Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

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I READER OFFER Pprona dint 53 th an o p ay arou Personal Paint 4 on our coverdisk, why not upgrade to the latest version? Available for only E39.95 on disk or even better value CD-ROM, Personal Paint v6.3 is a powerful and intuitive paint, image processing, animation and 24-bit printing package. Features of Personal Paint 6.3 Include • Animation (featuring storyboarding, superior compression, multiple palettes. frame-by-frame timing. ANIM-57/8 and hybrid formats, etc.) • • New, faster image processing effects, including transparency, alpha channel and single-image stereograms (both SIRDS and custom pattern stereograms, as in 'Magic Eye') • Sophisticated 'behind the scenes memory management, including virtual memory (swaps inactive image data to Fast RAM and disk storage) and multiple levels of undo and redo • First paint program worldwide to support the new PNG (Portable Network Graphics) fi le format. Includes an ARexx script to convert GIFs to PNG. • Support of Retargettable Graphics (display cards like the Picasso. Retina. Piccolo, Rainbow. EGS, Talon, Cybergraphics etc.) M • Animation on RTG display cards (with or without double-buttering) • Direct. high-quality 24-bit printing (Colour and Black & White) and interface to third-party software such as Studio Print Server 71 rill • Professional and fast modes for converting 24-bit pictures OFF, PNG. PCX, PBM etc.) to 256 colours or less • HAM, HAM8 and Picasso 24-bit viewer active during colour reduction • External input/output modules (loaders and savers) for easy extensions and upgrades. Modules for IFF, PNG, PCX, PBM, Amiga DataTypes and several others are included. A GIF module is available from public domain sources. • Support and editing of IFF, PNG and GIF project annotations (Author. Copyright and Comment fields, plus Amiga filenotes) • Autoscroll painting • Workbench application icon (drag and drop) • Basic set of ARexa commands for presentations, format conversions and printing • ASL-compatible tile requester • More power through machine language code: the software is. in part, up to 500 per cent faster • New Look' user interface • A collection of utilities. Including colour fonts. new DeskJet printer dnvers (up to four in ks) a n Amiga Computing d OCTOBER 1995 J p ( 4 int 6.3 ) gallery of pictures 1 and animations, stereograms and 1 stereo animations. fonts 1 k• Personal Fonts Maker 1 (for 1 Amiga and Printer Fonts) + dozens . of printer downloadable fonts • Personal 0 Fonts Maker 2 1 P (professional version for colour e fonts) -i- dozens of professional colour r fonts • Personal s Write 4 + Electronic versions o of famous books n a This offer l is only mkt for three months, so order now while stocks last. Send your completed s order form to: Personal Paint 6.3 Offer, IDG Media, Media House, ✓- Adlington Park. ... Macclesfield _ ... SKID _ 4NP, - ..., _., _ _ _ D o - n R a D i lI Personal P Paint 6.3 at the bargain price of £39.95 I P M I l (including a VAT and p&p) — saving E10 off RRP ▪ : e Li Personal Suite CD-Rom at the bargain price of 09.95 I (including VAT and p&p) — saving PO off RAP i1 Personal Paint 6,3 order form a I s1 Deliver to: e I Ir ▪ Address u N I as t mh I e Postcode D a y ( m I wish to pay by: t i m e phone I IMe r : I Cheque/postal order payable to IDG Media ( IM Er l Is C I/ r CM eL as dL r/ T i d eM t ci Please allow 28 days for delivery while stocks last I I I [ - - - 111.. M ill . = . = I = = I I I M E EM I = I I - i _I 1 ••I I
I 1 nothingMP is m ge perceived a nrough dv jerky anim neformat But as the uCD32 has rallyo r e e il video is well t hwithin a n the reach of h the a Amiga, a offering a a cost, storage and transfer s timeeffective means g of delivenng digital video .! already al or about proven, composite full-screen quatity. real-time digital ( I Not ) surprisingly, or the majority Scala of haven't Amiga wasted users [ any time in recognising Mpeg's potential for presentation. As a result, the f tuned the Amiga's only dedicated Mpeg t Bo encoding and decoding card for direct S application within Into Channel. MM300 c and their latest creahon MM400. a Although originally known as the Peggy n card, the same hardware has now been d reincarnated as the MD100, complete with i Wish packaging and a degree of ease of n use within both the controls and utilities a that have made Scala a multimedia giant. v The main reason for incorporating hard- i ware directly into a primarily software- a based system iS, of course, to minimise the n demand for even more hardware. At pre- m sent the expense and hassle involved in u incorporating traditional video into multime- l dia productions simply doesn't make it an t option for most multimedia productions. 