ART MASTER
© 1983, GCE Vectrex

ART MASTER is a high performance, state-of-the-art experience that takes you into a world of art exploration you've never seen before!
Finally, sketching comes of age... and your creativity comes to life! Advanced electronics technology now makes it possible for you to design, draw, and animate your own art! Draw a bird. Then watch it fly! Sketch a train. Then send it speeding down the railroad tracks! Watch a flower blow in the wind or children walk to school. What you create...you can animate!
You don't have to be a super-artist to use and enjoy Art Master. All you need is a sense of adventure, fun and a little imagination! We'll show you how to make Art Master the key that unlocks all the creativity you've always known you had!
HOW TO PLAY

There are three separate functions on the Art Master cartridge - SKETCH, CONNECT and ANIMATE. We'll take you through each function and work with you on some simple exercises. After you've learned the basics, the rest is up to you! Ready? Your art adventure is about to begin!

THE MENU

After the Vectrex overture plays, a Menu listing all three functions of the Art Master cartridge will appear on your screen.

- SKETCH
- CONNECT
- ANIMATE

To make a selection, point the Light Pen at the appropriate word. The other two words will disappear and your chosen function will begin. The following sections of this instruction book will explain in detail how the three Menu selections work.

SKETCH

To enter the "SKETCH" mode, point your Light Pen at the word "SKETCH" when the Menu appears on your screen. The other two Menu items will disappear In the SKETCH mode you'll be able to create virtually anything you want - fill up the entire screen or just a portion of it. To start sketching, aim the Light Pen at the "+" symbol on the screen. Using your Light Pen, move the "+" to your desired starting position.
- Draw Lines
  To draw lines, press and hold Button 1 on the control panel while you move the "+" around the screen with your Light Pen. The slower you draw the easier it will be to create curved lines. To draw another figure or object on a different part of the screen, release Button 1 and move the "+" with your Light Pen to a different starting position. Then press and hold Button 1 again as you draw the second figure.
  Remember to keep the Light Pen close to the screen or touching the screen. If you move the Light Pen too far away from the surface of the screen, you will see a large burst of light (like a spider web) and the Light Pen will not operate properly. While sketching, you may hear a "beep" tone. This will tell you that you have only ten lines left to draw before you've used all the available vectors ... so finish your creation quickly!
- Strrrrretch Your Imagination
  Move the "+" with your Light Pen anywhere on the screen this will be your starting point. Now press and hold Button 2 and move the Light Pen around the screen ... watch your line stretch and pull to all directions just like a rubber band! Release Button 2 when your straight line is at the desired location and is the desired length.
- Make Fans
  Press and hold Button 4 and SKETCH move your Light Pen in a circular motion to form a "fan" of lines around a central point. Go left or right, up or down. It makes no difference which way you move your Light Pen. Form flower tops, cosmic explosions, stars, dozens of other creations. To erase your creations and begin again, simply point your Light Pen at the word "ERASE" at the bottom of the screen and press Button 3. To return to the Menu for other Art Master functions, point the Light Pen at the word "MENU" and press Button 3.
- Sketch Controls

Button 1 | Draw Press and hold while moving Light Pen.
Button 2 | Stretch Press while moving Light Pen to draw a straight line. Release Button when line is desired length.
Button 3 | Erase/Menu Press while placing Light Pen over "ERASE" or "MENU". ERASE clears the screen. "MENU" returns you to the Menu.
Button 4 | Fan Press while moving Light Pen in a circle to create a "fan" effect.

CONNECT

To enter the "CONNECT" mode call up the Menu by placing the Light Pen over the word "Menu"" and then press Button 3. When the Menu appears aim the Light Pen over the word "CONNECT". Now you're off on a totally new art experience Your drawings appear on the screen in a series of unconnected dots and all with the simple swirl of your Light Pen! Write words, draw spaceships, faces or scenes then just push Button 4 and watch your dots suddenly connect and change to lines!
This mode simply allows you to draw graphics in a series of dots rather than in full lines, as in the "SKETCH" mode. Press and hold Button 1 to draw dots or Button 2 to draw straight lines (i.e. a dot at either end of a straight line). Release the buttons to move the "+" to another position on the screen. Press Button 4 to connect the dots Pressing Button 4 again will allow you to return to dots.
You may want to design a pattern or code and create it in dots. Then ask a friend to guess what you've drawn. Connect them together by pressing Button 4 to see if your friend got it right! Every time you push Button 4, you change your drawing, sketch or design from dots to lines and then back again.
- Connect Controls

Button 1 | Draw Press and hold while moving Light Pen to create dots.
Button 2 | Stretch Press while moving Light Pen to draw a straight line (dot at either end). Release Button when line is desired length
Button 3 | Erase/Menu Press while placing Light Pen over "ERASE" or "MENU". "ERASE" clears the screen. "MENU" returns you to the Menu.
Button 4 | Connect Press to connect your dot pattern. Press again to return to dots.

