#Hyperbook
27 messages in this thread
I recently found a dusty program at a local Amiga shop (yes, some still
exist!) called Hyperbook by Gold Disk. It has a copyright date of 1990, so
it's not _too_ old…
It's basically an answer to the Mac's Hypercard Stack type of thing, which
makes it a sort of Authoring package.
I've only been playing with it for the last few days, and am wondering…
Is anyone out there using this package?
Would you enjoy some discussion about it?
One apparent bug I've discovered is that the object resizing gadget
doesn't work as the manual says it should. The only way I've been able to
resize objects is by using an ARexx command and trial and error.
Has anyone experienced this difficulty?
Thanks in advance.
– Rob..
on Amiga via AutoPilot <71212.712@compuserve.com>
You're in luck – I just happened to be browsing on here, and I'm co-author of
HyperBook. I think I can remember that far back!
There was a bug introduced in the first release version of HB because Commodore
changed the operating system (V2.0) at the last minute from the late Beta
versions we had been working with (which they weren't supposed to do!) and it
broke the resizing feature.
I'm quite certain there was an updated version that fixed this and it should be
available to any registered user (I am not representing Gold Disk on this,
that's just what I think). Call Gold Disk's 800 number and ask about an update,
if they still support the Amiga software (I think they do!).
What a nice surprise to find a HyperBook user out of the blue like this. How do
you like it (or should I ask?)
-ChrisZ
Chris –
Thanks for the tip on the update from GD – I'll give them a call tomorrow
with registration card in hand (it's filled out – I just haven't managed
to mail it yet), and see what I can find out!
I've really only just begun to play with it – I'm trying to create a sort
of note file system first; something that I can just add notes to and
browse or search them later. I'll start with just text, but I'm sure it
will quickly expand. I've got some crazy ideas about an audio note taker
through my DSS-8… possibly linking HBook and Term to create an off-line
message reader for local BBSs…
So far it feels a lot like the proverbial blank sheet of paper 8^}.
Out of curiosity, have you or do you still use the program? Created and
mind-blowing mega-books?
And thanks a bunch for replying.
– Rob..
on Amiga via AutoPilot <71212.712@compuserve.com>
Well, we (my Partner Nick Sullivan and I) HAVE used the program and created
mindblowing hyperbooks with it, in the past tense. Remember, this was a project
we completed five years ago, and I must admit that my Amiga gets very little
use since we do mostly Windows development now (I hope that's not a bad word on
this Forum!)
I could probably dig up and send you some interesting hyperbooks if you're
interested. Also, if you get our book (plug) Using ARexx on the Amiga, the
companion disk has some cool sample hyperbooks as well.
Just for fun, we made one hyperbook called "PornWriter", which is hilarious but
I don't know if it could be released for public consumption due to its X-rated
nature! Most others are far less controversial.
-CZ
Chris –
I'd be _very_ interested in seeing some of the HBooks you've created.
Please e-mail whatever you feel is worthwhile (especially the PornWriter –
don't worry, I am over 21 8^)
BTW, Windows isn't necessarily a bad word, it's just a misspelling… The
correct spelling is "Windoze" <g>.
And I'll look for your book… What's the ISBN number (so I can be sure to
get the right one)?
– Rob..
on Amiga via AutoPilot <71212.712@compuserve.com>
Well, for what its worth I like HyperBook.
Gold Disk did have an update awhile back but I never got it. Not sure if
it is still available from them or not.
I think HyperBook was kind of a sleeper. I got Helm which was described as
HyperBook on steroids but I haven't had the time to do too much with it
and it's prone to occassional crashes on my machine so I still use
HyperBook.
-Richard
Thanks for your comments. Hyperbook was a sleeper is an understatement! All the
feedback we got from it was positive, but sales were dismal. (For example, our
Windows product sells more in an average week than HyperBook sold in its entire
life!)
Still, it's gratifying to hear from some of the (few) people who did buy it and
enjoy it. It's a shame we couldn't have kept improving and upgrading it with
more and more features, but unfortunately the demand just wasn't there.
Maybe users who have developed interesting hyperbooks and ARexx scripts could
share them in this forum?
-Chris Z
Chris,
I liked your book too. With the book and Hyperbook, I was able to get a
handle on ARexx. Can't say I'm really proficient in it, but I can see
what's going on and do some simple things.
The whole darned thing with the Amiga is a shame. It's a real gem but it's
easy to understand why programmers have to support other platforms
instead. I've been using Macs And PC's for years, but it's going to be a
few more years, if ever, before I feel they can adequately replace my
Amiga. What is your Windows product?
The samples with the Hyperbook distribution were really good. Please
uypload away if you have more stuff. Most of my books are pretty tied in
with my unique circumstances but I may have a thing or two of some general
use.
