CompuServe Messages

There are reasons why no standard exists for animation files. The history goes like this: Aegis started talking about VideoScape's ANIM long before it came out, on BIX. A few snippets of code were posted, and they shipped VS 1.0 with one form of ANIM, and registered that with CBM. Weeks later, they determined that compression in 1.0 was no good, and improved it for in-house use. Most Aegis demos use the new compression, VideoTitler also uses it, and Director can read the new compression, so the fact that you have lousy compression in VideoScape is no problem – you can always use VideoSEG in VideoTitler to compress the individual IFF files, if you want to take the time to get the better compression. Now, no other animation program used Aegis' format, for several reasons: One, they never handed out example source code, and didn't register the new IFF hunks. Two, Aegis ANIM didn't address things other developers saw as significant, like making animations larger than a single floppy, or putting unique color maps in each frame. (If you split the animation into separate files, it could span floppies and you'd also be able to edit individual frames easier.) Three, other people came up what they thought were better compression schemes, like Sculpt Animate, and they didn't register theirs, either. Don't forget, Silver, Forms In Flight and Animator: Apprentice all use unique animation formats, too. Only Animator: Apprentice handed out full source code for a animation player.