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Allison
Users Manual
Excellent Software, Inc.
11735 Dry River Court
Reston,VA 22091
Copyright � 1990, by W. Scott Gentry, all rights reserved.
By W. Scott Gentry
Warranty Disclaimers
Excellent Software, Inc., W. Scott Gentry, and Alltech Electronics Co.,
Inc., make no warranties, either express or implied, with respect to
this manual or with respect to the software described herein, its
performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose.
In no event will Excellent Software, Inc., W. Scott Gentry, or Alltech
Electronics Co., Inc., be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, or
consequential damages resulting from any defect in the software.
Excellent Software, Inc., W. Scott Gentry, or Alltech Electronics Co.,
Inc., will not be held liable for any incidental or consequential
damages for breach of any express or implied warranty on this software.
Some states do not allow the exclusion of limitation of implied
warranties or consequential damages, so the above limitations or
exclusions may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific
legal rights, and you may have other rights that vary from state to
state.
Apple Computer Warranty Disclaimers
GS/OS is a copyrighted program by Apple Computer, Inc. Licensed to
Alltech Electronics Co., Inc., to distribute for use only in
combination with Allison. Apple Software shall not be copied onto
another diskette (except for archive purposes) or into memory unless as
part of the execution of Allison. When Allison has completed execution
Apple software shall not be used by any other computer program.
APPLE COMPUTER, INC., MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
REGARDING THE ENCLOSED COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ITS MERCHANTABILITY
OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED
WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY
NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL
RIGHTS. THERE MAY OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE
TO STATE.
Apple, Apple IIGS, and GS/OS are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Visionary GS is a registered trademark of Virtual Realities, Inc.
AST Vision Plus is a registered trademark of AST Research, Inc.
SuperConvert is a registered trademark of Seven Hills Software
The Graphic Exchange is a trademark of Roger Wagner Publishing, Inc.
Allison is dedicated in memory of our late daughter, Allison Paige Gentry.
Janet and Scott Gentry
Using This Manual...
In order to get the most out of this manual and to enhance its value to
you as a reference guide, several conventions were followed.
When you see something like this...
The item is very important to the proper operation of the hardware and
software. Please, take the time to follow the instructions in these
areas exactly as written.
+When you see something like this...
The text set off in this manner is of particular interest or value.
< Note: The text set off in this manner is usually a clarification of
a point made earlier.
Table of Contents
Welcome to Allison!
Thank you for upgrading to Allison! The arrival of Allison marks significant
advancements in the graphic and image processing capabilities found in your
Apple IIGS personal computer. We think you'll find Allison to be powerful,
easy to use, and most important -- fun!
Allison was developed so you can get the absolute best quality images
the Apple IIGS has to offer. Allison wasn't designed to do everything.
There are a number of popular programs by other software companies
that will perform image conversions for you. We at Excellent Software
thought this was an "excellent" opportunity to work together with other
companies instead of competing with them. Why reinvent the wheel when
a perfectly round one already exists? The final, typset version of
this manual will detail using Allison images in graphic conversion
applications from the following publishers, please, support those who
support you!
Seven Hills Software -- SuperConvert�
Roger Wagner Publishing, Inc. -- The Graphic Exchange�
Raptor, Inc. -- Second Chance
We thank the above companies for their support of Allison.
Please take the time to read the information provided in this preliminary
document as it will help you get the most out of your investment in this
revolutionary new product.
BUT...
Before you do anything else, please, make a copy of the Allison software
disk and put the original away for safe keeping! Use ony the copy!
The original should be treated as a Master Disk and be used only for
copying should the one copy you make be damaged.
A word about a sticky issue...
Piracy affects the very life blood of your computer - the application.
Companies cannot stay in business for long if nobody buys their
software. Please, don't give away copies of Allison. It only hurts
you in the long run -- Besides, it's illegal.
