roseg@TAURUS.BITNET (08/20/90)
A while ago I posted the following request for information: I need info on available systems for interactive video-disc use. Basically, what I'd like to do is show a film sequence, pause and interact with the user. The system has to be able to show moving sequences (single frame is of no use to me). I mention video-disc because this seems most likely - but if you have knowledge of VCR with these capa- bilities or any other media let me know. and here is a summary of the responses. I took the liberty of editing the messages somewhat, but mostly in eliminating mail headers and personal parts. ==================================================== From black@seismo.CSS.GOV The Panasonic optical disk recorder although somewhat expensive, gives you excellent control over which frames are to be diplayed. RS232 control. The disks cost about $150 for 24000 frames of data. You can record single frames or continuous or a 100-at-a-whack, etc. You can rapidly index (like under 1 sec) to any frame on the disk. The base unit is about $11-$14000. We use these for image storage and they have been quite handy. ==================================================== From martin@IRO.UMontreal.CA You're message isn't clear as to wich type of interac- tion you need and if it's computer based. I'll assumed that you want a computer controlled video with mouse&screen interaction. Basicaly, any computer with a serial port can control a laser disc, equipped with the RS-232c interface. The cheapest combination I can think of is an Amiga 500, with Amigavision and Pionner 4200. You can also take the cheapest mac (plus), and Hypercard with the same videodisc player. A PC base system should be available, but I have no info on that. One advantage of the amiga, is the color and the possi- bility of cheaply (<200$) combining the video and com- puter graphics on one screen. ==================================================== From kowtko@cogsci.edinburgh.ac.uk I did research in 1989 in California using some recently- released (Sept 89) English language-teaching software on one such computer. It was the older (1988) version of the Sony VIEW system. I forgot exactly what it was called. (PCx510?) The basic unit had an IBM- compatible PC with Video disc unit and floppy drive. I installed a 20-MB hard disk and a compact disc player. The system was around $10,000 in total. We connected it to a sun computer via terminal port, so we could transfer CD files. The software did all sorts of manipulation, such as what you need: showing video segments, showing video stills, playing sound off the CD, and mixing computer graphics and video stuff (e.g. displaying video in a small corner of the computer screen, keeping computer graphics in the other 3 quarters). Being more of a linguist than a programmer, I don't know exactly how the video control worked. I think the video and sound (CD) both could be controlled down to milliseconds, and certainly tenths of a second. Because it was language teaching software, it had video repeats of people say- ing one sentence, like auto- rewind and play. It was very neat. Sony has since come out with a VGA(?)-compatible sys- tem, with better graphics. The older system's video wobbled a bit when displayed concurrently with graph- ics. Their CD players were newly designed and had occasional flaws, which I'm sure they've since improved. Sony service was tolerable, not good. ==================================================== From mailer@miamiu.bitnet You don't mention a platform so... MS-DOS: IBM sells infowindows. Works well. Typical IBM product with steep learning curve. Mac: Course of Action. Very easy to learn and use. Works well. Controls videodisk and VTR's. ==================================================== From cvelotta@cipc1.dayton.ncr.com You might consider Digital Video Interactive (DVI) from Intel. It can integrate full-motion, color video with hi-fi audio, text, animation, still photos, and any other information that can be digitized and stored on disk. Intel uses one board for recording and one for playback. Unlike videodisk, DVI digitizes the video image so it can be stored on a hard disk or a CD-ROM disk. With Intel's compression/decompression tech- niques, you can store an average of 72 minutes of full-motion, full-screen video accompanied by hi-fi audio or 100,000 still photos and five hours of AM (low-quality) audio on one CD-ROM disk. ==================================================== From wilcox%hydra.