HTA F/X

Just as Rollie Tyler and Leo McCarthy introduced special effects, or F/X, to many moviegoers 20 years ago, I hope to introduce F/X to you and many other scriptwriters. Like Rollie and Leo in the epic "F/X" movie, I'll let you in on the secrets behind the special effects you'll see shortly. But seeing is believing. Before you read on, I recommend that you download the HTAspecialEffects.hta from the Windows Scripting Solutions Web site (go to http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowsscripting, enter 49131 in the Instant-Doc ID text box, then click the 49131.zip hotlink). You might be amazed to see that you can make cursors come alive with animation, magically change text without even touching it, make text slowly fade in and fade out, make items quickly disappear and reappear, and more.

If you're unfamiliar with HTML Applications (HTAs) and how to use them as a front end for VBScript files, check out the resources in the "HTA Resources" box, page 16. If you're familiar with HTAs, let's get on with the show. . . .