CompuServe Thread

You don't need two monitors to use the Firecracker. It's just that for my needs – which I think are pretty close to yours – it seems to me that that's the most efficient way to go. Let me explain this as I (mis)understand it. The Firecracker is an independent display device designed to be used for video. Since it is designed for video, it uses the 15 Khz interlaced Amiga signal. That means that if you use the Firecracker in 'overlay mode' – genlocking the Firecracker signal to your Amiga display – you cannot get a deinterlaced workbench screen. The deinterlacers I am aware of – the 3000 Display Enhancer and the FlickerFixer – use a 31 Khz signal. The Firecracker can display 4 resolutions: 384 by 482, 512 by 482, 768 by 482, and 1024 by 482. Now here's the kicker. As the Imagine manual says, 'at present, there is now way to view images which exceed standard Amiga resolutions on the Amiga'. However, you can genlock such images behind your Amiga images. Concretely, this means that if you want to view your 1024 by 482 24 bit Imagine image, you have to LEAVE Imagine, go to the CLI, and use a program that comes with the Firecracker to activate the board and display the image. (I did not believe this, so I called Impulse and checked with Mike Halvorsen. It is true.) My confusion about the Firecracker arose from my not understanding that it is really designed for video (good, because ultimately that is what I want) and that it is a genlock (something that I have little use for at present). I find genlocking the Firecracker signal behind the Amiga screen(s) to produce a very cluttered image. Although you can, through CLI, turn the Amiga signal off and view only the Firecracker signal, I found that to be clumsy. So, since I have 2 Amigas sitting next to each other, I went with the 2 monitor mode of using the Firecracker – sending the Firecracker signal to another monitor rather than genlocking it. I am *very* content with the results. My ultimate goal is also to do single frame animations with the Firecracker, [ MORE ]

[ continuation ] and I think it is a good solution – although you will need to buy a frame edit controller to go with the Firecracker. (I don't expect to get that far for a while.) Certainly the 1024 by 484 24 bit images I am creating with Imagine are beyond anything I expected. In addition, when I do get to my goal and begin to record single frame animations, I will have the genlock capabilities there as well. In short, the Firecracker is a great product, but you have to be careful to understand what it is. I hope this was clear. If you have any question, just ask and I'll try to answer. -Brian