Copyright 1997-2005 Seraline Pty. Ltd., Sydney, Australia All Rights Reserved.
What is 3aline
Screensaver
Settings
License
Customer Support & FAQ
Web Site &
Other Screensavers
Uninstall
Disclaimer
3aline Screensaver is a Windows screensaver which draws colorful, floating 3D shapes around your screen, creating beautiful designs while you are not using your computer.
Recommended minimum: 486 CPU, High Color or True Color. 256 color mode is not recommended.
General
The settings screens have some sliders which you may use to control the types of drawings 3aline does.
| Speed | The further the slider is to the right, the slower the shapes will be drawn. |
| Minimum Time per Drawing, Maximum Time per Drawing |
Use these to control how long the shapes are drawn before a new sequence is started. |
| How often to change the colors used | When a new drawing is started, the palette of colors used may be changed. Use this slider to control how often the colors change. |
| How many colors to use | If you prefer only a few colors to be used at a time, then have the slider towards the left. |
| How often to clear the screen | If you prefer the screen to be cleared more often so the shapes do not build up and fill the screen, then have the slider towards the right. |
| Transparency | Controls how often a scene will use transparent shapes. Whether or not to use transparency is decided each time the screen is cleared. If it is used, then a variety of levels of transparency is used. |
| Blank screen after specified period | If you are using automatic power-down, or perhaps overnight disk utilities such as back-up, then you may want the screensaver to cease disk activity after a while. |
| Add texture pattern | How often a detailed design is added to the background or shapes. |
Shapes and More
Shapes
These sliders allow you to specify how often particular shapes will be used relative to the others. For example, if you do not like cubes, have its slider all the way to the left. To have more spheres, move its slider to the right. There is also a slider to bias the size of the shapes to larger or smaller shapes. The Composite Shape is made up of 2 of the other shapes,
Path
The smaller shapes are drawn in one of several paths:
| Curved | The shapes follow a curved path, sometimes spaced widely apart. |
| Straight lines | The shapes are drawn in straight lines, which occasionally change direction, creating a lattice-like design. |
| Spherical | The shapes are located on the surface of a large sphere. |
| Cylinder | The shapes are located on the surface of a long cylinder. |
| Spring | The shapes will curve like a spring. |
| Cube | The shapes are located on the surface of a long cylinder. |
| Cone | The shapes will form a cone standing up. |
| Draw a single large shape | Draws a larger patterned shape, sometimes in the shape of a shell, or a chess piece |
Symmetry
| None | The slider controls how often a single path of shapes is drawn, without symmetry. |
| Rotation | The shapes are drawn repeatedly aournd a circle. |
| Mirroring | The shapes are mirrored left to right, or top to bottom, or both. The type of mirroring is controlled by other sliders on the screen. |
| Change symmetry style between drawings. | The symmetry style (None, Rotation or Mirroring) is re-selected whenever the screen is cleared. You may also control how often it is altered when the shapes are changed even if the screen isn't cleared, although mixing the different styles may lead to a messier screen. |
Backgrounds
Styles
| Single wall | Just a single wall, or pattern, covering the screen. |
| Tubular | Like looking down a tube, or cylinder. |
| Room, or Box | The shapes are surrounded by walls. |
| Landscape | A flat base, or plateau, along with a background wall are drawn. The colors used are designed to give a landscape-like appearance. |
Patterns
| Plain black | Just a black wall. To have a full black background all the time, slide this one all the way to the right, and the others to the left. You can also move the 'use same background' slider all the way to the right. |
| Black and vhite | A black and white checked pattern, or stripes. |
| 2 colors | A 2-color checked pattern, or stripes. |
| Multi-color | A range of colors are used to produce a pattern of diagonal stripes. |
| Patterned | Wavy patterns. |
| Fractal | A mandelbrot fractal design. |
Rotation
| Background | If the slider is all the way to the left, then the background looks more like a room. Moving the slider further to the right increases the maximum angle at which the background may be drawn. |
| View from Above and Below, and also from the Sides | Having these sliders to the left means the shapes are viewed more 'straight on'. Increasing the angles causes the models to be view from an off-center position. |
Walls
| Squares | Walls are drawn using filled-squares, giving a flat full-color apperance. |
| Grid | Walls are drawn using lines, making the wall look like a grid. |
| Triangles & Grid | As above, but using triangles. |
| Shapes | Spheres, cubes etc are used to make the walls. |
| Bumpy | A rough surface texture is used, rather than a flat wall. |
Images
3aline can display your own images on its background. The file formats supported are JPEG and Windows Bitmaps. JPEG images have file names ending in jpg, jpeg and jpe. Bitmaps end with bmp.
