#Exclusive AmiExpo Report
41 messages in this thread
I just got back from AmiExpo in Orlando. Here's a quick rundown on
what was there:
– GVP was showing off their PVA board. Very impressive. It's got a
24-bit RGB Frame Buffer, Flicker Free 24-bit and Amiga video, Picture
in Picture in a resizeable workbench window, and more. Bundle
software includes Macro Paint-PVA, Caligari-PVA, and Scala-PVA.
– NewTek wasn't at the show, but Mark Randell was. He demoed the new
Toaster effects in the 2.0 version of the Toaster software. Looked
good! He also announced the formation of Nutopia, a company that
will do high-end computer graphics work.
– DPaint IV was demoed. Many new effects, and other things that have
been "re-done". The main things demoed: realtime antialiasing,
lightboxing, it now supports HAM, and improved animation features.
Upgrade notices go out next week, and they plan to ship the second
week of September here and in Europe.
– Colorburst was there showing a slideshow demo. They said they plan
to ship in "two weeks".
– Bread Box, a newsletter for Video Toaster Users has been started.
– New Horizons was showing off DesignWorks, their new structured
drawing program.
– Inovatronics was showing off CanDo and Directory OPUS (the *BEST*
directory utility I've ever seen….very configurable).
– Axiom was showing off PIXEL 3D 2.0, and Cryogenic Software was
showing off 3D Professional 2.0
– Haitex was there showing off their X-Specs, and a X-Specs TV
interface.
And I got to see lots of people that I haven't seen in a while, many
people from here, and a made a few new friends. All in all, I had a
great time at the show!
Questions anyone? 🙂
Steve
Is Directory OPUS related to the shareware program of the same name, Steve?
That I don't know, but I doubt it. You should ask Martin Murray about it
over in AmigaVendor.
Steve
Denny, there is a shareware demo version of an old release of Directory
Opus around, but this is an all-new version with support for 2.0, and full
support from INOVAtronics. Look for it in early August.
Questions:
1. Does the GVP-PVA require RGB for the picture-in-picture feature, or
can it take NTSC?
2. Is MAST still claiming that the Colorburst will do realtime 24-bit
animation? Did you laugh real hard if they did?
Thanks,
Jonathan
Jonathan – from Albany, NY, via whap!
I was there also, so I can answer question #1 for you: yes, the PIP
feature on the GVP board requires RGB input. It is an A3000 board, using
both the video and Zorro inline slot. There is supposedly an adaptor for
A2000s to use it.
Colorburst's flier speaks of 24-bit sprites, so that might qualify for
Animation. It might even get away with brush animations in 24-bit but will
have a hard time doing full-screen 24-bit animation since it can hold a
maximum of 4 hires 24-bit screens in memory. I guess if you transfer
screens from Amiga RAM to Colorburst RAM and preload the screens you could
get an effective animation. Best have lots of RAM, though.
-Chas
Thanks for the info. Another question: was the bundled software
running on the GVP-PVA, or was it functioning more like a frame-buffer?
I saw Caligari run, and the renders were quite good — so I assume that it
was under the PVA. Still, Caligari works in wireframe mode then renders —
it would be stupid to have 24-bit wireframes, a real waste of processor
power and RAM.
-Chas
A few months ago, there was a construction article in Radio Electronics
magazine on a composite to RGB converter. The idea was to use the computer
monitor as a tv, but it sounds like what the PVA board needs.
1. It takes a live RGB video source.
2. They didn't show any animations, but the brochure says "Colorburst is
much more than just a display card – it includes a powerful graphics
processor that gives Colorburst power and speed other 24 bit cards cannot
match. Colorburst's processor allows continuous 24 bit scrolling, a video
priority stencil enabling you to freely mix Amiga graphics and Colorburst
video on top of or underneath each other, and animation limited only by the
speed of the Amiga and it's peripherals. Virtual 24 bit sprites are
another amazing capability of Colorburst's custom processor".
I'm going to wait until I have a chance to work with the Colorburst before
passing judgement. After I do have a chance to see it, I'll be making a
decision about which graphics device to buy. I don't think it's going to
be an easy decision. 🙂
Yes, did CBM officially announce the 2.0 release at the show? That has been
the latest rumor.
