SIMPSONS CARTOON STUDIO LIMITED DEMONSTRATION VERSION USER'S GUIDE THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT MEANT FOR PUBLICATION VERBATIM. PLEASE MODIFY IT AS NECESSARY FOR EACH PLATFORM (MAC OR PC) AND WHETHER IT IS COMPRESSED (I.E. ON THE WEB) OR UNCOMPRESSED (E.G. COVER-MOUNTED CD). THE SECTIONS WHICH THIS APPLIES TO ARE "SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS", "INSTALLATION" , "RAM INDICATOR" AND "HINTS". Welcome to the demo version of the Simpsons Cartoon Studio, a powerful animation tool kit that includes many cartoon building blocks you can use to create your own original Simpsons cartoons. Pick a background. Choose your favorite characters. Then, add props, special effects and sounds. The Simpsons Cartoon Studio makes it easy to put everything together and bring your cartoon creations to life. Please remember that this demo is just that - a demo which provides a sample of what is available on the actual Simpsons Cartoon Studio product. The Simpsons Cartoon Studio, available in stores now, contains hundreds more animations, sounds, props and special effects for virtually limitless cartoon fun. So what are you waiting for, man? Let's get started! System Requirements Macintosh 68030 33 MHz processor or higher System 7 or higher 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended) 13 MB of hard disk space 640 x 480 display or higher, with 256 colors 2X or faster CD-ROM PC 486SX 33 MHz processor or higher Windows 3.1 or Windows(r) 95 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended) 13 MB of hard disk space SVGA 640 x 480 display or higher, with 256 colors 2X or faster CD-ROM Sound board, plus speakers or headphones to hear audio INSTALLATION Macintosh 1) If you are copying the demo from a CD-ROM, simply drag the "Simpsons Cartoon Studio Demo" folder onto your local hard drive. 2)Open the folder named, "Simpsons Cartoon Studio Demo" on your hard drive and then open the "Simpsons" folder. Double-click on the Simpsons icon. You're ready to start! Windows 1)If you are copying the demo from a CD-ROM, simply copy the entire "Simpsons" directory and also the SIMPDATA directory into a directory on your local hard drive (e.g. C:SIMPDEMO)To create a new directory type MD SIMPDEMO from the C:> PROMPT. 2)For Windows 95: You can add the application to a Program Group in the Taskbar from Start Menu in the usual way. Alternatively, you can open the SIMPDEMO directory, and then double-click on the SIMPDEMO.EXE icon in the SIMPSONS directory and you're ready to start! 3) For Windows 3.1 or 3.11: You can add the application to a Program Group in the usual way from the File/New menu in the Program Manager. Alternatively you can open the File Manager (usually located in the Main program group). Click on the drive letter that represents your local hard drive (USUALLY C:). Double-click to open the SIMPSONS directory and then double-click on the SIMPDEMO.EXE file in the SIMPSONS and you're ready to start! CONTROLS AND BUTTONS NEW - Clear screen to start a new cartoon OPEN - Open existing cartoons/import cartoons saved on disks (Sixteen example cartoons have been included). SAVE - Save new cartoon or save changes to cartoon currently open (Not available for demo) SAVE AS - Title and save new cartoon (Not available for demo) QUIT - Exit the Simpsons Cartoon Studio Cartoon Title - Shows name of cartoon currently open Play Button (Large pointing finger icon) - Play cartoons (Changes to PAUSE when cartoons are playing) Frame Shuttle (Krusty the Clown on Unicycle Icon) - Displays current frame - drag to move from one frame to another First/Last Frame Buttons (<< and >> Icons below Frame Shuttle) - Goes directly to first or last frame of cartoon Layer Manager - (column of 12 slots on left of the stage) - Displays and shuffles props and characters to the front or back of the stage RAM Indicator (Brain icon) -Warns you when running low on RAM (To clean up the RAM used by Cartoon Studio, click on the Brain icon while holding down ALT on the PC, or Option on the Macintosh). Volume Control (Speaker Icon) - Increase or decrease sound level Export (Floppy Disk icon) - Save cartoon in format suitable for playing without needing a copy of the Cartoon Studio (Not available for demo) Loop (-> Icon under lower left stage corner) - Repeats cartoon continuously Cut (Scissors Icon) - Delete all frames after current frame Editing Control Panel (appears when an item on the stage is clicked on) - Adds, deletes, or manipulates elements in cartoon Soundtrack Selection - Displays soundtrack Sound Effect Selection - Displays sound effect BACKGROUNDS Adding a background Click on the BACKGROUND button (Sunset Icon at lower right of screen). Click on the background you want to have it appear on the stage. Move your mouse up or down to adjust the position of the background on the stage. Click the mouse to anchor the background on the stage. PROPS Adding a Prop Click on the PROP button located to the right of the stage (Sofa Icon at lower right of screen). To place a prop throughout the entire cartoon, or just part of it, use the Editing Control Panel described later in this manual. Click on your desired PROP to have it appear on the stage. Move your mouse to position the prop anywhere on the stage. Click the mouse once to anchor the prop in that frame. CHARACTERS To Add a Character Click on one of the CHARACTER buttons located to the right of the stage. Click on the ARROWS (Pointing Finger icons) above the character palette to view all of the animated poses. Click on the CHARACTER POSE you want to have it appear on the stage. Move the mouse to position the character anywhere on the stage. Click the mouse to anchor the character on the stage. Remember, characters will animate, advancing your cartoon a few frames. ANIMATING Animating a Prop or Character Click on the Simpsons CHARACTER button or PROP button. Click on the desired CHARACTER pose or PROP from the palette and position it on the stage where you want to begin animating. Click on the mouse and continue to hold the mouse button down as you move the CHARACTER or PROP around the