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu You need to look into two items, one hardware the other software. The hardware is the RasterOps Video Color- board 364. It will allow you to show live-action video images (e.g., from camera, VCR, or I-Videodisk) in a window on your color Mac monitor (32 bit color). The software is MacroMind Director. I am not yet using this equipment but soon will be, to do a multimedia sign language dictionary (words and definitions stored on videodisk, interface done in Hypercard and Director). From what I have been able to determine (users, reviews, friends, etc) these are two excellent products. ==================================================== From finkel@taurus.bitnet If you aren't restricted to PC's, you can always use an Amiga. We have a new software called AmigaVision, which is commodore's answer to HyperCard. The look at feel is totally different, but the target is the same. This program is intended to construct Multi-Media applica- tion with very little programming knowledge, if any at all. the programming metaphore is based on icons and is very easy to use, even by non techies. The program directly supports several RS-232 operated video discs ( a few pioneer models, a few sony models, and a few more I forgot - about 15 models total ). best of all - AmigaVision should be bundeled with any new Amiga. ==================================================== From zaft@suned1.Nswses.Navy.Mil There's a company called Computer Teaching Corporation in Champaign, IL; they have a product called TenCORE which is an authoring system for CBI. It has extensive video-disc capability. ==================================================== From tbandit@ATHENA.MIT.EDU I have developed some tools to use within the WingZ spreadsheet program on the Mac which allow you to select segments off a videodisc and assign them to a picture icon which you paste on the spreadsheet and whenever you click on them it will play that segement back. We are currently driving a Pioneer 4200, but it would no be hard at all to switch it to another video- disc player. The digitizer is specific to the ColorSpace IIi card from MassMicro. This card will also allow for the mixing of graphics and video on an NTSC screen. They also make one of these for the Mac SE. These cost about $1500 and $1800 respectively. If you wish to view the video in real time on the Mac II screen you need to get a ColorSpace FX board to add on (+- $2500) this card also does some cool effect to the video. A special video board is not necesary. We are currently working on a presentation tool for the Macin- tosh line of computers using videodisc players or VCRs. Let me know if you are interested. ==================================================== From mailer@icnucevx.bitnet I have a Sony VO9600 P U-matic SP (this is a high band U-matic) and a Sony VO7630 U-matic (this is a true mul- tistandard VCR) equipped with BKU701 RS232 interfaces and a FGC700 frame code generator. These are con- trolled with a Sun workstation using a simple library of functions I wrote in C. The FCG700 adds to a normal PAL video source a "frame code". This is a signal encoded in the vertical interval time, more or less similar to the VITC (SMPTE in the US, EBU in Europe) code. That signal identifies each frame with a unique number. The BKU701 interface (that plugs into the VCR) can decode that frame number and can control all the VCR functions (even the eject cassette function!). The system can work with rs232 that has 8 data bit 1 stop bit no parity (this is not selectable) and speeds from 1200 to 9600 baud (this *is* switch selectable). The 9600 was $5500, the 7630 was $3500, the 700 $2000, and the 701 $350. Any Sony series 9xxx and 7xxx can be used with the BKU701 so you can chose the one that suits you (there are even cheap players). If you need a higher quality (MII, Betacam, 1" open reel, D1 or D2 digital) all professional grade videorecorders have 9pin rs422. With some of them you can even use still frame (not on the one I have). I mean that you can use them like a videodisk. With the machines I have the precision is about 2-3 frames (due to mechanical delays) but you can always know *exactly* the real frame #. ==================================================== From jdaly@ATHENA.MIT.EDU One division of our project [this is Project Athena - roseg], the Visual Computing Group (or VCG) has devoted its efforts to the development of a multimedia author- ing language known as Athena Muse. Muse has been developed by educators for educators. It enables a courseware developer/faculty member to create applica- tions that can use visual, audio and text information in "windows" on the monitor. Muse is not yet commercially available, but there are plans to make a version available within the upcoming year. If you would like to receive more information on Athena/VCG/Muse, I can send you (via postal mail) a packet of informational materials. That's about it. Hope this is some help to all the people that asked for a summary. Robert roseg@taurus.bitnet roseg@math.tau.ac.il