Move-Maker allows you to use the rich database of illustrations to build up your own moves, animate or display them as a gallery, print them out and save them for future use.
It is only available to Gold Members.
Be warned that it is very bandwidth intensive, as so many illustrations are required. Those without a wide-band connection (eg you have a 50k modem rather than ADSL), will find it very frustrating. However the illustrations should load into your cache, so the operation will speed up slowly through use.
As there are over 700 illustrations, the job of selecting the right move, could be torturous. However a variety of tools have been made available to facilitate this in a relatively easy fashion.
Select by clicking the Move-trace Tab.
This allows you to build up a move that exists in the database. Initially you are given a number of starting illustrations. Against each one there is a list of all the moves that start with that particular illustration (and the number of moves). If you click on the illustration, it will be selected as your first "frame" and displayed in the right hand side pain (which looks like a negative film). Alternatively, you could select on of the move descriptions and have it loaded in its entirety to edit at will. You will then be offered the choice of exiting Move-Maker and viewing the move from the database along with the text as normal or loading the move (without text) into Move-Maker for further editing.
After adding the first frame, all the frames that appear in the database as the second frame, that come after your first selected frame, are shown. Again, against each of these are the corresponding moves. This list of moves are useful to help you determine the correct illustration. Often there may be two slightly different illustrations, one has just one move associated, an the other 30 types of "First Move", which may be more what you were looking for.
This tool is inappropriate if you have already created a move that does not exactly correspond to one in the database. It is useful to FIND a move and start off with a move to edit using the following tools.
Selected by clicking the Intelli-sert Tab at any time.
This displays frames that not just correspond to moves which exactly match the sequence so far, but ANY frame in the database at any point in any sequence that appear immediately after the frame the cursor is on (normally the last frame).
This enables you to create moves not existing in the database, but limiting the options to ones that are reasonable as the flow from one move to the next HAS been used somewhere.
Simply click on an illustration to add this to your sequence shown on the right hand pane.
In short, this allows you to create a combination of any snippets of move sequences. The sequences you can generate may not be elegant but should not violate impossible changes of hand, shifts of position etc.
Note that there is one serious limitation to this tool. A sequence (eg neck brake start) my be in the database with the man in the foreground, but not in the background (ie exchanged places). If your move has exchanged places, then you may not be offered such a move sequence. Indeed the illustrations may not even be available at all.
Selected by clicking the Manual Insert Tab at any time.
This gives you access to over 700 moves using a search table. You need to select as many of the criterion as possible to limit your choices.
The first aspect you must choose it the "Move type".
Stationary means that, ON THE COUNT, you are not moving but at rest or momentarily under tension or compression.
Turn/Spin means that you or the lady or both step in, turn ON THE SPOT, and step apart again.
Rotate together means you both rotate relative to a point between you
Walk-around is where one of you (normally the lady) walks around you
Exchange sides is where you swap from being under tension apart form one another, swap sides, one, other or both rotating and end up on opposite sides under tension again.
Other conventional refers to moves where you do not start under tension, but usually are close together. They are a combination of turns or exchanging sides
Special moves are for dips, air steps and other "footy" moves
After selecting this one, you may be required/permitted to select "position". This refers to the position of the lady relative to the man WHATEVER HIS ORIENTATION. The man is assumed to be facing North. Where the lady is actually facing neither at him or away, then this is categorised as either of these!
The hand-grip is relatively self-explanatory. L-R means the Man's left to the Lady's right.
Lady's and man's direction of turn are also self explanatory.
Simply click on an illustration to add this to your sequence shown on the right hand pane.
As the illustrations are clicked, they are added to the sequence in the right hand pane. The insertion point would normally be at the end, ie they are appended. You may scroll and click any frame to select that frame. This allows you to delete it, by clicking on "delete" just underneath. It also changes the insertion point to just after that frame.
Once you are content with your sequence, you can view the animation or gallery by clicking the appropriate tab.
Clicking the "Clear" tab will clear the whole move.
Clicking the "File" tab will allow you to save, load or delete up to nine moves. These are stored in your cookies file and will remain accessible by that particular computer until you delete your cookies. When you save a move, it is allocated a title, which is displayed subsequently in the animation and gallery tabs.