Blurb Graphic design made easy! ARTISAN is a design tool that makes the creation of single and multiple shapes easy and will provide an insight to animation techniques. You can redefine up to 128 characters at a time either singly, or as a group of up to 16 characters with facilities to manipulate, store to tape, print the created shapes and display the VDU 23 codes. Tape 1 contains the main ARTISAN program and several animated demonstrations. Tape 2 contains several ARTISAN data sets including: Greek upper case, Japanese katakana, inverse ASCII, invader character, chess men, icons, mathematical symbols, and all character sets used in the demonstrations. Introduction The BBC Microcomputer provides the facility, via the VDU 23 command, that enables you to redefine the shape of displayed characters. The major use of this facility is in the creation of shapes for games such as Space Invaders, Chess and Adventure games. Redefined characters can also be used in language teaching, for example Greek, Japanese and Russian, or used to display 'icons' (picture words) instead of menus in word processing, spreadsheet programs, etc. Their application is endless. Whatever use you make of redefined characters, the stages you must go through to create them are long-winded, whereby you must first design the shape as one or more characters, each of 8 rows of 8 dots (pixels), then calculate the eight parametes for the VDU 23 statement. This calculation is described in the User Guide for your machine. Artisan 1 is a BASIC program that makes the creation of single and multiple character shapes easy. Up to 128 characters can be redefined at a time, either individually or as groups of up to sixteen characters with facilities to manipulate, display the VDU 23 codes, store to tape and print the created shapes. For shapes up to 4 by 4 characters square, you can design the shape on the screen and do not need to design the shape on paper beforehand. This manual described the facilities provided by Artisan 1 and gives ideas on how to use the redefined characters. Overview Shapes may be created on the design grid using the Set, Delete, Empty, Fill, Invert, Rotate, Mirror and Get commands. As the shape is being built up on the design grid, the Mode 4 display reflects what the shape will look like true-size. Accept the completed shape into the redefined shape block at the bottom of the screen. Once the character set has been completed and Accepted, Transfer it from the redefined character block to cassette or printer. Note: Save your designs frequently - Murphy's Law operates here : If anything can go wrong, it will, usually at the end of a long session just before you decide the save the final version! Tape Contents Artisan 1 is supplied as two cassettes: tape 1 containing programs; tape 2 containing a set of shape files. Each tape is recorded at 1200 bps and holds an identical set of files on each side. If you experience any loading programs with either tape, simply turn the cassette over, rewind the tape and repeat the load process. The tape contents are as follows: Tape 1 : ARTISAN 1 Programs The first program on your tape contains a table of contents. If you have a tape counter on your recorder you may find it beneficial to make a note of the counter reading as each program loads, for future reference. The programs on this tape are: Content - list of the contents of the program tape. LOADER - loads in the main Artisan 1 program. This program must always be run in order to load ARTISAN. ARTISAN 1 - the shape design program. MUSIC - a demonstration program that plays Beethoven's Ode To Joy whilst displaying the music at the same time. HUMMER - a demonstration of "tweening" - a humming bird is animated. HARRIER - a demonstration using a Harrier jump-jet showing several animation techniques. Tape 2 : ARTISAN 1 SHAPE SET Files Apart from the Contents List at the beginning, the files on this tape are data files for use with Artisan 1. They are not programs and cannot be loaded and run. The files can be accessed via the Artisan 1 Transfer command. The files on this tape include: SHUTTLED - several different views of the space shuttle. GREEKD - Greek upper case characters. KATAKANAD - Japanese character set. CHESSMEND - set of chess men. ICONSD - set of icons, or 'picture words'. INVADERSD - space invader shapes. HARRIER1D, HARRIER2D, HARRIER3D - shapes for the Harrier demo. MUSICD - shapes for the Music demo. FLOWERD, HUMMERD - shapes for the Hummer demo. MATHSD - various mathematical symbols. CYRILLICD - Russian character set. Loading The Software On systems fitted wth either the DFS or ECONET interface, you