Animation programs
71 messages in this thread
I want to do some animation for video. From what I've read in mags it
sounds like DCTV is the way to go. I need some advice on software to do the
animation forthe DCTV. I have a toaster and it sounds like I can get LW
animations to the DCTV, however it will be a time and disk consuming way.
Most animations are simple, so I'd like to know you guy's "real world"
opinion on what I should get. Thanks, Brian
Try using Draw 4dPro…quick and easy 3-D modeling, and it supports the
DCTV unit directly…so no disk consuming 24-bit files…
Imagine 2.0 also Supports DCTV Directly
I believe with DCTV ya can still use Dpaint.I also understand that you can
use most of the PD anim players with DCTV animations
Doing DCTV animations with LightWave is easy. I know of several people
doing so (and I hope to be doing so soon as well). Depending on how you do
it, it can be time and disk consuming. If you've got your DCTV 1.1 disks,
look for a directory with compressed files (.LZH I think). One of the
compressed files is a CanDo application I created several months back. If
you don't have the 1.1 release, look for ADAM or DAAM within the libraries
here. You run ADAM in the background while doing your LightWave
renderings. ADAM will wait for each IFF frame and use DCTV's IFFTODCTV to
convert each frame to DCTV's format and store it away for you with an
option to delete or move the original 24bit IFF frame. You can either do
this on a frame basis or have ADAM wait for a series of frames, converting
each one until the last frame is generated. Once the last frame is done,
ADAM will call MAKEANIM and build a complete DCTV animation for you.
If you don't already have MakeAnim or any IFF viewing program (though ADAM
looks for one called SHOW, just rename the one you have to SHOW.), you'll
need to grab those as well. IFFTODCTV SHOULD be on the release disks for
DCTV.
There are some limitations you'll need to avoid. First, since the Amiga
will be pushing around hi-res IFFs for the ANIMs, if you have a lot of
change from frame to frame, the playback rate won't be that quick even with
030 or 040 boards. Still, I've done 704×482 3 bit plane DCTV anims that
play back well. If you know what to look out for, you can get impressive
animations.
If you can't find ADAM, MakeAnim, or anything else ADAM requires, let me
know and I'll send it to you through email.
Dan
Dan McCoy – via Whap! and saving money doing it too!
Thanks, I dont't have DCTV yet. After reading various articles, messages,
etc… it seemed like the way to go for doing animations on the Amiga w/o a
single frame controller. I didn't know whether to buy a different program
or just use lightwave. It sounds like I can just use lightwave. I will
probably contact you again after getting a DCTV as I have NOTHING for my
Amiga except the Toaster.
Brian
Brian, just for your info, there are plenty of use doing animation on our
Amiga's for years now, without single frame controllers. Standard amiga
modes (ie. 2-64 color, HAM, etc).
If you meant doing 'high color' animations, then I'd also point you to an
alternative to DCTV, Black Belt's HAM-E device. Gets you either pure 256
color animations, or full color animations, in real time, just like DCTV.
Only a much better finished look, IMHO.
One thought for you on using your Toaster for real-time anims…. you can
always use the frame buffer portion of the toaster to hold a full color
background image, while you play a standard amiga animation (or HAM-E
animation) over the top of it. Results look dang good with the full color
background.
–jp–seattle–
JP,
I think the HAM-E can claim a slightly better technical improvement on
DCTV, but DCTV has much greater third party support and the trend continues
to favor DCTV. If this lopsided trend continues how do you see the
comparisons in 6 – 12 months from now? You are very adept and capable with
Arexx, but if you weren't, what would you do to get Toaster output on to
video tape. Programs like DAAM make it fully automatic from start to
finish.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Paul
–pt–not seattle– 😉
Actually, I've noticed about the same third party support for DCTV as there
is for HAM-E, possibly weighted a bit in favor of the HAM-E unit (it's
easier to program for and the technical details on how the HAM-E modes work
are well documented…). The DCTV unit's only real advantage, IMHO, is
it's built in digitizer.
