jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (01/13/91)
The new newsgroup comp.sys.amiga.advocacy was created for comparing the Amiga to other computers. Here is a new article for it. In article <1408@tardis.Tymnet.COM> jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) writes: :KRON-TV, Channel 4 in San Francisco had a report from Mac World on the 11 :o'clock news. The really hot item this year is "full motion video". About :1/2 of the report talked about recording video frames on the computer and :producing video on the computer to be sent out as video. They didn't point :out how expensive it is to do this on the Macintosh, but the 2nd half of the :report featured close-ups of New Tek's Video Toaster. For only $1600, :the Video Toaster provides a 4-input/2-output video switcher/genlock with :character generator and 24-bit paint program. : :The reporter did not make it clear that you have to have an Amiga 2000 :for the Toaster to plug in to. > >If you're in Northern California this weekend (Jan 10-13) you can see it >for yourself at the Civic Center (and Moscone Center) in San Francisco. I was debating whether to take BART up there all the way from Fremont and pay $25 to get into the exhibits. The news report gave me the excuse I needed. So I went up there. New Tek had booth 5704 in Brooks Hall (below the Civic Center). There were a few places in the Hall where large groups of excited warm bodies overloaded the air conditioning. One such "hot spot" was all around the Video Toaster. They had 3 sets of A2000 + Toaster + 3 monitors (Preview, Program, Control). One set had the spokeswoman, 3 cameras, and a feed from a color Macintosh (to show how the Amiga can be used with Macs). The other 2 sets were used for demonstrations to individuals. At opposite corners, they had VCRs continuously playing the New Tek demo (including Alan Hastings' stuff) and Penn & Teller's "home video". Of course they were hyping that the Video Toaster is only $1595, and a complete system is available for less than $4000. (The Mac video switcher plus genlock combinations are over $10,000 for the added hardware alone.) -- Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: jms@tardis.tymnet.com or jms@gemini.tymnet.com BT Tymnet Tech Services | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms PO Box 49019, MS-C51 | BIX: smithjoe | CA license plate: "POPJ P," (PDP-10) San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | humorous dislaimer: "My Amiga 3000 speaks for me."