must switch to the tape filing system (1200 baud) by typing:    *TAPE (RETURN)    PAGE=&E00 (RETURN)  On tape only systems, simply press BREAK. To load the main program type:    CHAIN"LOADER" (RETURN)   Rewind the tape to the desired point and press PLAY on your tape recorder. The program should now commence to load and will run automatically. Once Artisan 1 has loaded the screen will clear, then after a few seconds during which Artisan 1 is being set up, the shape design screen will be displayed. Stop the tape now Note: Program ARTISAN1 should not be loaded direct, but must be loaded via LOADER. To load any of the demonstration programs, type:    CHAIN"" (RETURN)   Rewind the tape to the desired point and press PLAY on your tape recorder. The program should now commence to load and will run automatically. Now just follow the computer's prompts. If during loading, the screen displays messages such as: Block? Data? Header? then stop the cassette player, rewind the tape to a point just before point of failure, adjust the volume setting on the cassette player, and press PLAY again. If you are still unsuccessful, turn the cassette over and repeat the loading process. The Artisan 1 Display The display consists of five areas of information as follows: Design grid: This occupies the largest portion of the screen at the top left and consists of 16 cells arranged as four rows of four, each cell containing 64 pixels arranged as eight rows of eight. Each cell represents one BBC/Electron character. Initially all pixels are set off and the flashing cursor is placed at the top left hand corner of the design grid. Mode 4 display: This occupies the top right hand portion of the display and repeats the contents of the design grid but true size. All changes made to the design grid are repeated as they occur on this display. Command menu: This occupies the centre right position of the display and lists the commands supported by Artisan 1, it is intended purely as a guide. Command area: This occupies the three lines immediately below the design grid and is where Artisan 1 prompts for commands and displays messages. Redefined shape block: This occupies the bottom area of the screen and displays the shapes that have been created and assigned to ASCII values so far. This display area consists of four rows of 32 characters used to display the current shapes of ASCII values 128-159, 160-191, 192-223 and 224-255 respectively. A 'ruler' is provided on the bottom two lines to enable you to determine the ASCII code for a particular location - you simply add the number at the left end of the row (128, 160, 192, 224) to the ruler number (0-31) underneath the location concerned. Tutorial Feeling slightly nervous? A little apprehensive? No need to be. Artisan 1 is going to be the best friend you and your computer together ever had, so don't be afraid to try the commands. Once they are familiar and you gain confidence you will find unlimited applications, and wonder why you ever hesitated - so go to it! First move your cursor around with the arrow keys. See how easily it moves to any position (pixel) in the design grid. Now try designing something - a man, a house, an animal - whatever you like, and use S (Set) and D (Delete) until you have the desired effect. Easy, isn't it? Next use the F (fill) and E (Erase) commands. F is handly to quickly fill a large area, but the program politely checks that the command is correct, otherwise it could overwrite other pixels. Similarly, E erases a whole cell, and there is another check of command to ensure you don't lose something by mistake. If after using F or E you lost something you would have liked to keep - sorry about that! We'd better take a quick look at Copy and Accept, so that it doesn't happen again, hadn't we? C (Copy) does just that. It repeats the contents from one cell to another - or others - and overwrites as it does so if necessary. A great time-saver for reproducing shapes. A (Accept) is used to move shapes to the holding area at the bottom of the screen once you have completed them on the design grid. One or more cells can be stored in this way; even larger pictures than the whole grid-display can thus be held - as a large shape, e.g. space-ship, submarine, etc., is gradually built up. Now try the Invert, Rotate and Mirror commands. Pure fun! Draw something simple - a triangle for instance. Press Invert and see the filled pixels empty and the empty pixels fill - rather like a photo and negative, isn't it? Use the R (rotate) command and watch the cell re-assemble in a 90 degree rotation - always clockwise. M (Mirror) is yet another useful effect. G (Get) retrieves shapes you have already created and accepted; it may also be used to get at the shapes permanently stored within the computer - its built-in character set. The T (Transfer) command is your conveyor system, and transfers shapes to and from cassette and/or printer. Remember, if you have worked hard building up a shape you wish to keep, unless you transfer it to tape it will be lost when you Q (Quit) at the end of your session. Z (Zap) will clear the whole design grid and the 'true-size' display; so whilst it should be used with caution until you are familiar with it, Z is a quick 'clean-out' for the occasions when you have changed your mind, and want to try out other ideas before committing them to store. Sure beats the old, laborious method of deleting one pixel at a time. Q (Quit) is "sign-off" time. Check that you have stored any shapes any shapes you wish to keep via T (Transfer). Now you should be feeling amazed at your achievements with Artisan 1, and, probably, with a happy and satisfied grin on your face! Marvellous, wasn't it? Example Session This section will take you through an example session of using Artisan 1. The object of the session will be to take a large shape from one of the supplied character sets and produce a version that is rotated by a right angle. Load up ARTISAN 1 Press BREAK Type *TAPE and press RETURN Type CHAIN"LOADER" and press RETURN Load the Artisan 1 program cassette into your cassette recorder and set it to PLAY The Artisan 1 loader should load in and this in turn should load Artisan 1 Note the cursor at the top left corner of the design grid. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the bottom right corner of the design grid. (It is possible to do this with just 2 key depressions - did you manage it, or you go the long way?) Replace the Artisan 1 program tape by the data tape and ensure it is fully rewound. Now carefully follow the steps below and watch what happens at each stage. Do not press RETURN unless told to. The arrow keys are shown as: L - Left, R - Right, U - Up, D - Down Step Type Result 1 T Load, Save or eXit 2 L LOAD Filename 3 SHUTTLED<RETURN> First code 4 128<RETURN> Searching for...Set cassette to PLAYLoading from... 5 G ASCII code 6 131<RETURN> nothing happens! 7 <L>G163<RETURN> nothing happens! 8 <L>G195<RETURN>   9 <L>G227<RETURN> bottom row of cells completed 10 <U>   11 <L>G130<RETURN> 12 <L>G162<RETURN> 13 <L>G194<RETURN> 14 <L>G226<RETURN> next row of cells completed 15 <U>   16 <L>G129<RETURN> 17 <L>G161<RETURN> 18 <L>G193<RETURN> 19 <L>G225<RETURN> next row of cells completed 20 <U>   21 <L>G128<RETURN> nothing happens! 22 <L>G160<RETURN> nothing happens! 23 <L>G192<RETURN>   24 <L>G224<RETURN> top row of cells completed   You have now transferred the first Space Shuttle shape to the grid - looks a bit of a mess, doesn't it? This is because the arrangement of characters is different in the original shape at the bottom of the screen to that of the design grid - you will see why in a moment. The cursor should currently be in the top left corner of the design grid. Step Type   25 <U><L>R<L>R<L>R<L>R   26 <U><L>R<L>R<L>R<L>R   27 <U><L>R<L>R<L>R<L>R   28 <U><L>R<L>R<L>R<L>R     If you have completed all the above steps correctly, you should now have a Space Shuttle on the design grid that is flying left to right, as compared to the one at the bottom of the screen which is going up. Step Type Result 29 T Load, Save or eXit 30 S SAVE Filename 31 FirstOne(RETURN) First code 32 128(RETURN) Last code 33 255(RETURN) VDU or Data 34 V Start line 35 1000(RETURN) Star code 36 128(RETURN) RECORD then RETURN   Place a blank tape in the recorder and set it to RECORD Step Type Result 37 (RETURN) The shapes are saved to tape 38 Q Are you sure? 39 Y Return to BASIC 40 Rewind cassette   41 *EXEC FirstOne Searching 42 LIST     The VDU 23 commands for the Space Shuttle shapes should be listed. Commands This section describes each of the Artisan 1 commands in detail, and we suggest you experiment with each one before creating any shapes in earnest. Each of the commands as listed here is entered as a single key, do not press the RETURN key. Some commands act immediately with no further input from you (Cursor keys, S, D, I, R, M), some require confirmation to proceed (F, E, Q, Z), and some require additional information to be supplied (G, A, T). In all but one case you can abandon a command by pressing the ESCAPE key, the exception if the Transfer command when you attempt to output to a printer which does not exist. In this event the system will 'hang' and will not respond to any keys except BREAK. Since BREAK returns you to