tfeliz@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Tom Feliz) (11/18/90)
I realize that I am a neophyte compared to most of the people in this news group, but I figure there is some here who can answer my questions. I have been a computer hobbyist for many years and am now very interested in making a break into the multi-media field. I want to start a business that deals primarily with educational and training projects. My questions are: 1) What are some good books and magazines to read? 2) What computer is most popular for multi-media? 3) What is used more, Video tapes or laser disks? 4) What would be a good setup for a beginner? 5) Who makes the cards that display both computer and video data on the same screen? 6) What is the usual procedure to record video images on a laser disk or a video tape? 7) What programs are good for animation? 8) How is the educational market? Is it saturated? Please send me Email or even post it on the Net and we can get some discussion going. Thanks, Tom Feliz tomf@jarthur.claremont.edu
clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) (11/19/90)
In article <9676@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> tfeliz@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Tom Feliz) writes: > > 1) What are some good books and magazines to read? > 2) What computer is most popular for multi-media? > 3) What is used more, Video tapes or laser disks? > 4) What would be a good setup for a beginner? > 5) Who makes the cards that display both computer > and video data on the same screen? > 6) What is the usual procedure to record video images on > a laser disk or a video tape? > 7) What programs are good for animation? > 8) How is the educational market? Is it saturated? > > I hope no one will mind my posting--I don't think this group suffers from an overuse of bandwidth! I can fill in a few gaps for Tom; hope someone else will come forth with answers for others. Books? beats me. The magazines I see on a regular basis are Computer Based Training Directions (CBT Directions) and Instructional Delivery Systems. These mags both have a fairly low signal-to-noise ratio, but occasionally I find something good in one or the other. What's your favorite computer? :-) Depending on who you ask, you'll find that THE best computer for multimedia is Mac, DOS, Amiga... etc. I work with a company doing video production with a significant fraction of its work being delivered as Interactive Videodisc. We use a DOS platform, largely because it has the largest choice of "authoring" (gawd, how I hate that word) software, broadest assortment of peripherals, and biggest installed based. I myself am a Mac person at heart, and am pleased to discover that we may soon be working on a Mac-based product. I've read a lot of interesting stuff about the low cost and high performance of Amiga's multimedia stuff, but I've never had a chance to put my hands on it. And so it goes. Laserdiscs are the default for interactive video because of the access time problem. An interactive program, as opposed to a linear one, presumably does not flow in an A-B-C sequence but rather allows the user to pick and choose... A-D-C-X-F-F-B ... what he/she wants to see. So, it becomes very important to have a delivery system that can move from point A to point X in an amount of time that won't cause your user to get bored and walk away. Videotapes, in their current form at least, can't provide random access. A few weeks ago I copied a posting from c.s.m.hardware about the NEC Cowboy, a VCR unit reputed to be able to FF a 120-minute tape in under 60 seconds. With careful editing, such a player MIGHT be acceptable for low-end multi- media, which is why I cross-posted, hoping that someone might have one and report on it to us! :-) Questions 4 and 5 (best beginner system and info on overlay cards) are too individual to answer. Some important overall criteria are: speedy processor, speedy hard disk, speedy video card... oh yeah, lots of disk space if you're going to be doing much with graphic overlays. Laserdiscs are usually made from 1/2" tapes. Even though laserdisc access is fast, there are still editing considerations in that you want to try to keep segments that will logically be accessed close together, physically close together on the disc. Problem is that tape is linear and laserdiscs are not... The education market is definitely NOT oversaturated. Schools are just now starting to get laserdiscs into their budgets. If you're really interested in targeting the education market, some of your other questions may be answered for you: determine what hardware your schools are using for delivery, and there you have it--your authoring hardware is at least narrowed down to an single operating system! Course, I haven't touched on next year's developments, like video compression for digital video.... Truly, my best recommendation would be to try to find a company who's doing multimedia now and get a position with them--it's an awfully big and new field to have to make your own purchasing decisions without the benefit of some prior experience. --Kathy > -- ........................................................................... : Kathy Strong : "Try our Hubble-Rita: just one shot, : : (Clouds moving slowly) : and everything's blurry" : : clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu : --El Arroyo : :..........................................................................:
greg@tcnz2.tcnz.co.nz (Greg Calkin) (11/21/90)
Another novice question or two 1) How do you handle producing a videodisc to cope with VGA colour and to cope with mono on a MAC, for instance. Are there standard image conversion techniques to allow the production of a IV across a broad range of hardware. 2) If I show a constant frame on screen, how do I store running dialogue without changing the picture. Similarly, can I store a screen then run graphics or text over it without using more than 1 screen picture. 3) Is there a standard gaphics / text primitive language with sound i.e. Show this frame, run this graphics program to highlight screen areas, with this sound track running, all synchronised ? 4) Where do the differences between PAL and NTSC come into things, or do you roll your own format ? Just curious to see how things are in the IV industry. -- Greg Calkin, Systems Engineer and Dreamer (greg@tcnz.co.nz) Thomas Cook N.Z. Limited, PO Box 24, Auckland CPO, New Zealand, Ph (09)-793920 Disclaimer : Would you buy a used car from someone with these opinions ?
clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) (11/24/90)
In article <473@tcnz2.tcnz.co.nz> greg@tcnz.co.nz (Greg Calkin) writes: > >Another novice question or two I kept waiting for all those people who tell me I'm not alone to help Greg out, but I guess they're all home for the Thanksgiving holidays. :-) So here goes. >1) How do you handle producing a videodisc to cope with VGA colour and to > cope with mono on a MAC, for instance. Are there standard image conversion > techniques to allow the production of a IV across a broad range of hardware. The videodisc itself doesn't care about color standards, if I understand what you're asking. The overlay card you choose will determine what kind of graphics (i.e., how many colors and the HxW resolution) your monitor will be able to display. On the PC-based system we're using, we have Visage 1910 overlay cards, which we use to display 640x480 x 256 color images (i.e., VGA resolution + 256 colors). In our case, it is given that the program will only be shown on a workstation that is exactly like ours. I've worked with a system where you could store images of different resolution in different directories and the software would query the user for their resolution type and then default to the appropriate directory... like this At program creation, each graphic image is created twice: at EGA resolution and at VGA resolution. EGA images are stored in directory \EGA VGA images are stored in directory \VGA Throughout program, when an image is required it is named \"dir"\saturn.pcx or whatever... At runtime: Program asks user: EGA? VGA? User answers: VGA Program records answer in variable "dir" Then whenever an image is called it substitutes VGA for "dir" and finds the image as \vga\saturn.pcx If the user had replied EGA, it would look for the image in the EGA dir. >2) If I show a constant frame on screen, how do I store running dialogue > without changing the picture. Similarly, can I store a screen then run > graphics or text over it without using more than 1 screen picture. We do this by recording additional audio ("B track audio"), using the features of our disc player (Pioneer LDV-8000) to "grab" the video frame, then moving to the audio location, selecting audio B, and playing the bit. Then, of course, you have to move to your NEXT video, then ungrab the frame (if you do these in reverse order, you'll have some random picture--the picture associated with the B-track audio). Not all players can do this. Another solution would be to record your audio digitally (i.e., on the computer's hard disk, not on the laserdisc). Then you just hold one frame on the laserdisc and tell the computer to play the audio. Very wasteful of HD space, and the quality isn't great, but it can be done. >3) Is there a standard gaphics / text primitive language with sound i.e. > Show this frame, run this graphics program to highlight screen areas, with > this sound track running, all synchronised ? You're asking about "authoring languages," I think. Most Mac applications seem to have centered on Hypercard/Supercard. I believe MacroMind Director 2.0 has some "authoring" built in. I find Hypercard etc. a little generic to be really useful as multimedia authoring tools. On the PC side there is IconAuthor, Quest, Instant Replay, Guide.. (whoops, Guide is also a Mac product). Amigas have AmigaVision, The Director... etc. Authoring languages seem to be shaking out to one of two models: either a graphic-oriented model, where you build a flowchart and that is your program; or a language- oriented one, like C or Pascal. >4) Where do the differences between PAL and NTSC come into things, or do > you roll your own format ? > I suspect that NTSC/PAL differences are going to be significant for your choice of monitor, overlay card, videodisc, and videodisc player. I'm not really up on this subject--anyone else? --Kathy -- ........................................................................... : Kathy Strong : "Try our Hubble-Rita: just one shot, : : (Clouds moving slowly) : and everything's blurry" : : clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu : --El Arroyo : :..........................................................................:
young@brahms.udel.edu (Phillip Young) (11/24/90)
I'm starting to feel guilty sitting on the sidelines. I guess I'll jump into the game for this one. > >>4) Where do the differences between PAL and NTSC come into things, or do >> you roll your own format ? >> > >I suspect that NTSC/PAL differences are going to be significant for your >choice of monitor, overlay card, videodisc, and videodisc player. I'm >not really up on this subject--anyone else? > The biggest question with NTSC vs. PAL is where you intend to distribute your product. NTSC is the official standard in the U.S. while PAL is the standard of choice in Europe and much of the rest of the world. Thus, if you intend to market in the U.S. of A. NTSC is the most appropriate choice. There have been some interesting discussions in comp.graphics on the relative technical merits of the two formats. I have heard a rumor that there is a videodisc player on the market which will play both formats. Has anyone heard of such a beast? (I would LIKE to believe this is true.) There are overlay cards, such as IBM's M-Motion, which will support both NTSC and PAL input. This kind of system helps to reduce system configuration restrictions a bit.