Setting up
Installation instructions for your Enhanced Vision Plus digitizer, can be found
in the AST Vision Plus manual that was included with this digitizer. To
summarize:
1. Turn your Apple IIGS off.
2. Leave the power chord plugged in.
3. Open the cover.
4. Touch the top of the power supply with your hand.
5. Insert the Enhanced Vision Plus digitizer into any unoccupied slot by gently
pushing down on the board until it is firmly seated.
6. Attach the male end of the input cable to the Enhanced Vision Plus digitizer.
7. Install the other end of the cable to the back of the computer.
8. Attach the extension cable to your video source.
9. Replace the cover.
10. Insert your Allison disk into your normal boot drive.
11. Power on the system. Allison will be started automatically.
What you see
This section explains the basic menu functions of Allison.
From left to right the menus in the menu bar are:
Apple, File, Edit, Options.
The entries under the Apple menu are as follows:
About Allison -- information about the program and credits.
Preferences -- Allows you to customize the environment Allison runs under.
Preference options are:
RawFile Loading - Allows you to choose whether or not Allison will dither when loading a Raw image file. Allows you to keep a calculated palette for use in color digitizing.
Digitizing Options - Allows you to choose to keep the raw image with the window.
< Note: Raw images are large and take up large chunks of memory. If
you choose "Keep Raw Image" and have only one megabyte of memory, it is
recommended that you save the processed picture and the raw image
immediately after digitizing then close the window.
Allows you to choose to keep the preview image if one was present.
Allows you to select One frame at a time digitizing.
Special Preference - Selecting Fewer Warnings allows you to suppress
certain alert messages that might become tedious if seen
too often.
Buttons - Cancel exits the preference dialog without saving your
choices Save to disk, saves your choices. Exits dialog.
Below Preferences are the System Menu items featuring the Control Panel and any
New Desk Accessories (NDA's) you may have installed. Allison fully supports
NDA's and their use of the Edit Menu (See Edit Menu discussion).
File Menu
This menu allows you to:
Open raw image files from both Allison and the obsolete
AST Vision Plus. Raw image files as saved in "Vid" format under Perfect View
are not supported. Raw images are processed automatically after loading.
Open also allows you to open Screen files of file type $C1 and Preview images
saved under Allison. Please note that Preview images do not create a window.
Instead, Preview images may be viewed after opening by using Digitizing Options
under the Options menu (see Option menu discussion). Preview images are
intended for programmers who wish to create small animations.
Save images in either of the following forms: Raw image, Screen images, and
Preview images.
Save as... see Save.
Close. Use close to close open windows on the Allison desktop.
Page Setup. Allows you to customize the layout for printed pictures.
Print. Allows you to print pictures in color or black and white.
Quit. Exits Allison. If the Preference Fewer Warnings is not selected,
Allison will prompt you to save pictures not previously saved.
Edit Menu
Undo - Restores a document to its previous state prior to cutting, copying or
pasting.
Cut - When selected from a New Desk Accessory, removes the selected area from
the document and places that area in the Clipboard file.
Copy - When selected from a New Desk Accessory, copy duplicates a selected area
and places that area in the Clipboard file.
Paste - When selected from a New Desk Accessory, paste copies the contents of
the Clipboard file to the current document.
Clear - Clears the selected area. Does not copy that area to the Clipboard file.
Show Clipboard. Displays a window showing the contents of the Clipboard file.
Options menu
Digitizing options. Selecting digitizing options open a dialog with controls
for digitizing and processing the digitized image. The controls are listed
below, from left column to right column.
Dithering. Selecting this check box tells Allison to apply its dithering
algorithm to images after color selection is complete. Dithering is not
available when Previewing digitized images or when processing monochrome
images. It is only available to color images during final processing.
Aspect Ratio. Aspect Ratio refers to Aspect ratio correction. Aspect ratio
correction traditionally means to correct for irregularly shaped pixels in the
final display in both the X and Y direction. Under Allison, however, Aspect
ratio correction is performed in the X direction only. As such it serves two
main purposes. The first purpose is to remove noise that may be inserted
during the digitizing pass. Such noise happens in the form of streaks on the
extreme left edge of the image. The second purpose is to correct for
irregularly shaped objects such as circles which may appear as ovals in some
pictures.
