The MPEG video support in gAnim8 is new and very EXPERIMENTAL. Here are the facts:

At this time only Mpeg videos under 1MB (1200 frames or less) are supported.  If you open Mpeg videos bigger than that - do so at your own risk (see below)

INTENDED USAGE:
The Mpeg support in gAnim8 is NOT intended for opening/editing/saving large Mpegs.  It is NOT intended to turn gAnim8 into a full-fledged 'movie studio'.  The Mpeg support is intended for such things as opening a small Mpeg, grabbing 1-25 frames from the Mpeg, and using those frames to make a smaller animation (i.e, an animated Gif from an MPEG or a smaller Mpeg from the original Mpeg).  The Mpeg support is useful for those wishing to grab a frame or frames from an Mpeg, or those wishing to make a mini animated 'preview' of an Mpeg Video.  Any other usage is not 'supported'. So, if you use the Mpeg support for anything other than what I have just describe, you do so at your OWN risk (If you try to open a 20MB Mpeg and it crashes your computer, do NOT send in a 'bug' report, as the only thing 'malfunctioning' will have been your reading comprehension.)

REQUIREMENTS:
In order to do ANYTHING with MPEG Videos, you MUST have the 'mpeg2vidcodec' version 1.2-2 or later installed on your system.  Specifically required from this package are the 'mpeg2decode' and 'mpeg2encode' binaries. You can find copies of the 'mpeg2vidcodec' package on speakeasy.rpmfind.net or at the MJPEG site.  Also required is the ImageMagick package with the 'convert' binary. See speakeasy.rpmfind.net and www.imagemagick.org for copies of ImageMagick (at least version 5.2.3+, version 5.4.6.1 or better recommended) 

IMPORTANT: gAnim8 is NOT intended for opening, saving, or editing large Mpeg videos.  At this time only Mpeg videos under 1MB (1200 frames or less) are supported.  gAnim8 is NOT a 'movie studio' - it is an animation suite, intended for opening/saving/editing SMALL animations and Mpeg videos.  If you choose to ignore this warning - expect to wait a LONG time for your video to open.  In addition, LOTS of temporary disk space will be used (possibly hundreds of MBs), and the whole GUI of gAnim8 will run much, much slower. Large Mpegs over 1MB can take MANY minutes to open. Use at your own risk!


Opening Mpegs is still kind of slow.  gAnim8 has NO control over the speed of decoding Mpeg videos.  This is controlled by the external program 'mpeg2decode' from the 'mpeg2vidcodec' package.

Saving/Creating Mpegs is still kind of slow.  gAnim8 has NO control over the speed of encoding Mpeg videos.  This is controlled by the external program 'mpeg2encode' from the 'mpeg2vidcodec' package.

SUPPORTED MPEG FORMATS:
gAnim8 can open/read MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 Videos
gAnim8 can save/write MPEG-1 Videos (generic MPEG-1 Video, at 24 FPS)

gAnim8 does NOT support any other MPEG formats (.mp3, mpeg-4, etc).  If it's not listed above, it's not supported.

OPENING MPEGS:
Opening an Mpeg can take a moment.  Please be patient.  A 'preview' window will open.  You may then select the frames from the Mpeg video you want to incorporate into your animation.  It is HIGHLY suggested that you do not choose more than 25 frames (as you will be waiting a LONG time). If you ignore this warning, you do so at your own risk.