ScreenCraze v. 1.1. Copyright 1991 Gold Disk Inc. Product Support =============== If you need technical support for ScreenCraze, please call Gold Disk at (416)-602-5292 Using ScreenCraze Once ScreenCraze is installed, the ScreenCraze icon will appear at the bottom of your screen. Clicking on this icon will bring up a menu. Setting up the Screen Saver -Click on the ScreenCraze icon at the bottom of your screen. -Select Screen Saver Setup from the menu that appears. The Screen Saver Setup window will appear. -Ensure the On check box is checked. -In the Delay edit box, type the amount of time, in seconds, you wish your computer to be idle before the screen saver starts. -Click on the Hot Spot drop down list. This will allow you to select a point on your screen that will act as a Hot Spot. When ScreenCraze is running, you will be able to move the cursor to that spot and have the screen saver begin immediately. -Click on the Hot Key edit box. -Type in the key you want to use as your Hot Key. (For example, CTRL-W key -- holding down the CTRL key while you press the W key). This will allow you to invoke the screen saver at any time by simply typing this key. It is wise to choose a key that is not normally used in your Windows applications. A Ctrl key modifier is highly recommended when choosing your Hot Key. -Click on the Cold Spot drop down list. This will allow you to select a point on your screen that will act as a cold spot. When you move your cursor to this position the screen saver will not start, even after the delay period. This is useful if you are making a presentation and do not want the screen saver to start while you are discussing something on your screen. Moving the cursor away from the Cold Spot re-invokes normal screen saver functions. -The Monitor Usage of box gives you the option of not letting the screen saver engage if there is any activity with your Com port, or if your CPU load is heavy. If the first option are checked, the screen saver will not work if there is any activity with the Com port. -The CPU Load gives you the option of specifying how heavy the load must be to disengage the screen saver. If you select low the screen saver will run only when there is a low amount of CPU activity. If you select high, the screen saver will run even when there is a large amount of CPU activity. Med is the recommended setting. This will ensure that your normal applications are given CPU time when needed. Setting a Password When a password is set, Windows will not run without first verifying your password. Your password will also need to be verified when returning from the screen saver. This increases the security of your system, allowing you to leave your desk knowing your information is safe. -Click on Password... in the Screen Saver Setup window. A Password Setup window will appear. -In the New Password edit box, type the password you wish to use. The password can be up to 20 characters long, using a-z in upper or lower case, 0-9, and Space. For your security, a series of asterisks will appear instead of the characters you type. -Type your password again in the Confirm New Password edit box. -Make sure the Enable Password Protection check box is checked if you want the password protection turned on. -Click on OK. If you want to change your password or change the Enable Password Protection check box, you will be asked to type your current password before you are allowed access to the Password Setup window. Forgotten Passwords If you have forgotten your password, you must delete the ScreenCraze programs and reinstall them. To do this: -Go to a DOS prompt. If you are using Windows you can simply exit. If you cannot get past a Password dialog box then you must reboot your computer. Press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys or power your computer off then on again. If you are running Windows from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you must press Ctrl+Break before WIN.COM is executed. -Change to your ScreenCraze main directory by typing "CD \SCRNCRZ" at the DOS prompt. -Delete all ScreenCraze programs by typing "DEL SC*.EXE" at the DOS prompt. -Start Windows by typing "WIN" at the DOS prompt. -Windows will display an Application Execution Error message stating that it could not find the ScreenCraze file. Select the message's OK button to continue. -Reinstall ScreenCraze using the ScreenCraze Setup program as described in the manual. Setup may indicate that your ScreenCraze directory already exists and will ask if you wish to overwrite it; you should answer Yes. When you are asked to indicate which components you wish to install, select only the ScreenCraze Editor. Any movies, actors, or backgrounds that you have created and saved within the ScreenCraze directory will not be deleted or overwritten. Once you have completed the setup procedure, the password that you had previously setup will no longer be in effect. If you desire password protection you must define a new password. Selecting a Movie -To select the movie you wish the screen saver to play you can click in the Movie Name edit box and type the disk, directory, file name and extension of the movie you want. Optionally, you can click on the Browse button and the Open Movie dialog box will appear, listing the movies available. The movies supplied with ScreenCraze are located in the SCRNCRZ\MOVIES directory. -Select a movie from the list. -Click on Open. This returns you to the ScreenSaver Setup window. When Display Background is selected, the screen saver will display the movie's background. When not selected, the screen saver will ignore the movie's background and display a black background instead. Since the primary purpose of