# Command line arguments

The EZ Squeeze compressor MovieToEZQ is an MPW tool with UNIX-style command line arguments, listed in the following table:

Note: Clicking the mouse button while MovieToEZQ is running will abort the compression

    Table 1:  EZ Squeeze command line arguments.
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    Argument /             |Function
    Default                |
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    - a                    |Uses alpha channel as transparency mask.
                           |Requires an image with an alpha channel
                           |(depth = 32 or depth = 16).  If a value
                           |in the alpha channel is zero, then the
                           |corresponding pixel will be forced to be
                           |transparent (0,0,0).  Otherwise,
                           |transparent pixels (0,0,0) will be forced
                           |to be opaque (0,0,1).
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -b<NUMBER> 65536       |Sets the block size for the output
                           |stream. Compressed frames will not be
                           |broken over a block boundary, so it is
                           |optimal to have this value close to a
                           |multiple of the average compressed frame
                           |size.  The value must be a multiple of
                           |2048 in order for the Weaver to work
                           |correctly.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -c<NUMBER>0            |Sets the output channel number for the
                           |compressed movie.  This option sets the
                           |value stored in the film and/or frame
                           |headers.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -d<STRING>nil          |Sets the directory for the output stream.
                           |If none is specified, the output is
                           |written to the current working directory.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -e<mm:ss.ms>           |Sets the elapsed time of the output
                           |video. Indicates  minutes (mm), seconds
                           |(ss) and milliseconds (ms). The
                           |milliseconds argument is optional, but if
                           |omitted, the  preceding decimal point
                           |should also be omitted.  If the elapsed
                           |time value is not specified, the duration
                           |of the input movie is assumed. (See also,
                           |-k and -t.)
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -f<NUMBER>             |Sets the frames per second for the output
                           |stream. Normally, the frame rate of the
                           |output stream is set to be the same as
                           |that used by the first video track in the
                           |QuickTime movie.  <NUMBER>
                           |specifies the output frame rate in frames
                           |per second. If  -k is also specified, the
                           |frame rate is achieved by skipping or
                           |doubling frames in the QuickTime movie at
                           |appropriate times. Otherwise, there is a
                           |1:1 correspondence between frames in the
                           |input and output streams, and the
                           |timestamp of each frame is adjusted to
                           |achieve the desired frame rate.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -kOff                  |Sets the Kill Frames flag. Allows the
                           |duplication or omission of frames in
                           |order to achieve a desired frame rate or
                           |movie duration (see also, -e, -f, and -t
                           |options).
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -l                     |Not used.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -m<NUMBER>             |Not used.
                           |
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -n                     |Normalizes RGB color plane values. Inputs
                           |three decimal numbers that will be used
                           |as multipliers for each pixel in the
                           |three (R, G, B) color planes
                           |respectively.  This provides rudimentary
                           |color processing capability, which is
                           |useful in certain images with
                           |particularly strange characteristics;
                           |e.g., saturated NTSC colors.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -p<NUMBER>0            |Sets pixel threshold; i.e., the maximum
                           |error that will be tolerated when
                           |calculating runs for compression. The
                           |error value corresponds to the absolute
                           |value of the sum of the signed
                           |differences of the separate R, G and B
                           |values of the two pixels. Practical
                           |ranges for this argument seem to be from
                           |0 through 3. Setting it to -1 will
                           |inhibit run-length encoding.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -q <filename&g t;      |Not used.
                           |
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -r<NUMBER>252          |Defines the "run-literal threshold." Runs
                           |longer than this value, in terms of
                           |pixels, will always be set to the
                           |original pixel value of the first pixel
                           |in the run. This number can be modified
                           |to eliminate subtle horizontal streaks
                           |that sometimes result from run-length
                           |coding. In general, set this number as
                           |high as possible (maximum 252) without
                           |producing adverse results. MovieToEZQ
                           |only allows this to be set to multiples
                           |of 4 pixels, but never set it to just 4,
                           |as this will increase the size of your
                           |image instead of compressing it.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -s<Decimal#>0.0        |Sets the start time for the output
                           |stream, specifying the value in seconds
                           |and fractions of seconds. When this value
                           |is specified, the first frame copied to
                           |the output will be the one set at this
                           |time in the input QuickTime movie. This
                           |lets you skip over frames at the front of
                           |a movie and tweak parameter settings on
                           |difficult frames.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -t<Decimal#>           |Sets the duration of the output movie and
                           |specifies the value in seconds and
                           |fractions of seconds. Identical in
                           |function to  -e, except that it lets you
                           |set the duration. (See also -k.)
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -uOn                   |Sets flag to turn off tables for each
                           |frame.  Lets you turn off the feature
                           |that calculates a new table to be sent
                           |with each frame.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -vOff                  |Sets the verbose flag, which cause such
                           |information as the compressed size of
                           |each individual frame to be printed
                           |during compression.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -w / Off               |Displays image as it is being compressed.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -x<NUMBER>             |Specifies the maximum number of frames to
                           |process. This value is set to the entire
                           |input movie by default. If -t or  -e  is
                           |specified, the frame rate is adjusted so
                           |that the output movie is exactly the
                           |duration specified by -t and contains
                           |exactly the number of frames specified by
                           |-x.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    -z<NUMBER&g            |Specifies the maximum uncorrected error
    t; / 3,3,3             |for RGB during compression and sets the
                           |values of the R, G, and B planes
                           |respectively. This value may have a
                           |significant effect on the quality of the
                           |compressed image and will have a smaller,
                           |but noticeable, effect on the compressed
                           |image size as well. Smaller values yield
                           |better quality and worse compression.
                           |Useful values lie between 1 and 8.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------