the BASIC system you must type the following to re-enter Artisan 1:    PAGE=&1100 (RETURN)    OLD (RETURN)    RUN (RETURN) If the computer responds:    Bad program after you entered OLD, then Artisan 1 cannot be re-entered and you will have to re-load it from tape to continue. In any event, it must be noted that all characters that were not previously stored to tape are now lost. For all commands, except S, D, T, Z, and Q, you specify the cell to be acted upon by the command by placing the flashing cursor anywhere within the cell. After a command is completed the cursor is placed in the top left hand corner of that cell. The commands that are supported by Artisan 1 are as follows: Cursor Keys : the four cursor keys (arrows) move the flashing cursor around the design grid. If you attempt to move the cursor off one edge it will reappear in the corresponding position at the opposite edge. S : Set pixel; this command turns ON the pixel at the cursor position in the design grid cell. D : Delete pixel; this command turns OFF the pixel at the cursor position in the design grid cell. F : Fill cell; this command turns ON all pixels in the design grid cell occupied by the cursor. On replying 'Y' to the confirmation request, the design grid cell is filled and the cursor is placed at the top left hand corner of the cell. E : Erase cell; this command turns OFF all pixels in the design grid cell occupied by the cursor. On replying 'Y' to the confirmation request the design grid cell is erased and the cursor is placed in the top left hand corner of the cell. I : Invert cell; this command inverts all pixels in the design grid cell occupied by the cursor. All 'ON' pixels are turned 'OFF' and all 'OFF' pixels are turned 'ON'. The cursor is then placed in the top left hand corner of the cell. R : Rotate cell; this command rotates clockwise, by 90 degrees, the contents of the design grid cell occupied by the cursor. The cursor is then placed at the top left hand corner of the cell. M : Mirror cell; this command replaces the contents of the design grid cell occupied by the cursor, by its 'reflection', as if a mirror were held up to the cell's right hand side. The cursor is then placed in the top left hand corner of the cell. G : Get shape; this command copies the shape associated with the specified ASCII code into the design grid cell occupied by the cursor. You must enter a code value in the range 32 to 255; values outside this range are rejected. The codes 32 to 127 will access the letters, numbers, punctuation marks, etc, in the computer's ROM. The codes 128 to 255, however, will access the shapes in the redefined shape block that you have previously created and accepted. When a valid code has been entered, the specified shape is copied to the design grid cell, overwriting the original contents, and the cursor is returned to the top left hand corner of the cell. A : Accept shape; this command calculates the VDU 23 parameters for the shape in the design grid cell occupied behind the cursor, which may be anywhere within the cell, and redefines the character of the specified ASCII code to this shape. You must supply a code value in the range 128 to 255, numbers outside this range are rejected, Artisan 1 then calculates and displays the 8 VDU 23 parameters. On pressing any key the character associated with the specified ASCII value is redefined to this shape and is displayed in the redefined shape block. The cursor is then placed in the top left hand corner of the cell. C : Copy shape; this command copies the shape in the design grid cell occupied by the cursor, to one or more other design grid cells, overwriting the original contents of those cells. In all cases, the cursor may be anywhere within the appropriate cell. Position the cursor in the 'source' cell (the cell to be copied) and press C. Now move the cursor to the 'target' design grid cell (the cell to be copied into) and press C again. You can repeatedly copy the source cell by moving the cursor to another target cell and pressing C. When you wish to stop copying, press X. T : Transfer shapes; this is a powerful command that enables you to load shapes from a cassette tape, save shapes to cassette tape and print shapes on a parallel or serial printer. When you select the T command, you are asked whether you wish to Load, Save or eXit. Select the X option when you have finished transferring shapes. The L option will load shapes from tape whilst the S option will output shapes to tape or printer. Shapes are held on cassette tape in groups called 'FILES' and each file has a name just as programs saved on tape are held as named files. ARTISAN 1