CompuServe Messages

I have my Amiga controlling a Panasonic AG7500 S-VHS deck. I am using the program "Transport Controller", available from MicroIllusions, which just happens to have been written by me. You also need the interface twixt the Amiga and the VCR (1/2", 3/4", 1", BetaCam, etc.), which can run from $2K to $5K. What I get is completely frame accurate automated single frame recording. Time code (of one form or another, depending on the interface) is recorded on the tape, so I can go back weeks later and insert a single frame accurately. Transport Controller comes with an automated page-flipper, or it interfaces directly with VideoScape3D and MicroIllusions' 'Cel Animator". You of course need to create the NTSC video signal, or the S-VHS signal. In either case, if you do not need to genlock to existing video (and for straight recording you don't), I recommend the CMI VI500 or VI2000 for about $60. For another $99, there is a box that attaches to the CMI unit to give you excellent S-VHS signals. If you want to genlock and chromakey the Amiga over video, look at the SuperGen ($750), the GenOne ($850), or the ProGen(~$400?). For best quality, the Magni ($1700 A2000 only) and the Neriki ($2200) or at the top of the line for the Amiga. If you need an A/B roll editing system, there is one for the Amiga by RGB Creations in Florida. Transport Controller also supports their hardware. It is somewhat pricey, however, and may not be available yet. If you go with an edit controller designed for your VCRs, make sure it is frame-accurate. Most of them are +-3 frames, even if they advertise frame accuracy. If they don't use time code, they aren't. —Mike