–>Steve Bennett
And the fact that you can still buy one…
There's also the fact that it is a Composite Device(DCTV that is) so ya can
go direct to Video Tape
Peter, you're correct that DCTV is composite, but I'd weigh that against:
1) that excludes S-VHS, since you couldn't use any S-VHS genlock or encoder
with it. 2) you are stuck with DCTV's video encoding. A video guy I dealt
with purchased a DCTV cause he liked the 'look', but found that the signal
wasn't up to his 'specs' (whatever that meant). He returned it and got a
HAM-E, which he ran through his Niricki (?) genlock and was very happy with
the results. (no, I didn't show or talk him into the HAM-E; he did this
before I knew him)
Finally, you cannot use the DCTV as the RGB with other a genlock (ie to put
the DCTV over the top of live video) since it doesn't have RGB. You can
with HAM-E (at least I've seen it done).
Re speed of anims, etc…. I'll grant you that the 3bitplane DCTV's can get
pretty fast, but so are the 256color HAM-E's. All depends on the frame
changes and such, of course. I use PageFlipper too, and it works just great
with HAM-E images (all types). I'd grant that DCTV seems to get faster
throughput given the same anim, but not that much more.
Last, you can mix HAM-E imagery and regular Amiga hires graphics/text on
the same screen (in horizontal segments). Early on I did a demo using
HAM-E graphics/animations on the top 3/4 of the screen, with regular Amiga
hires text, etc on the bottom (the interface to the application). Very
flexible.
BTW, by no means to do mean to bash DCTV. Just wanted to pose an
alternative and mention some of it's strengths. I really respect your
views, given the work I've seen out of you, so I'm sure that DCTV must be a
knockout at times. And, as has been mentioned, you cannot even purchase
HAM-E any more, so it's a moot point. 🙁 See you.
–jp–seattle–
Actually, the fact that DCTV was a composite *only* device was a
significant part of my decision to go with a HAM-E unit instead. One can
always convert RGB to Composite (with generally better results than the
direct composite output produces…) but cannot convert the other way. You
can also convert RGB to Y-C for SVHS recorders…
Ah well, to each their own. With BBS apparently no longer producing the
HAM-E, DCTV is a good alternative. (OTOH, I've seen ads in European
magazines for some other low cost high color alternatives… I wonder how
they'll stack up…)
On a side note, does anyone know if DCTV supports PAL mode?
–>Steve Bennett
DCTV comes in Pal and NTSC versions.
Charlie – A Whapper! from Holland
I keep hearing about how much more 3rd party support there is for DCTV, but
the comparison doesn't seem to hold up. Re HAM-E third party support,
there is Aegis SpectraColor for HAM-E, The HAM-E Workshop, ASDG ADPro 2.0
support, BB's own ImageMaster, several superbitmap viewers; others that I'm
not remembering right now. I know that DCTV also has it's third party
support, so I'm not knocking that, just wanted to point out that HAM-E
isn't exactly behind at all. If your need is to go from Toaster to video
in real-time, and there's a DCTV conversion program to do it, more power to
them. Yeah, it would take a couple days to put together a snappy IM macro
to do the same thing for HAM-E images (I mean a real snappy one!), but
you'd have to know ARexx, etc….
But it's a moot point anyway. Black Belt confirmed that there weren't
making the HAM-E any longer. I hope it's because they have a big deal in
the works, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. TTFN
–jp–seattle–
The fact that BBS isn't making Ham-E any more is driving me crazy. It was
a very good product and my guess is that it is their most successful
product to date! The fact that they have some sort of deal with Commodore
makes me all the more antsy. Will Commodore come out with a plug-in Ham-E
card? Will they incorperate Ham-E into a new chip set? Will they just sit
on the darn thing? Arrrg!
