NineChime forum

(Psst, Waccoon, why not have a board about general oekaki discussion?)

I just wanted to post (since it's relevant to the oekaki community) of a tool I found that will help those (like me) who like to save the .spch and .pch files for personal (read: not stealing other's artwork) enjoyment of watching the files without having to be connected to a board (and technically connected online) in particular.

EDIT:  Here's the whole article since I shut down my blog.

These are one of those goodies I find every now and then while sticking my hand deep into the intartubes.  This tool is aimed towards those who cruise oekaki forums and boards, and like to save the .pch/.spch files to try and watch them at their own convenience.  This tool allows you to do just that, without having to rip an animation page off a oekaki board and try to configure the HTML to point it where you want it to go.

1The first step is to go to this link and click the shiny blue button that in Japanese says "download".  Look below for what I mean.


2. Next, you are going to get a page that is asking you to log in (when you really don't need to).  Just scroll down everything and click the button shown here:


3. The end of the road!  You should come to a page and the download should pop up for you (it does in Firefox, anyway).  If it doesn't for some reason, just click the text that says "→ ここをクリックしてください" and the download prompt should pop up again.

Okay!  That was just for getting it; now let's configure how it should be on your computer.

For you oekaki-buffs, you already know that in order to view these files, you are going to need the three key applets: PaintBBS.jar, spainter_all.jar and PCHViewer.jar.  If you're an oekaki freak like me, you know where to get these files.  If you don't (wow) then just do a google search for each file name, and you will come up with them pretty quick.

Now, you need to make a new folder and put it anywhere you want on your system.  I called mine "PCH" because I store the image files and their respecful .pch/.spch files that associate with them into this folder, along with the program and the applets.

Unzip the zip file you just downloaded into your folder.  There should be a read-me file (That's in Japanese) and the small program itself.  Right now I am translating the instructions from the help file, so stay tight with me...

Next, you are going to drag PaintBBS.jar, spainter_all.jar and PCHViewer.jarinto the folder you created with the program.  The program <em>needs</em> these three files for it to work.  And they need to be in the same folder with it.

And then, you're done.  Go ahead, double-click on the "view_spch_auto.exe" file and select a .pch or .spch file you have saved on your computer.  You will then be asked to put in the height and width (in pixels) of the file (which is the dimensions of the picture itself).  Just key in the correct dimensions and then hit "VIEW", and there you go.  A new window should pop up with your animation playing for you.

I love this program because I collect the animation files, mostly to study how each artist tackles their creation so I can better understand the applets.  It's also just fun to watch.

Happy viewing!