JTraffic Screensaver

Optimizing functions

In this submenu there are various functions, which help you to decrease the disc space needed to store the pictures.\

Decrease number of colors - if the picture has more, than 255 colors, it is impossible to store it in a GIF file or in a TVL picture library. Usually a small vehicle drawing does not need more different colors, one cannot notice the difference. This function converts all selected pictures inividually for having less, than 240 colors. The converted pictures will be written into a TVL file. If the default TVL file (in the configuration window's Files tab) is undefined, Traffic will ask you to choose the TVL file to write the picture into.

Decrease colors in a group - All the selected pictures will be converted to have together less, than 240 colors. Of course, you must not convert a huge amount of pictures with this function in a single step - many pictures won't have correct colors then. The intended use is to convert an animated vehicle - all phase pictures together -, the left and right side of the same vehicle, and perhaps vehicle families with the same livery ( for example A, AB, C, BR, WL, WR coaches of the same serie with the same livery ).

Crop Library Pictures - The fully transparent or black pixel lines on the top of the selected pictures will be removed, the pictures will be lower. Traffic writes the croppped pictures into the default TVL library file.

Phase pictures as difference - The phase pictures of the selected vehicles will be converted into difference mode pictures, the macro defining the animatied vehicle will be corrected to reflect the changes (automatic cropping the phase pictures).

Please be aware, do not try this function for phase pictures used in several vehicles.

Compare Pictures - Opens the Compare Pictures window, placing the first two selected pictures into the compare window.

Edit Macro and Compare - Opens the Macro editor for the first selected picture, and the Compare Pictures window too. The Compare Pictures window's lower picture will be bound to the macro editor - each time the macro editor's picture changes, it will copied into the Compare Pictures window.

Remove identical pictures - Checks all the selected pictures, if all their pixels are identical. If it finds identical groups, it lets only a single identical picture in the stock list, it deletes the others, and renames all occurences of them in the stsock list's macros and in the associated timetable files.

Recreate this library - If the first selected picture is stored in a TVL library, that library file will be recreated - only the used pictures will be written into the new file. There is no way to delete a picture from the TVL file, as the Stock List remembers not only the picture name, but it's byte offset in the TVL file too ( thereby speeding up the loading of the pictures ). The Recreate this library writes all used pictures into a new TVL file, and at the end replaces the old file with the new file. During this step all the offset values in the stock list will be adjusted. (You do not need to select all the pictures contained in that TVL file, Traffic looks them together).

If the TVL file was in the older V3 format, recreating it can decrease it's size. Similarly, if there were deleted pictures, or pictures not used any more, recreating the TVL library removes them leading to a smaller TVL file.

Recreate Libraries - All the TVL files, which have pictures from this stock list, will be recreated - and the byte offset values of the pictures adjusted.

Overview
The Configuration Window
Program Window
Stock List
Description Editor
Graphic Testpad
Timetable Editor
Timetable Syntax and Semanics
The timetable header
Sections, Groups, Lines, Scenes
Actions
Stock List File