Object Animations
Here's a quick video for importing and manipulating object animations in GenCG:
Background Animations
In addition to importing animations as objects, you can also import Background Animations by going to Insert -> Background and selecting Animation Files under Files of Type.
Although animations cannot be resized as objects, inserting background animations stretches it to your Canvas resolution. This is great for longer animations, as you could export it as 1280x720 and have GenCG enlarge it to 1920x1080. This feature can be disabled by unchecking "Scale to Fullscreen" under the Attributes tab. This is especially important if you are running into Out of Memory errors, try dropping the resolution down of the animation, then insert it in the Background to stretch.
Background animations automatically Loop as well, and because of this you are able to apply a really cool feature to your pages.
If you copy & paste the same Background animation to multiple GenCG Pages, then select Manual | Auto IN under the Run tab, then the animation will continue to loop when different pages are called up and played. This allows you to have multiple textual elements transition from Page to Page without disturbing the looped animation.
Importing Animations
GenCG accepts sequential Targa files for animations.Once you have the Targa sequence, go to Insert -> Animation and change the Files of Type at the bottom to Image Files.Click on the first image in your sequence and open it.It will ask a couple questions, first: do you want the same name as the sequence? second: do you want to delete the image sequence after conversion.You can now play the animation; it will only show on your video output or though the output window of the GenCG Edit software.
Working with Animations in GenCG
Manually | Automatically Transition Text over Animations
Insert the animation object and insert additional text. If you want to position text over the animation, change your Page Mode from Still to Multilayer in the top toolbar and move it to a different layer (4x icons on top tool of Front, Back, Forward, Backward). In the Effects tab, there is a checkbox named 'Obj'. This will allow you to manually (unchecked) or automatically (checked) play through additional layers in your Page. You are also able to combine text and shape objects into a single layer by grouping them together (right click -> Group/UnGroup). By doing this, you are able to apply a single transition to the group so they play in unison.
Delay Objects from Playing
If you have the animation transition in through your animation software, like After Effects or Motion, and want to hold your GenCG text objects from coming in for a period of time, then there is a way to delay objects from playing. First, change your Page Mode from Still to Multilayer in the top toolbar and move your layers accordingly (4x icons on top toolbar of Front, Back, Forward, Backward). Now, go into your Effects tab and select the object you would like to delay on your Canvas. With it selected, in the Effects tab you will see 3 numbers next to your Objects effect area. The first number, 1.0, is your Transition Effect time, which is 1 second. If you wanted a 15 frame transition, move the slider to 0.5. The second number is used for the Blinking Effect (B), and controls the blinking speed. The last number is 0, and is for the delay time. If you want to hold the object from playing for 15 frames, set the value to 0.5.
GenCG Animation Basics
1. Animations cannot be resized in GenCG. If the animation needs to be modified, please alter it's adjustments outside of the GenCG software and re-import.
2. By default, animations only play once. When the animation has played, it will automatically hold on the last frame until the next Page is called in your Page List. You are able to adjust this by selecting your animation in the GenCG Canvas and going to your Attributes tab. There is an Animation Loop setting within. If you wanted the animation to continually play until the next Page is called, set the animation to 0 (Infinite). If the Animation Loop is set to 100, then it will play continuously if unattended without transitioning to the next Page.
3. Even though you don't see Animations play within your GenCG application, you are able to view animations and transition effects in your GenCG Edit software (with an external AMD graphics card installed). You can either play your Pages in a pop-up window or through your second VGA monitor.