stage. Holding the mouse button down records the movement and animates the character or prop. Release the mouse button to stop animating. Character and animated props will continue animating after you release the mouse button, advancing the cartoon a few frames. THE FRAME SHUTTLE (KRUSTY THE CLOWN) The Frame Shuttle allows you to access all the frames in your cartoon by sliding it forward or backward. The number displayed in the Frame Shuttle represents the cartoon frame that is currently displayed. If you have enough memory, a cartoon may contain as many as 1,200 frames. For purposes of this demo, however, the largest cartoon can only be a maximum of 400 frames. To advance the cartoon, click and drag the FRAME SHUTTLE TO THE RIGHT. To rewind the cartoon, click and drag the FRAME SHUTTLE TO THE LEFT. THE LAYER MANAGER The Layer Manager is the column of twelve slots located on the left side of the stage. All characters or props in a cartoon will appear as icons in the Layer Manager palette in the order in which they are added to the cartoon. By clicking on and dragging a Layer Manager entry, you can shuffle items in front of or behind each other. EDITING The Editing Control Panel lets you add or delete elements in a cartoon, such as animations and props. It also allows you to control the point in time and the length of time an object will appear in the cartoon. To begin editing, select a character or prop on the stage by clicking on it. A cartoon element is selected when a box surrounds it. The Editing Control Panel will appear. The left column of buttons will HOLD (stretching film icon) or CUT (scissors cutting film icon) a selected element to or from all previous frames (frame 1 to the current frame). The center column of buttons HOLD or CUT (film in trash can icon) a selected element to or from ALL frames. The right column of buttons will HOLD or CUT a selected element to or from all future frames (current frame to the end of the cartoon). You can select and edit Special Effects in your cartoon, but they may only be cut, not moved. Editing Sounds Soundtracks (music and ambient loops) can be looped through a cartoon or deleted. Sound effects (voices, movement and action noises, magical and nature sounds) can only be deleted. To loop music or ambient loops, simply click on the Title of the sound in the soundtrack selection box located below the stage, and then click on the appropriate editing button. SPECIAL EFFECTS Adding a Special Effect Click on the SPECIAL EFFECT button located to the right of the stage (Lightning Icon at lower right of screen). Click on the BOOKMARKS or SCROLLING ARROWS above the Special Effect palette to view all of the available special effects. Click on your desired SPECIAL EFFECT to have it appear on the stage. Move your mouse to position the special effect anywhere on the stage. Click the mouse once to anchor the special effect on the stage. REMEMBER, the special effect will animate, advancing your cartoon a few frames. SOUND To Add Sound Click on the SOUND button located in the lower right corner of the stage (Ear/Notes Icon at lower right of screen). Click on the Ear icon inside a Sound Box to hear a preview. Click in the SOUND BOX containing the name of the sound to play it in your cartoon. HINTS To reposition an individual frame of a placed character or prop, hold down the SHIFT key, then click and drag the character or prop to a new position. You can then use the Editing Panel to edit the character or prop as necessary. Hold down the SHIFT key while positioning characters or props near the edge of the stage if you want to place them partly or fully off-screen and bring them on-screen smoothly. To begin an animation from any point within a pre-set animation clip, hold down the CONTROL key after selecting a character or animating prop to cycle through the individual frames of the animation. As long as there is enough memory available, you can use as many backgrounds as you want in the cartoon. Put backgrounds in your cartoon at any time, in any frame. BUT, if you place or change a background in an earlier frame, it will replace all backgrounds that have been placed in later frames. If you seem to be having low memory problems, make sure that you are not running any other applications on your computer at the same time as the Cartoon Studio. Macintosh users can try increasing the Cartoon Studio's preferred size by clicking on the Simpsons Cartoon Studio application icon, and then selecting Get Info from the Finder's File menu. Also try turning on Virtual Memory (found in the Memory Control Panel) if you have less than 5MB of free RAM. Windows 3.1 and 3.11 users can turn on Virtual Memory (found in the 386 Enhanced mode Control Panel) and also try decreasing the size of SMARTDRV. Windows 95 users can check that Virtual Memory is turned on by going to the System section of the Control Panel, clicking on the 'Performance' tab and then the 'Virtual Memory' button, and choosing the 'Let Windows Manage my Virtual Memory' setting. PLAYING YOUR CARTOON Clicking on the PLAY button, located to the left of the Frame Shuttle, allows you view a cartoon from the frame currently displayed to the end of the cartoon. To watch a cartoon from the beginning, be sure to click on the FIRST FRAME button before you click on the PLAY button. Once your cartoon starts playing, click the PLAY Button again to pause the cartoon. LEGAL STUFF The Simpsons Cartoon Studio( published by Fox Interactive. The Simpsons( & (c) 1996 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. The Simpsons Cartoon Studio ( & (c) 1996 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. "Twentieth Century Fox", "Fox" and their associated logos are the property of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. The Simpsons( and characters created by Matt Groening. Simpsons theme written by Danny Elfman. Published by Fox Film Music Corp. (BMI). Simpsons music written by Alf Clausen. Published by TCF Music Publishing (ASCAP). (c) Big Top Productions, L.P. All Rights Reserved. Windows is a trademark and Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.