wizard@sosaria.imp.com (Chris Brand) (07/19/90)
Finally a 24bit animation system seems to be available for the Amiga.
Here's the info:
A2000 2 megs Fastram, 40 megs hd, 44 megs SyQuest, Transputer Graphics
Board (yes, the Sang board) with 1 T800 and a G300, 2 megs DRAM and 2 megs
Video RAM, resolution up to 800x600 with true 24 bit. Helios Operating
System, NEC Multisync 3D
costs 20000 DM (about 11400 US$).
Of course, without software it's no good for a non programmer, so here's
the software:
Sabrina: 3D graphics and visualisation program (good title :-) with 24 bit
3000 DM (1700 US$)
Miranim: 24bit Animation System
17000 DM (9650 US$)
MiraShading: Developer System with Libraries and Compiler
9050 DM 5130 US$)
with Toolkit
10500 DM (5950 US$)
MConvert: Conversion Tool (SA, TS and so on to Sabrina)
1500 DM (850 US$)
Display: Framebuffer Software for SA, TS, Digiview, Sabrina, TIFF, IFF.
1500 DM (850 US$)
I don't know whether these products are already shipping, a very early
version was however shown at the Cebit earlier this year, and the
Transputer board exists for over a year now.
I just wonder if anybody is going to pay these prices. A low cost computer
with software prices that are anything but low - I don't know. A similar
Mac system would probably cost quite a sum less, though I believe it would
be somewhat slower.
Well, at least something's happening. And the benefical effects of the free
market are well known :-)
Oh yes, these information can be found in the latest issue of the german
Amiga Magazin, page 109. The company (VideoComp) that offers these
products is well known for their professional soft- and hardware.
For anybody interested, here's the address:
VideoComp
Berner Strasse 17
6000 Frankfurt 56
West Germany
Tel. 069/5076969
Fax 069/5076200
I think I am regaining some hope for the Amiga's future, despite my
fatalistic nature (see also next message).
--
------------------------------------
Chris Brand - wizard@sosaria.imp.com
"Justice is the possession and doing
of what one is entitled to" - Platon
------------------------------------seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham) (07/23/90)
In-Reply-To: message from wizard@sosaria.imp.com People ARE buying these systems and software over there...they see what the end result looks like, and don't care that it's expensive hardware stuffed into an Amiga. This is the way it should be, and why the Toaster's are going to sell alot of Amigas...not because it's an Amiga doing it, but because of what the result of their investment is...nice screens. Sean //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// UUCP: ...!crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc | ARPA: !crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc@nosc.mil | " Fanatics have their INET: seanc@pro-party.cts.com | dreams, wherewith they | weave a paradise for RealWorld: Sean Cunningham | a sect. " Voice: (512) 994-1602 PLINK: ce3k* | -Keats | Call C.B.A.U.G. BBS (512) 883-8351 w/SkyPix | B^) VISION GRAPHICS B^) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
honp9@jetson.uh.edu (Jason Tibbitts/The Blob Shop) (07/23/90)
[Munch all you want, I'll type more] In article <03348.AA03348@sosaria.imp.com>, wizard@sosaria.imp.com (Chris Brand) writes: > Finally a 24bit animation system seems to be available for the Amiga. > Here's the info: > > A2000 2 megs Fastram, 40 megs hd, 44 megs SyQuest, Transputer Graphics > Board (yes, the Sang board) with 1 T800 and a G300, 2 megs DRAM and 2 megs > Video RAM, resolution up to 800x600 with true 24 bit. Helios Operating > System, NEC Multisync 3D > Will someone please tell me just what purpose the Amiga serves in this setup? It seems to be not much more than a case with a power supply, keyboard and disk drives. So what is it that makes the Amiga a good base for this system? One would think that any computer with slots would suffice. Or is the Zorro bus somehow special? > Chris Brand - wizard@sosaria.imp.com -- \/ Jason L. Tibbitts III // | THEnet: {George|Jane|Elroy|Judy}::HONP9 /\/"Blob Shop Programmers: // | SesquiNet, Telnet, etc: HONP9@JETSON.uh.edu \/ Because We're Bored!" \X/ | CREN (BitNet): HONP9@UHVAX1 "Ewige /\ . DISCLAIMER ." Whose opinions did you think there were?" ; Blumenkraft"
seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham) (07/25/90)
In-Reply-To: message from honp9@jetson.uh.edu What's the difference between this, and a clone with an AT/Vista board...the TMS34020 does all the graphics work. And what about the Levco RenderMan accelerator for the Mac, using the i860? Just because it isn't the Denise doing hires, 24bit graphics, this product is a waste??? It's thinking like this that's still holding the Amiga back! Sean //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// UUCP: ...!crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc | ARPA: !crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc@nosc.mil | " Fanatics have their INET: seanc@pro-party.cts.com | dreams, wherewith they | weave a paradise for RealWorld: Sean Cunningham | a sect. " Voice: (512) 994-1602 PLINK: ce3k* | -Keats | Call C.B.A.U.G. BBS (512) 883-8351 w/SkyPix | B^) VISION GRAPHICS B^) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