PurpleTiger@cup.portal.com (Grant Christopher Blaha) (11/25/90)
In <473@tcnz2.tcnz.co.nz> greg@tcnz.co.nz (Greg Calkin) writes: >Another novice question or two Everyone's a novice who only knows a slice or two of a big pie. In other words, no need to apologize. >1) How do you handle producing a videodisc to cope with VGA colour and to > cope with mono on a MAC, for instance. Are there standard image conversion > techniques to allow the production of a IV across a broad range of hardware . Your question is refering to two different kinds of media, Videodisc and hard disk. A videodisc offers one kind of display standard, analog, while the hard disk offers another, digital. Videodisc media is a platform onto itself that has little to do with computers. To place this media under computer control one needs special hardware for whatever computer platform one uses. So, to answer one part of your question, videodiscs do not need to be convertered from IBM PC to MAC to AMIGA to SUN to HP. They stay the same regardless of computer platform. Its the responsibility of the special hardware on any given platform to interface correctly to the videodisc. Hard disk based media is a different story. By hard disk, I mean any kind of image or animation that is stored in a digital form on a general purpose computer storage device whether it be magnetic or optical. This where you start to get concerned about what computer platform you are on and what file format you are using to store your images. In addition to worrying about the computer platform, you also have to worry about the hundreds of display adapters that can be installed in any given computer. Sure, its possible to translate your images from one computer to another and one format to another, but invariably the differences in resolution and color depth insures that image data will be lost or the new machine or format will be under utilized. Your choice of media is a cost/quality sort of thing. Videodiscs offer portablity, high quality images, animation and sound, quick access, and dense information storage. The drawback to videodisc media is that its expensive. Very expensive. Both in terms of hardware cost and man hours. Does anyone know how much a videodisc development station would cost? A playback station? Hard disks suffer from lack of portability, low image, animation and sound quality, slow access, and a lack of information space. The advantage they have is that they are inexpensive and easy to work with. On an IBM PC plaform, for example, you can have animation and sound for a few thousand or less. Digital media also offers a level of interactivity that makes authoring a relatively painless task. Another advantage of digital media is that its going somewhere. Every week something happens to lessen the short comings of digital media while videodisc media is standing still. Gee, I could go on and on about this, but rather than ramble further, I wonder if anyone wants to chime in. The point I wish to make to Greg is that there are two kinds of media involved in interactive video and that its important not to confuse them where implementation issues are involved. Each has its own set of problems, advantages, and techniques. Grant Blaha -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Autodesk Multimedia Product Support {grantb@autodesk.com} --------------------------------------------------------------------------
marquet@bohra.cpg.oz (John Marquet) (11/26/90)
In article <16111@brahms.udel.edu>, young@brahms.udel.edu (Phillip Young) writes: > >I suspect that NTSC/PAL differences are going to be significant for your > >choice of monitor, overlay card, videodisc, and videodisc player. I'm > >not really up on this subject--anyone else? > > > The biggest question with NTSC vs. PAL is where you intend to > distribute your product. NTSC is the official standard in the U.S. > while PAL is the standard of choice in Europe and much of the rest of > the world. Thus, if you intend to market in the U.S. of A. NTSC is the > most appropriate choice. > I have heard a rumor that there is a videodisc player on the market > which will play both formats. Has anyone heard of such a beast? (I > would LIKE to believe this is true.) There are overlay cards, such as > IBM's M-Motion, which will support both NTSC and PAL input. This kind > of system helps to reduce system configuration restrictions a bit. The latest Sony LDP 3600 is reputed to play NTSC and PAL discs. Similarly, Sony has for some time made video monitors which will accept PAL, NTSC or SECAM mode input. We put out a product, POSSUM (Pictures of Standard Syndromes and Undiagnosed Malformations) in PAL and NTSC. The generic master is on 35mm film, the first dub master is on one inch PAL video tape. It is now well within the state of the art to transfer images from PAL to NTSC. The only catch is that if you're transferring stills, you need frame-by-frame accuracy; if you're transferring movies you use five NTSC frames to generate six PAL frames. The NTSC to PAL conversion and vice versa is routine in the domain of TV. D