ali@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Ali Ozer) (10/13/87)
[] A few days ago I posted several questions about VCRs and buying one that I could use with the Amiga for digitizing, animation recording, etc... Many people have replied; thanks to all who have! Several people have also sent me mail requesting summaries; I have simply remailed them all I got. In any case, the main point of all the replies I got was that a 4-head VCR will NOT necessarily do everything I (and I imagine most other Amiga owners who want to use the VCR with their Amigas) want. - First of all, a 4-head VCR will give you freeze frame, but not good enough to digitize. If you want to digitize VCR images with no problems, you need a digital VCR. Or you wait for NewTek to come out with the device they did Maxine with (a device that is rumored to allow DigiView to digitize images from a "normal" VCR). - Secondly, a 4-head VCR might not be able to paste together short animations (3-5 seconds) to make a movie without some "fuzz" between the animation sequences. Most people agreed that a "flying erase head" is what you need, although the price range then moves up to $1000 or more. If you can't get a flying erase head VCR, then the next best thing is "back space editing," in which case the VCR can be rewound while PAUSEd. - You need "audio-dub" if you want to create a movie from short animations and add a sound track. Most people agreed that audio-dub is the ability to record over the sound track without touching the video; but one person said audio-dub will *not* work on the Hi-Fi sound track. Audio-dub does not come with all VCRs. Anyway, if you're like me & my roommate and want to buy a VCR mainly for use with the Amiga, then make sure you look at the VCR real carefully before you buy it. If you're thinking of a 4-head VCR, then JVC and Zenith were two names that were recommended (over RCA, Panasonic, and GE) for good recording ability. And, finally a question to Allen Hastings (who is on the net, no???): Allen, what VCR did you use to create your movies? (Apocalypse Real Soon Now, which we fully enjoyed at last FAUG meeting, for instance.) Ali Ozer, ali@rocky.stanford.edu
leekil@athena.mit.edu (Lee S Kilpatrick) (10/14/87)
Will a 6-head VCR freeze-frame good enough to digitize? And what is the problem? Why isn't 4-head freeze-frame "good enough to digitize?"
feb@cblpe.ATT.COM (Franco Barber) (10/15/87)
In article <1606@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> leekil@athena.mit.edu (Lee S Kilpatrick) writes: >Will a 6-head VCR freeze-frame good enough to digitize? And what is >the problem? Why isn't 4-head freeze-frame "good enough to digitize?" Because most vcr's these days don't display an entire frame while in 'freeze-frame.' They only show one of the two fields that make up the frame. To fill the blank lines that would otherwise show up if you were to throw one field away they repeat the same field twice. As a result, you are only getting half of your picture when you freeze frame. Thus the picture looks grainy. I don't know where those new 'digital effects' vcr's fit into this mess. They COULD digitize and display both fields, I just don't know if they do. oh and by the way: a 6 head vcr is a 4 head vcr with 2 more heads for hifi sound. It's no different as far as the picture is concerned than a 4 head vcr. Franco -- Franco Barber AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio ..!cbosgd!cblpf!cblpe!feb (614) 860-7803
adh@well.UUCP (Allen D. Hastings) (10/19/87)
In article <664@rocky.STANFORD.EDU> ali@rocky.stanford.edu (Ali Ozer) writes: > >And, finally a question to Allen Hastings (who is on the net, no???): >Allen, what VCR did you use to create your movies? (Apocalypse Real Soon Now, >which we fully enjoyed at last FAUG meeting, for instance.) > I currently use a Sony EV-S700U to record my VideoScape 3D movies. Although the VCR doesn't seem to be accurate enough to do single-frame animation (at least not without an external controller), it is good at combining scenes without glitches due to its flying erase head. Because of this (and also because it's easier) I record my scenes in real time using ANIM files. I then go back and use the VCR's nice stereo audio dubbing to add the soundtrack. Probably the biggest drawback of the machine for most people is that it uses 8mm video cassettes, which aren't too popular yet (except for use in camcorders). The picture and sound quality is quite good, however, and the price is reasonable... - Allen Hastings