NAME

     desi - DESign Image

SYNOPSIS

     desi

WHAT IS DESI?

     Desi is a tool that may be	used for designing images.  It may be used  to
     interactively  position objects such as text, images, or colormaps	onto a
     background.  The program was originally written to	automate  the  tedious
     process  of  centering  text  onto	 a background but has grown to be much
     more.  With the proper hardware, the  images  designed  by	 Desi  may  be
     recorded  as  frames  in  a movie,	rendered as 35mm slides, or printed as
     overheads or hardcopies.

     Desi is capable of	directly working with sgi, rle,	or gif image  formats.
     If	 you  wish to work with	either rle or gif images, you must alread have
     the Utah Raster Toolkit commands in your path.

     Desi also makes use of X, Motif, the GLX widget, GL, Display  Postscript,
     libimage,	a  set	of  linked  list  routines,  and something called "the
     Selfmoving	widget".

FEATURE DETAILS

     Save As: Desi data	file
	  This option saves all	of the information in your Desi	session.   Use
	  this	option to save your data so that it may	be read	back in	later.
	  This data file is "human readable".  You may view it to see  exactly
	  what information is stored.

     Save As: Utah Raster Toolkit script
	  This option will  create  a  shell  script  of  Utah	Raster	Tookit
	  commands.    This  script  can  be  edited  if  necessary  then  run
	  separately from Desi to re-create  what  you	have  designed.	  This
	  script cannot	be read	back into Desi.

	  NOTE:	 Currently, there is  no  way  to  reproduce  a	 colored  Desi
	  background  using  a	URT  script.   If  desired,  a snapshot	of the
	  background should be made prior to placing any objects on it.	  This
	  background  image's  filename	 can  then  be	edited into the	script
	  manually.

     Save As: Desi Snapshot to URT file
	  This option will create a screen dump	of the	current	 frame	shown.
	  Please note that when	this option is selected, the image, exactly as
	  it is	seen on	the screen will	be dumped into a URT (rle) file.

     Save As: Desi Snapshot to SGI file
	  This option will create a screen dump	of the	current	 frame	shown.
	  Please note that when	this option is selected, the image, exactly as
	  it is	seen on	the screen will	be dumped into a SGI (rgb) file.

     Text Objects
          When the "Text" menu item is selected, a text panel is opened on the
          screen.  Text may be either typed into the text panel or copied from
          another window and pasted into the text panel.  There  is  virtually
          no  limit  to  the number of lines of text that can be entered.  The
	  "Page	Up" and	"Page Down" keys may be	used to	move the  text	within
	  the  small  text panel window.  Once the text	is entered, a click in
	  the "OK" box will cause your text  to	 be  displayed	using  Display
	  Postscript.	Double	clicking on a previously displayed text	object
	  will reproduce this text panel so that  you  may  further  edit  the
	  text.

     Image Objects
	  Desi	currently  supports  several  image  formats.	These  formats
	  include  the Utah Raster Toolkit format, the SGI RGB format, and the
	  GIF image format.  Desi will	automatically  list  files  ending  in
	  ".sgi"  or  ".rgb" when the "Image" item is selected.	 If you	prefer
	  to work with another image format,  the  default  extension  may  be
	  change  by  putting  a  resource  in	your .Xdefaults	file.  See the
	  RESOURCES section for	more information.

     Colormap Objects
	  Desi can read	in ASCII  or  binary  (future)	colormap  files.   The
	  colormap  data  will	be displayed in	a window that can be scaled or
	  rotated.

     Moving Objects
	  To move an object, select it using the  first	 mouse	button.	  Once
	  selected,  the  object  may be freely	moved using the	mouse.	If the
	  shift	key is pressed while the object	is  being  moved,  the	motion
	  will	be  constrained	 in  either the	X or Y direction (whichever is
	  greater).

     Multiple Frames
	  Desi is able to store	objects	on more	than one page  or  frame.   To
	  create  a  new frame,	select the "Append New Frame" item in the View
	  menu.	 This will create a new	frame after the	one that is  currently
	  displayed.   You  may	page through the frames	by using the "Page Up"
	  and "Page Down" keys.	 There is virtually no limit to	the number  of
	  frames you can create.

     Recording Panel
	  The recording	panel may be used to record Desi frames	onto  a	 video
	  tape	deck.  Optionally, one may specify various transitions between
	  each frame using the buttons on this panel.  The  recording  process
	  may follow one of three independent methods described	below.

	  Recording to the Abekas A60: To send frames to the Abekas  A60,  the
	  "smart_vfr"  command	is  used.  This	is done	by simply entering the
	  Abekas A60 starting frame number in the "Pre-anim cmd"  text	field.
	  Once	entered,  the  ending frame on the Abekas will be computed and
	  shown	in the "Post-anim cmd" text field.  Clicking on	 the  "Record"
	  button will start the	recording process using	sgifade	and smart_vfr.

