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Published in TidBITS 17.
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20 Aug 1990 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Just ADDmotion

by Adam C. Engst Send Email to Author

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A number of weeks ago MotionWorks introduced ADDmotion, a multimedia package that will run under HyperCard 2.0. We were interested but wanted to get more information before we did an article on it. Luckily MotionWorks was at Macworld and we also found talk on America Online about ADDmotion.

Overall, ADDmotion seems like it will be a nice low-end animation and multimedia tool for those not wishing to delve into the complexity of Macromind Director. ADDmotion works on an object-path metaphor, so you create an actor (in the included 24-bit color paint module, which would be useful for other things in HyperCard as well) and then draw a path for the actor to travel on. If you want, ADDmotion will create a path for you once you specify the start and end points. The path looks a like a Bezier curve with lots of handles for easy manipulation. ADDmotion also includes cues, so other HyperCard actions (including other XCMDs) can be executed at the appropriate times. A Timeline window shows you the relative chronological positions of the actors, sounds, and backdrops so it is simple to synchronize everything. If you already have work in Director or want to bring in other animations, ADDmotion can import and export PICS, PICT, PICT2, and MacPaint files.

We were quite impressed with ADDmotion at Macworld, although it won't be shipping until HyperCard 2.0 does. It has a list price of $295 and all animations produced with ADDmotion can be freely distributed without royalties. Distribution will be easy because the ADDmotion animation engine XCMD is a mere 22K.

One use we immediately thought of for ADDmotion was a symbiosis with tapes produced with Farallon's MediaTracks, which can record mouse movements and screen changes and play them within HyperCard. MediaTracks could be used to make a tape of how an application is used, and then ADDmotion could add animation and actors to the tape to provide commentary and further information. That sort of thing can be done now, with just HyperCard and MediaTracks' predecessor, ScreenRecorder, but the process is clumsy at best and the results look lousy on the whole. Neither the MotionWorks people nor the Farallon people had thought of using the two packages together, but both said they would look into it further.

MotionWorks -- 604/732-0289
Farallon -- 415/849-2331

Information from:
Adam C. Engst -- TidBITS Editor
MotionWorks propaganda

Related articles:
MacWEEK -- 21-Aug-90, Vol. 4 #29, pg. 36
InfoWorld -- 16-Jul-90, Vol. 12 #29, pg. 36

 

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