                      Elastic Reality -- Version 1.0
                               Release Notes


Contents:

	o	Late Breaking News -- Read Before Using the Software
	o	Manual Errata and Additions

	o	Additional Copyrights, Licenses, and Credits
		(For Technology Included With This Product)
	o	Troubleshooting

===========================================================================
           Late Breaking News -- Read Before Using the Software

	o	Disk usage
	o	FLI/FLC and PCX support
	o	Tablet support
	o	Rendering in animation and still image formats
	o	Notes about Video for Windows CODECs
	o	Working with AVI files directly off compact discs
	o	Output format parameters
	o	Using TransJammer as an image format/size converter
	o	TransJammer's Control menu
	o	Increasing the FILES=n setting in CONFIG.SYS
	o	Changes made to the WIN.INI file
	o	Uninstalling the Elastic Reality package
	o	Notes for The ASDG Abekas Driver users

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Disk usage

Included in the Elastic Reality package are six disks, named the following:

	Elastic Reality, Disk 1 - Setup
	Elastic Reality, Disk 2
	Elastic Reality, Disk 3
	Elastic Reality, Disk 4
	Elastic Reality, Disk 5
	TransJammer, Program Disk

NOTE: If you are running Windows NT, Win32s is not required and Video for
Windows is not supported. You can skip to the Elastic Reality / TransJammer
setup on Disk 4.

Elastic Reality Disks 1 and 2 contain the Win32s setup. These disks are
needed if you do not have Win32s installed on your system. If you are not
sure, there is no harm in attempting the installation. Note that at the end
of the Win32s setup, Windows will be restarted to activate the Win32s
environment, so you should save any work in other applications before
installing Win32s.

Before proceeding with Disk 3, run the Freecell application to confirm that
Win32s is properly installed on your system.

Elastic Reality Disk 3 contains the Video for Windows setup. This disk is
needed if you want to load, save, and play AVI animation files. If your
main use of Elastic Reality will be with other image formats, then this
disk is not required. If you find you need AVI support in the future, you
can simply run the setup program on Disk 3. As with the Win32s setup, the
Video for Windows setup will require that Windows be restarted.

Elastic Reality Disks 4 and 5 and the TransJammer Program Disk contain the
Elastic Reality / TransJammer setup. These disks must be used after
installing Win32s (Disks 1 and 2); the Video for Windows setup (Disk 3) can
be installed either before or after the Elastic Reality / TransJammer
setup.

A minimum installation (excludes AVI support) for non-Windows NT systems
would require Elastic Reality Disks 1, 2, 4, 5, and the TransJammer Program
Disk.

A complete installation (includes AVI support for loading, saving, and
playing) would use all six disks.

NOTE: We highly suggest that you do not run other applications while the
software is being installed on your system. This will avoid any conflicts
accessing system files.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          FLI/FLC and PCX support

Due to unforseen circumstances, FLI/FLC animation file support is not in
this initial release of Elastic Reality. It will be added at a later date.

However, PCX image support for both loading and saving is now part of the
Elastic Reality package.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Tablet support

Tablets usable with other applications will be usable with Elastic Reality.

If you do not have a dual button pen, you can access the Reshape and
Correspondence mode pop-up menus (normally opened by clicking the secondary
mouse button) using the ENTER key.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Rendering in animation and still image formats

In the Output Options dialog box, if you select an animation format such as
Video for Windows, the "[num]" token will be automatically removed from the
File Name Template. This avoids creating individual AVI files each
consisting of a single frame. However, if you want this capability, simply
enable the Add Frame Number option after selecting Video for Windows as the
saver module.

Elastic Reality will remember what type of saver module was selected at the
time the Output Options dialog box was opened. This avoids having the
"[num]" token added to the File Name Template when switching from an
animation to still image format when the template didn't initially have it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Notes about Video for Windows CODECs

Although Elastic Reality and TransJammer were designed to be responsive and
multitask well with other applications, some of the Video for Windows (AVI)
compressors (sometimes referred to as CODECs) were not. If your projects
are being rendered in Video for Windows format, multitasking performance
may be degraded during the Elastic Reality saving phase.

