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Creating Animation with Java Java SE8 for Programmers

By Rogers Cadenhead By Paul Deitel, Harvey Deitel
Jan 3, 2003 $38.39

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Java SE8 for Programmers, 3rd Edition

This lesson teaches how to add some By Paul Deitel, Harvey Deitel
visual pizzazz to Java programs using This chapter is from the book $47.99
the Image class and animation
techniques: display GIF, JPEG, and PNG
graphics that move as the program runs. Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24
Hours, 3rd Edition
Java How to Program, Early Objects Plus
Whether you are reading this book in 24
MyProgrammingLab with Pearson eText --
one-hour sessions or in a single 24-hour- Learn More  Buy
Access Card Package, 10th Edition
long-bring-me-more-coffee-can't-feel-my-
By Paul Deitel, Harvey Deitel
hand-are-you-going-to-finish-that-donut
marathon, you deserve something for $132.32
making it all this way. Unfortunately, Sams Publishing declined my request to buy you a pony, so
the best I can offer as a reward is the most entertaining subject in the book: animation.
See All Related Store Items
At this point, you have learned how to use text, fonts, color, lines, polygons, and sound in your Java
programs. For the last hour on Java's multimedia capabilities, and the last hour of the book, you
will learn how to display image files in GIF and JPEG formats in your programs and present them in
animated sequences. The following topics will be covered:

Using Imageobjects to hold image files

Putting a series of images into an array

Cycling through an image array to produce animation

Using the update()method to reduce flickering problems

Using the drawImage()command

Establishing rules for the movement of an image

Animating a Sequence of Images

Computer animation at its most basic consists of drawing an image at a specific place, moving the
location of the image, and telling the computer to redraw the image at its new location. Many
animations on Web pages are a series of image files, usually .GIFor .JPGfiles that are displayed
in the same place in a certain order. You can do this to simulate motion or to create some other
effect.

The first program you will be writing today uses a series of image files to create an animated
picture of the Anastasia Island Lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida. Several details about the
animation will be customizable with parameters, so you can replace any images of your own for
those provided for this example.

Create a new file in your word processor called Animate.java. Enter Listing 24.1 into the file, and
remember to save the file when you're done entering the text.

Listing 24.1 The Full Text of Animate.java

1: import java.awt.*;
2:
3: public class Animate extends javax.swing.JApplet
4: implements Runnable {
5:
6: Image[] picture = new Image[6];
7: int totalPictures = 0;
8: int current = 0;
 9: Thread runner;
10: int pause = 500;
11:
12: public void init() {
13: for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
14: String imageText = null;
15: imageText = getParameter("image"+i);
16: if (imageText != null) {
17: totalPictures++;
18: picture[i] = getImage(getCodeBase(), imageText);
19: } else
20: break;
21: }
22: String pauseText = null;
23: pauseText = getParameter("pause");
24: if (pauseText != null) {
25: pause = Integer.parseInt(pauseText);
26: }
27: }
28:
29: public void paint(Graphics screen) {
30: super.paint(screen);
31: Graphics2D screen2D = (Graphics2D) screen;
32: if (picture[current] != null)
33: screen2D.drawImage(picture[current], 0, 0, this);
34: }
35:
36: public void start() {
37: if (runner == null) {
38: runner = new Thread(this);
39: runner.start();
40: }
41: }
42:
43: public void run() {
44: Thread thisThread = Thread.currentThread();
45: while (runner == thisThread) {
46: repaint();
47: current++;
48: if (current >= totalPictures)
49: current = 0;
50: try {
51: Thread.sleep(pause);
52: } catch (InterruptedException e) { }
53: }
54: }
55:
56: public void stop() {
57: if (runner != null) {
58: runner = null;
59: }
60: }
61: }

Because animation is usually a process that continues over a period of time, the portion of the
program that manipulates and animates images should be designed to run in its own thread. This
becomes especially important in a Swing program that must be able to respond to user input while
an animation is taking place. Without threads, animation often takes up so much of the Java
interpreter's time that the rest of a program's graphical user interface is sluggish to respond.

The Animateprogram uses the same threaded applet structure that you used during Hour 19,
"Creating a Threaded Program." Threads are also useful in animation programming because they
give you the ability to control the timing of the animation. The Thread.sleep()method is an
effective way to determine how long each image should be displayed before the next image is
shown.

The Animateapplet retrieves images as parameters on a Web page. The parameters should have
names starting at "image0"and ending at the last image of the animation, such as "image3"in
this hour's example. The maximum number of images that can be displayed by this applet is six,
but you could raise this number by making changes to Lines 6 and 13.

The totalPictureinteger variable determines how many different images will be displayed in an
animation. If less than six image files have been specified by parameters, the Animateapplet will
determine this during the init()method when imageTextequals nullafter Line 15.

The speed of the animation is specified by a "pause"parameter. Because all parameters from a
Web page are received as strings, the Integer.parseInt()method is needed to convert the text
into an integer. The pausevariable keeps track of the number of milliseconds to pause after
displaying each image in an animation.

