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background color | erasing | pen size | moving points | spinning points |
copying | using layers | deleting frames | playing | refreshing screen |
toggling bg color | saving and loading | shortcuts
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changing background color
Choose a color from the palette
and click the BG button.
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erasing points
From the palette select the same color as
the current background and paint over existing points.
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changing pen size
Choose between the small dot or
large dot buttons.
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moving points
Click the move button and use the keyboard
arrow keys to move the points on the current frame.
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To create an easy animation:
1. draw on a frame
2. click next button
3. select the move button
4. use the keyboard arrows to move the drawing
5. click next button
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Repeat steps 4 and 5 as needed. The 'n' key is a
shortcut for the next button.
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spinning points
Click the spin button to rotate the drawing
90 degrees.
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This feature has some problems. If the result of your spin
leaves any of your drawing off screen, those points may not
erase correctly later on.
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copying frames
Click copy to open the dialog box. The
default settings will copy the current frames to the end of
the animation.
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You can select the source layer and target layers for the
copy. The default is layer 1, which should work for most
cases.
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The source range is the range of frames to copy from. By
default it is set to the current range in your design. You
can reverse these numbers to copy the frames in reverse.
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The target frame is where the first frame from the source
range will be copied to. This can be any frame
number. The copy will be layered over any existing drawing.
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using layers
The three numbered buttons control which layer
drawing takes place. Layer 1 is the default.
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As in other drawing programs layers act like overlays.
Drawing on one layer will not effect the drawing on another.
When the animation is played the higher
numbered layer is drawn on top.
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The flatten button combines all three layers into a single
drawing on layer 1. Layers 2 and 3 are erased.
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Keep in mind that when you move to a frame for the first
time, the contents of the previous frame will be copied to
it. This only applies to the currently selected layer. This
can be very useful but can also create unexpected results.
If you use layers you should flatten frequently.
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example layer use:
You have created some animation on layer 1 and want to go back and draw more over the
existing frames. Because it's no longer the
first time on those frames, the new drawing would not
be copied from previous frames as before. That only applies to Layer 1 though.
You could then switch to layer 2 and draw.
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deleting frames
Move to the frame you want to delete and
select delete from the 'frame' menu.
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Moving between frames
Click the previous or next buttons to
navigate or add frames. Use the frame slider to move between existing frames.
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playing animation
Click the play button. Your animation will play by default, or select other
samples from the playlist. Adjust speed with speed
slider
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refreshing the screen
There are times when your animation
apparently disappears in the design mode. Particularly after loading new files. Select refresh
from the frame menu to bring it back. Also, moving to
another frame or playing may refresh the screen.
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toggling pen color to background color
Holding down the 'b' key will temporarily change the pen color to the current
background color. Releasing it will change it back to the
previous color.
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This is a shortcut if you need to switch between a
foreground color and the background color successively.
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saving and loading animation
For security reasons applets
can not easily write files over the web. This work around
will write your animation data as a new page to your
browser. You will need to save the resulting page manually from
your browser menu.
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Click the save button to save the current animation. The
button will remain lit while saving. If all goes well a new
browser window with instructions should appear. The
animation will also reload, which you may close or hide to
return to the instruction page.
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Use 'save as' from your browser menu
to save the page as a html file to your desktop.
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If you are connected you can load the file again into a compatible
browser. You can probably edit and save it again.
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For optimum playback the data is compressed or uncompressed
during saving and loading. Large or complex animation may
take a little time to complete.
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The file functions are better in the application
version of Array.
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shortcut keys:
next frame : n
previous frame : p
play mode : spacebar
design mode : spacebar
copy animation : alt c
refresh screen : alt r
delete frame : alt d
copy animation : alt c
cycle samples : up arrow
toggle pen to bg color : b
save animation : alt s
quit : alt q
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