Status
25 May 2005
A new and improved version of DSVideoLib was released,
so a new M4 is here with much faster live video capturing ! 

14 september 2004
Another new M4 !!!



Version 8.80 adds the following features:
- OpenGL mipmap filtering for Images, Movies and LiveCapture.
  Runs pretty darn fast on my ati9700-64mb when Movies are
  limited to 256x256. Toggle on/off with the backslash (\) key.

- Movies and LiveCapture can now switch between a positive or
  negative transparency. Choose with the u key.

- OpenGL smoothing is used for outline drawing of Text. (alt-m)
  This looks very nice, and will give antialiased Texts when the
  outline color matches the Text color. (set with shift-k)

- The pgdn/pgup/arrowkeys respond slower now. Newer generation
  graphic hardware made M4 move wayy too fast.
  The fading speeds (f,g,h keys) are also slower. 

- The i key toggles an onscreen clock and (estimated) FPS counter.
  Good for testing performance and checking the time without the
  need to quit M4. Works only if a Text and Font is loaded.
  (This feature was already present, but never documented.)

Grab your copy of M4 here.
Feedback is always welcome on the board.

12 september 2004
M4 is updated to 8.6b. There was a playback issue with Quicktime
movies (and perhaps AVI's too). They should play better now.

9 september 2004
A new version of M4 (v.8.6a) is released !
The DSVideoLib allows M4 to use live captured video from devices
like frame grabbers, firewire DV camera's or USB webcams.
This release is a dirty modification of the original M4, and uses the
first image slot (keys: F3, 1) to display the captured video. Please
load a placeholder image file in the first image slot, otherwise it
doesn't work.

Some functionality was added to the captured video (texture repeat,
alpha blending) so it behaves exactly like images and movies in M4.
Unfortunately these additions slowdown the capture speed a little...
try for yourself and download the latest M4 here.

7 september 2004
Thanks to the DSVideoLib by Thomas Pintaric, M4 is able to handle
live video input ! Directx9c is required, as well as a compliant
(firewire) videocamera. Currently only tested on WinXP...

Expect a beta release soon to give it a spin.

23 december 2003
Well, who would've expected that... version 8.5 is released !

For the recently held Innercity party, M4 got enhanced with a new
text display feature: the 'ComingAtYa'. Pressing K will scale the
current text rythmically, as shown in the (Quicktime) video here !
Also, a (printable!) pdf document is added to the distribution,
containing a full keyboard reference guide for M4. (thanks Kees!)


01 march 2002
No development news lately, but you can see M4 in action here !


30 januari 2002
M4 currently has a slideshow function that displays all images from
a selected drive or directory. Unfortunately the controls are hacked
in rather dirty, so it won't be included in the upcoming release.
But there is good news too. Quicktime Movies can be played at a
higher resolution and Texts will display left, right and centered.
Also, the scrolling Text is based on the system time so it rolls at a
steady speed.


24 januari 2001
The warp effect is soo addictive.



30 december 2001
Version 8.02 is here, just in time.
A few bugfixes; selecting Font from the gui should work again, the
fps counter in the gui is restored and some other improvements.
And I've put a bunch of thumbnailed screenshots from the last two
months on the website. Enjoy your bandwidth !
Happy newyear to all !!!


26 december 2001
M4 8.00 is here to celebrate the new year !
From now on, Text(F1) and Font(F2) keys both activate the Text.
The only difference is that you can either select a new Text, or
a new Font with the number keys. (This was a major design flaw,
since the behaviour of a Font is directly linked to a Text)
Remaining Font options are activated with the Alt key. To display
a Text as flat, line, 3d or outlined, press Alt with V, B, N and M.
The outline width can be changed with Alt and < or >.

Other new features;
The < and > keys step through the frames of a paused Movie.
Two more openGL blending modes are added, use q and shift q
to step through the 12 modes.
Key w cycles through sphere, fisheye, tunnel and no warp mode.
(The tunnel is the same as sphere mode, conveniently rotated)
As mentioned earlier, you can move and scale the warp effect.


20 december 2001
Instead of working on a decent layout for the program I hacked
some new stuff in. The scrolling behaviour (direct/continuous,
move and scale) works on the Imagewarp sphere. This generates
awesome tunneling effects. A new warp mode is added which
gives you the ability to look around in fisheye imagery.
Maybe there's a new M4 before the end of the year.


7 december 2001
Get version 7.01 now !
Improved memory usage when loading multiple Sets in one session.
Fixed illegal Movie access crash after loading a new Set.
Fixed some keyboard input issues.


6 december 2001
Version 7.00 is available !
External files required to run M4 are merged into one executable.
Pressing q will cycle through 10 different openGL blending modes.
Alt key with - and + keys modifies the perspective angle. (test)
Imagewarp (w key) now works for Image and Movie individually.
Enabled loading of IFF/LBM and PSD imageformats.


2 december 2001
A new version is on its way.


14 november 2001
M4 v6.01 is out !
On top of the changes mentioned earlier, here's what added.
The backspace key will rewind the current Text or Movie.
The < and > keys will adjust the outline width when Font is
active. A simple imagewarp is added, press w to toggle the effect.


08 november 2001
update on next version:
Each Text will keep its last assigned Font, textmode and tempo.
Key ~ toggles between original, upper- and lower case of a Text.
Holding shift during Scale operations maintains correct aspect.
Behaviour of colorrequesters is fixed.
Shading of 3D Texts has improved.


01 november 2001
Internally testing M4 6.00, the "Kurt" version.
Text functionality is enhanced. Texts can have their own Font and
mode setting. All Texts and Movies can be paused individually.
Currently adding lights to shade 3D Texts. 


23 october 2001
Version 5.00 is released !
The movieloader supports Quicktime Movies, bilinear filtering for
Images is added and some bugs were squashed.


20 october 2001
Next M4 will play Quicktime movies. 


18 october 2001
news on upcoming version:
The imageloader is extended ! When the Image resolution doesn't
match OpenGL texture dimensions (256x256, 512x512, etc), M4 will
use bilinear filtering to scale the image.


17 october 2001
Version 4.00 is available.
The M4 screencode has been replaced by the NeheGLII basecode.
This adds a popupwindow to M4 where you can set the resolution
and activate the performance tweaks. Timer code is rewritten to
control the speed of Movies and Texts individually. 


11 october 2001
Version 3.00 is available.
Loading invalid files will no longer crash or freeze the program.
M4 is updated to FreeImage library 2.4.2. (including GIF support)
32 bit Images now use their alpha channel for keying.
A big thankyou to FreeImage.

06 october 2001
Kickass Update ! (Version 2.00)
Movie sourcecode is redesigned from scratch. Playback speed
has improved 150% on my system. Two new features are added;
play movie backwards (with a) and autoscratch (with s).


05 october 2001
Greetings to NeonHelium.


04 october 2001
A basic PHP messageboard has been added to the M4 website.
Many thanks to Edwin & Mart (from TV3000)
Feel free to post M4 experiences here.


03 october 2001
Bug in movieloader found. Expect a new version soon.
When M4 freezes at the loading screen, press Enter.
(A popup appears at the desktop)
Quit M4 and try another Movie for now.


02 october 2001
Initial public release. (Version 1.00)