CompuServe Messages

First of all, let me thank you for your reply — it's exactly what I was looking for in the way of information. I have a couple of further questions/comments that I hope will still be appropriate to this forum (Bear with me, guys — this does relate because the Lightwave 3D software with the Toaster is a 3DStudio competitor). >For the money the Video Machine is tough to beat. The advantage it has over the >Toaster is that it is on PC and MAC and it has an actual editor. (although the >Toaster has LightWave 3D) Take your pick. The problem with the Video Machine >right now is that not everything works yet and they have had problems shipping >product. First of all, since I have 3DStudio I don't see Lightwave being a factor — unless there's something about it that I don't know. However, what do you mean about everything not working yet — are there things (like Chromakeying) that don't work? I've talked with a dealer (so remote it's not really an easy thing for me to visit) who has the product, so I can't see shipping as a problem. >The other thing to consider is that it is an all-in-one closed system. If you have an >external swither that you want to use or you want to upgrade to somethng better at >some point, you can't, if you have an external audio mixer you want to use you >can't. It does use the V-LAN controller so it supports every VTR from the low end >to the high end. This is a good point, but in my case it's in the favor of the VM, since I WANT an all-in-one solution. I do have an external switch (the MX-12) but I want to use it strictly for remote shoots and not worry about the studio — that I want all set up. But why couldn't I use an external audio mixer and just send the feed from that into the Video Machine? >The Character generator is very good. The effects are only 2D (now) and are as >good as compressed effects are right now. The editor is cumbersome. The audio >mixer is 4 channel and pretty good, the video mixer is 4 channel and getting >better. Getting better? That IS intriguing. You mean they're improving the software, or is there a better hardware release? I'm most interesting in the Character generator and the Chromakey — I've used lots of Character generators (as well as Ani Pro and 3DStudio for titles) and need something clean and fast. And why is the editor cumbersome? It looks (in the articles I've read) pretty straightforward — is there something I'm missing? I use FutureVideo's editor which is okay but only stores 9 scenes and loses accuracy if you try more than one or two edits in a row, with my 1960s. Sorry for all the questions, but you sound like you've actually used the Video Machine — most of the other people who've expressed opinions to me have just read about it or perhaps sat down in front of it for five minutes.