1In i PROVISIONS m the past, Scala offered provision for e incorporating traditional video and even d laser disks into presentations via their EX i standard. However, both methods had a their limitation_ Laser disks offer little in the m e n h a v e f i n e way of interaction as well as being very difficult to master. Traditional tape offers many of the same problems plus the evils of hardware maintenance, slow interaction and, of course, degradation of the tape. With the arrival of the MD100, Scala finally has lull frame or partial digital video that will never degrade. unlimited video clips with no tape swapping, hardware that is unlikely to need any maintenance, and it's all in one box. Once the hardware is firmly entrenched in the Amiga's video slot and the appropriate cable linked either to a composite video, S-VHS, or RGB outputs, plus an Mpeg audio out on the rear of the board, you effectively have a traditional genlocked video single directly beneath the Scala presentation. Unfortunately as it stands, Mpeg audio is only available via pre-recorded Mpeg movies, primarily from CD - CDs being supported directly in the control software_ As a result, direct encoding Mpeg Dol the uedit5 Needless to say, MD100 is a product dedicated to serious multimedia producbon. and if you're looking for the ultimate in Scala impact it's arguably the ultimate addition. Full frame genlocked 24-bit video at 25 fps. amidst all the other goodies that Scala can throw into the action -it has to be tempting for animators and multimedia types alike. .00 s t t n i c . 1011• 1:16 1:111041.10111r IPIIE IL W I • • • I 110.114 Sclaii411 MIS you need to S00111010 usumersomaasoposion...- toast 11111111111 i t 1g g10101•0 i . riiriatot oar ..,- el000matos ......_ 7 aiiro genteel atta Sten IV elle-t - 00411 -mo. -0 I tit. 0- customise your creations . I e lm v i r a l ; - ii 'le i* , H is it iii. irt./ 81k I 01 ; $ 0 - . 411 - Full screen m or in a window, a Alpeg 111i _do' Ex: it-iiPra Damodar Coatra_Jur l o s t import n has all the ioptions, if perhaps a Ottre m siow to a implement g o s o l a t AI IP 0 r%Itit I. I Flier s e • o Itin. iittleS0 at (mid? l Loot)? ••••,• a 1111 •At b Skan stalta W W I I ? t 110( -OK t : 4 1 nue i • 11 n the 0 1 de5ht 1 intil 1 • $ ! latr 1 0 1 e , 0 . • 1 4 • • ; . . ? . o a a - p d t Paul Ilu5tin etiolore5 todeo , , . . on demand - 5(als 5tyle . . . 1 l i graphic animations. Atter selecting an existing Mpeg or creating your own, its addition to the production simply means clicking on the newly acquired Mpeg box in Scala's main layout. s A quick click reveals the Mpeg decoder a controller, and it's from here you can con- n trol the Mpeg action. The first step is to o select the file, at which point you're m provided with an impressive array of a customising options. t As you can see from the screen grab p you can play and pause, add a definable or a video is a the only option, although audio accompaniment t is still available thanks to Scata's asample and mod playing abilities The tability to connect up to such a wide variety sof display media is a real bonus, and should ; provide enough scope for pretty _much any production. Obviously, quality _ Mpeg streams doesn't exactly grow _ on trees. As a result, after initial set-up, . encoding an Mpeg animation is likely to be . the first step. Assuming you've installed the Mpeg EX software in the Scala start-up drawer, a quick trip to the system menu will reveal the encoding side of MDI00. From here you simply select a sequence of frames to AN the usual Scala goodies plus hill frame digital video, impressive by any standard, and only 1.1 bib to store the entire 300 frame animation infinite loop, apply definable slow-motion, and even make the Mpeg wail when you hit the appropriate point in the production. Tape deck transport controls allow instant scans of the Mpeg stream and once you're happy, a simple OK adds the Mpeg and play settings to the production. During testing I had at least five separate Mpegs, combined with mods. samples, wipes and all the other Sonia classics with no appreciable drop in overall performance. import and where to save the new Mpeg Zorro video file, adjust the resolution and setting as required, and click on encode. Now it's time to make lots of coffee. slot Although the end results are impressive, it must be said that encoding is a slow process. The example 300 frame anim listed took roughly an hour and a half to encode from full video-res frames. Originally exported from a PAR card, they were then scaled and converted into the Mpeg format and resolution. Slow import and the lack of real-time capture is perhaps the only chink in MM100's armour. Unless you're lucky enough to have either a PAR card or a VLab Motion, your Mpeg productions are likely to be limited to traditional computer Amiga Computing - GRAPHICS All the options Ease of use a Implementation 8 Value for money 8 Overall 8 R ACg RED sysTEm Esse ntia l BLAC rss[nTiRtsl_ K R e comme nde d The bottom line Product: MD100 Mpeg encode/decode Supplier.' Scala UK Ltd Price: £599 Tel: 01920 444294
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