To select a compressor, open the Output Options dialog box, set the saver
to Video for Windows, click the Parameters button to display the Parameters
dialog box for the Video for Windows saver module. From this dialog box,
select the compressor from the drop-down list box.

Also, some compressors have image size limitations. If you get an AVIError
message saying "Bad Format", you might've specified an output Width and
Height larger than what a compressor can currently handle. Simply change
the output Width and Height values (in the Output Options dialog box) to
a supported image size. Safe values are 160 x 120 and 320 x 240.

On some compressors, specifying and enabling a "Key Frame" value (done in
the Video for Windows Parameters dialog box) may produce animation files
containing only key frame images. If this happens, use a different
compressor.

When rendering 8-bit AVI files and specifying a non-Fixed Palette, we
recommend you set the "Get Palette from" setting to "First Frame", instead
of "Every Frame". Rendering using the First Frame is faster and more
reliable.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Working with AVI files directly off compact discs

Random accessing AVI files directly off compact discs places high stress
on CD-ROM drivers and can possibly uncover latent defects in their code.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Output format parameters

Listed below are the descriptions of the output format parameter dialog
boxes.

BMP
	The "Windows" option outputs bitmap files that are compatible with
	Microsoft Windows. The "OS/2" option saves bitmap files that are
	compatible with IBM's OS/2.

JPEG
	The "Quality" scroll bar controls the output file size and quality.
	Higher values will produce better images but larger file sizes.
	Conversely, lower values reduce the image quality but result in
	smaller file sizes.

	The "Baseline" check box is for applications that require this
	option for JPEG files. Consult the documentation that came with
	your JPEG-supported applications to see if this option is required.
	This option is typically enabled.

PICT
	You can specify whether a "MacBinary" header will be added to
	saved files. Enabling this option allows hassle-free cross-platform
	creation of PICT files via network. If you will be transferring the
	PICT files via DOS-formatted floppy, disable this option.

SGI RGB
	The "8 bits" option will force data being saved to be 8-bit, even
	if it is not. Conversely, the "16 bits" option will force 16-bit
	files. The "Automatic" option will always save the image as 8 bits.

Targa
	You have the option of outputting 5 bit (Targa 16) or
	8 bit (Targa 24/32) color files, as well as enabling file
	compression. Having compression disabled will create larger files
	on disk.

TIFF
	If Compression is set to "None", image data will not be compressed
	and can produce large file sizes.

	Setting Compression to "LZW" will produce the smallest files, but
	as LZW compression is a recent addition to the TIFF specification,
	some applications might not be able to recognize them.

	Setting Compression to "RLE" (Run Length Encoded) will produce
	relatively small files. This compression scheme is fairly portable
	amongst TIFF applications.

Wavefront
	The "Color Depth" option work similarly to the SGI RGB's color
	depth controls.

	The "Gamma" control is intended for cross-platform applications
	that require this value be set. Consult the documentation that came
	with your Wavefront application to see if this value needs to be
	adjusted. Typically, this value can stay at its default value.

	The RLA and RLB differences are described in the HIIP Compatibility
	appendix of the Using Elastic Reality manual.

Video for Windows
	There are many compression options available for Video for Windows.
	You can get information about the compression types by clicking
	their respective About buttons. You will need to contact the
	developers of the compressors for specific information about them.

YUV
	The "NTSC" button will save images in NTSC video format (720x486).
	The "PAL" button will save them in PAL video format (720x576).
	Images will either be padded with black or cropped.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Using TransJammer as an image format/size converter

TransJammer is not only a powerful tool for creating transitions and other
effects--it can also be used as an image format converter, taking your
image files and converting them between image formats. This is done using
the "passthru.er" TransJammer effect project, as follows:


To build an AVI file from single images
---------------------------------------

1. Select the "passthru.er" effect from the Available Effects list.

   If you do not see the "passthru.er" effect listed, make sure the Select
   Effects Directory is set to the "tj_projs" subdirectory within the
   directory Elastic Reality was installed (by default, "c:\ereality").