	  Recording using pre and post frame commands: To record frames	 using
	  a  scan  converter, each frame must be displayed on the screen to be
	  recorded.  This is usually done by specifying	both a pre-frame shell
          command  and  a  post-frame shell command.  These commands should be
          entered into the "Pre-frame cmd" and "Post-frame  cmd"  text  fields
          respectively.  Clicking  on  the  "Record"  button  will  start  the
          recording   process.   Several  sample  command  scripts  have  been
	  included with	the desi distribution.

	  Recording using V-LAN receivers/controllers: To record frames	 using
	  V-LAN	 receivers,  a	starting  timecode must	be specified.  This is
	  done by entering the starting	timecode into the "Pre-anim cmd"  text
	  field.   The	outpoint will be determined and	automatically shown in
	  the "Post-anim cmd" text  field.   You  may  specify	beginning  and
	  ending  holds	 in  the  "Pre-frame cmd" and "Post-frame cmd" fields.
	  Clicking on the "Record" button will	start  the  recording  process
	  using	sgifade	and smart_load.

     Recording on the Solitaire
	  To record a series of	images on the Solitaire	 film  recorder,  each
	  frame	 should	 be  one  in a series of frames	stored within the same
	  Desi data file.  You must  also  create  a  shell  script  with  the
	  following two	lines (be sure to make it executable):

	  toutah $1 junk.rle
	  sol junk.rle

	  While	running	Desi on	the workstation	 connected  to	the  Solitaire
	  film	recorder (i5), and after reading in your data file, select the
	  "Record" item	under the View menu.  Enter the	name of	your script in
	  the  "Post-frame  cmd" text field.  Now click	on the "Record Frames"
	  button.  Desi	will save an RLE file of each of your frames then send
	  each of them to the Solitaire	film recorder.

     Saving each frame in an image file
	  To save a series of images in	SGI (rgb) format, simply click on  the
	  "Record" button.  Desi will save an SGI file of each of your frames.
	  The image files will be named	frame.0001.sgi,	frame.0002.sgi,	etc.

     Background	Preferences
	  The Background Preferences panel  allows  one	 to  adjust  both  the
	  background color and the background size.  The slider	controls allow
	  the RGB values of the	corners	 of  the  background  to  be  adjusted
	  independently.

	  NOTE:	 A background specified	in this	manner	can  not  be  directly
	  used	if  you	 save  a  Utah	Raster	Toolkit	 script	 of your data.
	  Instead, a "snapshot"	of only	the background should be  saved	 in  a
	  file.	  This	snapshot  filename  may	 be edited into	any URT	script
	  generated by Desi later.

	  The default background size  is  720x486.   This  size  is  what  is
	  required  if	the  images  are  to be	sent to	the Abekas A60.	 Other
	  popular image	sizes are listed below.

     1024x768  1/2 of Kodak XL7700 color printer (xlprint)

     1024x683  1/2 of Solitaire	file recorder (sol)

     648x512   Kodak Color Video Printer (cvp)

RESOURCES

     It	is often desirable to customize	software to fit	your own needs.	  Desi
     may  be  customized by placing resource specifications in your .Xdefaults
     file.  The	best way to describe what can be customized  is	 by  providing
     some  example  customizations  with  short	 descriptions.	Here are a few
     examples of commonly used Desi customizations:

     Desi*background:		   SGITeal

     Desi*fontList:		   screen11

     Desi*isb.pattern:		   *.rle

     Desi.geometry:		   +200+100

     Desi.form.bboard.back.width:  1024

     Desi.form.bboard.back.height:
				   683

     These lines will cause Desi to use	an alternate  font  and	 an  alternate
     background	 color.	 The line containing "*.rle" causes Desi to list image
     files that	end with that extension	instead	of the default	"*.sgi".   The
     geometry  line will cause Desi to open the	initial	window 200 pixels from
     the left and 100 pixels down from the top	of  the	 display.   The	 lines
     containing	 the numbers "1024" and	"683" cause the	size of	Desi's initial
     background	to be suitable for creating 35mm slides.

LIMITATIONS

     - Since this program uses the GLX Widget, Display Postscript, and	Motif,
     it	will run only on SGI workstations.

     - It is recommended that the Utah Raster Toolkit commands are already  in
     your  path.   Although  the  background  colors can be specified for each
     corner, this background is	not used when creating a URT script.

     - The Display Postscript routines will not	work properly if  the  default
     visual  on	your machine has been changed from 8 bit pseudocolor to	24 bit
     truecolor.

     - Certain	SGI  machines  (Indigo,	 Crimson)  do  not  handle  the	 shape
     extension	well.	As  a  result,	transparent  text mail produce bizarre
     results on	these machines.

SEE ALSO

     sgifade(1), smart_vfr(1), smart_load(1), urt(1)

AUTHOR

     Wesley C. Barris (wes@msc.edu)
     Army High Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC)
     Minnesota Supercomputer Center, Inc.