| Folders to search for images | This is the list of folders in which 3aline will search for images. You can add a folder by clicking the Add button and browsing to a folder, then click OK. |
| Add browser cache | For variety, you may like 3aline to display any images which happen to be in your browser cache of recently downloaded images. Only JPEG images are shown. 3aline will attempt to add the folders used for your browser cache. This may not be possible if you are using a browser other than Internet Explorer or Netscape, or if the location of the cache has moved from that expected by 3aline, eg a new version of the browser may store the cache somewhere else. If no folders are added, you can search for the cache or images and use the Add button. |
| How often to show images | Drag the slider to the right to have images displayed more often. The loading of an image may delay the startup of 3aline. |
| Merge with the background colors | Slide all the way to the left to have images displayed using their original colors. |
| Use a single image for the entire wall | If you prefer to see the images full size on a wall, slide all the way to the right. Otherwise, the image will also be tiled, using many smaller copies to make the wall. |
| Display order | Images can either be displayed at random, or sorted alphabetically. When sorted, the folders are sorted alphabetically, and all images in the first folder are displayed in order before the images of the second folder, and so on. 3aline remembers which image is next between runs. You can force it to restart at the first image by clicking on the button labeled "Start at first image next run". This only applies to the very next run, and subsequent runs will proceed through all the images, and then start again at the first. |
Messages
You may enter up to 9 text messages. They will displayed in 3D at random while the screensaver is running. How often they are displayed can be controlled by the Messages slider on the More Shapes tab. The default messages when you install the screensaver include your system's registered name, "3aline", and some repeated characters (dots and dashes). You may remove or change these messages. To delete a message, just clear the field by deleting its characters. The other messages will be moved up to fill the gaps automatically when you save them.
3aline Screensaver is NOT a public domain program. It is copyrighted by Seraline Pty Ltd. This software and accompanying documentation are protected by Australian copyright law and also by international treaty provisions.
The registration fee will license 3aline Screensaver for use on any computers in your home, and on one computer at work on which you are the main user.
You may not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except as provided in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this license.
You may not provide the software to any other user, nor may you upload the registered version to any online service, such as a bulletin board or internet ftp site or web site.
Seraline Pty Ltd may revoke any permissions granted here, by notifying you in writing. All rights not expressly granted here are reserved to Seraline Pty Ltd.
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions are available on-line from http://www.seraline.com/faq.htm. Please consult this page before emailing for support.
Seraline provides its registered users with free support via email. If you have a question, please send an email message to support@seraline.com.
Other screensavers are available on Seraline's WWW Home Page:
Seraline Screensaver - displays an endless variety of colorful abstract-art-like images.
Seractal Screensaver - displays beautiful full-screen fractals.
Adrift Screensaver - draws floating lines across the screen, creating beautiful patterns.
Photo Mishmash Screensaver - Stretch, squeeze and swirl your own photos.
Serandom Screensaver - a screensaver manager, or randomizer, which allows you to specify how often and how long each of your selected screensavers should run.
If you used a full 3aline Setup procedure to install, then you will be able to uninstall 3aline by using Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs.
Otherwise, delete the file 3aline.scr from your Windows\System folder. You can find the file using Windows Explorer.
3ALINE SCREENSAVER IS SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. IN NO EVENT SHALL SERALINE P/L OR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE 3ALINE SCREENSAVER. IN NO EVENT SHALL SERALINE P/L'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISKS AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND ENFORCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NSW, AUSTRALIA, AND ANY ACTION BY EITHER PARTY SHALL BE BROUGHT ONLY IN A COURT LOCATED IN NSW, AUSTRALIA.