2. Place all of the single images in the A-roll.

   Click the Select Images button and insert all of the images you wish to
   merge into an AVI file into the A-roll. Choose Accept from the File menu
   when done.

3. Specify the output options, using Video for Windows as the output
   format.

   Click the Output Options button and specify the output format named
   "Video for Windows". Adjust the other settings as necessary. Consult the
   Using Elastic Reality manual or the on-line help for detailed
   descriptions of each control.

   Click the OK button when done.

4. Click Go!

   Each of the images in the A-roll will be read and, in turn, written to
   the AVI file you've specified.


To bust an AVI file into single images
--------------------------------------

1. Select the "passthru.er" effect from the Available Effects list.

2. Place the AVI file in the A-roll and remove unwanted frames from being
   processed.

   Click the Select Images button and insert the AVI file. Use the Sequence
   Editor's Make Stamp command (under the Image menu) to view specific
   frames, then use the Cut command (under the Edit menu) to remove
   unwanted frames from the conversion process. In fact, you can use the
   Copy and Paste commands to rearrange frames for processing.

   Choose Accept from the File menu when done.

3. Specify the output options, using an single image format (such as BMP,
   Targa, etc.) as the output format.

   Click the Output Options button and specify the single image from the
   drop-down list box. Adjust the other settings as necessary. Consult the
   Using Elastic Reality manual or the on-line help for detailed
   descriptions of each control.

   Click the OK button when done.

4. Click Go!

   Each of the AVI frames in the A-roll will be read and, in turn, written
   to the image format you specified.


To batch convert image file formats and sizes
---------------------------------------------

The same techniques listed above can be applied to any image format,
whether single or animation.

Also, by using the controls in the Output Options dialog box, you can even
specify a different image size and color depth and color reduction method
(if the output image format supports them), for the processed files!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         TransJammer's Control menu

TransJammer's Control menu (click the box in the upper-left corner of its
window) now contains "About TransJammer" and "Play Movie" commands.

"About TransJammer" displays the About window for TransJammer, showing the
version number, copyright information, licensing information, and serial
number of this copy of TransJammer.

"Play Movie" launches the Windows Media Player application, similar to the
Play Movie command under Elastic Reality's Render menu.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Increasing the FILES=n setting in CONFIG.SYS

If you are having problems running Windows or Elastic Reality, you might
want to increase the FILES= value in your CONFIG.SYS file. See the
Troubleshooting, Using the Application section below for more information.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Changes made to the WIN.INI file

During the Elastic Reality setup, the following changes are added to your
WIN.INI file:

[programs]
er.exe=C:\EREALITY\PROGRAMS\ER.EXE
trnsjmmr.exe=C:\EREALITY\PROGRAMS\TRNSJMMR.EXE

The path ("C:\EREALITY") to the "PROGRAMS" directory containing the ER.EXE
and TRNSJMMR.EXE programs may be different, depending upon where you
installed the software.

This change was done to be able to open an Elastic Reality project file
from the Windows File Manager by double-clicking its name. Note that each
project file launched in this way will start a new copy of Elastic Reality.

NOTE: The WIN.INI file will be copied as WININI.ERI before these changes
are made.

Elastic Reality does not alter your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Uninstalling the Elastic Reality package

Elastic Reality has been designed to affect the minimum number of system
files. As such, uninstallation is very straightforward.

To uninstall Elastic Reality, TransJammer, and all of their support files,
do one the following:

-- If the files were installed in a new directory, simply delete that
   directory.

-- If the files were installed in an existing directory containing files
   from other applications, delete the following subdirectories of that
   directory (denoted as "[DIR]" below):

   [DIR]\ER_PROJS
   [DIR]\HIIP
   [DIR]\IMAGES
   [DIR]\OUTPUT
   [DIR]\PROGRAMS
   [DIR]\SHAPES
   [DIR]\TJ_PROJS

You should also remove the "er.exe=" line from the WIN.INI "[programs]"
group, as described previously in "Changes made to the WIN.INI file".

