LCD TOOL v3.2




  • What is this tool?
    This online tool is made to allow you to create your LCD icons/anims for the Dreamcast VMU.

  • What I need to use it?
    You need a browser with Javascript enabled, it has been successfully tested with DreamPassport3+ and DreamKey3.0 for Dreamcast browsers, and MSIE6 and Netscape6 for PC browsers.

  • How do I start?
    If you want to create a new icon/anim frame go to the "File" menu at the top left in the toolbar, choose "New Frame", choose the "Width" and "Height" properties of the frame, click the "New" button. Now the grid is being loaded you have to wait until you can see the page is fully loaded.

  • I don't want to start from a blank frame...
    ...so why not to use the "Open Frame" option in the "File" menu instead. You can load a frame from an existing LCD icon or from an image using one of these formats: GIF, PNG, JPEG or XBM. Note that if the image has more than 2 colors it will use one of the 3 color reduction methods you can choose in the list. For Dreamcast users the file you load from your VM has to be a DREAMKEY.***/PASSPORT.*** containing the corresponding file to open, take a look at VM Quick Save if you want to know more about these files. You can also open a file from an URL.

  • How do I draw on the grid?
    There are 2 modes: move and draw. In move mode you can move the cursor on the grid without coloring the boxes. In draw mode the boxes will be coloured when the cursor reach them. You can control the cursor with the keyboard (default keys are using num keys from the right side) or simply move your arrow over the boxes with your mouse/pad. To switch the mode click on any box on the grid, press M on the keyboard or simply choose the corresponding icon in the toolbar. Each box of the grid corresponds to one pixel of the icon, you can have a preview of the icon by clicking on the "Preview" icon (glasses) in the toolbar.

  • How do I save my icon?
    Go into the "File" menu and choose "Save Frame", then choose the format you want to save your frame in.

  • How do I make an animated LCD icon?
    You have to use the "File" menu and choose "New anim" to create a new anim. The number of frames is the total number of images your anim will use (0-255), the number of loops is the number of times your anim will repeat before it ends (255=infinite), the blank color is the default background color the anim will use when you don't insert a frame.
    After you press the "Anim" button you'll see a list of each frame, choose the file corresponding to the frame with the "Browse" button or from an URL, the file has to be a LCD icon for now. If you want to see what the frame looks like press the "View" button. The "delay" field is the time you want the frame to be displayed in the anim in 1/12th seconds. If you don't like the frame and want to edit it before you insert it again in the anim press the "Edit" button.
    You can open an existing LCD anim using the "File" menu with the "Open Frame" option, in this case the frames list will be filled with the anim's frames instead of blank frames. (fixed)
    Press the "Preview" icon in the toolbar (glasses) to have a look at your anim in motion. (fixed)
    Once your anim looks good for you you can save it thanks to the "File" menu with the "Save Frame" option. fixed

  • My browser is very slow/the images of the grid don't appear correctly...
    This tool requires a lot of ram and some browsers can have problems to cache the full grid. First of all make sure you let it fully load the page before you press anything, it can take a few minutes, if you cancel before the page is loaded your browser might freeze. If after the page is loaded your browser freezes every few seconds it means the cache is full, clear it or better: reboot. If the problem is still there when your cache is empty try smaller Width and Height attributes for your icon. The browser i recommend are DreamKey3.0 for Dreamcast users and MSIE6 for PC users.

  • I don't know what each icon in the toolbar does, help me!
    Just look at your status bar when your cursor is on one of the toolbar icon, an help message will be displayed.

  • I can't control the cursor in the grid with the keyboard...
    Make sure you press the good keys, they are shown in the control menu, you can edit them but make sure you don't use the same key several time and you only use letters or numbers. With PC browsers the grid frame has to be focused, click anywhere in it before you want to control the cursor.

  • I've read this page carefully and I still need help, I'm sure that my problem is a bug and don't come from me, can you help me?
    Sure, if you found an unknown bug it's very usefull to report it so it can be fixed as soon as possible, please contact me


     
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