Background music is Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Michael D. Walthius. All Rights Reserved. back ext under the time line menu section is the area selection stuff. There are 2 dialog boxes that come into play where area selection is concerned. The first is the area selection object dialog box. It is launched by double clicking on an area selection icon that has been placed on the time line. This dialog box, in the nearby screen shot above, has a very long drop down menu that encompasses all the area selection tools available on the previously discussed area selection icon panel and perhaps a few more besides those. It has check boxes to permit or deny interpolation to the next area selection and a check box for spline interpolation. If the spline interpolation box is checked WinImages: F/x will automatically create a curved type of interpolation to the next selection. If it is not checked then the interpolation will be linear. The area selection object dialog box has a button that can be clicked to make an area selection now. If the image is not loaded a dialog box will pop up advising the user to that fact. A click on the show details button will launch the area selection detail dialog box. See the adjacent image at left. This detail dialog box allows the user to fine tune any area selection. It also has a very long drop down menu that allows a user to change the selection method. It has control settings for transparency which will be covered later. Next there is a tutorial to complete. The tiger image is loaded, the time line is purged, the color fill icon and the I shape icons are dropped on frame 1. Next the I shape icon is dropped on frame 10. It is important that the area selection icons be above the color fill icon on the time line. Next the Africa I shape is loaded. Then the I shape icon at frame 1 is double clicked and the make selection now button is clicked. An Africa shaped selection is made in the upper right area of the tiger image. Next the australi I shape is loaded and the I shape icon at frame 10 is control clicked. The lower right area of the tiger image is selected with the australi shape. Next the generate button on the time line is clicked and a 10 frame .avi file is created. See the nearby animated .gif image above left. The second part of this tutorial will deal with transparency. The I shape icon at frame 1 is double clicked which launches the area selection object dialog box. The show details button is clicked which launches the area selection details dialog box. The method drop down list is used to select ellipse as the selection method and the OK button is clicked. The ellipse will encompass the area selected by the Africa I shape. Next the I shape icon at frame 10 is double clicked and the user navigates again to the area selection detail dialog box. This time the transparency level at the upper right is set to 0 and the OK button is clicked. The documentation claims that an ellipse will now start at the upper left then move to the lower right while changing into the Australia shape. The Australia shape will fade to completely transparent by the last frame. I had no doubt this would occur. By now I had been working with WinImages: F/x enough that I thought I was beginning to get the hang of it. I clicked the generate button on the time line and to my extreme dismay and complete consternation the Australia shape did not become transparent! I thought I must be doing something wrong so I repeated everything from scratch but the same result occurred. I tried everything I could think of and played around with various settings but I could not get any transparency on the Australia shape. I noticed a little button labeled Tr next to the transparency level window. I clicked it and a trend window appeared. I noticed the right end was at the 255 mark. I dragged it down just a little and hit the generate button again and now I had the transparency. I later discovered this issue is addressed on Black Belt's web pages in the FAQ section. next 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.