There is also a CTL3D32.DLL located in the SYSTEM subdirectory of your
WINDOWS directory that was copied there during the Elastic Reality
installation. This DLL allows Elastic Reality and TransJammer to have the
3-dimensional look to its dialog boxes. Although you can remove this file,
one of your other applications might also make use of it.

The last portion you would need to remove is the "Elastic Reality" program
group.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Notes for The ASDG Abekas Driver users

If you own The ASDG Abekas Driver, the HIIP modules included with the
Elastic Reality package are newer and slightly incompatible. Contact our
Sales department at (608) 273-9240 to make arrangements for an update to a
fully-compatible version of The ASDG Abekas Driver.

===========================================================================
                        Manual Errata and Additions

Listed below are changes to the printed documentation which were made after
they were sent to the printers. Depending upon the printing of the
documentation that came with your package, these changes might have already
been made.

[Chapter "Welcome to Elastic Reality", Section "Using this manual"]
Tablet users can use the ENTER key as the secondary mouse button.

[Chapter "Basic concepts", Section "Loading and saving projects"]
Note that a project opened for editing is an independent copy of the file
on disk. Also, if you open the same file, changes to one copy of the
project will NOT affect other open copies.

[Chapter "Basic concepts", Section "Setting application preferences",
"Image usage settings"]
The "Preview output during morph" has been renamed to "Preview output
during rendering".

[Chapter "Sequence Editor", Section "Adding images to an image roll",
"Inserting images"]
ASDG Abekas Driver (Windows Version) project files are described as being
supported for inserting into an image roll. This capability is not
available in this release of Elastic Reality.

[Chapter "Sequence Editor", Section "Rearranging the images", "Pasting
cells multiple times"]
The Multi-Paste dialog box now has a Help button.

[Chapter "Shape creation", Section "Using shapes to define mattes"]
The "Cookie-Cut" option in the Shape Options window has been renamed to
"Cookie-Cut Matte" to clearly describe what it is affecting and to avoid
any confusion with the Cookie-Cut warp style.

[Chapter "Rendering control", Section "Setting the output options"]
The screen shot of the Output Options dialog box has changed. The changes
were made to the color reduction controls along the lower-right corner of
the dialog box.

The Depth setting specifies the color depth of the output image (8 bit, 24
bit, etc.), as controlled by the selected output format's supported color
depths. If set to a non-24 bit depth, the following options are available:

The Dither settings specifies, for color-mapped depths, the type of
dithering that will be used to produce higher color fidelity. If set to
None, then no dithering will be used. If you are creating animations, the
better choice will be one of the Ordered dithers. For still images, Floyd
will probably produce better results.

The Palette setting specifies the type of color picker or palette to use.
If set to Fixed, a pre-specified palette will be used. However, if the
Preserve Windows Palette option (described later) is used, then this fixed
palette will not have the same colors as if that option was unselected.

If the Palette setting is not set to Fixed, the Get Palette from setting
specifies where the palette for rendering the image should be obtained
from. If set to First Frame, all the frames will use the palette of the
first frame rendered. If set to Every Frame, then each frame may use a
different palette.

The Preserve Windows Palette option specifies whether 20 colors in the 256
color palette (specifically, the first ten and last ten) will be reserved
for the Windows color palette. This option is useful to avoid the
recalculation of colors when switching between windows containing different
color palettes.

[Chapter "Rendering control", Section "Setting the output options",
"Output image format"]
If you made any changes to a saver's parameters then clicked Cancel from
the Output Options dialog box, those parameters will not be restored to
their previous values.

===========================================================================
               Additional Copyrights, Licenses, and Credits
                (For Technology Included With This Product)

Tag Image File Format Library

Copyright (c) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 Sam Leffler
Copyright (c) 1991, 1992 Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its
documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that
(i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all
copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam
Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or
publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written
permission of Stanford and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS,
IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY
DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR
NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS
SOFTWARE.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This software [the JPEG modules] is based in part on the work of the
Independent JPEG Group.

