CompuServe Messages

Don, I have some experience in this arena; I think that DCTV would make a great proofing device, and perhaps, even a decent low-end way to do Lightwave Anims. Answers: 1. DCTV format files are pretty small, usually well under 100k…and they tend to compress relatively well using either ANIM or PFX format. 2. Quality loss: you are basically getting something that is at least as good as VHS quality; I believe that the technical specs claim that it is roughly equal to 3/4" U-matic (NOT SP). 3. DCTV does composite out, via a RCA port. A trip through a TBC would probably help things a tad. 4. I have gotten very fast playback from DCTV several ways. First of all, ANIM is your worst bet. DCTV allows for either 4-bit or 3-bit format, interlaced or not. An anim running in 4-bit, interlaced mode is bound to be on the slow slide (probably never better than 10fps), while a 3-bit interlaced will usually exceed 15fps, and 3-bit non-interlaced can probably approach "real-time". You take a quality hit, though, when you give up the extra bitplane and/or interlacing…which is why the quality of the animations range from VHS to 3/4". There are two ways to optimize DCTV anims. First, for best speed and quality, is to use GOBS of RAM and something like the Director2 to page flip IFF's from memory. My pal Steve can usually do up to 5 seconds this way, using his 9 meg system. The quality is high, and the frame rate is also very high. The other tool worth mentioning is PF/X, or Page Flipper Plus F/X. It is an "oldish" animation tool from Mindscape International (I think that's the name of the publisher). It will format your IFF's into their proprietary PFX format, which is *MUCH* faster than ANIM, especially using their TURBO mode. This is, to my mind, the best way to go…you will get good to excellent quality, an a frame rate of at least 15fps, which should be smooth enough for many uses. P.S…Steve wrote a CanDo script that will do the DCTV conversions to [ MORE ]