computer science

Graphics Animation System for Professionals

Graphics Animation System for Professionals is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Graphics Animation System for Professionals rather than just read about it. In short: GRaphic Animation System for Professionals (GRASP) was the first multimedia animation program for IBM PC compatibles. It was also at one time the most widely used animation format.

Key takeaways

Graphics Animation System for Professionals belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Graphics Animation System for Professionals to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Graphics Animation System for Professionals from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

GRaphic Animation System for Professionals (GRASP) was the first multimedia animation program for IBM PC compatibles. It was also at one time the most widely used animation format. Originally conceived by Doug Wolfgram under the name FlashGun, the first public version of GRASP was the Graphical System for Presentation. The original software was written by Doug Wolfgram and Rob Neville. It later became the GRaphic Animation System for Professionals. Many regard this as the birth of the multimedia industry.

GRASP - Graphic Animation System for Professionals

GRASP 1.0 In 1984 Doug Wolfgram conceived of the idea of an animation scripting language that would allow graphics images to move smoothly across a computer screen under program control. Persyst Systems hired Wolfgram's company to develop some graphics and animation for their new graphics card, the BoB board. The marketing manager from Persyst then moved to AST computer where he brought in Wolfgram to do similar animation work for the AST line of peripheral cards for PCs. 1 Wolfgram saw the growing demand for multimedia so he brought in John Bridges, with whom he had co-developed PCPaint for Mouse Systems in 1984. Together they co-developed the early versions of GRASP for Wolfgram's company, Microtex Industries. Subsequent versions followed. Version 1.10c was released in September 1986. Starting with John and Doug's source code for PCPaint, the painting aspects were chopped out and instead a simple font editor for Doug's slideshow program FlashGun was created. The graphics library was used to make a simple script playback that had a command for each graphics library function. It also originally used the assembly language fades from FlashGun for a "FADE" command, but those image fade routines were mode specific (CGA) and difficult to enhance. The routines were rewritten along with the script parts. It stored all the files in a ZIB archive, renaming John Bridges' program ZIB to GLIB and the archives it produced were GL files.

GRASP 2.0 In 1987, GRASP 2.0, was released and no longer distributed as ShareWare. It became a commercial product published in the US by Paul Mace Software. John Bridges assumed responsibility for development of the core engine while Wolfgram developed fades, external utilities and new commands.

GRASP 3.0 and 3.5 In 1988, GRASP 3.0 was released, followed in October 1988 by GRASP 3.5, bundled with Pictor Paint, an improved PCPaint minus publishing features. GRASP 3.5 "[supported] a wide range of video formats, including CGA, EGA, Hercules, VGA and all popular enhanced VGA modes up to 800 x 600 pixels and 1,024 x 768 pixels resolution. The software [displayed] and [edited] images in several standard formats, including PC Paintbrush (PCX) and GIF." Award-winning animator Tom Guthery claims that by using GRASP in 1990 his early animated computer programs "[gave] smooth movement and detailed animation to a degree that many programmers had thought impossible at the time".

GRASP 4.0 In February 1991 GRASP 4.0 was released, with the ability to create "self-executing" demos (bind to make EXE added), AutoDesk FLI/FLC support, PC Speaker Digitized Sound, and a robust programming environment. It also included ARTOOLS, a collection of image manipulation tools which included an early morphing utility which tracked all points in source and destination images, creating all the in-between frames. Later that year HRFE (High Res Flic Enhancement) was offered as an add-on for GRASP, "[enabling] GRASP to recognize, import, manipulate and compile animations created in Autodesk Animator Pro environment." In a published paper critiquing GRASP 4.0, the authors Stuart White and John Lenarcic said that "The GRASP language offers creative freedom in the development of interactive multimedia presentations, especially to seasoned programmers with an artistic inclination." A stripped-down version of GRASP 4.0 was also included with copies of Philip Shaddock's Multimedia Creations: Hands-On Workshop for Exploring Animation and Sound.

Multi-Media GRASP 1.0 In June 1993, Multi-Media GRASP 1.0 (also known as MMGRASP and MultiMedia GRaphic Animation System for Professionals Version 5.0) was released with TrueColor support. Authorship and ownership Early in 1990 Doug Wolfgram sold his remaining rights to GRASP (and PCPaint) to John Bridges. In 1994, GRASP development stopped when John Bridges terminated his publishing contract with Paul Mace Software. In 1995, John created GLPro for IMS Communications Ltd, the newest incarnation of John's ideas behind GRASP updated for Windows. In 2002, John Bridges created AfterGRASP, a successor to GRASP and GLPro.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Graphics Animation System for Professionals

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Graphics Animation System for Professionals claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Graphics Animation System for Professionals before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Graphics Animation System for Professionals ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Graphics Animation System for Professionals

In research: Graphics Animation System for Professionals appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Graphics Animation System for Professionals in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Graphics Animation System for Professionals is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Graphics software, Multimedia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Graphics Animation System for Professionals outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Graphics Animation System for Professionals in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Graphics Animation System for Professionals means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Graphics Animation System for Professionals out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Graphics Animation System for Professionals in simple terms?

GRaphic Animation System for Professionals (GRASP) was the first multimedia animation program for IBM PC compatibles. It was also at one time the most widely used animation format.

Why does Graphics Animation System for Professionals matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Graphics Animation System for Professionals?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Graphics Animation System for Professionals.