amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Andy Hartman - AmigaMan) (05/11/91)
In the June '91 issue of Video Review, the Amiga gets a spotlight (well,
almost).
All of this is reprinted without permission. I don't have anything to take
so don't bother suing me...:-)
The article starts on page 25 with an Amiga 2x00 & 1084S taking up the entire
page. The title of the article is "Computer-Age Video"
In all fairness, I have to say that the article (after the Amiga part) goes
into the I*M and M*c as platforms. Though neither gets the space the Amiga
did.
In addition to the pic. on the cover page of the article, the article boasts
a 1-page size series of pics using the Toaster and a smaller pic of a
stand-alone Toaster. It looks exactly like a 1-drive A2x00 with a 3" grey
vertical band on the left side of the computer. There is no "Amiga" on the
case, it says VIDEO TOASTER. It's clearly a 2x00 though.
-------------------begin article (Amiga part)--------------------
The Amiga: The Amiga might not be a household name just yet, but it
should be. Currently, the Commodore-manufactured Amiga is the most capable
and cost-effextive computer for desktop video applications, offering a wide
variety of inexpensive peripherals and software.
Because the Amiga's clock rate, or speed of transferring information,
can easily adapt to the NTSC frequency of 3.58MHz, it can assimilate video
signals more readily than the other platforms. Amiga hardware accessories
tend to be simple and affordable.
Without question, the most impressive new add-on for the Amiga is New
Tek's Video Toaster ($1,595), a plug-in board that turns an Amiga 2000 or
2500 computer into a destop production studio. The Toaster has generated
an awful lot of ink since its introduction last year, but this is one of
those rare cases where the product actualy surpasses the hype. The Video
Toaster combines a genlock with a broadcast-quality special-effects generator
(capable of 125 different transition patterns), a titler, 3-D modeling/
animation, frame grabbing and a paint program. Up to four video inputs receive
still or moving images. These images can be stored on the computer's hard
disk and recalled easily for processing or editing.
All this power does come with a caveat, though: The program uses up
a great deal of computer memory. A big eight megabytes of RAM (random-access
memory, or how much memory your computer can work with at any one moment in
time) is required for all the software included in the package. Considering
that most basic IBM compatibles have one megabyte or less of RAM, video
"toasting" requires some serious computer hardware.
Moreover, any videotaped sources (though not laser discs or live
cameras) fed into the Toaster must go through a time-base corrector (TCB)
first for proper timing and synchronization. TCBs, though expensive, are
coming down in price: Digital Processing Systems has started shipping a
(relatively) low-priced TCB - list price $995 - that fits into a slot on the
Amiga.
In the larger picture, these are small complaints. When you consider
that a loded Amiga system including the Video Toaster retails for about 1/10th
of what just one professional special-effects generator might go for, you're
not just talking cost-effectiveness, you're talking revolutionary power to the
people.
The Toaster is so revolutionary, in fact, that it's striking out on
its own. At presstime, NewTek was planning to repackage the Video Toaster as a
stand-alone, Amiga-compatable computer for video processing. Including a 52
megabyte hard drive and all hardware (except for a pair of NTCS monitors), the
new Toaster is scheduled to ship this summer at a list price of $3,995.
While the Video Toaster represents a total software/hardware
package for the Amiga, there are a host of less ambitious peripherals for this
platform. Amiga genlocks are especially affordable, starting at under $100.
VideoLinX offers a unit caled the AmiGen (about $89), which locks an incoming
video signal to the Amiga and sends a combination of computer and video
signals to a VCR for recording. This means you can overlay titles or graphics
onto motion video.
More professional genlocks are available, such as the ProGen (about
$350) from Progressive Peripherals. The ProGen also includes software that
allows for special color effects, so you can recolorize your video images.
Inexpensive software is also plentiful in the Amiga world. Digi-Paint3
(also from NewTek) lets you paint with up to 4,096 colors simultaneously -
quite a bargon at $60. VideoTitler (about $95) from Oxxi/Aegis provides
3-D titles that can be spun, stretched, and animated using either Amiga fonts
or additional fonts supplied with the program. Aegis Development's Animator
is a 3-D animation program that comes bundled with precreated images for less
than $100. Images from other Amiga programs can be used as backdrops for
animated scenes, and once you're locked into video, this animation can be
"printed" on tape.
---------------------end article (Amiga part)----------------
--
Andy Hartman - Amiga Man | It doesn't matter what I say, IU doesn't
amhartma@cssun1.cs.indiana.edu | listen to me anyway! I leave my first
AMHARTMA@gold.ucs.indiana.edu | born to IU for tuition and my sense of
amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | humor to Fisher-Price for research...mark@calvin..westford.ccur.com (Mark Thompson) (05/11/91)
In article <1991May10.181552.17245@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Andy Hartman - AmigaMan) writes: >In the June '91 issue of Video Review, the Amiga gets a spotlight (well, >almost). This kind of stuff usually belongs in comp.sys.amiga.advocacy (where the fanatics hang out), but since they would rather wage a NeXT war :-) I'll followup here.... The April 1991 issue of Videography is practically dedicated to the Amiga. For those not familiar with it, Videography is "the magazine of professional video production, technology, and applications". This month there are approximately 12 articles and editorials that are all Amiga oriented covering things such as character generation, Toaster effects, DCTV, Todd Rundgren's video, 3D animation with Imagine, the Amiga's history, and more. Check it out! %~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~% % ` ' Mark Thompson CONCURRENT COMPUTER % % --==* RADIANT *==-- mark@westford.ccur.com Principal Graphics % % ' Image ` ...!uunet!masscomp!mark Hardware Architect % % Productions (508)392-2480 (603)424-1829 & General Nuisance % % % ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~