I'm with you. It would be nice to see a HAM-E type technology built into
future amigas. I wonder if it is even 'possible' to have a hires version
of the technology? Would be sweet….
–jp–seattle–
Just to cut in here.I read a while Back that Commodore was negotiating with
Digital Creations to Have a Scaled down DCTV incorporated into later models
of CDTV
re: BBS/CBM/Ham-E
Has anyone else besides me noticed that in the latest INFO they
talk about CBM's plan to have a CDTV unit out soon that will support
400,000 colors or somesuch? Is this coincidence or WHAT???
Very anxious…
Miguel C.
Considering that CBM has already sent out press releases that described
discussions with the DCTV people, personally, I don't know what's really
going on, and Ben isn't talking. 🙂
I had read in .info that there were rumors of slipping DCTV in the CDTV
but I have no idea hw true it is.
One of the regional managers up here in Canada said that they are seriously
looking into possibly applying the DCTV format to CDTV to accomodate a
photo-realistic realtime animation format for it.
Vance
– via Whap!
They are trying to get DCTV for use with CDTV if I read right in INFO
Leslie,
I share your giddiness as to what this Commodore-Black Belt deal is all
about! As you know, Ben has not made a habit of launching preemptive
product announcements that take months and years to develop — the same
cannot be said for several other computer companies!
Blaq! – via Whap!
I know Ben is pretty cool about whatever is going on (I'm sure the
non-disclosure agreement has something to do with it.) I just want to be
sure the technology will actually be USED (and soon) rather than sitting
forgotten on a shelf.
Excuse me for butting in here…
But I still remember the dark old days when Commodore and A-Squared had a
deal. Remember Live!? Remember all the wonderful things you could do with
that nifty new A1000 and a Live! digitizer? Gee, you don't? Perhaps that's
because Commodore sat on the silly thing for two years without doing
diddly-squat!
Sorry…I just don't see a whole lot more marketing savvy now than then. I
HOPE I'm wrong!
Robert Fisher
I have NEVER seen "Live!", but it is still being sold, apparently, and I
surely would like to know more about the product. I wonder how it stacks up
compared to more recent hardware like the Toaster. Didn't Invision and Elan
Performer work with "Live!"? >>>> Ron Legro / Milwaukee via WHAP!
"Wherever you go, there you are!"
Live!'s sole claim to fame was that it could record in real time. However,
it always struck me as producing extremely poor results. Still, if you
need to record real fast like that, it's about the only choice.
–>Steve Bennett
Ron,
I'm impressed by all those other replies! Yes, LIVE! worked with
Elan Performer, Invision, VidiMice, and another interesting interactive
video program whose name I don't recall. It's kind of a neat thing to set
up at parties, with its ability to false color, mirror, and do other fun
stuff in close to real time (up to 15 frames per second.) You can hook up 2
video sources to Live! 2000 and do some nifty stunts. You can hook it up to
the input of a genlock on a second Amiga and do some trippy things.
The quality isn't like the Toaster, but, neither is the price. And
you can use its library software to tie into the hardware for your own
applications. (That's what VidiMice did…another interesting concept.)
Robert Fisher
There's a NICE Article in this Month's AVID for a alternate solution to
Single Frame Capable VTR….The 16 MM FILM Cameraon a Tripod Granted it's
Not as easy to do but it is MUCH less expensive to start up Sure the Film
is Expensive($30 for enuff for about 3 minutes) and ya have to fiddle with
lighting BUT it is an alternative that is often overlooked. I may even dig
out my old 8 mm Film Camera and mess with that if I can find film for it
I'm using an 8mm (Super 8) camera and some hacked together hardware to
controll it from my Amiga. There are a few things you have to watch out for
if you want to film from a monitor: shutter speed and filtering.
Most 16mm cameras I've seen allow you to adjust the shutter speed (or the
shutter angle), but 8mm cameras are fixed at 24 fps or (older ones) 18 fps.
