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SNAPPER v1.0 by Rich Murray (1/96)
==================================


Welcome to Snapper, the friendly front end to the coolest video gizmo--
the Snappy video frame grabber!  Snapper was written in Visual Basic 3.0
and is intended for use at resolutions of 800x600 or greater.  It uses
the file, SNAPPY.VBX, which is included with the Snappy software.

One of the best things about Snapper is that you can set it to
automatically snap any number of frames as fast as Snappy and your computer
can handle them.  Plus, you can set the time lapse between snaps (in
seconds) or have Snapper pause between each snap.  I have found the
multi-snap feature very handy for taking pictures of collections of things
like actual photographs, quick panoramic shots (where you rotate the camera
on the tripod to the left or right just enough to get the next part of the
scene -- 3 snaps of 320x200 make a neat panorama for those limited to
screen widths of 1024), collectibles(knick-knacks, HO scale cars), etc.
You can hook it to a TV and set it up to take a movie's worth of snaps.


Preparation
------------

Once you've set up your camera, lighting, and objets d'Snap (things you
want to take pictures of) you can accumulate a ton of snaps in a hurry
without having to think of a new file name each time.  To know when to
place the next object (or person) in front of the camera, just wait for
the Snappy progress window (which you will recognize from using the
original Snappy program that came with the Snappy) to stop saying
"Capturing".  You must finish arranging this next object before the next
snap which will happen soon after the Snappy "Creating nnn x mmm image"
message.  You will have to become accustomed to the timing of your
own setup.  Future versions of Snapper might do this for you.

On my computer (a lightning fast 386/40 with a Brand X parallel port) it
takes almost exactly 1 minute per frame on multiple frames using the
Snapper defaults (see below) with the time lapse (labeled "T.Lapse") set
to 0 seconds.  I'm sure a higher speed computer with a better parallel
port will be quicker, but it will still take a while between snaps.  


Installation
-------------

NOTE:   SNAPPER will only work on the system where the original SNAPPY.EXE
        program is installed!

First, if you haven't already done this, copy the file, SNAPPY.VBX, (my
version is dated 7/12/95) from the \SNAPDEV\VBX directory of your official
Snappy distribution floppy into your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.  Next, copy
VBRUN300.DLL into the the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory (do this only if you
don't already have a copy of this file.  Then use PKUNZIP (204g) or an
equivalent unzipper to unzip the SNAPPER1.ZIP file to a directory where you
want SNAPPER1.EXE, and its associated files, to live.


Operation
==========

Startup
--------

Use the Windows Program Manager "Run" command to run it or, for easier
future access, use the Program Manager's FILE->NEW->PROGRAM ITEM menu
choices to add it to a folder.

Once the program has been started, all you have to do to work it (assuming
that your Snappy is plugged in and that its video source is ready) is to
click the "Snap!" button in the lower left corner.  This will create a file
called SNAP0.BMP, a windows bitmap file with the default Snapper settings
in the same directory as the Snapper program.

It is important to remember that each snap is moved directly into a file
unless you are snapping DIB's, in which case each new DIB will write over
the previous one.


The Snapper Screen
-------------------

When you start the Snapper program, a window appears.  The window is
divided into roughly four sections:

    1)  Upper Left:   Text Box Settings:  (white boxes) File Root, Default
                      Dir, Frame, and Time Lapse.  These are set by clicking
                      in the appropriate box, entering your data and typing
                      a Return.  The light green box, "File Name", shows the
                      current filename that will be or is being snapped.  It
                      cannot be changed directly but will change when you
                      change the Root or when the program reaches the next
                      snap in a sequence.

    2)  Left:         Option Settings.  These are set by clicking on the
                      options you want.  You can only pick one in each 
                      grouping.  If you change them from the startup
                      defaults, they will remain set till you exit.

    3)  Bottom:       Control Buttons:  Snap!, Pause/Go, and Quit.  These
                      are activated by a single click.

    4)  Right Middle: Snappy Picture Window.  This is where the most recent
                      snap is displayed.  This will be visible if you 
                      click the Visibility: Show option.  If you have chosen
                      a picture size greater than 320 x 200, the window size
                      will be adjusted.


Pause Button
-------------

If you are taking more than one snap (i.e., you entered a number greater
than one in the "# of Frames" box), you can click on "Pause" to stop the
snapping until you're ready for more.  Pausing will not affect a snap that
is already in progress, it will merely change the label of the button to
"Pause Pending" and actually pause the program when the snap is finished.
When the pause is in effect, the button's label will change to "Go!" and
it will have a red background to remind you that you're paused.  Click it
again to resume (its label will change back to "Pause").


The Snap Progress Box
----------------------

After you click on the "Snap!" button and while the Snappy is grabbing a 
picture, the "Snap Progress" dialog box will appear explaining the progress
of the Snap (these say "Capturing", "Analyzing", "Creating Image"). This
box is provided by the SNAPPY software and can't be controlled by the 
Snapper program.  If you click somewhere else on the Snapper window, this
box will become invisible even though the Snappy is still doing its work.
Don't worry, as long as you didn't click on the "Cancel" button in the box,
your picture will still be saved.  To get it back, hold down the "Alt" key
and press the "Tab" key.  If this is impractical just keep an eye on the
hourglass pointer or the "Snap!" button which will change its caption to
"Snap in progress" when a snap is happening.

If you click on the Cancel button in the dialog box during a snap, only that
snap will be stopped.  If you are doing multiple snaps, the sequence will
continue.  If you really wish to stop the sequence, click on Quit.

