#Upgrade
19 messages in this thread
Hey Erik — no need to eat crow — it's time for burritos and cerveza instead!
I'm glad to hear of the new features — looking forward to what y'all will do
with them — can you clue me in more about HAM8, though?
It's 256K colors, right? That's about 18-bit. But aren't there some palette
restrictions — continuous colors or such? Since the NTSC gamut only runs to
about 16 bits of color info, wouldn't HAM8 provide enough for video output? Do
the HAM8 & NTSC color gamuts overlap completely, or do they include different
colors?
So, while 24-bit is good for film and print, isn't it pretty much irrelevant
for video? And HAM8 works fine, yeah?
Regards,
John D.
I reall haven't paid too much attention to the HAM8 mode.
(I was a little bitter at being left in the dst with my 3000 & the lack of
Toaster compatibility.)
I think that AGA is 8 bits per gun per pixel of color resolution, but I
may be wrong.
I have little doubt that for most applications, HAM8 will be more than
adequate. (As an example: the gear wipe in Toaster 2.0 has animated
rendered gears, instead of just a silhouette. Gosh, does that mean we get
to see more than a silhouette of Kiki? Eeek!)
I wouldn't trust HAM8 for my high end clients though.
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
I don't quite follow your description of the gears wipe. Can you say it
backwards 🙂
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
One of the AnimWipes in T2.0 was a silhouette of gears that ground their
way up the middle of the screen – it acted as a wipe between two video
sources.
the new Toaster software is able to display a HAM8 animation in place of
the colored silhouettes of T2.0. This means you actually see the gears,
instead of just their outlines.
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Oh, wow! now I can have $800 gears. I'm just being sarcastic, but I would be
interested what's in store in the upgrade for the switcher, paint, c.g. in
toaster 3.0. I'm still not in to LW, so my interest is in the basic toaster.
Any one of you have more info on this, I would appreciate to know if there are
any major changes and bells and whistels. I know you guys and gals are excited
about the LW, but I'm staying with A2000. Too much bucks to start over again
for now. george
I understand your position.
I haven't seen it in operation, and don't know how many of the new effects
are directly dependent on the AGA chipset in the 4000.
I'm just glad to finally have access to a machine with 24bit graphics for
other programs like ImageMaster, etc. The Toaster effects are just more
fluff to add to my system (great for those days when rent my system out to
post houses, though!)
Too Much Bucks?!? Aw, come on . . .It's only ANOTHER $2000-$4000 over what
you've already spent . . .:^)
Anyone else care to offer comments about the benefits of upgrading to the
new Toaster software for current Toaster owners?
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Erik,
I'm with you. Ham8 is no match for true 24 and SFing to Beta SP. I guess
it has it's place for those without the capability/bucks for single frame
equipment. I thought it was nice but not a replacement for SFing.
Karl
The thing you have to remember with 24bit on the VT is that NTSC uses a
much smaller range of colours than on a 24bit RGB display. Colour palettes
are estimated between 4-6 million colours.
So, as far as video goes, HAM8 is is a good match for FrameStores. HAM8
anim playback also complements well with SFR'ing.
Of course, nobody's twisting your arm to use it, but I'm one of the users
who makes use of all of the tools I'm given. Waste not, want not. *8)
Vance – Flying on vapours…
So our gears will now be multicolored? This is a nice suprise. Can we use
multicolors on our own wipes now?
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
Not only do you see the gears, you see reflections in the bolts holding
the gears as well as shadows on the video source!
JG
So all the Kiki-type effects can now be full color transitions?
Wow that should look neat!
mike
Yes, now we get to find out if she was wearing a body suit, or not!
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Yup, now we'll all know if she was nude or wearing a bikini! *8P
Vance
'reflection in the bolts'? Reflections of the LIVE video, or what? :^)
Thanks,
Erik Flom
no, just nice metallic-like light reflections.
JG
The standard Amiga can display regular pics from 2-16 colours or use the
colours in the workbench. HAM 4096 colour pics are viewable as pics only.
It's similar for AGA-equipped machines. Both workbench and pics can
display 2-256 colours (but in any resolution) and HAM8 only displays as a
pic. HAM8 will display 256,000 colours. All AGA modes have a chip-based
24bit palette. HAM8 achieves displayable colour that you would find in an
18bit pic. HAM8 should have all of the colour necessary for broadcast
television.
Vance
Vance,
Doesn't HAM8 have the same limitation as HAM, in that only one of the
three color values can be varied at a time for each consecutive pixel?
This may make for bad edges when going between surfaces that don't both
use the base colors. That's the only oolie that I can think of.
Someone send me a T4K, and I'll check it out for 'yall, OK. 🙂
… Nate, Emerald Video. Flyin' IFR on AP
One of the major shortcomings of HAM was the colour fringing problem. With
the new chips, the problem has been virtually eliminated. Without the
fringing, even standard HAM pics look much more respectable.
Consider this: You've seen how hires 256 colour gif's can look on a PC.
Well, AGA allows you to use the old HAM (less the fringing) in any
resolution. Imagine how that would compare. Because of the smaller pixels,
the dithering is less noticable.
Outside of technical references, listen to the developers. Ben Williams of
Black Belt Systems says that HAM8's hires display is superior to HAM-E and
DCTV. Both of these are great products, so you can imagine how good HAM8
is. Average Amiga users will not notice a difference between HAM8 and
24bit.
Also, another thing to consider is that the main use for HAM8 is video.
Now we all know how NTSC is not displayed with the same clarity and
sharpness as an RGB display. If HAM8 were to have any artifacts, at the
high resolutions it can use, the artifacts would be blurred over by
conversion to an NTSC video display.
AGA has a chip-based 24 bit palette which is in its infancy and will be
fully utilized in AAA. CBM developed a HAM8 technique (kudos to HAM-E for
the inspiration) to take some advantage of the palette.
I encourage everyone who's interested in techy stuff to ask if Ben
Williams would be kind enough to ul a text explanation for anyone to dl
and study.
Vance