Interlaced Amiga screens refresh at the equivalent of 30 fps, so you'll
have to adjust the camera's frame rate to avoid banding and flickering.
Anything less than 15 fps will do. I had to make a PWM motor speed
controller for my camera, but I think I'll need to use a stepper motor to
get rock-steady shutter movement.
Filtering is a bit tricky. A lot of Super 8 cameras have built in filters
that are automagically placed in the optical path if you use certain film
types (like Type G Ektachrome as I recall). Some monitors put out a lot
blue, giving your film a cool tone which may not be intended. So…you have
to experiment there.
8mm film costs about $12 a cart. here in Chicago and processing is about
$3. You can get about 5 min. of 24fps animation on a cart (that's a LOT of
rendering…). Also, most 8mm film (and decent optics) have a resolution of
about 80 lines/mm, which means that the images tend to be smoothed out just
a bit.
..I should, in fact, be getting my 2nd test reel back from the lab today…
Thanx for the tips on 8 mm film Recording mate
No problem. It's cool to sit back and watch 3 mins. of 4'x4' animation on
your wall when it's all done…
Peter, nice to see you mention filming as a single frame alternative. Maybe
we can exchange some 8mm screen shot anims later! I've done it, but the
results were'nt that spectacular 🙁 I'd sure like to consider a film
recorder, rather than single frame video for my work, but that's still in
the $5000 range and such. But filming from the screen is a very good way
to go.
A few years ago I considered building an Amiga/16mm film stand, that would
take parts from a 16mm film camera, a good amiga monitor, and mount them
all on a board, with the camera at the fixed focal point, with the monitor
perfectly framed. Shoot, hook up an ARexx based interface to the camera
shutter and film advance, and you'd have a great filming studio. Could even
do multiple exposures and such.
–jp–seattle–
According to the comments I heard at the "2nd Annual Amiga Developers
Conference" in Monterey CA, Alan Hastings started out by using 8mm to do
his original anims. We saw a 8mm to video-tape of his original works at
that conference (it was on video tape, because they had a TV projector
there, and NO 8mm projector).
Great. I did a lot of 8mm animation with drawings and such, before the
amiga was generally available.
I remember one film was done with the Apple //e. No, not off the
screen…. I printed each frame out on the printer and then filmed the
printouts. Allowed doing some things that the display wasn't capable of.
Good old days. I should get my 8mm out again soon. They are a gas to work
with 🙂
–jp–seattle–
John,
I've thought about some sort of 16mm kludge-o-matic too. I ran into a
guy at a camera show who offered me an old Bolex 16mm for $50, but didn't
have the cash with me. 🙁 Certainly a lot cheaper than the video
alternative. One thing I did consider was using a B&W long-persistance
monitor. A little custom hardware would route the red, blue and green
signals from the Amiga or even a Firecracker to the monitor. Something like
New Tek's Digidroid would put a filter over the lens for each color. I
figured that using a long persistance monitor would get around some of the
problems with the camera's shutter speed. With a B&W monitor, you avoid the
limits of the color monitor's dot pitch.
Whapping off the deep end… Jim
When I've shot off the screen the monitor speed wasn't a problem, since
I've had to use longer shutter speeds (1/8 sec – 1 sec) to get the results
I liked (forget the film speed, but it was a slower film that gave better
color saturation as I recall). Would expect the same thing to be true of
16mm?
Not a bad idea with the b&w monitor and a color filter. That's how the
Poloroid Pallette works…. a real tiny b&w monitor with a color filter
inside. Exactly like you describe, but on a miniature scale.
–jp–seattle–
I use those same shutter speeds when shooting off the screen with my
35mm still camera. The slow speed insures that you don't get a partial
picture. With a 1 second exposure, if you catch the beam in the middle of
the screen you've got 60 passes on half the screen and 59 on the other. Not
much difference. Not sure what film stocks are available in 16mm. I would
expect that the slower film would give better color saturation, thats
generally true.