There are four levels of Aspect ratio correction available to you in the form
of a "Pop Up" menu. The four levels are 0 percent, 1 percent, 2 percent, and
4 percent. The first level, Zero percent, applies no correction to the image.
The second level, 1 percent, removes three pixels from the left edge of the
image. The third level, two percent, removes 6 pixels from the left edge of
the image. The fourth level, four percent, removes thirteen pixels from the
left edge of the image. All levels of aspect ratio correction except zero
percent, stretch the image to fill the entire screen. Additionally, aspect
ratio correction is additive meaning that you can mix correction settings to
achieve the desired amount of correction. For example, suppose you select one
percent correction then press process. Three pixels will be removed from the
left side of the image, next the image will be processed according to your
settings. If additional correction is needed, simply press process again.
Allison will remove an additional three pixels from the left edge of the image
yielding a total correction of six pixels. A new window with a freshly
processed image is produced for each press of the process button; in this way,
you can choose which image best suits your needs.
< Note: Aspect ratio correction operates directly on the raw image generated at
the time you digitize. Because of this, Allison can generate a very smooth
transition from pixel to pixel with blockiness or a Zoomed effect occurring
only after very large amounts of correction have been applied. During normal
use, this should present no problem. The raw image, however, is altered and
cannot be restored to its pre correction state. This is the only instance
where the raw image is the target of processing. Since raw images are very in
terms of ram used, it was deemed impractical to allow restoration of an image.
Fixed Palette. In monochrome mode, this is the only selection possible since
the Apple IIGS gray palette can be computed before digitizing. In color mode,
this button has two purposes. The first purpose is to allow you to digitize
multiple images to one palette that is computed after the first pass of the
digitizer. Once a target palette has been calculated, all subsequent passes
of the digitizer will use that palette until you stop digitizing and select
Calculated Palette and capture an image. The second function is to allow you
to digitize to a palette that was calculated from a raw image that was loaded
while the Keep Palette preference was selected.
< Note: the second function will be ignored if you select calculate
palette and you must load a raw image immediately before attempting to
use the second method.
The purpose of Fixed Palette is to allow you to create smooth color transitions
from frame to frame should you desire to use a series of these frame in an
animation program such as Paintworks Gold or Paintworks Plus.
Calculate Palette. This is the default color digitizing mode. Selecting this
option will allow Allison to calculate a new color palette for each frame of
video information captured. For most images, this takes between 4 and 10
seconds depending entirely on the count of distinct colors in the raw image and
whether or not a computer accelerator card is present.
Brightness scroll bar values. The numbers appearing immediately to the left
of the scroll bars labeled brightness correspond to the values sent to the
digitizer with each capture pass. The values are color coded to correspond
with each of the primary colors (i.e. the top value, Red in color corresponds
to the red brightness scroll bar setting, etc.).
Brightness control scroll bars. There are three brightness controls in
Allison. Each bar is color coded for its function. All brightness controls
are active during color digitizing; if desired, you can adjust these controls
on the fly. In monochrome digitizing, the green and blue brightness
controls are disabled and the red brightness control is used to control overall
brightness of monochrome images.
Contrast control scroll bars. The function and definition of the contrast
controls is identical to the brightness group of controls except the contrast
controls as implied, control contrast. The green and blue contrast controls
are disabled during monochrome digitizing. These controls, like the brightness
controls can be used on the fly.
Contrast scroll bar values. The function of these items are the same as
brightness values except they report contrast settings.
< Note: During color preview digitizing it is normal for there to be a delay
after using one of the color adjustment scroll bars. For this reason it is
often best to click once in either the up or down arrow during color preview
mode digitizing. Additionally if you press and hold down the mouse button,
digitizing will pause until the mouse button is released.
Preview area. The top center of this window is reserved for preview images.
If a preview image is available to Allison, it will be displayed here,
approximately centered on the color and contrast controls.
