The input file containing the data to be animated is monitored by default; the file is checked every 2 seconds for change, and if it has been modified, the visualization display is updated accordingly. The interval at which the input file is checked for modification may be specified using the [-update] argument.
A clip mask may be used to dictate the portion of the data that is displayed in the animation using the [-clip] argument.
An alternate input color map may be used to change the current color map using the [-cmap] argument.
An animate direction value may be provided which specifies the direction in which images are sequenced using the [-dir] argument. There are five different direction values which are as follows:
"" 1 - "<<" Causes the animation to sequence in a backward direction.
2 - "<" Advances a single frame in a backwards direction (frame N to N-1).
3 - "Stop" Causes the animation to stop.
4 - ">" Advances a single frame in a forward direction (frame N to N+1)
5 - ">>" Causes the animation to sequence in a forward direction.
An animate control value may be provided which controls how animation sequencing is performed when the animation is in motion using the [-control] argument. Animation is considered "in motion" when the animation direction is sequencing forward or backward. The animation may be performed once completely, repeated indefinitely, or performed in one direction then reversed and repeated in the other direction. There are three different control values which are as follows:
"" 1 - "Single" Does a single complete sequence of the animation in the current direction, and then stops.
2 - "Loop" Does a full sequence through the animation in the current animation direction. As soon as the sequence is finished, it is started again, so that the animation is put into a loop. This procedure will repeat until the animation is stopped.
3 - "Autoreverse" Does a single complete sequence of the animation, in the current animation direction, then reverses the direction and sequences back. This procedure will repeat until the animation is stopped.
An animation speed value may be provided which controls how fast the frames in the image are to be sequenced using the [-speed] argument. The speed is a value in seconds ranging between 0 and 5, where 0.0 is the fastest possible on a given machine, and 5.0 is very slow. Note that 1/60 sec (0.016 sec) corresponds to the normal frame rate for television. It is NOT recommended that the frame speed be set to 0.0 for most situations since this is an intensive operation that may make it difficult to re-gain control of the graphical user interface.
By default, the visualization display will share its colormap will all other applications running at the same time; that is, it does not not use a private colormap, but rather makes use of the default colormap. It is possible to specify that the visualization display allocate its own private colormap or "grab" all available colors for its own use. This is done using the [-priv] argument. When [-priv] is specified, moving the mouse pointer into the display window will cause the display to have its private colormap installed; moving the pointer out of the display window will cause the private colormap to be de-installed. This results in the "technoflashing" phenomenon characteristic of private colormap installation.
Color allocation can also be controlled and set to either Read Only or Read Write using the [-alloc] argument. When set to read only, once a color cell has been allocated, it can have its color set only once; from then on, the color cell can be shared by multiple applications, but not changed. If the visualization display requires the color displayed to change, it must re-allocate the color cell, forcing a re-display of data. This can be an expensive procedure. In contrast, after a read/write color cell is allocated, it can have its color changed at any time without re-allocation; the data being displayed does not need to be redisplayed, and the color update process is much more efficient. However, the colors used in the visualization display cannot be shared by other applications.
On creation, the animation display window may be placed manually (the default method), or placed automatically. For automatic placement of the animation display window, specify the desired location in device (screen) coordinates, using the [-x] and [-y] arguments.
While the animation display window should be created with a default size that is appropriate to display the data, a width and height for the window can be specified explicitly using the [-width] and [-height] arguments. Note that interactive resizing of the animate window using the window manager is currently NOT supported.
% putanimate -i sequence:baby
% putanimate -i sequence:bushes