I read the Avid article Friday afternoon. There was some interesting
stuff in there. I didn't know you could control the speed of a Bolex's
shutter with an external motor. The only other time I've filmed off the
screen, using 8mm, the banding was terrible. The shutter speed was too
fast, even in single frame mode. That was why I had the kludge with the b&w
monitor in mind. I figured a long-persistance monitor would compensate for
it. After reading the AVID article, I'm not sure all that hassle is
necessary.
By a 'Time-Life mysteries of the unknown' coincidence, a card from those
same camera show guys arrived today, hawking an upcomming swap meet. I
think I'll go Bolex hunting.
-Jim
Is there a 16 mm Movie Film back avail for the Polaroid Pallette?I have a
local selling a Pallette for $500
16mm? I don't know. I know they made one for 35mm, which was almost as
expensive as the Pallette itself. I'd call Liquid Light if they are still
in biz (? – I don't see their name in the most recent Amazing Product
Guide, so maybe not). Or maybe ASDG would know? They support the newer
CI-3000 Poloroid recorder; maybe they know about the older Palette too?
–jp–seattle–
In the AVid Article I mentioned There IS an AREXX script to Control the
CAMERA'S motor for frame advance I also seem to remember a Sorta Cone like
Object for Capturing off the Monitor but it was for 35 mm Camera's I'm sure
a similar gizmo could be done for 8 mm Film or 16 mm film camera's
It seems like it SHOULD be able to be done, relatively inexpensively,
doesn't it? Just find a used 16/35mm movie camera, find a way to advance
the frame via ARexx, and set it and a monitor up on a sturdy stand; bingo!
You've got a single-frame film recording studio!
–jp–seattle–
I have a real simple setup using a 12V solinoid that drives the camera's
shutter, a op-amp signal detector and a power transistor. This all hooks
into my Ami's audio jacks. When I want to record some film, all I do is use
a standard slideshow program that can show a picture and play a sample. I
have a sample that puts out a high freq. burst which triggers the op-amp,
firing the solinoid. <Click>.
I like the B&W monitor/filter idea too because they have no shadow masks,
making the imagine a bit sharper. Also, you can skew the horizontal
scanning and thus perform anti-aliasing. This would actually be easy on the
Amiga since the hardware allows you to change the horizontal start/stop
locations. That's how a lot of B&W based film recorders work. Getting 2000
lines is just a matter of interleaving via multiple exposures. Takes time,
but what else is new…
Sounds great. You use 16mm then? Do you eventually go to tape with it,
via film2tape transfer?
I'd never thought of moving the screen slightly (1/2 pixels?) and
overexposing to get greater res. I'll steal that idea if I ever set up a
real stand like yours. Thanks.
–jp–seattle–
I'm sure that the HAM-E does look good on the RGB monitor. But that HAM-E
picture has to go to video… how does the HAM-E picture viewed on a
composite monitor look compared to DCTV. I just don't want to dink around
in a different mode getting things to look great then put it out to video
to find out ehhhh, it didn't matter… at least in DCTV it sounds like I'd
be dinking around in a WYSIWYG environment… Also, though I haven't tried
it, I've heard the toaster isn't that great of a genlock. If I can judge
from the way the desktop/workbench, whatever you call the point and click
I/F on the Amiga, looks on my composite monitors coming thru the to
toaster, it stinks. Also, while I've got you… Is there a source that
tells you what colors in the various programs do and don't work well for
video ?? (i.e..in LW, x% red y% blue z% green… in draw4d %%% etc)
thanks….
HAM-E converted to a composite signal with a moderately good converter
looks significantly better, IMHO, than DCTV's signal. The catch here is
that the converter runs you a bit of extra money…
OTOH, certain HAM-E images don't convert well, just as certain Amiga
standard mode images don't convert well. The DCTV unit doesn't have that
problem because it's limited to acceptable color ranges, but that's not
really an advantage in my book, more of a disadvantage. As long as you do
your original work with a composite monitor attached anyway (always a good
idea if you intend to go to video…) what you see will always be what you
get.
