#Amiga/Video production
7 messages in this thread
Hi Steve….I have read with great interest many of your discussions
regarding the Amiga and Video. I had the opportunity today to check out the
Toaster in operation! Whew! Very impressive! I am in the process of setting
up a Post-production system and will be using the 2000/Toaster
configuration with the A30 board. I would also like to use SONY 9800's (2)
and a SONY 9850 for the A/B editing S SP system. From what I can tell the
Amiga will easily handle all of my CG needs in addition to switching. My
question is regarding an A/B editor. I am looking into the RGB COMPUTER
brand AmiLink/VT…are you familiar with it? Will this system perform all
my A/B editing needs? Therefore making the AMIGA the one single production
piece (excluding the VTR's, Cygnus TBC's and other peripherals), if so, I
am ecstatic! Maybe someone here is using the current configuration or
similar? I am ready to drop $50,000+ and I want to make sure I am not
forgetting anything. Also, it was recommended by my local dealer, to pickup
DPIII, Broadcast Titler II, Broadcast Art Department Pro w/conversion. What
about Sherrif Systems ProVideo Post? Anything else you can think of would
grant you a crown in heaven!! <grin> Thanks alot!!
kk
I'm not really familiar with A/B editors, so can't help you there. As for
software, there is such a huge amount out there to choose from! I haven't
had a chance to play with it by myself yet, but I've seen a very impressive
demo of a titling package called Scala you might want to look into.
Otherwise, lets open this out to suggestions from the peanut gallery…
<grin>
–>Steve Bennett
Ok sounds good to me….I've dropped a line over in BPFORUM as well… Come
on people….someone must be Hot N' Heavy into this as well… I'z be a
waitin'………….
kk
Kip,
The Amilink is the only Editor I know of for the Amiga. I doubt *although
I dont know for sure* if you would have very much success trying to
multitask a toaster and an editor on the same machine. I know for a fact
that ProVideo Post will not multitask so forget that one if you want an all
in one workstation. If you are thinking about a toaster, that will pretty
much take care of your titling and paint needs.
The problem I have with the Amilink System is that it requires a V-Lan
module for each machine *at about $2500 a pop* so unless you're dead set on
using the Amiga as the edit controller, you can probably do better buying a
dedicated A/B editor and using the Amiga for Switcher, CG and Paint.
I use a Convergence editor. I also have a CMX Edge for sale CHEAP! It has
a weird user interface (all soft keys) but its a good working three machine
edit controller, if you have the right machines for it. I have Sony 5850's
and they require too much modification or I'd definately use it instead of
the Convergence.
Mark C.
Hmmm….they claim it will do it….setup the Edit and the back to the
ToaToaster screen….are you saying that it does not do that…that it does
not work at all…or more specifically that you need a V-LAN? RGB told me
the setup would cost $5995 + $250 for software for an A/B system. I will
probably be going to RGB in a few weeks, so I will check it out 100%.
How much do you want for the CMX EDGE? I will be using 9800/950 setup.
Kip,
I have no personal experience with this proposed set-up, only speculation.
If they say it works, I'm sure it does. I still feel *personally* however,
that unless there is a way to initiate a preview without going to the
Amilink screen, toggling screens for every preview, trim, perform etc.
would be tedious. I use my amiga for list management as well as titles and
graphics and I'm always forgeting to toggle my screen, inserting a
beautiful image of my edit list where my graphic was supposed to go. But
I'm pretty spaced sometimes!
My opinions are based on the pace I have come to expect from an online
editing situation, I realize that may not be a problem for everybody. Also,
don't get me wrong, I think it's great that Amilink exits. I just think if
I was interested in going that route I might consider writing an extra
computer into the budget (a 500? does it need slots?)
I'll sell my Edge for $1000, it will control your 950, I don't know about
the 9800. It has 2 BVU800 parallel interfaces and 1 BVH1100. The 950 will
run on an 800 card, I don't know what parallel connector (if any) 9800's
have. You're machines do all have an address track, I believe, so that
takes care of one of the problems I have.
I'll be interested in hearing what you learn from RGB.
Mark C.
I would also recommend a program called Animagic.
Although the main selling point of the program is obviously the great
special effects it can generate, I use ANIMagic at least half the time
simply for its capabilities to alter the timing and palette of individual
frames of an anim. Formerly, I would write a script using a presentation
program (such as The Director), to load individual IFF files, set display
timing for each frame, do a dissolve or wipe to the next frame, etc.
Pretty much by accident I hit upon the trick of saving the frames all
together as an anim in DPaint, loading the anim into ANIMagic, and
adjusting the timing of individual frames. It's a much easier and more
interactive process than using a script.
But the really good news about using ANIMagic for presentation control is
that the palette spread feature can be used to fade screens to black, to
smoothly fade an object in or out while an animation is running, to flash a
"highlite" briefly on an object, etc. It's extraordinary how that single
feature of palette spread has made such a huge difference in the look of my
animations. The only other method I've heard of for doing this is using a
rather difficult sounding method using HAM , but HAM, of course can't be
Hi-Res.
As far as transitions between scenes, or course, ANIMagic excels. You'll
never be bored or dissatisfied with an effect — each one is almost
infinitely customizable! The disadvantage is that, unlike Pro Video Post,
the special effects calculations take quite a while to complete; you're
better off setting everything up, checking the first few frames to make
sure they're OK, and then knocking off for the day. There is a 68020
version of the program.
Party, Roger