ANIMATE

Living art... moving designs... swirling drawings! When you use your Art Master in the "ANIMATE" mode" you really make your artwork a moving experience! Draw an animal... and make it move! Sketch a centipede... and watch it run! Draw soldiers... and march them across the screen! Become a pioneer in the new Space Age frontier! You have up to 31 lines in this mode to draw graphics ...then animate them!
- Creating the Basic Figure
  To draw your initial figure (which you will later animate), aim the Light Pen at your desired starting point and press Button 1 to get a dot and the "+" to appear. To create a line starting at this dot, aim the Light Pen at another point and press Button 2.
  To create your figure, use Buttons 1 and 2 to define starting points and draw lines. To close a figure, aim the Light Pen at a previously defined point when it is detected, a square will appear around the point. Then press Button 2. You can also move the "+" by aiming the Light Pen at your desired new starting point and pressing Button 1.
- Adjusting the Figure
  You can make adjustments to your basic figure before beginning to animate it. To make adjustments, aim the Light Pen at any point on your figure. When the point is detected, a square will appear around the point. Press Button 3 and then move the point with the Light Pen. which will also move all lines connected to that point (like a "rubber band" effect). Release Button 3 when that point is in the desired location. Continue to adjust your figure in this manner until it is completed to your satisfaction. To remove a line, aim the Light Pen at the line and it will appear slightly brighter Then press Button 4 to remove the line.
- Animating the Figure
  To advance to Frame 2 and begin animating your basic figure, aim the Light Pen at the word "NEXT" at the bottom of the screen and press Button 3, You will also hear a "beep" to indicate that you have advanced to the next frame.
  Once in Frame 2, you can alter your figure in any desired way using the same method described in "Adjusting the Figure". If you wish to see the previous frame's figure, press Button 4, You can remove the previous frame's figure by pressing Button 4 again, You can also remove the words from the bottom of the screen by pressing Button 1, This will reduce any "flicker" in your drawing Pressing Button 1 again will cause the words to reappear.
  Once you have the figure adjusted as desired in Frame 2, you can advance to Frame 3 and beyond using the same procedure, There are 9 frames available for your animation, but you need not use all of them, You may animate on as few as two frames, Once all the desired frames are drawn, aim the Light Pen at the word "PLAY" at the bottom of the screen and press Button 3 to see your animation in action. Once in this play mode, you can speed up the animation by pressing Button 4 one or more times... or slow it down by pressing Button 3 one or more times.
  Pressing Buttons 1 or 2 will return you to the "Edit" mode. You can go backwards or forwards to any frame to re-edit that frame by aiming the Light Pen at "LAST" or "NEXT" and pressing Button 3 one or more times. To return to the "CREATE" mode or the main Menu at any time, aim the Light Pen at the appropriate word at the bottom of the screen and press Button 3.
- Animate Controls

CREATE MODE
Button 1 | Dot Press to place a dot on the screen which will be the beginning point of a line. Also press to move "+" to a new point.
Button 2 | Line Press to form a straight line that begins at the dot.
Button 3 | Select/Move Press to move your "active dot" around the screen, or... - while aiming at "NEXT", press to enter Edit mode - while aiming at "ERASE", press to erase the entire screen - while aiming at "MENU", press to return to the main m
Button 4 | Remove Press to remove unwanted lines.

EDIT MODE
Button 1 | Foreground Press to clear words at bottom of screen (this will reduce any "flicker" in the drawing). Press again for words to reappear.
Button 2 | not used
Button 3 | Select/Move Press to move a point and all lines connected to the point.
Button 4 | Background Press to see "shadow" of your previous frame. Press again to remove the "shadow".

PLAY MODE
Button 1 | Exit - Press to return to Edit mode.
Button 2
Button 3 | Slow Press to play back your animation slowly. Each time you press it, the animation slows a little more.
Button 4 | Fast Press to play back your animation quickly. Each lime you press it, the animation will speed up a little more.

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