 32K.
This kind of compression is well suited for screens on which not much
changes from frame to frame; say, an demo of a computer program with
only the mouse pointer moving. But not for video movies, as I found
out when I did the conversion of the creamedgates mpg. So I decided
to not use any compression at all for it.
The GS is not very suited for showing video movies anyway. Not matter
if you display 1 palette, 16 palettes or 200 palettes, you never have
more than 16 colors per line, which is not enough. Unless someone
comes up with a means to change palettes in mid-line...

As to the original question, I know there is a CDA somewhere that
makes screen captures of the SHR screen. You can even set a time
delay so that you could go back to the SHR, make a few changes, after
which the CDA does the save.
But I can't remember what it is called. Anyone?

-- 
Groetjes, Pim

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Which reminds me, I'd better get on with... IT!