John (in beautiful downtown Walla Walla) – via Whap!
I didn't hear a word about 2.0. Rumors that _I've_ heard is that CBM is
pissed off at Amiga World about the 3000T article — which wasn't supposed
to run until later than it did.
I didn't see one person who had a CBM tag on.
I heard that rumor also, but I can't imagine why CBM would hold off on the
release of 2.0 just because AmigaWorld spilled the beans on the 3000T.
Doesn't make sense to hurt the Amiga community over something as trivial as
that. But then again, CBM has done stranger things in the past!
John
CBM will most likely (in my opinion) not release the ROMs until they are:
1. Placed in all shipping A3000s, and 2. Made available to all current
A3000 owners FIRST.
CBM doesn't need a show to release the ROMs, though it would have been
nice. However, had I owned an A3000 with 2.0 on disk and went to the show
and found the ROMs for sale — I'd have been pissed 'cause I'd bet that no
dealer would give me a free set for my A3000, which is what must be done.
-Chas
I doubt that CBM is ticked off at AmigaWorld. Lou Wallace explained that
situation when the Amazing Computing editorial bashing AmigaWorld came out
a while ago.
I read the editoriol and heard the explanation. The local dealer (Orlando,
FL) had explained it to me in that way — I really can't confirm it. I am
a bit surprised that CBM didn't at least have one person there — floating
around, not necessarily in a booth.
Oh, well. I liked the show.
If it means fewer bugs in the ROMs, I'm willing to wait…but not forever.
-Chas
No one at CBM is upset with AW about the 3000T article. It was done with
their permission, help, blessing and timing. Regardless of what you might
have read or seen elsewhere, we did have permission. In fact, we recently
received a letter from Jim Dionne of CBM stating just that, in order to
clear up any confusion that might have been generated by another
magazine…. -Lou
Lou,
Thanks for the clarification. I read the article (editorial?) in AW that
explained about the permission, etc. In fact, I though that the author
went to great pains to point out the fact that everything was done with
CBMs cooperation.
The rumor I heard wasn't from the other mag (Info? Amazing?) but rather a
local dealer. I'll set him straight the next time I see him.
I really enjoyed the show — a good effort.
-Chas
CBM did not announce the 2.0 release at the show.
Questions? You betcha!
On the GVP board – any price – delivery date – do they have any kind of
high power controller on the board (such as the TI stuff)????
SPECS – SPECS – SPECS!!
also, what was CBM up to at the show?
. The PVA 3000 is an A3000 board that fits in the video/Zorro inline slot
of the A3000. An adaptor is available for the A2000.
The spec sheet claims composite, s-vhs (y/c), 31 KHz & 15.7 KHz output.
Picture-in-Picture from an RGB source; analog and digital genlocks;
real-time frame grab; flicker-fixer (RGB outs only); and double buffered
12-bit (4096 color) animation.
Price is $1,995 and GVP said middle August for shipments. Betas have
shipped to developers and the two dealers taking orders (for $1,995) agreed
with August (one said the 26th).
I uploaded an LZH file called AMEXPO.LZH (or something similar) and as soon
as it clears you can read booth-by-booth descriptions of the Expo.
That GVP board was nice, and on display (board itself and also working) in
a couple of booths. It ships with PVA aware versions of Caligari, Scala
and Macro Paint.
Price on the GVP board is $1995. I didn't see any TI processor on
the board. Frame Buffer Overscan support 768 x 525 Framer Grabber
has full frame capture in 1/30th second. What other info are you
interested in? There are a lot of specs on this product sheet I
have. 🙂
Thanks for the info, Steve. I'll save you the trouble of typing in the
complete spec sheet! I noticed GVP's fax number in their ad, so asked them
via CIS FAX to send me info on the unit.
If they don't have a TI processor, I wonder if they have any other form of
horsepower on there. For that price you would think so <grin>. Anybody
have any guesses how much of the $1995 goes to Caligri?
Not too bad a resolution, course if overscan was eliminated, the real
(viewable) resolution is probably in the 704×480 range, depending on the
monitor.
There is one question, but doubt it would be mentioned int he spec sheet.
Can the board hold a larger image and scroll around it, similiar to a
superbitmap type window?