the screen saver is to help prevent a static image from being burned into your monitor, a static background image is not recommended. The default is to ignore a movie's background. Some movies included with ScreenCraze do have static backgrounds. If you plan to use movies with the background displayed, we recommend that you use these movies as animated wallpaper. Click on Preview. This allows you to view the movie you have selected. -Click the mouse button or press any key to return to the Screen Saver Setup window. -When you have made all of your selections click on OK. This will save your settings. Running ScreenCraze with DOS Programs If you are running a DOS program from Windows, ScreenCraze will not activate as long as the DOS program has the input focus. This applies to any DOS program that is being used in a DOS window (available in Windows 386 enhanced mode only) or in full screen mode. Setting Up the Animated Wallpaper. -Click on the ScreenCraze icon at the bottom of your screen. -Select Anim Wallpaper Setup from the menu that appears. The Animated Wallpaper Setup window will appear. -Ensure the On check box is checked if you wish to have an Animated Wallpaper. -Click the check box beside Minimal CPU usage if you wish to minimize the amount of CPU time used by the wallpaper. This will slow your movies down but minimizes the impact on normal applications. Selecting a movie -To select the movie you wish to play as an animated wallpaper, click in the Movie Name edit box and type the disk, directory, file name and extension of the movie you want. Optionally, you can click on the Browse button and a dialog box will appear listing the movies available. The movies supplied with ScreenCraze are located in SCRNCRZ\MOVIES directory. -Select a movie from the list. -Click on Open. This returns you to the Animated Wallpaper Setup window. -Click on Preview. This allows you to view the movie you have selected. -Click the mouse button or press any key to return to the setup window. -When you have made all of your selections, click on OK. Your settings will be saved. Considerations When Selecting a Movie Avoid Static Images for Screen Saver Movies A "static image" is an image displayed on your computer's monitor that does not change. If a static image remains displayed for an extended period of time it may become burned into your monitor. This means a faint remnant of the image is always visible even when other images are being displayed. ScreenCraze's screen saver program can help to avoid a static image from being burned into your monitor by detecting inactivity and displaying a dynamic (always changing) animated movie on your monitor instead. It is recommended that the movies you select for your screen saver not contain any static images. For example, it is not a good idea to have an actor remain stationary in one spot during the entire length of the movie. The recommended background for a screen saver movie is a solid black screen. Black Screen Movies Sometimes when ScreenCraze loads a movie to be used as your screen saver, you may notice that a black screen is displayed instead of the movie. If ScreenCraze detects an error during loading, it will discontinue loading the movie and display a black screen. The most common error encountered is insufficient memory. In other words, there is not enough free memory available to load the entire movie that you have selected. Each Windows application uses some memory; therefore, you may have run out of memory because you have many applications running at once. If this is the case, try closing some of the applications to free up some memory. If you cannot free enough memory to load your movie, you may have to edit your movie to make it smaller; thus reducing the amount of free memory it needs. You can also select a smaller movie to be used as your screen saver movie. Movies with Low Memory and CPU Load Some sample movies have been prepared for you which do not heavily load your system's CPU or memory. The filenames of these movies begin with "lmc" (low memory/cpu). Generally, movies that require less memory meet the following criteria: they have very few different actors; the actors are small in size (height and width); and the movies use a single color background. Generally, movies that have less load on the CPU meet the following criteria: They have very few (one or two) actors moving on the screen at the same time, and the actors are small in size (height and width). Shutting Down ScreenCraze At some point you may want to shut down ScreenCraze entirely to eliminate all CPU and memory usage. To do this: -Click on the ScreenCraze icon at the bottom of your screen. -Select Close from the menu that appears. ScreenCraze will reload the next time you start Windows. SCREENCRAZE 1.10 ADDENDUM This addendum describes additions to ScreenCraze 1.10, as well as changes, clarifications and corrections to the main manual. There are two new features in version 1.10, you can include ScreenCraze in the list of built in screen savers in Windows 3.1, and you can add sound to your screen saver movies. Installation and Setup Starting the Setup Program You should run the Setup program from the Windows Program Manager only (ie. do not use the File Manager). Use the Run command from the Program Manager's File menu. Setup may not operate correctly if started from another application other than the Program Manager. Setting Up ScreenCraze as a Windows screen saver You can include ScreenCraze 1.1 as an option with the Windows screen savers that are included with Windows 3.1, and Windows 3.0 with the Multimedia extensions. These screen savers are accessed through the Control Panel's Desktop icon. When you run ScreenCraze from the Control Panel, some of ScreenCraze's functionality is not available. For example, you cannot set any of the monitor usage parameters, a hot or cold spot, or a hot key. To include ScreenCraze as a Windows screen saver: 1. Run sc2win.exe (located in the ScreenCraze directory) from the File Manager, or using the File/Run in the Program Manager. The ScreenCraze to Windows Screen Saver dialog box appears. 