I just wanted to take this moment and mention here that while GXAnim is released under the General Public License (GPL) Agreement, the program on which it depends - XAnim - is not. XAnim is licensed free for noncommercial use only.
Without getting into politics here, it really doesn't matter to me whether Mark Podlipec wishes to GPL XAnim or not - that is his right as the author, to decide the licensing conditions he wishes to place on the fruit of his labor. Personally, I appreciate the fact that we have a XAnim at all.
That having been said, I want to reiterate that GXAnim is GPL'ed code; you can read the actual license agreement in the COPYING file. GPL licensing conditions therefore apply.
XAnim is copyright 1991-1999 by Mark Podlipec.
GXAnim is copyright 1999 by Robert Warren.
There are two significant additions to 0.50. One, a chronic memory leakage problem that has plagued GXAnim since 0.20 has been plugged up by a more militant dynamic memory allocation system. Two, GXAnim now keeps a history of the last several movie clips you've played. There are also one or two cosmetic improvements as well as some structural changes.
Database features are still coming. To be honest I haven't been inspired enough to sit down and write them yet :). I've decided to go ahead and begin investigating Gnome compliance; watch for the first Gnome additions in the next version or two (at this rate, sometime before 2003).
Aside from those features, the two features I've consistently been asked for are frame capture and the ability to use other player programs than XAnim. Frame capture I can do and I've got slated for 0.80 or so. Multi-client support is outside of GXAnim's charter; this will be covered in a new project that should be announced shortly. If you have any interest in working on a project to create a full-scale multiformat video media player for Linux, please let me know.
In the meantime, as of 0.50 GXAnim is out of the cradle and is now a teenager; now we're on our way to 1.00, which should be out sometime early-to-mid 2000.
As always, if you have any ideas for improvements to GXAnim, please drop me a line at aleris@iag.net.
Until next time..
- Rob
I've had a lot of requests to make GXAnim a GNOME application, and I want to clarify my position on this issue. I don't like "integrated desktops", and I hate "desktop components" - i.e., apps that are desktop dependent. If I wanted to leverage my apps against my desktop, I'd be running Windows rather than Unix.
GXANIM IS NOT A GNOME APP. IT IS A GTK-ONLY APP. PLEASE DO NOT UPLOAD GXANIM TO LINUX SITES AS A GNOME APPLICATION. PLEASE DO NOT CLAIM THAT GXANIM REQUIRES GNOME LIBRARIES. IT DOES NOT.
Pet peeve. Thank you.
I have no problem whatsoever with GXAnim being "GNOME-friendly" but it will *never* be GNOME-dependent. I am in the process now of investigating the addition of some Gnome features, optionally compiled; these will be the focus of the next version or two of GXAnim.
If anyone out there would like to volunteer to help install OPTIONAL GNOME support, please let me know.
Thanks,
- Rob
Something I feel very strongly about is to not load the user with lots of prerequisite libraries; you shouldn't have to go running all over the Internet looking for just the right combination of libraries and tools simply because I was too lazy to write code.
That having been said..
You need GTK+ 1.2.x, a C compiler, XLib and the usual assortment of libraries. Nothing real fancy. If you have a recent GTK (at least 1.2.5 recommended) and you were able to get your X server running, you probably have all you need.
Of course, you will also need a working XAnim binary loadable from your system path. XAnim 2.70.70, 2.80.00 and 2.80.10 have all been successfully tested.
0. Unzip and untar the package file. The package file is currently in .bz2 format; I recommend obtaining the latest cut of tar (recent versions have bzip2 support) and untar via:
tar yxpvf gxanim-0.50.tar.bz21. Edit "Makefile" to liking.
Note: "make complete" is the equivalent of "make proper ; make install".
GXAnim no longer has a user-editable .rc file; the .rc file is automatically generated from the preferences window when you Apply changes. The resultant .rc file defaults to the user's home directory.
*NEW IN VERSION 0.50*
GXAnim has two specific new features in 0.50.
One, GXAnim now records a history of the last several clips you have played. The filenames are stored in ~/.gxanim_history, and defaults to the last 15 selections. Both of these settings can be changed from within the config.h prior to compiling (HISTFILE and HISTLEN).
Two, GXAnim now uses an independent widget to play movies. It's based (okay, it's shamelessly stolen) from the GtkButton code in GTK+ 1.2.5; the only feature here at the moment is the ability to hide the control panel by clicking an open movie screen. Clicking the screen again makes the panel reappear, as does the termination of a clip.
As of 0.45, GXAnim has an optional global configuration. The filename for the global config is defined in config.h; it defaults to "/etc/gxanim_global.conf" and is identical in format to the individual user .rc files. The easiest way to use this option is to save your settings and copy the file. If GXAnim cannot locate the user's local .rc, it will use the global file.
Settings include..
Scaling - Scaling is now variable and adjustable through a slidebar. You can adjust the screen scale from 0.5x to 3.0x.
Gamma Correction - There is now gamma correction. The default is 1.0, which essentially is no correction; it extends to 3.0. Typically the picture gets lighter the higher you set gamma.
Default Dir - This is the directory that GXAnim defaults to, looking for movie files. Note: if you already have a movie file selected, GXAnim will go to that directory first.
XAnim Binary - The XAnim command line itself. You can add XAnim switches, change the binary name or add "esddsp" at the start for ESD sound.
Floyd-Steinberg Dithering - Knock yourself out. It just scrambles the picture for me.
Play on Start - If you call GXAnim with a filename at the commandline, plays the movie immediately.
Hold on Last Frame - At the end of the clip, freeze on the final frame rather than simply dropping out.
Sync Frame to Audio - Synchronize the frame play with the audio; allow frame skipping if necessary.
Verbose mode - Spit out lots of logging info to STDERR as GXAnim works.
Any patches, bug reports or ideas for enhancements would be greatly appreciated. If you found some use for this program, please drop me a line at aleris@iag.net; it's always good to know one's children have found good homes.
Thanks,
Rob
November 19, 1999
Email : aleris@iag.net
Website : http://www.iag.net/~aleris