From: miranker@husc8.harvard.edu (Andrew Miranker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: PICTs -> QT movie: SUMMARY
Date: 11 Apr 92 15:01:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Apr11.110147.10952
Distribution: world
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

Here is a summary of useful responses to my PICT files to
QT movie question.

To those doing development, I suspect that other users as well those in
this group, are not likely to generate rasters on the Macintosh.  
I would never consider generating several minutes at 30 frames/second
of ray traced graphics of molecular models.  Getting files to the Mac is
no problem, and converting these files to pict is not much of a problem, but
it would be nice if the utilities would read other raster formats as well,
in particular, SGI and SUN formats.  Converting a collection of images
in a PICS format holds little interest for us.

Andrew
miranker@tammy.harvard.edu


1------------------
From doherty@msc.edu Wed Apr  8 09:47:14 1992

I have encountered a similar need. Currently, this is what i do:

1. create the PICT files on another machine and download them to the mac.
2. put all of them in a single folder, and run NIH Image (v 1.44, available from alw.nih.gov, in the directory
    pub/image i think). This has the ability to load in multiple PICT files. These go into something that they call 
    a stack. Poke around a little and you see how to turn the stack into an animation, which can be saved as
    a PICS file.  This program is free btw.
3. Run SamplePICStoQT (or something like that) to turn the PICS file into a QT movie,using various
    compression schemes.  This code is available from ftp.apple.com, and is the directory dts/mac/quicktime/programs
    (not too sure about what the last part of what the path is called). anyway, somewhere down there is a file that
    contains a bunch of folders which contain sample QT source code and some compiled applications.)

a little kludgy but it works.   Also recieved mail from peirce@outpost.SF-Bay.org, who told me about:

Smoothie, coming out in about three weeks from Peirce Software, can
take a folder filled with PICT files and turn this into a QuickTime
movie (no PICS intermediate though).  It also will anti-alias, i.e.
smoothe the ragged edges off the picture, too (as long as the source
PICTs are object oriented pictures (i.e. contain drawing objects like
lines, curves, text, etc).

hope that this works for you too.

Dave Doherty
Computational Scientist
Minnesota Supercomputer Center
doherty@msc.edu

2----------------------
From tbandit@Athena.MIT.EDU Wed Apr  8 20:45:45 1992

DiVA VideoShop will allow you to import picts into a QT movie.  In addition
it also allows you to record video if you have a capture board, edit the
movies, and lots of cool stuff.

You can reach them at
DiVA Corp.
222 Third St Suite 3332
Cambridge, MA 02142
(617) 491-4147
fax (617) 491-2208

3--------------------
From bc@apple.com Wed Apr  8 21:37:13 1992

The Quicktime Starter Kit (available soon) will have MovieConverter,
which will convert a PICS file into a MOOV. (It will also convert a
scrapbook file, and several other obvious collection formats)


bc

4-------------
From peirce@outpost.SF-Bay.org Sat Apr 11 02:19:24 1992
> 
> I hear that a product called smoothie will convert a file
> of picts to a QT movie.  Please keep me informed, we will likely
> buy this product.

It sure will.  It will even anti-alias the picture if they are vector
pictures (bitmaps are not smoothed by Smoothie unless they are reduced
in size).

It can take either a scrapbook or a folder filled with PICT files
and make them into a QuickTime movie.

It should be shipping in less than three weeks!

--  Michael Peirce         --   peirce@outpost.SF-Bay.org
--  Peirce Software        --   Suite 301, 719 Hibiscus Place
--  Macintosh Programming  --   San Jose, California USA 95117
--           & Consulting  --   voice: (408) 244-6554 fax: (408) 244-6882
--                         --   AppleLink: peirce & America Online: AFC Peirce