FlickmationHelper

FlickmationHelper is a Java application to help you get Flickmation flickbooks on and off of your iPhone or iPod Touch. Run it on your computer and downloading flickbooks is as simple as double clicking on them.

FlickmationHelper uses JmDNS to allow automatic device discovery.

Getting FlickmationHelper

Download FlickmationHelper version 2.0

The link above will download the latest version of FlickmationHelper. To see which version of FlickmationHelper you are running select About from the Help menu.

Note for Internet Explorer users: Internet Explorer may rename the downloaded file "FlickmationHelper.zip" rather than its correct name of "FlickmationHelper.jar". This will stop Windows from passing the file to Java if you double click it. To avoid the file being renamed right click the download link and select "Save Target As...". If the file name appears as "FlickmationHelper.zip", change this to "FlickmationHelper.jar" and click save.
The web server has now been configured to try to avoid the file being renamed but if it does still occur please follow the work around above.

Older release

• Flickmation 1.2.1

Running FlickmationHelper

FlickmationHelper requires Java to be installed on your computer. If you are using a Mac then Java is normally already installed. If you are using Windows you can download the Java runtime from the Java website.

Once Java is installed you will be able to run FlickmationHelper by double clicking on the FlickmationHelper.jar file.

Setting up Flickmation/FlickmationLite

The server must be running within Flickmation to allow uploading/downloading. It is started by tapping the button ( in FlickmationLite) at the bottom of the title screen. This button will only be available if your iPhone or iPod Touch is connected to a WiFi network.

Once started the server's address will be shown on the screen, 192.168.7.143:4000 in the screenshot below.

The Web Interface

You can browse Flickmation's content using a Web browser by entering the Flickmation's server address (this would be http://192.168.7.143:4000/ in the example). You can even upload image files to use as stamps using this interface (Flickmation only).

Using FlickmationHelper

FlickmationHelper stores its files in a "FlickmationHelper" directory. If you are using Windows (Vista or XP) this directory will be in your "Documents" or "My Documents" directory. For Mac OS X or Linux it will be in your home directory. You can change this directory using the option in the Preferences menu.

The Current Flickbook

A preview of the current flickbook is shown in the main area of the FlickmationHelper window from where you can play the flickbook and enable/disable its layers. To open a flickbook as the current one, double click one of your local flickbook or a flickbook listed on an iPhone/Touch.

Exporting

The current flickbook can be exported as an AVI video file or a sequence of PNG files. Only enabled layers are included in the export. When exporting as an AVI, the Frames per second value is used to set the frames per seconds of the resulting video.

The exported AVI file contains uncompressed video. These can grow rather large for even short animations. Therefore you may want to convert the video to a compressed format. There are a number of programs that can do this, for example,VirtualDub or VLC media player (using the Streaming/Export Wizard feature). VirtualDub can also form a video from the PNG sequence.

You can show the content of the export directory using the item within the Preferences menu.

iPhones and iPod Touches

FlickmationHelper attempts to automatically discover devices running Flickmation. When found they will be added to the iPhones and Touches list on the left of the FlickmationHelper window. In the screenshot the iPod Touch iPod Ben two has been found.

You can add a device manually by clicking the Add iPhone/Touch button. Enter the server's address and it will be added to the device list.

Downloading a flickbook

The flickbooks on a particular device are listed below that device. To download a flickbook select the flickbook and choose Download from the Flickbook menu. The flickbook will be downloaded and stored on your computer, being added to the Local flickbooks list.

You can download and open a flickbook (it becomes the current flickbook) by double clicking on it or selecting Open from the Flickbook menu.

Uploading (only available in Flickmation)

To upload a flickbook, open it as the current flickbook. Then select the destination device from the list of known iPhones/Touches. To action the upload select Upload current flickbook from the Flickbook menu.