Animation Programming System

The Animation Programming System (APS) was a collection of software created by David Philipsen for Chuck E. Cheese corporate in the early 90's.

This would be used by the Entertainment department as the new way for creating and synching animatronic movements to their video productions. Notably this began around the time Concept Unification was being integrated into stores, making this software all-encompassing for handling the 3-Stage's Grey Box, the Cabaret's Cyberamic Control System, and the newer Cyberamic SVHS stage controllers in one package. Sometime in the late 90's, it was updated to include support for Studio C. It continues to be used to this day for most programming at CEC Entertainment Corp.

Software
A few pieces of software were used in tandem for all the processes related to creating the animatronic programs.


 * Showbiz Pizza SMPTE Synchronization Program
 * Showbiz Pizza Time Animation Program
 * Showbiz Pizza Time Animation Programming System
 * A.P.S.

A.P.S.
The main APS program was used to select between five different types of animatronic systems for use in programming. Clicking on a group would presumably put the user into the Showbiz Pizza Time Animation Program, to begin programming showtapes.


 * 1) CEC Concept Unification Programming
 * 2) CEC Stage Show Programming
 * 3) King Programming
 * 4) Beagles Programming
 * 5) Bowzers Programming

At some point, CEC Road Stage programming was possibly added to the list, which would eventually lead to the R12 format. Notably, the Beagles and Beach Bowzers are listed separately on the main menu. This could have been to simply change the names of the characters when using the editor, but could also possibly mean some bits on the Bit Chart were swapped around. The Beagles being on the main menu also provides evidence towards the rumored 90's Beagles showtapes.

Programming Systems
The Showbiz Pizza Time Animation Program (SPTAP) or Showbiz Pizza Time Animation Programming System (SPTAPS) was the main software used for creating showtape programs. It was used for assigning bits onto keys of the user's keyboard, along with saving and loading showtapes. After setting up a show and bits, it would be used for live programming, allowing the user to move animatronics in real time by connecting the software to their control system.

The initial menu had multiple tabs labeled File, Assign, Editor, and an unknown tab that began with "Op". File would be used for opening .aps files, along with saving them. Editor was presumably for adjusting and deleting pieces of a show, along with possibly linking to the Synchronization Program. The Assign menu would show a dropdown menu. The first button being Buttons, which would be a list of bits assigned to keys on the keyboard currently. This could be configured and saved as a .asg (assign) file using the third option in the dropdown. Clearing the current assign, and loading .asg files could also be done. In the 1991 CEC Entertainment & Support Dept Promo, a selection of .asg files can be seen on a computer. These are: (The third row of files is obscured, but can partially be seen)

The main software allowed the user to play a programmed showtape live on their animatronics through the software. The show could be paused, fast-forwarded, and rewound, along with being able to skip to other segments in the show. Users could use their keyboard to activate bits on the Bit Chart, activating movements and lights with their keypresses.

Showbiz Pizza SMPTE Synchronization Program
The exact details of this program are unknown, but it is believed that it was used to generate the final encoded data stream for the master tape in sync with SMPTE timecode. The only visible control parameter is the Frame Offset, which would control a delay in the showtape data relative to the SMPTE timecode data.

Floppy Disks
Showtapes were saved onto standard floppy disks, in which only the showtape data would be stored. Each segment was stored as a separate file, and shows were sometimes split across two floppy discs. Birthday and live show segments would be bundled in some of the floppies. The random movements burned into the EPROM's of 3-stages and CEC stages were also saved onto these floppy disks. Each stage type had a different file extension to label its use, but they were all under the same format. The official extension for this format was labeled as .aps.


 * .mvt for Random Movements
 * .sho for 3-Stage (1990)
 * .3st for 3-Stage (1991-1992)
 * .c&r for C-Stage and Rocker Stages
 * .roa for Road Stages (1990-1991)
 * .r12 for Road, 1-Stage, and 2-Stages (1992)
 * .bzr for Beach Bowsers
 * .hlf, an unknown stage format