-Richard
It is too bad about the Amiga, and I have had to force myself to accept Windows
and its fake multitasking. Our Windows product is called VideoDirector, which
is a video editing system for use with a camcorder and VCR, and version 2 was
just released. It's been doing quite well so far.
Note my new (old) user ID – the other was temporary until billing info was
straightened out with my main account (polite way of saying my VISA hit its
limit! Hey, sales aren't THAT good yet. 🙂 )
-CZ
Chris???? Is that really you? Same Chris Zamara I knew from TRANSACTOR
days?
—Betty
One and the same! (I haven't heard that "T" word in a while.) How are you?
-CZ
Doing great, Chris. I'm in England right now, visiting with various members of
ICPUG. We remember the T with great affection, and naturally that includes its
editors.
How are things with you?
Betty
Ah, so you're behind VideoDirector. You might check into the CEVIDEO forum
to promote yourself. VideoDirector is often under discussion there.
-Richard
I just got a mass mailing about Video Director… So, is it worth $99.95? 🙂
I, too, made the flight into Windows a few years ago. As part of another
non-Syndesis company, some friends and I wrote ani illustration package for
Windows, then sold it to Software Publishing Corporation, who sold it for a
while as Harvard Draw, and then folded it into Harvard Graphics, as an applet
called Harvard F/X. So for a while there, the absolutely inept marketroids at
SPC were going head-to-head with Pro Draw, until, as I understand it, everyone
was overtaken by Corel and that drawing program that drops into Word's menus…
I talked with Henry Gin every once in a while regarding file import/export
filters for Pro Draw, too. Is he still running things in Canada, while Kailash
explores Italian suits in La-La Land? 🙂
John,
Didn't I also see your name in the credits of a PC game program?
Malcolm
I have no idea! I don't remember writing a PC game program. Commodore 64
games, maybe – anything from Sight & Sound, usually music-related. Or maybe
there's more than one of us. In fact, I heard once that there's another of me.
In college, I was walking along the square and this guy comes up to me –
"John," he says. "John Foust." I've never seen him before in my life.
"You're not John Foust," he says. This guy claims to know a John Foust in
Minneapolis who looks enough like me to be confused by sight… Now, it
could've been a "carny trick," if the guy somehow knew my name, and used it
against me. He was a follower of the Rev. Sun Young Moon. 🙂 I eventually
got to know him better, and he seemed straightforward. I was writing for the
campus paper at the time, and enjoyed the opportunity to get to see the campus
Moonie operation from the "inside." Eventually it led to me spending an entire
day alone with a couple Moonies and former Black Panther leader Eldridge
Cleaver, but that's a story for another time!
John,
>> "You're not John Foust," he says.
Awesome story! Hope you were in fullest possession of your faculties at
the time. Something like that could bring on a serious identity crisis! 🙂
BTW, the game credits I saw appeared to be in an Amiga font too. I'll have
to query the player about it sometime.
Moonies & Eldridge, eh? I once paid to attend a talk/discussion/debate?
among Eldridge, Abby Hoffman & Tim Leary. That's a story too!
Malcolm
The day with Cleaver took place after his conversion to Republicanism. I do
remember that we had the same size shoes. 🙂 (One standard Moonie
conversational gambit was talking about "those wonderful shoes" or "nice coat"
you have.) And when Timothy Leary came to town a few years later, someone
called me through the grapevine to help with the show because he was using an
Amiga in his road show at the time, and he needed what we now call a "personal
geek" to make sure it was set up. So I met Leary, too, in the context of the
Amiga.
Of course VideoDirector is worth $99.95 – and more! 🙂 It comes with an
interface to hook up to your camcorder and VCR, so they're actually selling it
pretty cheap.
Version 2.0 is much enhanced from the original. It's actually pretty cool, if
you work with home video or low-end video production at all. Of course, I'm not
exactly the most un-biased source of information on this product. 🙂
Yes, Henry's still heading Gold Disk Canada, which is mostly development, and
Kailash is down in the US marketing office in Santa Clara. They're doing a
great job with VideoDirector, and as you can see are doing direct mail now as
well as the usual outlets.
-CZ
Chris –
On the topic of VideoDirector… Are you referring to primarily the
MessyDOS version, or the older Amiga version when you say "Version 2.0 is
much enhanced from the original."?
Do you still have any involvement with the Amiga version? In particular, I
heard through a local UG's grapevine about a newer combination cable to
replace the two-part, one-to-serial and one-to-joystick version.
Am I barking up the wrong tree (yours) ?
