Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!fernwood!oracle!news From: jlange@oracle.com (Jim Lange) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: NewTek questions Message-ID: Date: 4 Oct 90 02:09:39 GMT References: <1990Sep24.215257.1019@lavaca.uh.edu> <2154@enea.se> Sender: news@oracle.com Organization: Oracle Corp., Belmont CA Lines: 62 In article <2154@enea.se> tope@enea.se (Tommy Petersson) writes: > I've tried a lot of times, mostly by mail and fax. They seem to > be totally dead. Maybe that explains why the Toaster isn't out? > > Tommy P. They are definitely not dead. I just returned from the FAUG (First Amiga User's Group) meeting where the Toaster was "unveiled" and all I can say is: Amazing! I was at the original preview at FAUG two years ago and they have added so much more than originally planned. Tim Jennison claimed that the Toaster has been shipping since 9/21, but since there is such a long waiting list, it may be a while until you see one at your local dealer. Despite the fact that you need professional quality equipment to fully utilize the Toaster (TBC, genlockable cameras, single frame recorders, etc. Not to mention an accelerated Amiga with 4+ megabytes) it is still remarkable what they are including in terms of software. Allen Hastings illustrated this with a 3D still frame at the end of the Lightwave 3D demo that said (in effect) "Lightwave 3D - only $1595 (includes Video Toaster)". When you consider that current high quality genlocks and frame buffers for the Amiga sell for $1000 - $1500 (e.g. Supergen 2000S, Magni, firecracker 24) and with the Toaster you get a genlock with chroma key plus DUAL 24-bit frame buffers, $1595 is a BARGAIN. plus they "throw in" a DVE that can manipulate any combination of four video inputs and the two frame buffers, Toaster Paint (24 bit paint), Chroma FX for programmable color effects, a 35 ns resolution titler with 16.7 million color colorfonts, AND the slickest and fastest 24-bit 3D animation system I have seen (on a micro, that is)! There were 600-1000 people in attendence (my estimate), many of whom were video professionals who were floored by how much better each individual 'module' was than current dedicated products on the market. They used three projection monitors for the demo: One for the Toaster control panels, one for Toaster "live" output, and one for the "preview" channel (i.e. the one that the next transition will switch to). The preview channel is also used with the paint, chromaFX, titler, and 3D system for the "toasterized" (24 bit) output of what appears on the normal amiga monitor (which is shown as a greyscale image, or HAM in the case of the paint package), prior to being rendered or DVE'd to the live output (so basically, you need three monitors to use it) They even gave one away as a door prize! (I had a winning number, but unfortunately, my prize was $20.00 worth of public domain software--darn.) I hope this product takes the Video world by storm and entrenches the Amiga in this niche market for good. Newtek emphatically stated that there will NEVER be a Mac or IBM version of the Toaster, ever. I'm sure there are other netters in attendence who can give their two cents worth perhaps provide relevant industry perspective (I'm not a video professional, so please don't deluge me with technical questions). Suffice it to say that I was impressed. Jim Lange Oracle Corporation