< Note: During preview mode operations it is normal for the area to
either side of the image to change color as the image is displayed. If
no preview image is present, an informational message will be displayed
in this area.
Digitize button. This button activates image capture using the selections
present in this dialog.
Process. Pressing this button initiates Allisons image processing functions
that you have selected. Once processing is complete, a full screen version of
the processed image will be displayed. To continue, simply click the mouse
button once. At this point a new window for the final processed image will
be created. If no errors have occurred, the program will return control to
the Digitizing options dialog. If an error occurs, you will be informed
(see "What to do if errors happen"). Additionally, for as long as you don't
digitize a new image, you can select different processing options such as
dithering (in color only) and aspect ratio correction. Pressing Process will
reprocess the raw image using the settings you provide.
Cancel/Stop. This button has two names, hence it has two separate functions.
If you are digitizing in color or mono continuous digitizing mode, to stop
digitizing, simply press Stop once. In color, calculated palette continuous
digitizing mode, a delay between clicking and stopping is normal. If you
happen to click twice in the stop button, you will lose your image since the
button will revert to cancel once digitizing and processing have completed.
When the button reverts to cancel, in single frame mode, or after pressing stop,
pressing cancel will return you to the Allison desktop.
Processing information messages. Above Digitize, Process, and Cancel/Stop,
during continuous mode color digitizing, progress messages such as "Processing"
and "Digitizing" will be displayed. This is done so you can better judge when
to press Stop.
Color. Pressing this button selects color digitizing mode.
Monochrome. Pressing this button selects monochrome digitizing mode.
Additionally, pressing this button also automatically selects Fixed Palette
mode.
Preview. Pressing this button selects preview digitizing mode.
Full Screen. Pressing this button selects full screen mode. Full screen
digitizing mode is available only in monochrome mode. During this mode the
keyboard is used to control the digitizing process. The control keys are as
follows.
Up Arrow Increases brightness
Down Arrow Decreases brightness
Left Arrow Decreases contrast
Right Arrow Increases contrast
Space bar Toggles pause
r Lower case Restores default digitizing settings
Escape Cancels digitizing without saving the picture
Return Saves the current image and returns to the Digitizing
Option dialog
Mouse button Same as return
One Frame. Selecting this option will allow Allison to digitize one frame at
a time. If this option is not selected, Allison will be in continuous mode.
Note that this button has no effect on monochrome full screen mode.
Show Full Screen. Selecting this option or clicking in the content region of
windows owned by Allison will show a full screen image.
Hints for better pictures
As with any large amount of data, the higher the quality of the input,
the better the output (GIGO - Garbage in, Garbage out). If you're
using a camera, try to use daylight balanced lighting indoors
(available at most camera shops), outdoors, pick a nice sunny day, or
use daylight balanced lighting at night. At Excellent Software, we use
Sylvania BCA photo flood lights. Still, with the best lighting
available there is no substitute for a good eye! Don't forget to play
with the controls present in Allison. Also, remember that most cameras
have a whiteness balance compensator. If you can override automatic
whiteness compensation, you might get better pictures.
If you're using video tape, Allison can digitize/freeze motion in many
cases, however, if something moves quickly, the resulting image will
reflect the movement. In color mode, movement can present a problem,
however, experimentation is the rule to go by. If you're having
problems, try pressing pause.
If you've purchased Allison as an upgrade and aren't happy with the
quality of color and monochrome images you're getting, the most likely
cause is board calibration. Excellent Software is offering
recalibration to existing users of VisionaryGS boards at $16.00
(includes shipping) per board. Address information can be found at the
end of this document. Recalibration matches your board to Allison and
allows you to get the best possible image.
What to do if errors happen
Allison has in place a very friendly error reporting mechanism. Most error
messages contain suggestions that can help you correct a problem. However,
with any software, unexpected events can cause unexpected results. Two of the
most common problems that can occur are out of memory situations, and loss of
video.