– Rob..
on Amiga via AutoPilot <71212.712@compuserve.com>
There was never a DOS version of VideoDirector, just the original Amiga one,
and the two Windows versions. When I say V2 is expanded from V1, I mean the
Windows versions, but the V1 Windows version was much better than the Amiga
version. If you went from the Amiga version to VDW2, the difference would be
enormous.
I wrote the Amiga version originally, so I was involved with it yes, but I say
that in the past tense because there is obviously no chance of new Amiga
versions in the future. The new one-piece cables can be used on the Amiga
version (with the new drivers), but there's no real advantage to it other than
not having to plug into your joystick port.
-CZ
C –
My mistake on the DOS/Windows thing. As Windows is useless without DOS
(the current 3.1, anyway), I tend to use the terms interchangeably, albeit
incorrectly.
Thanks for the info on the cables. I have some other peripherals that use
the joystick port, so a single cable would help alleviate some of the
swapping. I'll check with GD on the drivers.
BTW, they (GD) are forwarding the upgraded Hyperbook to me. Thanks for the
tip.
– Rob..
on Amiga via AutoPilot <71212.712@compuserve.com>
I have the Amiga version of Video Director. Just got a flyer from Gold
Disk offering me any of the several platform versions of the product,
including the Amiga version (don't they keep registration data?). Did you
do the Amiga version, too?
I thought it was interesting that each version (PC, Amiga, Mac) had
features the other two didn't. It did look like the Windows version might
be somewhat more capable. Then again, setting up the program on an Amiga
with a genlock was a snap, and I can actually get along with one monitor,
seeing both the program interface and my genlocked video on one screen.
Indeed, you might be interested to know that rather than run it on my
A2500/30, I've currently got Video Director running on a CDTV with a
floppy drive. The CDTV is on top of my big screen TV and near my video
decks, so that was the logical choice.
Yes, I did the Amiga version back in 1991, then later did the port to Windows.
I then did V2 for Windows, which was almost a complete rewrite, and in the
process someone else ported that to the Mac. So the order of power and features
goes Amiga, VDW1, VDMac, VDW2. In the Windows version you can get by without an
external monitor if you have a video overlay card, and you get to see your
video in a little window; this works on both Windows versions (and the Mac
version too). Overlay cards can be had for $200-$300 now.
That's great that you have it going on a CDTV; I didn't realize you could do
that. As for genlocking on a single monitor, does't the program's graphics
interfere with the video?
I'm glad it's working well for you. The Amiga version can do things VDW1 can't,
like the tile overlays, so it's better in some ways. I always wished we could
have gone further with the Amiga version and pushed it to the limit, but
economic realities have a way of interfering with plans like that.
-CZ
Video Director's graphics do interfere with the video when using it in
genlock mode, but the CDTV genlock is controlled by a button the wireless
remote that lets you flip between RGB, NTSC and genlocked pair, so it's
relatively easy to see what you need to in a second; also, VD's menu has
quite a bit of free space, and usually I can see enough of the genlocked
video below it to do what I need; this would be true of most any Amiga
genlock. Obviously, the ability to resize the VD menus would make this
even more effective.
Chris: Let me cut in here to say I truly appreciated Hyperbook, which was
a way-overlooked product. I used it mainly to look at stuff others had
done (like a dinosaur tutorial and some electronic magazines including a
science fiction fanzine) but also created a few things in it, like a daily
journal with my digitized self overseeing the home page in glorious IFF
color. And of course Gold Disk's own (and out of date) products catalog
and Pro Page help system.
I've used it less often in the last couple of years, because I glommed
onto Black Belt's Notebook, not a hypermedia type system but closer to my
needs.
I've seen some Hyperbook applications on BBSes and in shareware/PD
diskette collections, some of them seeming to really push the software.
I'd appreciate any 'book uploads to the file libraries here that you'd
care to make.
Too bad HB was never seriously updated. At the moment, I'd have to say
Helm amounts to Hyperbook 2.0. If you haven't looked at it, check it out.
A very fine hypermedia authoring system. Helm productions are called
"books," too, as I recall. Even more interesting, Helm's author is
transporting it over to Windows, where it ought to kick ass among the
competition.
By the way, I got the HB update free from Gold Disk, but that was quite
awhile ago. Still, they'd probably still take care of anyone who's got the
broken version.
Thanks for the input on HB and its uses. I haven't seen any of those
application you've mentioned; I guess I've been out of touch of the Amiga scene
lately. It sounds like you've probably seen more interesting stuff than we've
put together ourselves! The most ambitious HB project we've undertaken was a
special one for the Olympics, for Gold Disk as abundling deal, but it was never
used. I'll have to check with GD ifwe can release it; it's outdated now, but it
might be interesting to have a look at to see the kind of thing that's
possible.
-ChrisZ