Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (10/20/90)
So here's the dilemma...
Ham-E with hardware and paint software runs $300
Add a DigiFX (sp?) encoder to go to video 99
Price $399
DCTV (apparently encoder is built in) $399
So, similar programs, similar price range. I have seen output from both.
They both look great. I saw the paint software for DCTV, but didn't get to
try it. I had 5 minutes to use the paint software for Ham-E, liked it (but
what can you really tell in 5 minutes?).
I need something like this for commercial work, particularly logos. About
60% of what I do is still graphics, about 40% is animated graphics.
Any and all impressions/suggestions regarding which might be better would be
sincerely appreciated. My budget is too stretched to be able to purchase bot
or to make a mistake and get the wrong one. I'm sure there must be a LOT of
other people out there trying to decide. (The Toaster and Firecracker boards
are beyond my budget right now.)
Julie (LadyHawke)Radagast@cup.portal.com (sullivan - segall) (10/22/90)
Re: Ham-E .vs. DCTV > >Any and all impressions/suggestions regarding which might be better would be >sincerely appreciated. My budget is too stretched to be able to purchase bot >or to make a mistake and get the wrong one. I'm sure there must be a LOT of >other people out there trying to decide. (The Toaster and Firecracker boards >are beyond my budget right now.) > Julie (LadyHawke) Rather than compare the two (since I haven't seen both) I'd like to point out what I consider some strengths of the HAM-E. * It performs as advertised. I have no complaints about the images rendered to HAM-E format. It will take a while though before utilities start supporting the device directly. * It has RGB outputs. If I want to go to video, I also want to be able to choose the Genlock that will do that myself. I believe in modularity, meaning that I can replace any part of a system as it begins to fall below my expectations. The HAM-E does not try to be anything other than a display device. * The Paint program is available in Source form from the vendor. This makes the HAM-E very attractive as a hackers upgrade. Personally I find that appealing. * The hardware is very adjustable. The end user has incredible latitude in control over the contrast, brightness, and color balance of the device. Presumably these levels could be adjusted to allow a good Genlock to use the full range of output from the device. (On the other hand, installation is a pain, as I've said before. Getting it to work is easy, but getting it to match the Amiga output levels isn't.) > Ham-E with hardware and paint software runs $300 > Add a DigiFX (sp?) encoder to go to video 99 > Price $399 > > DCTV (apparently encoder is built in) $399 My brochures say: HAM-E $299.95 DigiView 4.0 $140. ==== $440 DCTV $495 Obviously DigiView can be found discounted more than that. With these systems the differences would be the output format (NTSC .vs. RGB --- SuperGen2000 (also by Digital Creations) would add another $1800 or so to get to NTSC, but at an arguably better quality), software (both have in house paint packages, DigiView comes with the DigiView Software), and about $45 in cost which is IMHO relatively inconsequential. -Sullivan_-_Segall (a.k.a. Radagast) _______________________________________________________________ /V\ E-Credibility: (n -- ME) The unguaranteed likelyhood that ' the electronic mail you are reading is genuine rather than someone's made up crap. _______________________________________________________________ Mail to: ...sun!portal!cup.portal.com!radagast or radagast@cup.portal.com
turk@tree.uucp (Rob Turk (1-1-90)) (10/22/90)
In article <35075@cup.portal.com>, Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com writes: > > So here's the dilemma... > > Ham-E with hardware and paint software runs $300 > Add a DigiFX (sp?) encoder to go to video 99 > Price $399 > > DCTV (apparently encoder is built in) $399 > > So, similar programs, similar price range. I have seen output from both. > They both look great. I saw the paint software for DCTV, but didn't get to > try it. I had 5 minutes to use the paint software for Ham-E, liked it (but > what can you really tell in 5 minutes?). > > I need something like this for commercial work, particularly logos. About > 60% of what I do is still graphics, about 40% is animated graphics. > Julie (LadyHawke) I must admit that I have NOT seen HAM-E. However, at the local computer store two DC representatives gave me a real nice demo. That demo lasted for quite a long time. Although the product is not yet for sale, I believe mid-November is their due date, it seems very stable [I did not see anything close to being wrong!]. Magnify and undo are the only things yet to be added, I think, before it is released. The demo was done free-style by the DC rep for me as my interests and questions dictated. Digital Creations seems to me like a very nice company to deal with. Their people are very helpful. I intend to get DCTV some time in the future. The demo was performed on an A2500 [I'm not sure how much RAM]. The program is HD installable. It can be used on all Amigas, but accelerated ones work, well, faster. :) That INCLUDES the A3000. It multitasks. Not being a technical person, and writing this from memory, take this only as factual as you want. DCTV does not take or use any slots on an Amiga. This allows it to work on any Amiga. It plugs into the RGB port. If you use a video camera to capture an image to use, it interfaces with the parallel port. I'm getting further information on this to see if it will have a pass- through for things like a printer [e.g. my MIDI interface uses the serial port but allows a modem to still be connected preventing the problem of having either one or the other plugged in]. It has several file formats. The ones I remember include the standard 24-bit IFF which can be used to export or import to other programs supporting that standard. The Art Department, Imagine, Sculpt, and others follow that, I believe. It also has a DCTV 24-bit IFF raw format which probably will only work on other DCTV systems. Also, I think there is a conversion to HAM so that programs like Photon Paint and Digipaint can use the images. With this, of course, you lose a lot of the wonders of DCTV since 16.7 million to 4,096 colors is one large drop in the quality of shading, etc. I believe this also allows you to import HAM images so you can alter them to your hearts delight. I only saw the program in action, not loading or saving images. I'm not so sure on the information I gave on HAM image usage. Get real facts on that if that is important to you it was not for me. Anyway, that it supported the standard 24-bit IFF format insured in my mind that it will be a good budget minded product that will not leave the artist orphaned to only displaying his or her art only on DCTV equiped machines. I think The Art Department specializes in integrating images into other formats, as well. Hopefully Perry K. will inform us if I am wrong. DCTV seems like a very viable product. Personally, I plan on buying an A3000 before DCTV, but DCTV is going to be my very next purchase after that. Then a video camera. Grabbing an image from the camera for use in an art project seemed very easy. In my opinion, it is a quality product. A rep I have been talking to since the demo has mentioned a few things in DC's future plans for the product. I will not mention those, as they are vapor at the moment, not to mention, I am writing this from memory and falty facts are worse than rumors. DC seemed very interested in suggestions. I did not attempt to use the software as a mouse was attatched. My prefered tool is a track-ball, so using a mouse would not have been helpful. A professional artist who teaches at the local college got a personal demo before me. He was VERY impressed, but that's why we bought Amigas in the first place!