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Q103215: Animation in Windows

Article: Q103215
Product(s): Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.1
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbfile kbsample kb16bitonly kbOSWin310 _IK kbSDKWin16
Last Modified: 04-JUL-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article is aimed at people who would like to create a Microsoft
Windows-based application that does some form of animation, or who would like to
understand how to improve the performance of an existing animated application,
or who are considering porting an MS-DOS--based application to Windows. The main
focus of the article is on using Device-Independent Bitmaps (DIBs) for the
images and the DIB driver (DIB.drv) for the off-screen image buffer. The article
is written around a sample application, Sprites, which is included with the
article. Some knowledge of animation techniques is assumed. If you're looking
for a "How to Do Animation" article, this isn't it. The following points are
covered:

- Using the DIB driver

- Palettes

- Measuring and improving performance

- Lots of useful little tips and hints

MORE INFORMATION
================

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Software
Library:

  ~ SPRITES.EXE
  (http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/SPRITES.EXE)

For more information about downloading files from the Microsoft Software Library,
please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services


SPRITES demonstrates sprite (cast-based) animation in a Microsoft Windows-based
application using device-independent bitmaps (DIBs) for the images and the DIB
driver (DIB.drv) for the off-screen image buffer.

The SPRITES application uses a DIB for a background scene, and allows you to load
multiple sprites on top of the background scene. Each sprite has x, y, and z
coordinates, optional x and y velocity, and a flag that indicates whether it can
be dragged by the mouse.

A background and a set of sprites can be combined into a scene described in a
simple INI file. You can load the entire scene by choosing the Load Scene
command from the File menu.

The application updates the positions of all sprites that have a non-zero
velocity as fast as it can, using a PeekMessage() loop. Sprites that have the
selectable attribute set can be dragged with the mouse. Double-clicking a sprite
brings up a dialog box for setting sprite attributes.

Additional query words: kbfile softlib SPRITES.EXE

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Keywords          : kbfile kbsample kb16bitonly kbOSWin310 _IK kbSDKWin16 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1
Issue type        : kbinfo

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