Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!ucsd!sdcc6!sdcc8!cs178abu
From: cs178abu@sdcc8.ucsd.EDU (John Schultz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Looking for help with Gels Animation.
Message-ID: <798@sdcc8.ucsd.EDU>
Date: 24 Feb 88 20:26:50 GMT
References: <5074@pyr.gatech.EDU>
Reply-To: cs178abu@sdcc8.ucsd.edu.UUCP (John Schultz)
Organization: University of California, San Diego
Lines: 21


  I screwed around with the gel routines for a while and found them
to be unacceptably slow.  Furthermore, I didn't have enough control
over those routines to use for fast animation in bizarre view
setups.  Although the initial startup time is longer, you're better
off creating your own simple animation routines custom tailored to
your application. (In my case, generic animation routines for my
video game development system).  The basic routines you'll have to
learn are: BltBitMap() (or Blt(Mask)BitMapRastPort()).  You can do
simple clipping in a few lines of code or attach a cliprect to your
rastport (much slower).  Also, BltMaskBitMapRastPort() is much
slower than the other two blit functions.  If your are blitting many
rectangles, the fastest way to clear the screen is using BltClear()
(SetRast is slower).  If you have a background you must preserve,
you must revert to backup-restore-draw techniques (But there is at
least one other technique you can use on the amiga that is much
faster).
  Again, it is harder to implement at first, but the rewards are
much greater.  And when something hoses up, you know it's your
fault, not the system's.

  John