#PAR SW Upgrade!
19 messages in this thread
Hey there Personal Animation Recorder Users –
I talked to DPS about a week ago to ask about upgraded software for the
PAR and they sent me version 1.43. New features from 1.00 include
renaming projects, dual drive support, copying and moving files between
projects, monochrome playback, film speed (24 cps) playback, SMPTE
support, more ARexx commands and other stuff.
I had to call them and ask them to send me this – I don't know when (or
if) they intend on sending out a software upgrade. If you want this
stuff, give DPS a call
Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver (an ex-Blue Bomber fan)
Rick,
Glad to hear there is a newer version of the software, my friend who has a
PAR board will be glad to hear. Just thought I'd let you know that this is
the same guy who had difficulty playing back but found that his Seagate
drive was at fault, after replacing it is now running flawless.
I have heard that you can now digitize in full-quality with the new
Seagate, is this true?
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
(Any render time >0 needs acceleration.)
Tony,
> …you can now digitize in full-quality with the new Seagate…
I hadn't heard this – looks like I'll have to give DPS another call and
find out if there isn't some other things going on that they haven't told
me.
Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver
From what I have read read time frame grabbing is possible only if you have a
DPS TBC as well as the PAR.
BTW – how does the SMPTE support work? As far as I know the PAR board itself
doesnt have any timecode input/output. Also what have your experiences been
with the PAR? DPS claims broadcast quality, but I have heard rumors of some
strange artifacting on playback. Anything you can tell me about the PAR would
be great as I have been considering buying one.
TIA
Richard-BlissTechs
Richard,
Real time frame grabbing – Yes you can do real time frame grabbing with
the PAR but you need the DPS Personal TBC IV to do it. You can input from
composite or Y/C. I haven't really done any exhaustive tests but from
what I've done (and heard) the quality of playback is very good, but you
can notice artifacting on still frames. I use it for rotoscoping frames
into Lightwave for sequence image maps – for my purposes it's fantastic.
SMPTE support – From what I can gather from the README… I believe you
need a SunRize audio board and Studio 16. On the PAR it really just works
like a trigger. You specify at what frame you want your animation to
start playing and when the audio board reaches that frame, the PAR starts
playing. That's the way I figure it, anyway, you may want to talk to DSP
about this.
"Broadcast Quality" – I put that in quotes because people's
interpretations of "Broadcast Quality" go from D1 to VHS. All I can say
is the quality I get from animations is fantastic – rarely have I seen any
artifacting. And since you can go out to Betacam as well as Y/C and
composite you should have no problem going to a tape format that is
broadcast quality.
My experience with the PAR – as you may be able to tell – has been very
positive. I can't imaging doing animation without it. If you have any
more questions, feel free to ask.
Rick – On Autopilot from Rainy Vancouver
I bought a PAR back in August. Basically the thing is awsome! The output
quality has been flawless for my applications (Lightwave 3D and morphing with
Morph Plus-Y/C output). If you are considering doing any kind of animation (5
minutes or less in length – due to the size of Seagates SCSI drive) this is a
must have product. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!
Adib
I spoke with DPS today. They will be adding support for 2 drives and
larger ones… Like 1.7 Gigs! I forgot to ask what the running time was on
those drives though. They've also started a BBS for software updates &
news. Unfortunately, all the specifics are in my notebook at the store
now. I can post it tomorrow if you want to see it.
-Jim
Pleeeeease can you pass on the DPS PAR BBS info???
I'm very close to getting one. Have the ACTUALLY set the thing up so it can
use SCSI drives instead of IDE? (he asked hopefully… 🙂 )
Regards,
Luke (Pat) Montgomery "REAL" E-mail: compvid@tyrell.net
CompVid Computer Video Graphics Services CompuServe: 70274,2177
Greater Kansas City Voice: (913) 780-0222
—————————————————————————–
There's no place like home… There's no place like home… There's no…
Well, since you asked so nicely…. 🙂
The BBS number is 416-754-8368. I think the other guy mis-typed. It's
still IDE as far as the drive goes. That's really not so bad in a
dedicated application like this. The new drives are the Micropolis 2205A,
2210A, and 2217A at .5, 1.0, and 1.7 gig respectively. Those will need the
latest software to be released in the next few days. I've only seen the
PAR once, and that was enough to make we want one.
Jim @ BetterMousetrap Computers
It is a good thing they have included support for higher capacity drives,
because when the Screamer is let loose the 540 Meg Seagate is just not going to
cut it.
Adib
Thanks for the DPS info, Jim…
Am I bad. Jim was correct. they only support IDE drives. I don't know what I
was thinking.
Adib
Ooops…… :->
I saw a demo of some PAR stuff last weekend and was VERY impressed.
Most was done with Imagine and looked Great, Can't wait for them textures
in LW!!
I want one BAD.
I want to do Roto-scoping and video SFX, how are the frame capture
capabilities coming along? If I thought I could do Lossless archiving
I'd get one now.
….John
To be able to do the Roto-Scoping you will need to also have DPS's TBC IV. I
am not sure how good of a job it does in this regard as I specifically use the
PAR for lightwave animations and morphing.
I have the Seagate 540Meg drive (which was the only drive they supported when I
bought the system) and the recording and playback are breathtaking. The
interface is extremely user-friendly and has some powerful features. If you
are going to do special effects such as warping, morphing ..etc. I think that
you will find the PAR irresistable.
You will be able to do morphs and warps that will exceed the quality of some of
the morphing you see on TV. Thats just how it is when you are recording in a
digital format and playing back from an practically noisless source.
It is my understanding that the PAR has a built in compression system which is
how it can store such an enourmous amount of data and play back at 30FPS. I
have yet to see any perceptible loss from this compression/decompression
routine that the PAR goes through every time it loads and runs an animation.
My Lightwave animations look crystal clear, and the morphs look outstanding.
If you have the money, get one.
Adib
I also have a PAR card and the TBC IV card. What is the latest version of
PAR software?
James,
I asked for a software update from DPS a few weeks ago and got 1.43.
Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver
Thanks, I'll give them a call.
Do you think you could upload it to me?
Is this allowed?
I don't think I can upload it for you – this is copyrighted software. Not
that anyone can use it if they don't have a PAR. Give DPS a call – they
shipped me a new disk right away and you'll get the newest version.
Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver