[comp.sys.amiga.advocacy] Mac/Toaster

kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (06/21/91)

jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) writes:
>Last time I read MacWorld was for info on that new Mac peripheral which does
>all those whiz-bang video effects.  You know, the one Todd Rundgren used to
>create the "Change Myself" video on his Mac.  ;^)

Right.  And he plans to write his own Toaster software.  The downside
of all this is that since he much prefers the Mac, it's quite probable
that in the end, only the Mac will get all the publicity <sigh>.

But here's some hot news to chew on:  Rundgren and NewTek are planning
to start up a digital video post-production company in Sausalito.
The company name will be "Nutopia".

regards - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>

rjc@wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell) (06/21/91)

In article <1991Jun20.212331.11327@ncsu.edu> kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes:
>jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) writes:
>>Last time I read MacWorld was for info on that new Mac peripheral which does
>>all those whiz-bang video effects.  You know, the one Todd Rundgren used to
>>create the "Change Myself" video on his Mac.  ;^)
>
>Right.  And he plans to write his own Toaster software.  The downside
>of all this is that since he much prefers the Mac, it's quite probable
>that in the end, only the Mac will get all the publicity <sigh>.

  Not really, since the MacToaster isn't a Mac toaster at all, but merely
an Amiga. Basically all he will be doing is writing a Mac GUI that
sends commands to the program running on the Ami/Toaster. So what if
he doesn't supply the Mac GUI? Who cares? I'm sure someone will, and
is Todd really such an awesome programmer? His skills may be much
more useful in making improvements to the Toaster interface rather than
coding it.

>But here's some hot news to chew on:  Rundgren and NewTek are planning
>to start up a digital video post-production company in Sausalito.
>The company name will be "Nutopia".

 
>regards - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>


--
/ INET:rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu     *   // The opinions expressed here do not      \
| INET:r_cromwe@upr2.clu.net  | \X/  in any way reflect the views of my self.|
\ UUCP:uunet!tnc!m0023        *                                              /

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (06/21/91)

From article <1991Jun20.212331.11327@ncsu.edu>, by kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling):
> jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) writes:
>>Last time I read MacWorld was for info on that new Mac peripheral which does
>>all those whiz-bang video effects.  You know, the one Todd Rundgren used to
>>create the "Change Myself" video on his Mac.  ;^)
> 
> Right.  And he plans to write his own Toaster software.  The downside
> of all this is that since he much prefers the Mac, it's quite probable
> that in the end, only the Mac will get all the publicity <sigh>.
> 
> But here's some hot news to chew on:  Rundgren and NewTek are planning
> to start up a digital video post-production company in Sausalito.
> The company name will be "Nutopia".

Hold the phone.  Umm, he was kidding.  The Mac wasn't used at all.  So
how would the mac get publicity for 10 amigas, 10 HD's, and 10
toasters (May 1990 Amigaworld, look at the pic:  No macs)????  Or am I
misinterpreting something you're saying.

But that sounds interesting.  A video post-production company...  Hmm.

Greg
-- 
Socrates:  "I drank WHAT????"
LMFAP:  "Next time you see me, it won't be me."
Wubba:  "A dream is nothing more than a wish dipped in chocolate and sprinkled
with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba

kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (06/21/91)

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes:
>kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes:
>> jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) writes:
>>>Last time I read MacWorld was for info on that new Mac peripheral which does
>>>all those whiz-bang video effects.  You know, the one Todd Rundgren used to
>>>create the "Change Myself" video on his Mac.  ;^)
>> 
>> Right.  And he plans to write his own Toaster software.  The downside
>> of all this is that since he much prefers the Mac, it's quite probable
>> that in the end, only the Mac will get all the publicity <sigh>.
> 
> Hold the phone.  Umm, he was kidding.  The Mac wasn't used at all.  So
> how would the mac get publicity for 10 amigas, 10 HD's, and 10
> toasters (May 1990 Amigaworld, look at the pic:  No macs)????  
> Or am I misinterpreting something you're saying.
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes you are :-) and thank you for wondering if you did.  While Jerry was
kidding, I was not.  In retrospect I shouldn't have used the word "Right",
as people could misinterpret that too easily.  I meant it as "Correct".

However, reading the rest of my paragraph should've cleared that up.
As I said, "IN THE END" (meaning not now, but later :-) it's probable
that future Rundgren/Toaster articles will have less and less reason to
mention that an Amiga is at the core of the Mac-Toaster... especially
as Rundgren is both a Mac graphics programmer and a Mac devotee.

In other words, I assumed that all of us here knew that _each other_ knew
that the Mac-Toaster had an Amiga core.  AND that Rundgren loves Macs.
  regards - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (06/22/91)

From article <1991Jun21.023139.19849@ncsu.edu>, by kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling):
>> Or am I misinterpreting something you're saying.
>   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Yes you are :-) and thank you for wondering if you did.  While Jerry was

I figured that out as soon as I had posted it.  :)

> In other words, I assumed that all of us here knew that _each other_ knew
> that the Mac-Toaster had an Amiga core.  AND that Rundgren loves Macs.

So he's a fool.  An artistic fool, but a fool nonetheless.  :)  And I
hope he can do as well without LightWave 3d.  I think that may be a
small problem...  No mac 3d program that I know of is really any good
('cept maybe RenderMan Mac  :) and wouldn't compare to something like
LightWave 3d anyways, since it's just so cool.  :D

Greg

-- 
Socrates:  "I drank WHAT????"
LMFAP:  "Next time you see me, it won't be me."
Wubba:  "A dream is nothing more than a wish dipped in chocolate and sprinkled
with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba

billc@cryo.rain.com (William J. Coldwell) (06/23/91)

In article <13296@uwm.edu> gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes:
>From article <1991Jun21.023139.19849@ncsu.edu>, by kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling):
>>> Or am I misinterpreting something you're saying.
>>   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> Yes you are :-) and thank you for wondering if you did.  While Jerry was
>I figured that out as soon as I had posted it.  :)
>> In other words, I assumed that all of us here knew that _each other_ knew
>> that the Mac-Toaster had an Amiga core.  AND that Rundgren loves Macs.

>So he's a fool.  An artistic fool, but a fool nonetheless.  :)  And I
>hope he can do as well without LightWave 3d.  I think that may be a
>small problem...  No mac 3d program that I know of is really any good
>('cept maybe RenderMan Mac  :) and wouldn't compare to something like
>LightWave 3d anyways, since it's just so cool.  :D

Bzzzt. Wrong.  Take a look at Pro-3D, Swivel 3D, and others besides Mac
Renderman.  The Mac has way cooler renderers than the Amiga ('cept for
3dpro, but I'm biased ;-) ;-).  Todd can do a lot better than LW3D, he
will just have to dump a lot of $$$ for it (and give up that Pulsar NX
that he's always been wanting ;-).

>Greg
>with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba

--
William J. Coldwell      Internet: billc@cryo.rain.com     I ZROCK!
Amiga Attitude Adjuster  UUCP: tektronix!percy!cryo!billc  3-D Pro 2.0!
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   This message was brought to you by the Number '3' and the Letter 'D'.

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (06/24/91)

From article <billc.3676@cryo.rain.com>, by billc@cryo.rain.com (William J. Coldwell):
> 
> Bzzzt. Wrong.  Take a look at Pro-3D, Swivel 3D, and others besides Mac
> Renderman.  The Mac has way cooler renderers than the Amiga ('cept for
> 3dpro, but I'm biased ;-) ;-).  Todd can do a lot better than LW3D, he
> will just have to dump a lot of $$$ for it (and give up that Pulsar NX
> that he's always been wanting ;-).

You've underestimated me.  I own bot h Pro-3d and Swivel-3d.  I owned
my mac before my Amiga, like a fool.  :)  Let it be known that Imagine
beats the pants off of Pro-3d, and that Swivel-3d, while the 2nd
nicest program the Mac has for raytracing, is whipped solid by
Animation: Journeyman.  Imagine is directly comparable to Pro-3d, and
has better output, and more features.  However, Animation: Journeyman
is at least a generation beyond Swivel-3d, which is nice, but lacks in
many features that Journeyman has evolved beyond.  Rendering is not as
good on Swivel-3d as it is on Journeyman, also.  The 3d market on the
Amiga has gone a long way past what is available on the Macintosh:  I
do not refer to Amiga screens being used, but 24bit IFF files produced
and shown on a FireCracker 24, compared to a similar 24bit display on
a IIcx.  I did the best I could to make use of the common features,
and even used some of the not-so-common ones on the Mac.  Better yet,
while I was raytracing, I was going through my FidoNet mail on the
Amiga, and lost none of my productivity time.  :)

Greg

Let it also be known that both amiga programs had better interfaces
and screen updates, as well as image portrayal, than their Mac
counterparts shown above.  And though I would love to have a Mac
RenderMan, I doubt I shall ever be able to see throwing that much
money away when similar devices are on their way for the Amiga...


-- 
Socrates:  "I drank WHAT????"
LMFAP:  "Next time you see me, it won't be me."
Wubba:  "A dream is nothing more than a wish dipped in chocolate and sprinkled
with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba

torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie) (06/26/91)

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes:

>You've underestimated me.  I own bot h Pro-3d and Swivel-3d.  I owned
>my mac before my Amiga, like a fool.  :)  Let it be known that Imagine
>beats the pants off of Pro-3d, and that Swivel-3d, while the 2nd
>nicest program the Mac has for raytracing, is whipped solid by
>Animation: Journeyman.  

Have you had a look at Stratavision 2.0 for the Mac?  Far more powerful than
Swivel-3D - includes nice things like radiosity rendering.

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Torrie.  Stanford University, Class of 199?       torrie@cs.stanford.edu   
Fame, fame, fame...  What's it good for?  Ab-so-lute-ly nothing

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (06/26/91)

From article <1991Jun26.054226.10584@neon.Stanford.EDU>, by torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie):
> Have you had a look at Stratavision 2.0 for the Mac?  Far more powerful than
> Swivel-3D - includes nice things like radiosity rendering.

Yes, I've seen it.  I didn't count it as a true mac program, because
it was ported from another platform.  But it is nothing short of
lovely.  Very nice, but exceeds my needs.  And it lacks in a few
features that are in Swivel-3d, I think.  Joints, parent/child
links... a few others.  Stratavision has many things that the others
don't, but lacks things that the other high-end ones do.

That's from memory, of course.  I could be wrong, and if so, insert
government disclaimer:

"He did it."

Greg
-- 
Socrates:  "I drank WHAT????"
LMFAP:  "Next time you see me, it won't be me."
Wubba:  "A dream is nothing more than a wish dipped in chocolate and sprinkled
with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba

torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie) (06/27/91)

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes:

>From article <1991Jun26.054226.10584@neon.Stanford.EDU>, by torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie):
>> Have you had a look at Stratavision 2.0 for the Mac?  Far more powerful than
>> Swivel-3D - includes nice things like radiosity rendering.

>Yes, I've seen it.  I didn't count it as a true mac program, because
>it was ported from another platform.  

  Really?  What other platform?  Stratavision is written in Apple's
MacApp object-based environment using Object Pascal.  It's certainly
a fully featured Mac-interface [in fact, in 2.0, it has the nicest
environment I've seen on almost any Mac program].

>But it is nothing short of
>lovely.  Very nice, but exceeds my needs.  And it lacks in a few
>features that are in Swivel-3d, I think.  Joints, parent/child
>links... a few others.  

  Strata 2.0 does have parent/child links, but it doesn't seem to have
the same emphasis on jointed/linked features as Swivel-3d.  Strata
does have some nifty things like interpolation between key-frames, 
including texture-interpolation.

>Stratavision has many things that the others
>don't, but lacks things that the other high-end ones do.

  Stratavision is primarily a high-end scene renderer [or as Strata calls it, 
a CAV tool - Computer Aided Visualisation].  For that sort of work, it's hard
to beat.