Loading and Displaying Images

As with most threaded programs, the run()method contains the main part of the program. A
while (runner == thisThread)statement in Line 44 causes Lines 45–51 to loop until
something causes these two Threadobjects to have different values.
The first thing that happens in the whileloop is a call to the applet's repaint()method. This
statement requests that the applet's paint()method be called so that the screen can be updated.
Use repaint()any time you know something has changed and the display needs to be changed to
bring it up to date. In this case, every time the Animateloop goes around once, a different image
should be shown.

NOTE

In Java, you can never be sure that calling repaint()will result in the component or applet
window being repainted. The interpreter will ignore calls to repaint()if it can't process them as
quickly as they are being called, or if some other task is taking up most of its time.

The paint()method in Lines 29–34 contains the following statements:

Graphics2D screen2D = (Graphics2D) screen;

if (picture[current] != null)
screen2D.drawImage(picture[current], 0, 0, this);

First, a Graphics2Dobject is cast so that it can be used when drawing to the applet window. Next,
an ifstatement determines whether the Imageobject stored in picture[current]has a null
value. When it does not equal null, this indicates that an image is ready to be displayed. The
drawImage()method of the screen2Dobject displays the current Imageobject at the (x,y) position
specified.

NOTE

The paint()method of this applet does not call the paint()method of its superclass, unlike
some of the other graphical programs in the book, because it makes the animated sequence look
terrible. The applet's paint()method clears the window each time it is called, which is OK when
you're drawing a graphical user interface or some other graphics that don't change. However,
clearing it again and again in a short time causes an animation to flicker.

The thisstatement sent as the fourth argument to drawImage()enables the program to use a
class called ImageObserver. This class tracks when an image is being loaded and when it is
finished. The JAppletclass contains behavior that works behind the scenes to take care of this
process, so all you have to do is specify thisas an argument to drawImage()and some other
methods related to image display. The rest is taken care of for you.

An Imageobject must be created and loaded with a valid image before you can use the
drawImage()method. The way to load an image in an applet is to use the getImage()method.
This method takes two arguments: the Web address or folder that contains the image file and the
file name of the image.

The first argument is taken care of with the getCodeBase()method, which is part of the JApplet
class. This method returns the location of the applet itself, so if you put your images in the same
folder as the applet's class file, you can use getCodeBase(). The second argument should be a
.GIFfile or .JPGfile to load. In the following example, a turtlePictureobject is created and an
image file called Mertle.gifis loaded into it:

Image turtlePicture = getImage(getCodeBase(), "Mertle.gif");

NOTE

As you look over the source code to the Animateapplet, you might wonder why the test for a null
value in Line 31 is necessary. This check is required because the paint()method may be called
before an image file has been fully loaded into a picture[]element. Calling getImage()begins
the process of loading an image. To prevent a slowdown, the Java interpreter continues to run
the rest of the program while images are being loaded.

Storing a Group of Related Images

In the Animateapplet, images are loaded into an array of Imageobjects called pictures. The
picturesarray is set up to handle six elements in Line 6 of the program, so you can have Image
objects ranging from picture[0]to picture[5]. The following statement in the applet's paint()
method displays the current image:

screen.drawImage(picture[current], 0, 0, this);

The currentvariable is used in the applet to keep track of which image to display in the paint()
method. It has an initial value of 0, so the first image to be displayed is the one stored in
picture[0]. After each call to the repaint()statement in Line 45 of the run()method, the
currentvariable is incremented by one in Line 46.

The totalPicturesvariable is an integer that keeps track of how many images should be
displayed. It is set when images are loaded from parameters off the Web page. When current
equals totalPictures, it is set back to 0. As a result, currentcycles through each image of the
animation, and then begins again at the first image.

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This chapter is from the book

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Discussions

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C_maniac −
3 years ago
Uncompilable source code - animationtest.Animate is not abstract and does not
override abstract method run() in java.lang.Runnable

Where did I go wrong?

0

C_maniac −
3 years ago
Sorry about that, I misspelled run(). But the main problem I am facing now is this:
Without a void main(String[] args), the program will not recognize the class Animate.
It says that Animate was not found in project. I don't know what to do now.
0

Leon Suth −
3 years ago
yo dis java code of tha hook!
2

Mr_Pain −
3 years ago
Hell ya Leon, you know yur stuff
3

Animation Institute −
3 years ago
3D game programming in C++ is a real pain(I know from experience)I hope that Java
makes things easier on the developers end.
3

AlphaGeek −
3 years ago
hey. i cant get it to work without a main() method! did you screw up or did i?
0
 AlphaGeek −
3 years ago
oh, wait stupid me. i missed the listing 24.4 never mind
0

AlphaGeek −
3 years ago
oh, wait stupid me. i missed the listing 24.4 never mind
1

AlphaGeek −
3 years ago
oh, wait stupid me. i missed the listing 24.4 never mind
1

TryH@rd −
2 years ago
Its a thread.
You call this class to run as a separate process so the animation can goon while
other stuff is going on in the program.
0

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