Loading custom image formats

Question

Hello all.
I am wanting to load a custom image format into my Java application, and am wondering how to do that. I have a few ideas to try but I figure if there is a site out there (or someone with the knowledge), there is no need for me to re-invent the wheel. So hopefully, someone might be able to expedite my learning. :)
The image format I want to read actually contains multiple images, with 1 color palette at the end of the file. I'd like to create a series of (I assume) BufferedImages for all the images contained within the file.
Are there any sites out there that can send me through a quick tutorial on rolling my own images, or can anyone give me a short function to do so?
Thanks so much!

Answer 1

Okay... I failed. I could really use some help in getting this work. Please.
I have a file, which contains 1 or more compressed bitmap images and a palette. I have a small Perl script that will convert the images in the file into multiple bitmap image files, so I know where the data is and I know I have the data locations right. :)
To create a BITMAP, I must reverse the order of the palette (perl function):
sub reversePalette() {
  my $output = "";
  for (my $i=0; $i < length($_[0]); $i=$i+4) {
    $output = $output . substr($_[0], $i+2, 1) . substr($_[0], $i+1, 1) . substr($_[0], $i+0, 1) . chr(0);
  return $output;
}For the image data itself, it uses a simple RLE encoding. If I see a 0, I check the next number and "uncompress" the data by adding that many 0's to the output file.
So, what I would like to do is convert my Perl script into a Java class that will take this sprite file and return an array of BufferedImages, which can then be used for whatever.
Any help in this would be greatly appreciated! I can't even figure out how to properly load a valid BMP file manually using WritableRaster and ColorModel. I'm so lost. :(