===========================================================================
                              Troubleshooting

Installing the Application
--------------------------

PROBLEM:
	You are getting the message "Unexpected DOS error 21" when you try
	to run the FreeCell program (that checks that Win32s is properly
	installed) or Elastic Reality.

CAUSE:
	Win32s was not installed properly or the Win32s files are corrupt.

SOLUTION:
	IMPORTANT: Before you attempt to reinstall Win32s, edit all
	occurrences of "Setup=1" to "Setup=0" in the file called
	"WIN32S.INI" in your "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" directory (or whichever
	drive the "\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" directory is located). You can either
	do this from your favorite text editor or from the File Manager.
	What this does is tells the installation program that Win32s is not
	installed on the system (even though it is). This will allow
	Win32s to be reinstalled properly.

	Remove the Win32s VxD line from the [Enh386] section of the
	SYSTEM.INI file:
		device=c:\windows\system\win32s\w32s.386

	Delete the W32SYS.DLL and WIN32S16.DLL from the SYSTEM subdirectory
	of the WINDOWS directory. Also delete all files in the
	SYSTEM\WIN32S subdirectory. Finally, restart Windows and retry the
	Win32s setup.

	After this is done, you should not have any problems getting Win32s
	and the application installed.

	If after reinstalling Win32s you find that its files are still
	corrupt, either find another set of Win32s setup disks or contact
	our Sales department for a replacement set.


PROBLEM:
	The FreeCell program doesn't run properly and you have an S3-type
	video card.

CAUSE:
	There is a known incompatibility between Win32s and some S3-type
	video cards.

SOLUTION:
	The workaround is to change the following line in the "windows"
	group of the SYSTEM.INI file from:

		APETURE_BASE=100

	to:

		APETURE_BASE=0


Using the Application
---------------------

PROBLEM:
	You notice a general problem running Windows or Elastic Reality.

CAUSE:
	You might want to check that you are allocating enough file
	handles for DOS. The number of file handles determines how many
	files Windows can have "open" or in use at one time. It is better
	to have more than enough file handles allocated than not enough.

	Due to the demands placed on your system by Win32s, the default
	number of file handles might be too low. Also, the amount of
	used DOS memory may be substantial. These demands are evident by
	simply running the example Win32s application, Freecell.

SOLUTION:
	To change the number of file handles allocated, you need to
	modify your CONFIG.SYS file. You might want to use the SYSEDIT
	command to do so.

	In CONFIG.SYS, change the number on the FILES= line to a value
	of 40 or higher.


PROBLEM:
	You get a "Can't find BUFIO.DLL" message when running Elastic
	Reality.

CAUSE:
	The support DLLs could not be found in the specified paths (set
	by the PATH statement).

SOLUTION:
	Update the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file the path to
	the PROGRAMS subdirectory of the directory where Elastic Reality
	was installed. An example would be C:\EREALITY\PROGRAMS. You
	should then reboot the computer for this change to take effect.


PROBLEM:
	No mixed image appears when you attempt to move the mix scroll bar.

CAUSE:
	You are probably low on memory. This will be evident because the
	A-roll image is only visible when the mix scroll knob is left of
	center and the B-roll image is only visible when it's right of
	center.

SOLUTION:
	Use lower resolution images, specify a lower resolution for the
	Edit window images (done by specifying a Custom Project Image
	Size in the Image preferences dialog box), exit other currently
	running applications, or purchase more memory.


PROBLEM:
	You get a System Error, Sharing violation on drive <drive-letter>
	when rendering a project in Video for Windows (AVI) format.

CAUSE:
	The AVI file being saved to is probably open or being accessed by
	another application, such as Media Player.

SOLUTION:
	Close the AVI file from the other application until rendering in
	Elastic Reality has completed.


PROBLEM:
	You selected a TransJammer effect which requires two rolls and have
	selected the images you want to use, but the Output Options button
	is still disabled.

CAUSE:
	If TransJammer requires two rolls, the Sequence Editor must only
	contain images in two rolls, not one or three.

SOLUTION:
	Click the Select Images button and specify the proper number of
	rolls.

===========================================================================