That I don't know….I was too surprised to see live video in a window to
ask about superbitmaps. 🙂
Steve
What sort of viewing material did Haitex have for the X-Specs/TV
thingie? And how much is it?
They had Space Spuds to play on one system, a demo of a beating heart on
another, and a VCR showing off various things. I *think* it was selling
for between $125-$150. If someone knows what the price was, please step
right up and let us know. 🙂
Steve
A VCR showing off X-Specs!? They mentioned in their (short) docs that they
were working on a module to work with a VCR, but I'd never heard of it
being released. Is there such a beast now? I'm still limited to using
them with my 1084 monitor…. would love it with tape.
There must be a device like that, since they were showing it off at the
show. From what was said at the show, they're trying to get back into the
Amiga market, so I suspect we'll be hearing something more about this
soon..
Great! I've always thought they were a very useful gadget, and would
love to see them become popular (and supported) again. Only programs
I know that directly supported them before were: DigiPaint, Turbo
SV, PageRender, Opticks…. cannot think of others off hand…. (sure
wish Imagine still had support for them in it…. sigh)
We are adding support for X-Specs to CanDo as we speak.
Wonderful! Will that be coming when you send out that joystick handler
disk (RNS, I hope) 🙂
–jp–seattle–
I don't think the Xspecs stuff will be done THAT soon. That will happen
around the end of August (the 1.51 CanDo release with Gameport support.)
Oh well; didn't hurt to ask.
Out of curiosity. Exactly what type of support do you mean? Since CanDo
can presently display 3D images, all that really needed is to coordinate
the glasses with the display, right? So, a Glasses on/off command or such?
BTW, any chance of the text attributes (changing them) being in 1.51 of
CanDo? Sure would like to change styles, etc of text in documents on the
fly. You do realize that a major purpose of this is to allow hypertext
word buttons, and that means I have to be able to have individual words
highlighted, etc, right?
I see it as attribute codes directly in the text file, so that I can turn
on/off bold/italic/underline/colors on any basis I like. Make sense?
–jp–seattle–
At least commands for turning the glasses on and off will be included, but
maybe something more for the special type of interlace now supported by
XSpecs. Honestly, I am not the expert on the subject, I just know that
something is being implemented now.
No additional text style commands will be present in the 1.51 CanDo. Sorry,
you'll have to bear with us longer on that one!
Yes, I saw part of Jaws 3D through the x specs from VCR.
Craig
They did in fact have a VCR interface to the X-Specs (a small box
with video in, video out, and 2 X-Specs connectors) that would sync
the x-specs to the video tape. I'm going to be getting a 3d movie
from them in the next few weeks (a 3d movie about stewardesses <g> )
and I'm going to run it through a DPS personal TBC that is synced to
the Amiga so then the X-Specs should be synced to the Amiga, just
like the movie is, and that *should* work. (well worth the 25.00
investment in the movie)
I'm very confused…. you say you are going to sync a VCR to the amiga and
the glasses to the amiga, therefore getting 3D? Whew? Wouldn't it be
simpler to just get the VCR syncing gizmo? 🙂
Seriously, can one call them up and order this now? (did you get new
address/phone #?) Are there MOVIES that one can use with it? What do you
do, hook this VCR/X-Spec box to your TV and then watch TV with the X-Specs?
Can you record 3D animations from the amiga to the VCR, and then watch
those on the vcr anytime?
Do you know if it would work with the large screen (56") tv's? My dad has
one and I'd love to see some of my 3D anims on his tv….
–jp–seattle–
John:
The only reason for wanting to sync the VCR to the Amiga, and then use the
Amiga interface to watch movies is simply because I'm cheap. The better way
would be to buy the proper adapter, and I'm not even sure I can do what I
was thinking about as when I tried it didn't seem to work!
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
I bought a set of X-Specs for the show special price of $90.00. They also
had a module there that would allow use of a VCR to show 3d movies for
about $160.00 but I didn't pick up one of these as there are other ways
around it.
Thanks for the additional info. I spoke with the guy who bought the
developer package, and he said that the developer software and info was an
additional $40-$50.
it's good to hear that Haitex is still kicking. When I've bought all the
essential hardware/software and I turn to luxuries, X-Specs is sure to be
at the top of the list.