Background music is Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Michael D. Walthius. All Rights Reserved.
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the filmstrip is displayed and a sample image is loaded. The image
is that of a flower. The standard icon button is clicked and the
contrast icon is clicked. Next the time line icon is clicked which
launches the time line. Things will look like the adjacent screen
shot below.
The documentation states that the intent of this exercise to change
the contrast from -100 to +100. However the initial setting of the
contrast control is at +100. 
The
user scrolls the setting down to -100 then double clicks the
contrast icon that is at frame 1 of the time line. The adjacent
dialog box at left launches and the get current settings button is
clicked then the OK button is clicked. The contrast setting is now
increased to +100 and the contrast icon is dragged and dropped to
frame 10 of the time line. Next the ellipse icon is dragged from the
toolbar to the area immediately above the contrast icon at frame 1 of
the time line. This will allow the user to select a specific
elliptical area of the flower. Next the entire image icon is dragged
from the tool bar and dropped above the contrast icon at frame 10 on
the time line. This means that the contrast will start out at -100 in
an elliptical arc specified by the user and spread over the entire
image by frame 10. 
The
user then double clicks the ellipse icon at frame 1 on the time line
and the adjacent dialog box at right is launched. The make area
selection now button is clicked and a small area in the center of the
flower is selected. I was somewhat disappointed to not see any of the
familiar marching ants that specifies the area selected in all the
other applications I am familiar with.
In fact I did it twice just to make sure I didn't do anything wrong.
It seemed very strange to not see the exact area I selected after
making the selection. After the selection is made the generate button
on the time line is clicked and the animation is quickly generated.
The animation may be previewed in the filmstrip area. For some reason
the animation looped backwards and forwards continuously. Later I
discovered that there are pong and reverse settings under the
filmstrip drop down menu. I went back the time line setup and saved
the animation to an .avi format then converted it to the nearby
animated .gif file. WinImages: F/x allows the user to save an
animation in .flm format after generation. I found this tutorial to
be very well written with several screen shots and even a sample
animation file at the end to show the user what the result should
look like. The documentation advises the user the same principles
just covered apply to all the various effects WinImages: F/x
possesses. These effects may also be applied to still images without
any animation creation.
All pages copyright© Roger A. Moncrief, Indepth Reviews, 1996, 1997, 1998
Thanks to Judy Gefter, !LuM! and Charles Blaquiere for their advice and counsel, some I heeded and some I didn't.