| Posted By
George
on 2010-08-11
16:54:57
 |  Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Hi,
i give up with the books i downloaded. I got the general idea, but perhaps somebody can explain it to me in a easy way (if possible with an example).
my Idea: I make an Graphic on PC (320x200) 121 colours with Paintshop as Bmp.
Now i want to convert this picture to a format, which the Plus4 can read.
1) Are there any tools for that? if no, how is the general way to do this?
2) I suppose i have to set every Pixel at a special memory location, after setting the graphic mode. But how is the Pixel and colour information stored (Multicolor Mode)?
3) After building up my picture, how do i save and load it again, so that i can use it in an game.
Thanks in forward for the answers.
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Posted By
MMS
on 2010-08-11
19:19:50
 | Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Hi,
I just doing it right now  I tell you how I work, but there are other approaches, even better toolsets you may find. (some guys here are really smart creating crosstools).
For me the best toolset is:
-Plus4EMU's graphic converter PRG with a good GUI (great program...)
-Multibotticelli
-DirMaster
1) You draw your picture in any nice Windows/Mac paint program. There is a Plus/4 color palette for Photoshop somewhere in the forum, may help you.
(I do not use Photoshop, and the rest of programs I think cannot handle it).
BMP is perfect, but JPG is also good, just do not compress it (let it on 100%)
2) Start the Plus4EMUs p4fliconv_gui.exe (it knows normal hires and multi too, not only FLI)
3) Select the picture and Convert it (FLIs are nice, but you cannot really use them in your game).
You may create one attractive picture as a strart for your game, you may check Iron Maiden slideshow, what you may expect from FLI.
-But normal multicolor is also nice, pls check Toplist, Top Slideshows (at the bottom)
4) You may need to play a lot in the options menu. Especially on dithering (type of dithering, settings, or you need no dithering at all), gamma and color intensity.
Do it till it looks REALLY good (after you press "Preview"). You may set Multicolor to 30 for better results (much slower, but nicer).
5) if you want to quickly test result (first in Emulator), then in Options select Output as "PRG with viewer". save it, run it, emulator will show how it will look like.
6) If you are happy with the preview, and want to edit it (I do recommend to eliminate false dithering pixels) then save it as raw, -m0 (no compression)
7) After it was saved to PC, you need to move it on a D64. Open DirMaster.
8) Create a new D64 disc or open an existing one.
Move the saved RAW PRG file (picture) to the directory wit your mouse. Save the disc.
Now you have the converted picture in normal format (multicolor or hires) on Disc
9) Depending on the format, you need Multibotticelli or Botticelli (they emulate mouse / sprite via joystick, I can well use them on PC with cursor keys + SHIFT as fire).
In an emulator it can handle the D64 file with your picture.
9b) Run the Botticelli. attach the D64 disc which contains the picture(s)
10) Open your file from Botticellis (Disc icon, Directory, Load).
Edit it, save it on a new name
Now you have your final GFX on a D64 you may use. If you want to transfer it to a real floppy disc, you need a datacable, the older your PC and Windows is the better. (as then the parallel x1541 can work, otherwise you need more complex (=expensive) way to handle the 1541 from your PC)
Graphics:
the GFX typical place is from $1800-$4000, irrespective it is mmulti or hires. (on C16 the only place, on Plus/4 the place Graphics command shows it)
You may search for the Multibotticelli in the softwares, and read how it stores the color, and the bitmap.
The "usual" gfx you save from plus/4 memory does not contain the background color and the 3rd color (=second background color) info, BUT Botticellis yes.
So if you have a Botticelli multicolor picture, just load it eg. with "xy",8,1. It will be from $7800 onwards as per info above.
Go to Monitor, move it to $1800.
T 7800 9F40 1800
You may save it from monitor $1800-$4000 to disc S "xy",8,1800,4000
Always remember your 2 background colors. set them (Color), and say Graphic3.
you have your picture on the screen
If you want it to load it in BASIC, then the best to check some discmags with Basic loader, Definitely the Load"xy"8,1 will put it back to $1800, then just a Graphic command... certainly he colors to be recorded somewhere, or you always decode it from Botticelli memory map.
Have fun!
BTW, if you need some info on GFX formats, then read:
C64 is almost the same, except it has 3 independent color per 8x8 in multicolor, while Plus/4 can handle only 2 plus the 3rd color (because with the brightness color does not fit to half byte, only 2 colors fit into color memory):
http://www.studiostyle.sk/dmagic/gallery/gfxmodes.htm
http://www.editorix.org/congo/html/c64_image_formats__part_i.html
Sorry if I missed out something, described something incorrectly, and special sorry for the typo mistakes (I am sure there are some, after 3 vodka and so late ) )
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Posted By
George
on 2010-08-11
20:27:24
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Hi MMS,
Thanks for your post. I was working on the story of the game until now.