There seems to be a bug in the Snap Progress box where it will say
"Capturing" when it's really analyzing.  It seems to show up after the first
snap.  If you are familiar with the SNAPPY.EXE program that came with the
product, then you probably know that the highest quality snaps spend the
most time in "Capturing" mode and little, if any, in "Analyzing".  This bug
appears when you have chosen "low" quality or "moving" mode.  If you are
used to how long it takes to do these types of snaps, then you'll have a 
feel for when you can prepare for the next snap.  Hopefully, the nice folks 
at Play, Inc. will have a fix for version 1.1 of Snapper.


Default Settings
-----------------
    
    Picture Size= 320x240

    Quality     = Moving    (Moving is the lowest but the others are for
                             still pictures only)
    
    Picture Type= 256c BMP  (256 color Windows Bitmap. JPEG is described
                             below.  The rest are self-explanatory except,
                             perhaps, for DIB.  The DIB is cool!  It saves
                             your snap to the clipboard and lets you paste
                             it into a paint/retouching program.  Just bear
                             in mind that no file has been created until
                             you have done a "Save" from your paint program.
                             This can be very tricky if you are using a
                             small Time Lapse value.)
    
    JPEG Quality= 100       (Highest setting.  75 is great for economy.
                             A dialog box for this setting will appear when
                             you choose JPEG.  This setting has no effect 
                             if you are not creating a JPEG file.)
    
    Source      = Camera    (either Tape or Camera)
    
    VideoThru   = Off       (No TV hooked to Snappy's Video Thru jack)
    
    Time Lapse  = 1 minute  (This is the time in minutes between two snaps.
                             It starts when the previous frame has been
                             stored to a file (or clipboard) and ends when
                             the Time Lapse has expired.  When it ends, the
                             next picture is snapped. This is a floating 
                             point number which means you can enter 2.75 for
                             a time lapse of 2 minutes and 45 seconds)
                  
                  pause mode:
                             (If you you are taking multiple snaps and you
                             want Snapper to pause after each snap, just put
                             a negative number (e.g. -1) here.)
                             
    # of Frames = 1         (Remember that each frame is a file.  A single
                             1500x1125 TrueColor BMP file takes up over
                             _5_ megabytes!  A 320x240 Jpeg with a quality
                             level of 75 takes up about 17KB, about 1/300th
                             as much)
    
    Root File   = SNAP      (See File Naming, below)
    
    Default Dir = Cur.Dir   (By default, this is set to the directory where
                             you put the SNAPPER program.  If you set it
                             to a nonexistent directory you will be warned)

You can even change the settings in between snaps in a multi-snap sequence.
Just try to avoid putting bogus values in the text boxes as I haven't done
a lot of input validity checking.


File Naming
------------

The default name for a single snap is "SNAP0.BMP".  The "SNAP" part of the
file name is called the "Root".  The "0" in "SNAP0.BMP" is the frame
number.  You may change the Root to any name you like as long as you allow
for a frame count after the Root name.  This means that if you're taking 20
snaps, then the largest size the Root name can be is six characters.  The
other two characters are taken up by the frame count when it gets to the
double digits (i.e. SNAP0.BMP thru SNAP14.BMP).

If Snapper finds that a file already exists with the same filename, it will
let you know and let you pick a new file name or, if you choose, it will
write over the current file of the same name.


Visibility Option
------------------

Controls whether or not the snap is displayed on the screen after being 
processed.  If you forget, you can click this during or after processing
and the snap will be displayed.  If you choose a different size _after_
the Snap Sequence has completed, your picture will be resized to fit the
size you just chose.

Bear in mind that if your picture is of the 1500x1125 size, it may or may
not be entirely visible dependent upon your monitor resolution.


Help
-----

Clicking on "Help" under the "Help" menu selection will cause this file
(SNAPHELP.TXT) to be displayed.  To get back to the program, click anywhere
on the screen.  Use the scroll bar to move up or down in Help.  You have my
permission to modify your copy of the help file so it makes more sense to
you or to add your own notes, but if you garble it up, that's your problem!


Other
------

Since the Snapper program doesn't let you preview the scene on the computer
screen like the Snappy program that came with the Snappy (this is due to a
limitation in the SNAPPY.VBX file mentioned above), you will have to acquire
some skills in understanding what you see in your camera's viewfinder or
hook up a TV monitor to the Video Thru jack on the Snappy.  If you do hook
up a TV, just remember to click on the Video Thru option on the screen to
let the Snapper program know so the pictures will come out nicely.

The key to using the Snapper program successfully is Planning.  Figure out
in advance how many pictures you want, where your subjects will be, where
you want the lights, and how you will move your subjects into and out of
the camera's focus.

Like all of life's other endeavors, getting the best snaps will come with
experience, so snap a lot!  It's quite a bit cheaper than film, eh?


Disclaimer
-----------

This software is provided free for personal, non-commercial use.  No
warranty is either express or implied.  No copy of this software may be
included in any collection without my permission.  I have done my best to
make it do what I've explained above but I make no claims regarding the
fitness of this software for any purpose.  Use it at your own risk.

I have no connection with Snappy or Play, Incorporated other than as a
satisfied (and amazed) user of their product.


Questions?  Comments?  Criticisms?  Suggestions?
-------------------------------------------------

The only way I'll know what is or isn't right about Snapper is if you tell
me.  Just be warned, I might "snap" at you. ;^)  (That's a joke, son!)

Email me at: murrayr1@phvax.dnet.sbphrd.com

p.s.  Snappy is a trademark of Play Incorporated

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Note:   If you are viewing this via the SNAPPER help menu choice, just
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