Your best bet is to see them both in action before you buy either. That's
what I did. (After seeing them side by side, reviewing the specs, and
playing with the software, I got a HAM-E. The composite wasn't an
advantage for me at all, though, because I don't output to video…)
–>Steve Bennett
You're correct…. the HAM-E is RGB, so you'd have to convert to video
before recording it. I use the DigiFex encoder, which I think results in a
better looking image than the DCTV puts out. But it's not an incredible
difference, so I doubt if I'd really notice most of the time. BTW, the
DigiFex encoder also puts out a S-VHS signal (as well as composite), so I
can use that if I want to.
But whatever you are using: DCTV, HAM-E, FireCracker, etc…. you'll want
to do your design and construction looking at the video image if that is
your ultimate destination. DCTV gives you that right up front…. you can
add the same capability to HAM-E/FireCracker/etc for @ $100 with an
encoder.
If you do your design while looking at the video output (not the RGB
output) then you won't get the nasty "Surprise! It looks like crud on
video." reaction (speaking from experience :). Re legal colors, the best
rule of thumb is to keep all colors below 75% intensity/saturation and
you'll usually be ok. And low saturation colors begin to all look the
same. Sigh. Good luck.
–jp–seattle–
John–
According to BBS, they are no longer producing the HAM-E…so Brian should
either look for a used unit, try to find old stock, or 'deal' with a DCTV.
I have seen some really amazing results with the DCTV, myself, especially
for animation. Use it with Pageflipper…its FAST…
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Is pageflipper a commercial, share or PD program…where do I get it..
thanks for the info…B
Brian,
Pageflipper plus F/X (or PF/X, as its more commonly known) is published by
Mindware International. This program uses a non-standard animation format,
but it is FAAST…much faster than ANIM. Additionally, it has other nice
features, along the special effects line…hence the name.
However, the existence of Mindware appears to be tenuous, at best.
I have not had any luck contacted them, since they have been listing an
upgrade to PF/X for a while (in the Amazing Guide to the Amiga)…I got
mine mail order, from Creative Computers. I would think that there are a
few copies in the channel, still.
Also be advised that there is an older version, simply called
Pageflipper, that does not have the F/X…I have heard alternately that it
is either faster or slower than the F/X version, but have never had a
chance to find out either way. I strongly suggest getting this program,
even if Mindware is out of business. The program runs fine under WB1.2,
1.3, and 2.04. This is a great piece of software, IMHO.
Jonathan
I 2nd that about PageFlipper PF/X. I've also been unable to reach
Mindware, but at least their phone isn't disconnected. Hope they are still
around.
–jp–seattle–
Is there a reason to BBS no longer producing the HAM-E? This is new news
to me.
Joe–
Judging from what I have heard in AmigaVendor, it seems that their
technology has been licensed by C=…they are under nondisclosure and are
no longer producing the HAM-E…however, evidentally, they are still
actively supporting it. Talk to them before spreading anything
unsubstantiated…
Jonathan
Jonathan,
I think you may reading too much into what Ben said about HAM-E. He said
that HAM-E was no longer being produced but IS being actively supported.
He also said that the reason for it going out of production couldn't be
disclosed at this time because of a NDA with CBM. I think that jumping to
the conclusion that "…their technology has been licensed by C=" is not
warranted by what was said.
-sja
Steve–
re: Ham-E licensing…
You're right. I read too much into it. Mea culpa.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Yeah, I sure hope that there is a 'deal' in the works re BB and Commodore.
You would have to find an old unit, or a used one right now. 🙁
I do like DCTV too, just never considered it for my work cause I had the
HAM-E, and it really did the job for me.
–jp–seattle–
John–
I've found that the DCTV animates really well, especially when using the
Director or PF/X to do the animation. I can get a very high frame rate; of
course, I have to cut back the graphic quality somewhat…how does HAM-E
fare?