honp9@jetson.uh.edu (Jason Tibbitts/The Blob Shop) (07/26/90)
[Sorry to take this public] In article <3664@crash.cts.com>, seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham) writes: > In-Reply-To: message from honp9@jetson.uh.edu > > > What's the difference between this, and a clone with an AT/Vista board...the > TMS34020 does all the graphics work. And what about the Levco RenderMan > accelerator for the Mac, using the i860? > > Just because it isn't the Denise doing hires, 24bit graphics, this product is > a waste??? It's thinking like this that's still holding the Amiga back! > I think you misunderstand me. There are many systems that could do this job adequately, but for some reason the Amiga was chosen. Why? There are problems with the IBM PC bus and Apple's NuBus relating to transfer speed, etc. I believe the Zorro bus is in some ways superior here. In what ways? What are the specific features that make the Amiga a better choice as a host for such a system? (Maybe this should be in hardware) > Sean ---- \/ Jason L. Tibbitts III // | THEnet: {George|Jane|Elroy|Judy}::HONP9 /\/"Blob Shop Programmers: // | SesquiNet, Telnet, etc: HONP9@JETSON.uh.edu \/ Because We're Bored!" \X/ | CREN (BitNet): HONP9@UHVAX1 "Ewige /\ . DISCLAIMER ." Whose opinions did you think there were?" ; Blumenkraft"
seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham) (07/27/90)
In-Reply-To: message from honp9@jetson.uh.edu I'm sure Dave Haynie could answer the Zorro question quite abit better than me...but... I'm not sure about the Zorro][ transfer speed, but Zorro]I[ does 20MB/sec...which is the same as MicroChannel and NuBus. But, Zorro]I[ doesn't have MicroChannel's problem of no 32bit DMA (at least on the models up to the mod80), where it slows to 10MB/sec...and it doesn't have the NuBus to mainmemory bottleneck which slows things to 5MB/sec. If you're dealing with large images, these factors can be very important. Sean //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// UUCP: ...!crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc | ARPA: !crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc@nosc.mil | " Fanatics have their INET: seanc@pro-party.cts.com | dreams, wherewith they | weave a paradise for RealWorld: Sean Cunningham | a sect. " Voice: (512) 994-1602 PLINK: ce3k* | -Keats | Call C.B.A.U.G. BBS (512) 883-8351 w/SkyPix | B^) VISION GRAPHICS B^) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
sysop@tlvx.UUCP (SysOp) (07/28/90)
In article <6653.26ae01cd@jetson.uh.edu>, honp9@jetson.uh.edu (Jason Tibbitts/The Blob Shop) writes: > [Sorry to take this public] > > In article <3664@crash.cts.com>, seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham) writes: > > In-Reply-To: message from honp9@jetson.uh.edu > > > > > > What's the difference between this, and a clone with an AT/Vista board...the > > TMS34020 does all the graphics work. And what about the Levco RenderMan > > accelerator for the Mac, using the i860? > > > > Just because it isn't the Denise doing hires, 24bit graphics, this product is > > a waste??? It's thinking like this that's still holding the Amiga back! > > Someone once said to me, after you start adding cards like these, what computer you plug them into is somewhat irrelevant. I think he meant that it was special-purpose, nomatter what you plugged it into. About 2 or 3 years ago, I played with a Targa-type board in a 286, and you could only run software that was specifically written for it. > I think you misunderstand me. There are many systems that could do this job > adequately, but for some reason the Amiga was chosen. Why? > > There are problems with the IBM PC bus and Apple's NuBus relating to transfer > speed, etc. I believe the Zorro bus is in some ways superior here. In what > ways? > > What are the specific features that make the Amiga a better choice as a host > for such a system? > > (Maybe this should be in hardware) I don't think it should be on the Amiga necessarily for hardware reasons, but maybe for software ones! I can imagine ray-tracers which will run in HAM-mode or in 24 bit mode, depending on what your system supports. The 24-bit mode could be built-into the software, or a module. Even if you used 24-bit mode, the HAM still might be useful for something quick, like a preview. Now if you could have your 24 bit graphics and somehow change the graphics