-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Torrie.  Stanford University, Class of 199?       torrie@cs.stanford.edu   
Murphy's Law of Intelism:  Just when you thought Intel had done everything
possible to pervert the course of computer architecture, they bring out the 860

jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) (06/28/91)

In article <1991Jun21.023139.19849@ncsu.edu> kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes:
>gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes:
>>kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes:
>>> jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) writes:
>>>>Last time I read MacWorld was for info on that new Mac peripheral which does
>>>>all those whiz-bang video effects.  You know, the one Todd Rundgren used to
>>>>create the "Change Myself" video on his Mac.  ;^)


The reason I said this is because the Mac article I read really downplayed the
Amiga connection (of course).  They laid out a diagram of how to insert a
ToasterBox into your video production system.  Then use a Mac to send commands
to the ToasterBox from Hypercard or somesuch.  What they didn't mention, (of 
course), is that since the TosterBox IS ALSO AN AMIGA, you could use lots of 
Arexx software to control the Toaster and carve several thousand dollars of 
dead weight off your setup.

Also, the System 7.0 CD came with the "Change Myself" video on it in 
compressed format for QuickTime.  Since the credits make no mention of the 
Amiga (of course), anyone seeing it will assume it was done on a Mac.  
Likewise, anything coming out of Mac Toasters and the "Nutopia" studio will
also be viewed as "Mac generated."  I felt that this was how this type of
graphics would be interpreted as something people could do by adding a 
peripheral to their MAC.  The Macintosh being viewed as the core, enabling,
technology.  It's all marketing and that is what Apple does best.  

Oh, come on now, it's not all that bad!  If you want to help the Amiga 
market, go put an Arexx port in your program.


-Jerry
-- 
Jerry Thompson                 |     // checks  ___________   | "I'm into S&M,
I loved the peace and solitude | \\ //   and    |    |    |   |  Sarcasm and
so much, I invited my friends. |  \X/ balances /_\   |   /_\  |  Mass Sarcasm."

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (06/28/91)

From article <1991Jun27.061343.25357@neon.Stanford.EDU>, by torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie):
>   Really?  What other platform?  Stratavision is written in Apple's
> MacApp object-based environment using Object Pascal.  It's certainly
> a fully featured Mac-interface [in fact, in 2.0, it has the nicest
> environment I've seen on almost any Mac program].

I remember way back when (  :)  when it first came out, and there were
ads in every MacWorld...  :P  And it was ported from a workstation to
the Mac...  But with 2.0, it may be that they upgraded the Mac
specific version, and not the others...  I'm too old now to remember,
that was, oh, maybe two years ago.  But I think it may have been a sun
or something.  Of course, back then, all workstations were the same...
:D

>   Strata 2.0 does have parent/child links, but it doesn't seem to have
> the same emphasis on jointed/linked features as Swivel-3d.  Strata

Yes, but for animated characters, these links are very important...

> does have some nifty things like interpolation between key-frames, 
> including texture-interpolation.

I've always wanted to do texture-interpolation.  I always thought it
would be nifty.  :)

>   Stratavision is primarily a high-end scene renderer [or as Strata calls it,
> a CAV tool - Computer Aided Visualisation].  For that sort of work, it's hard
> to beat.

I couldn't agree more.  :)

Greg
-- 
Socrates:  "I drank WHAT????"
LMFAP:  "Next time you see me, it won't be me."
Wubba:  "A dream is nothing more than a wish dipped in chocolate and sprinkled
with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba

mark@calvin..westford.ccur.com (Mark Thompson) (06/28/91)

In article <13525@uwm.edu> gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu writes:
>torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie):
>> does have some nifty things like interpolation between key-frames, 
>> including texture-interpolation.
>
>I've always wanted to do texture-interpolation.  I always thought it
>would be nifty.  :)

LightWave 2.0 includes envelopes for texture interpolation....Coming soon
to a Toaster near you.
%~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~%
%      `       '        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   %
%                                                                          %
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (06/29/91)

From article <62176@masscomp.westford.ccur.com>, by mark@calvin..westford.ccur.com (Mark Thompson):
> LightWave 2.0 includes envelopes for texture interpolation....Coming soon
> to a Toaster near you.

Ooh.  Now a few more questions.  It's almost time to drop the mac
completely.  :D  Seriously.  How's about parent-child links, and
joints?  Perhaps something similar to Journeyman?

Greg
-- 
Socrates:  "I drank WHAT????"
LMFAP:  "Next time you see me, it won't be me."
Wubba:  "A dream is nothing more than a wish dipped in chocolate and sprinkled
with a little imagination." (From my poem, "A Dream")			-Wubba