Out of memory. If you have memory to burn, rest assured, Allison will
use it. Allison can support multiple windows on the desktop until
almost all memory is exhausted. Since Allison can produce images very
quickly, you can also run out of memory quickly. Keeping raw images is
one sure fire way to use memory at a startling rate. Raw images are
96,000 bytes in length. At first glance, that might not seem like too
much, however, for speed, the images are stored as three separate
"planes" in memory. Every effort is made to keep this area as tightly
packed as possible, however, memory fragmentation will occur when many
windows are open. Keep track of your windows. If you start getting
windows stacking up more than two deep, it's time to start saving, then
closing your windows. Should you see this message, "Unable to allocate
memory. Allison will perform an orderly shutdown", Allison will still
allow you to save your work, however, note that it's possible for your
data to be corrupt due to memory requirements of the system. Every
effort is made to ensure this doesn't happen, however, being aware it
can happen is one step in ensuring it doesn't happen at all.
Allison will run on systems with as little as one megabyte of memory.
However, please realize that as GS/OS matures, its memory requirements
increase. In order to more effectively use Allison, and to get the
most out your work, we recommend you expand your memory to at least 1.5
megabytes, or deactivate all but the most essential Classic Desk
Accessories, New Desk Accessories, Inits, CDEVS, and any driver that is
unnecessary. More information on deactivating files can be found in
the GS/OS OS Users guide.
Loss of Video. The most common cause of this problem is a pause
function on a VCR that has timed out. Other causes are 'video breaks'
where there is no, or damaged video on the tape. Poor connections can
cause problems too. In certain rare circumstances, loss of video or
video spikes can cause Allison to crash. Every effort has been made to
limited this possibility, however be aware that bad or no video can
destroy the contents of memory causing a crash. If you do happen to
get a loss of video situation - you will, everyone does, and it's
usually because the pause control on a VCR has timed out, Allison will
attempt to recover by displaying an alert (color or monochrome preview
mode) informing you of the situation, and will wait for you to restore
the video input. If you're in Full Screen mode, the computer will beep
at regular intervals.
Support
Should you have any question about the use of this program, please feel
free to contact Alltech Electronics at 619/721-7733. Fax 619/721-2823.
You can also write to Alltech Electronics, 602 Garrison St. Oceanside,
CA 92054.
Online support is available on America Online in the Apple II Art &
Graphics forum. Contact AFL Scott or Duelplay.
Appendix A: File Formats
Allison stores images in the following formats.
1. Raw image file. File type $C1, aux type $8001. Each raw image
file consists of three 32,000 byte segments for red, green, and blue
raw image data. Each byte of the file consists of two pixels. The
file is arranged with X=0 and Y=0 as in the first byte of each segment.
2. Screen image files. File type $C1, aux type $0000. Please see
Apple File Type Notes for a description of this file type.
3. Preview images are stored as $C0, aux type $0002 format images with
no MAIN segment. This is subject to revision at any time. Please see
Apple File Type Notes for a description of this file type. The segment
name for preview images at this time is Preview. The pixel map
occupies 8000 bytes stored in scanline order; the palette for the
preview image is stored in 32 bytes following the pixel map.
Appendix B: User registration.
Please fill out the form below and mail it to:
Alltech Electronics Co.
602 Garrison St.
Oceanside, CA 92054
USER REGISTRATION FORM
Returning this form will allow both Excellent Software and Alltech
Electronics Co, Inc. to keep you updated on new products and future
revisions of Allison. Additionally, you will get the final, typeset
manual when it's complete.
Name:_____________________________________
Address:___________________________________
City:_______________________________________
State:______________________________________
Zip:_________________ Phone:_________________
Enhanced Vision Plus serial number:____________________
Where did you purchase this software?___________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Are you pleased with your purchase? _____________
If no, please explain?_____________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
In what ways can we make this product better?_______________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
How much memory is installed in your Apple IIGS? ___________
Do you use a hard disk drive?_________________________
Do you have an accelerator board?______________________
Have you used other video digitizers? ____________________