Well sounds really complicated. Many steps to get an simple pic into the Commodore or Yape. I will try it after work today. Hopefully somebody comes around with a more simple way to achieve the goal.
I work with paintshop Pro 5. Does a palette exists for this programm too?
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Posted By
MMS
on 2010-08-12
02:18:59
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Hi,
The easiest way would be: CTRL +C, then CTRL+V in Plus4EMU, and voila !
(gfx conversion on the fly, sound weird yeah?
unfortunately it was just a joke, till the time someone not integrate it into the next emu releases)
But you can skip some steps, to make is facter, like:
- No time spent on dithering adjustment when you set it to None
(no dithering needed if you do not have a photo, just a hand-drawn line graphics, but in that case the usage of plus/4 palette is really recomended,otherwise strange things may happen). Color-clash to be kept in mind during creation of picture.
- Saving with a viewer prg and checking in Emulator. If you are confident, that it is OK, you can just skip it.
BTW I suggest to try out Plus4EMU with Display: Quality is 3 setting (I think you need an OpenGl1.3 compatible VGA card, my intel 965 in the laptop sucks). It pretty well simulates the CRT TV's picture, so after saving it from the emulator you can be almost sure, that it will look the same on a real one.
I liked PaintShop Pro till it was free Since then I switched over to Photofiltre. Also a great prg.
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Posted By
George
on 2010-08-12
03:49:03
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Hahaha, that was a good one!
i know an easier way: you stare at the screen and voila, the pic appears on the Plus/4.
Besides, what is FLi? and what is GFx?
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Posted By
MMS
on 2010-08-12
07:27:56
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Hi,
FLI is the way to partially overcome the limitation of the 4 colors per 8x8 zone.
(in the backgound the plussy changes the color registers and the colormap from an other big database (that's why FLI pictures are BIG). As it needs very precise timing, it is not completely free to use any color at any place and ususally causes some vibration on the picture).
Best if you try it yourself with a nice picture on the Plus4Emus. Select the HIRES (320x200), Multicolor (160x200), FLI (160x200 with more colors), High resoltuion FLI (320x200).
Tip: The higher you set the dithering on HIRES, the better picture you get. In Multicolor it is not so easy, sometimes dithering is "overdone" and then the picture looks crap.
Or you may check some slideshows from the Top List, you can find FLI and other pics. You may notice on FLIs that much more colors used, but the vibration too. (Now in my new release I use only normal multicolor pictures, as some people hate that picture vibration, and give low score on the pictures :-D )
My personal view, that very frequently the FLI picture not adjusted properly, so despite of more colors, it is too dithered, no time-consuming fine-tuning done.
Also I think the normal multicolor is not used till it's limits, but I try to reach them now
GFX is anything for me not done on the character based screen and not music, haha!
(grafix)
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Posted By
George
on 2010-08-12
11:41:40
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Very interesting, that people try to work around the limitations.
But how far can you go, Its only a one 1Mhz, 64k machine with limited Colors and resolution.
My Respekt to the people finding out the limits of the machine.
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Posted By
MMS
on 2010-08-12
12:30:45
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
Limited colors? Come On! 121! almost true color
(OK, I could use some better oranges, if the black would also have 8 shades (then would be 16 greys including black/white, would be almost perfect) ) and brown also do not really satisfy me.
Strange, that Plus/4 has a tons of green color, but when I convert pictures with big green areas, they turn to black...
70% of my pictures are ready... just to program the loader now (highly sophisticated BASIC V3.5)
UPDATE: On this site there is a perfect review how it work.
http://plus4world.powweb.com/kb.php?id=500027
Damn, sounds too complicated, so I leave this to be programmed someone else...
Fortunately there are several implementations
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Posted By
George
on 2010-08-12
12:38:42
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
hahahaha
Tell me another machine who has 8 different black colors? You will find this nowhere...
Thats why the plastick case is black too!!
I love the plus/4..
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Posted By
MMS
on 2010-08-12
13:06:41
| Re: Beginners Question: How to load Graphic fom Pc to Plus4
with 16 different greys you could ALMOST reach Amiga500 quaility in FLI.
(I do not speak about HAM, but the normal 320 x 400, no interlace mode.
"The graphics can be 320 or 640 pixels wide by 256 (PAL standard) or 512 (PAL interlace mode) pixels tall. Planar graphics are used, with up to 5 bitplanes (4 in hires), allowing 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 colour screens, from a palette of 4096 colours.
(from 4096 Amiga palette on grey was also 16, but that one is a 16bit machine).
"Yet Amstrad CPC had clearly a better palette (in number) than Speccy, C64, or almost all post-1985 8 bit computers....notable specification of the Amstrad CPC palette is that it offers only one "Grey".
It has 27 colors, and 1 grey. OMG!
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