Is there still interest for FLI/FLC based formats? The allgero fli player can't handle most of the files created by todays animation programs.

So I did a short google search (like "simple animation format") and all I got was FLI, FLC some FLI some pages on FLC ... oh and some pages even mentioned FLI

So I had a look at the current spec, and I think that a crude player dealing with most chunks (and ignoring the EGI extensions) should be not that much work. Maybe 2-3 evenings.

Is somebody else would be interested in such a lib, I'd make it less-hackish than if I'd just use it for mayself and release it.

the problem is that there is not a lot of programs that export to .fli .......
it can be a good idea to add another format more usual like .gif (and its pentents are finished so why continuing to ban it?). It is really easier to make a gif animation and there is a LOT of graphic tools that support it compared to fli...
and when i export fli files i get bigger files than gif ones....
maybe it's a feature that could be added to allegro5...

I'm interested. If you're gonna release a nice usable lib for allegro that can play movies, then mark me as down.

-Flecko

Do what I did with APEG. Have open/play/skip/close functions that use FLIC* structs(or classes in C++), then on top of that, create a couple high-level functions that emulate Allegro's current flic implementation for those people used to it.

Marcello: Except for the compression it provides. You could always include an mp3 along with the animation and play them side-by-side..

Yes. At least MPEG does, and I don't see why FLIC wouldn't. I can't say how good it is though, it's a pretty old, not really used anymore, format.

Why not? I dunno about flic, so if the video can't drop/skip frames, causing it to just fall further and further behind, you could just pause the audio until the video catches up(and tell the user to get a faster machine ). Or use something like mp2 audio. That'll give you some reasonable compression still and decode faster with a dedicated player.

FLIC does provide support for audio (EGI extension).
But I don't see it as a video replacement. But it's a nice animation format.
Assume you want an animated menu item, or some simple bells and whistles somewhere without having to worry about it.

Think of it as some sort of animated gif. While you would not use to display a video, it's a pretty nice and simple way to do small and simple animations.

Let's say it's not better than a delta frame compressed series of images containing animation data (like inter frame delay, etc).
But mainly, yes. It's a series of images. Which is more or less true of any video / animation format, though.

I was also looking at MNG, but that's hardly a simple format, heh.

One could also create a new format which would be better than FLI in some areas or add new chunks to fli... the main problem here would be the lack of an editor.
ProMotion supports no hicolor flis, but allows you to set a inter frame delay.
AnimationShop allows you to use only the normal fli features.
DTA gives you lots of options... but I have problems finding a recent version of it

So... if anybody knows another bitmap oriented lossless animation format which has some editor support, let me know

I have a somewhat in progress format.. its more of a container format itself but the lib kinda likes the stuff to be played right now its just a big array of bitmaps etc.. but it allows more flexibility, like interleaving the audio (right now audio is in a separate "frame" of the file, and is read in all at once), etc.. In fact, right now, theres two methods to use an animation, 1st: you load in all in, and say "PLAY", 2nd: open it, and say "PLAY".. and it'll load in the animation as it needs. that part needs work though, I need(ed) to figure out a nice way of buffering the animation as it could/would stutter allot as it was.

I even had/have a nice editor planned.. heh. Maybe If I get bored enough

You could always have a conversion tool.
You could create an extremely simple editor (one which grabs frames and tacks them on the end), and be able to import other formats.

If the format is really good, it would be worth it.
I could see using it if it had a clean API, a simple editor which grabs frames and/or audio, and is well optimized.

I'd be willing to help, too.. but my meager programming abilities would be of little use

we do. With an opengl renderer as well.

Marcello

?

it fits nicely with allegro.
it has since way back in allegro 3.12 and possibly before that!

i think FLX would be a good feature to add.

i'd like to see the FLX >8bit images
the rest can be added later.