Jonathan
HAM-E animates …. uh …. sometimes good… sometimes not so good.
I would concede that DCTV *seems* to do a better (read 'faster') job of
building real-time anims than HAM-E, but I certainly haven't done any
rigorous tests. Just my perceptions from seeing others work.
But the difference was never fantastic. I also use PF/X to do my general
anims, and Director when I want to cram stuff into RAM and page-swap CHIP
buffers. Of course they are both *real fast* when doing that.
re frame rate…. I know I was getting about 15-20fps on a 1/2 screen,
non-interlace 256 color HAM-E anim early on. Other than that I do recall
always wishing that things were faster, but that's a pretty normal wish on
all the real-time stuff we do, right? 🙂
–jp–seattle–
John–
Are you working on an accelerated system? On my 28mhz GVP '030 system,
DCTV + PF/X seems to do a pretty decent job.
Jonathan
Yeah, I was am on a 28mhz GVP 030 too. Do you have VistaPro? If so, can
you get any sort of a decent frame rate (ie. over 10fps) on a movement
through a landscape, when lots of stuff is changing? Just curious….
–jp–seattle–
John,
Nope, don't have VistaPro…however, DCTV comes with a sample animation
produced out of Scenery Animator. Not full page, and not the best graphic
quality….but plenty fast.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan,
one advantage DCTV has over HAM-E is that DCTV will accept either 3- or
4-bitplane images, whereas HAM-E is stuck in a 4-bitplane world. 4-bitplane
images cause severe bus contention problems, especially when overscan is
involved. (Overscan is a must with HAM-E due to its visible "magic cookie")
A 3-bitplane animation, such as DCTV "64K colors" or standard Amiga HAM,
can play at most any speed if you have a fast machine. On my 3000, I get
frame rates as low as 7 fps when animating HAM-E images.
I wonder, though, how good/bad DCTV looks in 3-bitplane mode. Anyone?
Blaq! – via Whap!
Blaq–
3-bitplane mode doesn't look as good as 4-bit mode, certainly…but most
folks wouldn't notice the difference. It animates very well in this mode,
even at max overscan (768×482). You can also use non interlace hires mode,
which further degrades the image, but assures 30fps output. You can throw
the machine into "fake" interlace mode for video use as well…DCTV is not
a painterly tool, IMHO, but is a great animation tool.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Charles,
I have found that in most situations it is hard to tell the difference
between 3 bit plane DCTV images and 4 bit plane DCTV images. The one
exception is images that require wide monochrome spreads. The 3 bit plane
images will show some "color banding" while the 4 bit plane image shows
none.
A while ago I read a posting of a device that would give you 2 megs of
chip RAM and solve the band width problem – sort of a "chip RAM
accelerator". Has anyone heard any news about this device?
-Paul-
Paul,
so far all we've seen of the Chip Ram accelerator are some promising ads
and text files. Until it sees the light, consider it vaporware.
Blaq! – via Whap!
Charles,
That's not what I wanted to hear! But thanks for the info.
-Paul-
HAM-E will only give ya better results on yer Computer Moniter tho If ya
output to Tape "I" think yer better off with DCTV
One thing to note that the output of DCTV won't be nearly has sharp as the
output on the Toaster. Plus, taping DCTV animations while they are playing
won't give you the precision of still frame recording. One option to doing
still frame recording is to just rent the equipment when you need it.
Still, for us Toasterless individuals who dream of using LightWave instead
of Imagine, DCTV has given me lots of pleasure! 🙂
Is there a Toaster in my future? Which bank do I rob? 🙂
Dan
Dan McCoy – via Whap! and saving money doing it too!
In regards to DCTV's resolution. It is about 1/4th the Toaster's 2.0
capability. But DCTV still deserves more than a sniffle from critics. It
makes for great storefront displays, like in mine.
Vance
– via Whap!