nschultz@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Ned W. Schultz) (03/21/91)
Hmmmm, was that just slight exaggeration about DCTV being able to let you do "real time 24-bit animation" or am I confused about DCTV? First of all I thought DCTV was not really 24-bit. Secondly, when we say "real time" are we talking about 30fps...60fps? Are we running from RAM? Please post a few more details about how DCTV lets you create ANIMs. I thought it just produced IFF ANIMs that would be hi-res(?). Is there such a thing as a DCTV-format ANIM, that is, an NTSC ANIM that looks like it might be 24-bit? Thanks for the info. I have a Toaster, but I'd like to know some more about how DCTV and a Toaster might work as a team. Ned Schultz nschultz@polyslo.calpoly.edu
amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid) (03/23/91)
Yes..full ntsc color animation is possible with DCTV. You convert 24bit files to DCTV's proprietary format. The file is a 4 bit hires iff with ntsc information imbedded in the first two scan lines. The results are gorgeous. I understand that full ntsc color is the equivilant of 16 millions colors (theoretically) possible on the screen at once..or the same as a 24bit image. Bit in a strict sense I would not call a DCTV picture or animation to be of 24bits. It has *lots* of color and maximum amiga resolution possible including sever hires over-scan. Oh..after you covert 24bit plane iff files to dctv format (which is btw *much* smaller than a 24bit plane image file) you can use a program like makeanim, or page flipper or the director to string the pics into an animation. -Mike
mark@calvin..westford.ccur.com (Mark Thompson) (03/23/91)
In article <27e7f6b9.1549@petunia.CalPoly.EDU> nschultz@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Ned W Schultz) writes: >Hmmmm, was that just slight exaggeration about DCTV being able to let >you do "real time 24-bit animation" or am I confused about DCTV? DCTV is not a 24bit board but it can load, maniputate, and save 24bit IFFs. What it can do in real time is play compressed television quality video. Using 3 bitplanes with DCTV, IVS played a 4 minute digitized animation of Back to the Future III from hard disk in real time (30 frames/second with 16bit digitized sound). It was indistinguishable from standard vcr output. >Please post a few more details about how DCTV lets you create ANIMs. DCTV has no builtin animation creation features. What it does have is a utility program that allows batch image conversion from IFF (including 24bit) to DCTV display format. You must use your own animation software to assemble the animation from the DCTV images. The images can be 3 or 4 bits deep. The BTF III demo used 3. Digitized video compresses well with only three bits, computer generated imagery does not (banding becomes very apparent though its probably better than HAM). Four bits on the other hand does a fairly respectable job. >Is there such a thing as a DCTV-format ANIM, that is, an NTSC ANIM that looks >like it might be 24-bit? Not presently but according to the DCTV documentation, Digital Creations is working on software to implement a special DCTV-format ANIM. Right now, standard anim format with DCTV images works fine. >I have a Toaster, but I'd like to know some more >about how DCTV and a Toaster might work as a team. I have had a Toaster since September and just bought DCTV. The two complement one another very well. The paintbox in DCTV is VASTLY superior to Toaster Paint and the compressed DCTV files are great for animation previews for Lightwave before committing to a single frame recording. If your animation deltas aren't too large and very high quality is not a major issue, you can go directly to tape in real time from DCTV. The Toaster output is definately superior though. For example, I have a Lightwave created image that has a box with a high-res (fine detail) UPC label on the side. On the Toaster, there is some minor artifacting but in DCTV, the same image creates a vivid rainbow. DCTV has some software filters in their paint program for removing such high-res artifacts. I definately reccommend DCTV as an additional tool for the Toaster. %~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~% % ` ' Mark Thompson % % --==* RADIANT *==-- mark@westford.ccur.com % % ' Image ` ...!{decvax,uunet}!masscomp!mark % % Productions (508)392-2480 (603)424-1829 % % % ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~