255Authors:
John Entwistle, Damascus High School, Damascus, Maryland
Carolyn Ossont, DuVal High School, Lanham, Maryland
Hans Steffen, DuVal High School, Lanham, Maryland
John Webber, Aberdeen High School, Aberdeen, Maryland
Grade Level: 7–12
Objective:
To create a computer animation of a sequential series of WEFAX images which will
assist in identification of fronts, clouds, hurricanes, and storm movement.
Materials:
- IBM/compatible computer system
- Romeo file * (see page 256)
- A collection of visible or infrared WEFAX satellite images on computer disk in .GIF
format. The images should have been obtained at consistent time intervals.
Background:
- Two programs are needed to create the animation. c reates the animation,
and displays the animation file created by ANIMATE. - The programs must be run from a hard disk drive.
- The animation is smoother if run on a computer with a fast microprocessor.
- Only .GIF format image files can be animated using these programs.
Procedure:
- Make a new directory on your hard drive using the following command.
- Change to the new directory using the following command.
- Copy the file named “ROMEO.ZIP” from the directory/drive where ROMEO.ZIP has
either been downloaded, or the drive on which ROMEO.ZIP is located, using the
following command: - Unzip ROMEO.ZIP using the following command (this command assumes that you
have PKUNZIP on your hard drive and in your path. If you don’t have PKUNZIP,
download it from a bulletin board system [BBS] such as those listed on the following
page. The newest version of PKUNZIP and associated files is called “PKZ204G.EXE).
Note: You must have at least 2.5 MB of free hard drive space in order to unzip and run
this program. Additional information on the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file
may be found in your DOS manual. A sample PATH statement looks like this:
PATH = C:\;C:\DOS;C;\ARCFILE
AN I M AT I O N CR E AT I O N
M D R O M E O ENTERP K U N Z I P R O M E O. Z I P ENTERC D R O M E O ENTERC O P Y R O M E O. Z I P T O R O M E O ENTER