[117] in Software_Announce
whirlgif installed in graphics
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Erik Nygren)
Sun May 5 21:07:34 1996
To: graphics@MIT.EDU, software-announce@MIT.EDU
Cc: banerji@MIT.EDU
Date: Sun, 05 May 1996 21:06:58 -0400
From: Erik Nygren <nygren@MIT.EDU>
I installed whirlgif, a small utility for making animated
gifs such as those which work with netscape 2.0, into the
graphics locker. After the graphics locker updates,
you should be able to use it like:
add graphics
whirlgif -loop -o outputfile.gif srca.gif srcb.gif srcc.gif srcd.gif
It's been built for Linux, NetBSD, Solaris, IRIX, HP/UX, AIX, and
Ultrix. I haven't tested it on all platforms so there may be some
minor bugs on some machines. Thanks to Pratip Banerji for building it
for some of the platforms.
The whirlgif.doc file follows:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
WhirlGIF 2.00
whirlgif is a quick program that reads a series of GIF files, and produces
a single gif file composed of those images.
Usage:
whirlgif [-v] [-trans index ] [-time delay] [-o outfile]
[-loop] [-i incfile] file1 [ -time delay] file2
options:
-v verbose mode
-loop [count] add the Netscape 'loop' extension.
-time delay inter-frame timing.
-trans index set the colormap index 'index' to be transparent
-o outfile write the results to 'outfile'
-i incfile read a list of names from 'incfile'
TIPS
If you don't specify an output file, the GIF will be sent to stdout. This is
a good thing if you're using this in a CGI script, a very bad thing if you
run this from a terminal and forget to redirect stdout.
The output file (if any) and -loop _MUST_ be specified before any gif images.
You can specify several delay statements on the command line to change
the delay between images in the middle of an animation, e.g.
whirlgif -time 5 a.gif b.gif c.gif -time 100 d.gif -time 5 e.gif f.gif
Although it's generally considered to be evil, you can also specify
several transparency statements on the command line, to change the transparent
color in the middle of an animation. This may cause problems for some programs.
BUGS
+ The loop 'count' is ineffective because Netspcape always loops infinitely.
+ should be able to specify delay in an 'incfile' list (see next bug).
+ Does not handle filenames starting with a - (hypen), except in 'incfile'.
+ Needs better documentation.
TODO
+ Only save colormaps that are different from preceeding ones.
+ have an option that compares current image with previous and then
only save the smallest rectangle that encompasses changes. I need sample
code- the most efficient algorithms are patented?
+ option for luma sorting of colormaps
+ define extension block in order to have frame lists.
This program is available from http://www.msg.net/utility/whirlgif/
--------------------------
Kevin Kadow kadokev@msg.net
Based on 'txtmerge' written by:
Mark Podlipec podlipec@wellfleet.com
