Special Effects
Volume Number: 6
Issue Number: 11
Column Tag: C Workshop
Related Info: Color Quickdraw
By Kirk Chase, MacTutor
Note: Source code files accompanying article are located on MacTech CD-ROM orsource code disks.
Unless you’ve been trapped in a cave with your Mac, you have probably heard of
multimedia. It seems like everyone is getting into the act of combining clip art and
video clips along with a cornucopia of sounds to go along with it. You sit in front of the
multimedia booths and wish that you could bring some visual and/or sound effects to
your application. “Plain” is out, and “Zap! Pow! Zowie!” is in.
The trouble is that you are spending most your time getting the application to
work well and work fast. “Zap! Pow! Zowie!” won’t cut it after the user has had a day
or two to get over the “video game” and has gotten the credit card bill. You can’t spend
most of your life getting that Star Trek “transporter” effect. That type of effect is for
the bit twiddlers. Macintoshes just don’t have the tools for normal folks to create
visual fireworks. Wrong! This article will discuss how to get some spiffy effects
(black & white only for now).
“CopyBits” is a word that strikes fear into the uninitiated. But to those who have
taken the time to understand the trap call, CopyBits offers a world of opportunities.
With CopyBits you can hilight icons, make your updates quicker, and create nifty
effects.
CopyBits is for transferring one image onto another image quickly and with a
number of effects. It is defined in Inside Macintosh Vol. I (or volume V for the color