library so that many programs would work without modifications, that would be incredible. I dunno what's involved there, myself. Are programs too tied to the current system to be quite that flexible? (Because of # of bitplanes or whatever?) Could you be able to make a few modifications (for things such as colors and bitplanes) and recompile, and have many programs work? In all the talk about 24-bit graphics, I seem to have missed reading about what is required to use the hardware. I think this would be a very important factor. Even if that wasn't possible (to make it "easy"), I still don't see a great problem. Plan a standard as best as you can, and give the software companies some time to support it. We have IFF as a standard (which in itself is rather unheard of -- a standard that is), and many graphics programs, and ray-tracers as a base to draw upon. > > Sean > ---- > \/ Jason L. Tibbitts III // | THEnet: {George|Jane|Elroy|Judy}::HONP9 .... While I'm on the topic of graphics, in the latest Infoworld (around July 23'rd or so?), Cringley says something about developers trying to get full-motion video from a hard disk, and finding that it can't be done. While that may be, I wonder what he would think of "diskanim"? (I'd call him myself, but I have no figures on frames-per-second or anything. :-( ) Now, I'm curious and would like to hear what can be done with "diskanim." Anyway, if you could get HAM mode to any reasonable fps rate, that would make a nice plug for the Amiga, perhaps. (Do you need a 24-bit palette to qualify for full-motion video? I'd prefer to have less colors, if the animation was otherwise impressive enough, but of course, that's just my preference.) Crazy thought here, maybe we should show him Dragon's Lair -- full motion video from a floppy? ( 1/2 :-) How is that when run from a Hard Disk? Er, sorry, private e-mail here: To Robin C. LaPasha: I'm sorry, I lost your e-mail address. Look on page 28 for the article on CDTV (6/11 InfoWorld). -- Gary Wolfe, SYSOP of the Temporal Vortex BBS ..uflorida!unf7!tlvx!sysop, ..unf7!tlvx!sysop@bikini.cis.ufl.edu
bdraschk@faui09.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Bernd Raschke) (07/31/90)
sysop@tlvx.UUCP (SysOp) writes: >While I'm on the topic of graphics, in the latest Infoworld (around July 23'rd >or so?), Cringley says something about developers trying to get full-motion >video from a hard disk, and finding that it can't be done. While that may be, On the Amiga 90 in Basel(Swiss) they showed a digitized mickey mouse movie, loaded from hd in realtime at a frame rate of 30/s ! One could move through the movie by pulling an joystick up/down. It think it was a Trumpcard with Quantum put in an A2000 with 68020. >Er, sorry, private e-mail here: >To Robin C. LaPasha: I'm sorry, I lost your e-mail address. >Look on page 28 for the article on CDTV (6/11 InfoWorld). >-- >Gary Wolfe, SYSOP of the Temporal Vortex BBS >..uflorida!unf7!tlvx!sysop, ..unf7!tlvx!sysop@bikini.cis.ufl.edu -- Bernd 'The Real Arthur!' Raschke | Only // bdraschk@faui09.informatik.uni-erlangen.de | \\ // Amiga @faui44 | \X/ makes it possible "I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle."
eeh@public.BTR.COM (Eduardo E. Horvath eeh@btr.com) (08/02/90)
In article <6631.26aa1b1f@jetson.uh.edu> honp9@jetson.uh.edu (Jason Tibbitts/The Blob Shop) writes: >In article <03348.AA03348@sosaria.imp.com>, wizard@sosaria.imp.com (Chris Brand) writes: >> Finally a 24bit animation system seems to be available for the Amiga. >Will someone please tell me just what purpose the Amiga serves in this setup? >It seems to be not much more than a case with a power supply, keyboard and disk >drives. So what is it that makes the Amiga a good base for this system? One >would think that any computer with slots would suffice. > >> Chris Brand - wizard@sosaria.imp.com >-- >\/ Jason L. Tibbitts III // | THEnet: {George|Jane|Elroy|Judy}::HONP9 >/\/"Blob Shop Programmers: // | SesquiNet, Telnet, etc: HONP9@JETSON.uh.edu >\/ Because We're Bored!" \X/ | CREN (BitNet): HONP9@UHVAX1 "Ewige >/\ . DISCLAIMER ." Whose opinions did you think there were?" ; Blumenkraft" There are two reasons for putting the transputer into an Amiga: 1 The Amiga 2000 has a PC bus (that is seldom being used) as well as a Zorro bus. The transputers sit on the PC bus and don't use Zorro bandwidth communicating with each other. (This may cause problems with the bridgeboard 8^) ) 2 The Amiga has a real-time multi-tasking OS, and I understand that this is some sort of advantage when it ties in with Helios. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Edurardo Horvath eeh@btr.com ..!{decwrl,mips,fernwood}!btr!eeh "Don't worry, I nkow what I'm doing." -- Sledge Hammer ---------------------------------------------------------------------