2. Select Setup ScreenCraze as a Windows screen Saver, and click on Go!. Then select another Windows screen saver from the Windows Control Panel ScreenCraze can now be accessed as a screen saver option through the Control Panel's Desktop icon. To remove ScreenCraze from the Windows screen savers, simply run sc2win.exe again, select Remove ScreenCraze from built in Windows screen savers, and click on GO!. NOTE: You cannot run a ScreenCraze animated wallpaper while ScreenCraze is the screen saver selected through the Control Panel Desktop icon. However, you can run the wallpaper when any other Windows screen saver is being used. Running ScreenCraze Play screen saver sounds If your screen saver is a movie that contains sound, enabling the Play Sounds checkbox will cause the sounds to play when the screen saver is active. If this checkbox is not selected, all sounds will be ignored. Do Not Use Other Screen Saver Programs When Using ScreenCraze's Screen Saver When using ScreenCraze as a screen saver you should disable any other screen savers that you may have. This includes the screen savers provided with Microsoft Windows. Disable Windows Wallpaper When Using ScreenCraze's Animated Wallpaper It is a good idea to disable any Windows desktop wallpaper or patterns when you are using ScreenCraze's Animated Wallpaper. Any Windows wallpaper or patterns will be not visible since the Animated Wallpaper will cover them. You can save on memory and increase performance by disabling them. To do this, run the Windows Control Panel program and select the Desktop icon. When the Desktop dialog box is displayed select "(None)" for the wallpaper and pattern settings. Sound If you have sound capability on your system, you can add sound to any frame of your movie. ScreenCraze supports wave and midi sound formats. Any sounds in a movie will only play when you are using the movie as a screen saver, and not when you are using it as an animated wallpaper. You can turn the sound off for any screen saver using the Screen Saver Setup dialog box. To open a sound In the ScreenCraze Editor, select Options/Sound... This will bring up the Sounds dialog box. In the Sounds dialog box you can open a wave or midi sound by clicking on the appropriate Open button. The sound file will then appear in the Loaded Sounds box. You can preview any sound you have opened by selecting it in the Loaded Sounds box, and clicking on the Play button. You can remove a sound that you have opened by selecting the sound in the Loaded Sounds box, and then clicking on the Remove Sound button. Attaching a sound to a frame of the movie Use the frame scroll bar in the Movie Player window to select the frame you want to add the sound to (This can be done with the Sounds dialog box open). The current frame, and any sound attached to it, are displayed in the Frame box of the Sounds dialog box. In the Loaded Sounds box, select the sound that you want to attach. Click on the Add to Frame button to attach the sound to the current frame. There can only be one sound per frame. Removing a sound from a frame If you want to remove a sound form a movie, scroll through the movie until the frame containing the sound you want to delete is displayed in the Frame box. Then click on the Remove from Frame button. You can cause the selected wave sound to play repeatedly by enabling the Loop Wave Sound check box. Ending a Sound You can end a sound that plays over several frames, early by attaching the appropriate Kill Sound command to the frame you want to end the sound at. The Kill sound commands are located in the Loaded Sounds box and are attached to a frame the same way a sound is. NOTE: Not all sound drivers will support both types of sound (wave and midi) . Some sound support will not play sounds over top of the animation, but will suspend all movement while playing the sound. In this case, the Loop Wave Sounds, and Kill Sounds options will not work. Manual Corrections Correction to Tutorial 3 The section Opening previously saved Movies states that, if you have not previously saved your movie when you select the File/Open menu item, a message will appear asking whether you wish to save it. This message does not appear immediately after the menu is selected as the manual indicates, but rather after you select a file from the Open Movie dialog box and select the OK button. ScreenCraze Limitations No True Color Support ScreenCraze does not directly support video devices with more than 256 colors, for example, 24-bit True Color video devices. However, some True Color devices may work with ScreenCraze. Animated Wallpaper Covering Portions of Desktop Shell Programs An Animated Wallpaper movie may cover portions of some Windows desktop shell programs. This is a known problem with The Norton's Desktop for Windows (from Symantec Corporation) and PubTech File Organizer (from Publishing Technologies Inc). Adding Frames You cannot add frames before the first frame of your movie. The Add Before Current Frame radio button in the Add Frames dialog box is disabled if the current frame is the first frame. Using ScreenCraze with Norton Desktop for Windows 2.0 If you use the Norton Desktop for Windows 2.0 and ScreenCraze, do not enable the ScreenCraze password protection; or, Windows may become unresponsive.