moppi|demopaja moppi|demopaja



    Last update 9/10/2002

    Introduction

      Moppi Demopaja is a demo authoring tool. It has a interface similar to the popular 2D animation tools such as Macromedia Flash and Adobe After Effects. Many of the user interface functionality is imitated from After Effects.




    User Interface


      The Demopaja Interface.

      The demo consists of effects and importers which are loaded from plugins. The demo is built on layers, which are groups of effects. A layer doesn't have any other tweakable parameters than visiblity. Effects on the other hand have multiple parameters which can be animated using keyframe animation. Multiple parameters are grouped into gizmos.

      The user interface is divided into three parts. In the left is the file inspector. The user can import files to the inspector and drag them to the layer list shown left in the timeline window. In the middle is the main view where the actual rendering is shown.




    Animating with Demopaja


      A closer look of the timeline window.

      Animating in Demopaja is done using keyframing. If a parameter supports animation (not all parameters do) there's a wave button on its left. By pressing the button you can enable the animation of a parameter. By pressing it again you disable the animation and all the keyframes are cleared.

      If a parameter is animated, you can see the curve of the parameter by expanding the parameter from the arrow left to the parameter. You can also edit the value of a keyframe by dragging the keyframe values. Adjusting a keyframe's position in time is done by dragging the keyframe.

      There are currently three ways a keyframe can be interpolated: linear, smooth, and hold. Values between two linearly interpolated keyframes are are interpolated linearly. Smooth interpolation is done using TCB-splines. Anyone familiar with 3D Studio MAX knows this interpolation. A keyframe with hold interpolation doesn't get interpolated at all. The value of the keyframe is used until the next keyframe is found in the timeline.

      Visibility of layers and effects is controlled via time segments. A Time segment can contain multiple keyframes which determine when an effect (blue) or a layer (red) is visible. If a layer isn't visible all the effects inside the layer aren't visible either.




    Plugins

      Anyone with C++ skills and a compiler (currently only MSVC is supported, in the future maybe others too) can code plugins for demopaja. The API is designed to be simple and extendendable. The effects rendering API supports multiple device interfaces. Currently there's only the OpenGL interface. I have plans to support at least a software rendering interface and an interface which can access the music system in Demopaja. See the SDK for more information.




    Using Demopaja in your own productions

      The SDK also include source code to Demopaja player. See the SDK for more details.




    Documentation



    History

      9/10/2002 Version 0.71 beta

      • Fixed Drag'n'Drop crash bug
      • Fixed file parameter animation bug (animation was not saved correctly)
      • New SDK

      7/5/2002 Version 0.7 beta

      • Folders for organizing imported files
      • Multiple scenes
      • Scene to Image rendering
      • Quick parameter editing in timeline
      • Animated file parameters
      • New color picker
      • A couple of new effects included
      • Support for non power of two images

      8/16/2001 Version 0.61 beta

      • a couple of bug fixes
      • some changes were made to the SDK which required rebuild the Demoapja too
      • new SDK

      8/9/2001 Version 0.6 beta

      • New color picker
      • Flash Plugin
      • Long awaited 3DS Max Exporter plugins (for MAX 3 and 4)
      • New 3D engine pugin
      • Some new effects
      • Some changes to the UI
      • Lotsa small bug fixes...

      12/24/2000 Version 0.5 beta

      • box select in the Layout view
      • keyframes can be moved in the Layout view
      • the update if the Timeline has been optimized
      • "edit focus" is shown in the Timeline window to aid pasting the keyframes
      • Time segment keyframes can be also copied/pasted
      • "Goto next key" button added
      • previous import type is remembered on import
      • arrow keys can be used to nudge in the Layout view
      • bug fixes and small enchangements (too many to remember)
      • software development kit

      11/4/2000 Second release

      • Copy/paste is fully working now
      • Time segment type-in
      • Transform and Align dialogs
      • Tools (Arrow, Rotate, Scale, Parameter Arrow, Hand, Zoom)
      • User's manual
      • Simple ASCII script export
      • Small visual changes to the Timeline window
      • Two new test effects (Plasma, Flare 3D)
      • Many, many bug fixes and tiny little changes...




    Downloads

    • Latest


    • [new!]Demopaja Version 0.71B.

      [new!]Demopaja SDK Version 0.71B. You will need the latest FMOD to complile the examples. Also STLPort 4.0 (or later) was used to develope the Demopaja. It may be good idea to download it. See links below where to download the libraries.

    • Old


    • Demo Gallery



      • Halla by Moppi Productions. The demo Halla was made for Assembly'02 party. The demo came 2nd in the demo compo.


        gerbera by Moppi Productions. The demo gerbera was made for Assembly'01 party. The demo came 2nd in the demo compo.


        FFWD by Moppi Productions. The demo FFWD (fast forward) was made for Lobotomia'00 party held in our local town Lahti. The demo came 2nd in the demo compo. The latest Demopaja (0.5b) is capable of loading the demo file.


        Lobotomia'00 Invitation Intro by Moppi Productions. Invitation intro made for a local demoparty called Lobotomia'00.


        Further by Moppi Productions. Moppi Productions made a demo to Assembly'2k called Further. Unfortunately it wasn't shown because of a missing DLL (I bet it would have otherwise been shown). The demo also includes the Demopaja. Just press the close button in the start dialog. Be sure to watch the demo too!


        Kubik by Marshals. Kubik was first seen at Fiasko 2001 demoparty held in the Czech Republic (2/4 place in demo category). The "Kubik demo resources" contains also some additional info on the demo such as plugin source. Check it out.

        Some of the files can also be downloaded from ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/demos/groups/.




    Credits

      Coding and Documentation - Mikko Mononen
      Documentation proof reading/fixing - Jukka Koops


      I would also like to thank following people for great bug reports, comments and suggestion for future improvements:
      • Antonin "Woid" Hildebrand
      • Felix Petrescu
      • Aaron Hilton
      • Ariel Sergio Wollinger Martins
      • Frans "Otis" Bouma
      • Jeroen Janson
      • Tony Cabello



    FAQ

      Q: What are .MAS files? How do I make them?

      A: .MAS file format is a file format derived from the 3D Studio ASCII Export (.ASE) file format. The version 0.6b and upwards has exporter plugins for 3DS MAX 3 and 4.




    Links





Copyright © 2000-2002 Moppi Productions