Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!mdavcr!ewm
From: ewm@mdavcr.UUCP (Eric W. Mitchell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Amiga Video Toaster for the MAC
Message-ID: <1195@mdavcr.UUCP>
Date: 24 Apr 91 20:23:39 GMT
References: <1991Apr20.021658.22070@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <5967@pbhyb.PacBell.COM> <1991Apr23.031929.16324@cs.dal.ca>
Organization: MacDonald Dettwiler, 13800 Commerce Parkway, Richmond, BC, Canada  V6V 2J3
Lines: 57

In article <1991Apr23.031929.16324@cs.dal.ca> graham@ug.cs.dal.ca (Michael Graham) writes:
>In article <5967@pbhyb.PacBell.COM> rkmossm@PacBell.COM (Richard Mossman) writes:
>>
>>What I would really like to see is someone come out with a direct connect 
>>Mac device that does Toaster-level stuff with a built in NTSC conversion
>>for $2,000.  That would make my beloved Mac into a consumer level video 
>>machine for a reasonable price.  Reasonable, albeit not Cheap.
>
> Luckily I'm a Mac owner. An Amiga owner would laugh his head off at this
>idea. Do you have any idea of what the toaster can do? If not try and catch
>Tod Rundgren's latest video. It *easily* rivals what I have seen from Pixar
>and SGI. It could easily do the Lifesaver ad.
> I don't have all the specs on this product, but similar Mac boards look like
>a JOKE when compared with the toaster.
> Remember - I'm a Mac owner, not an Amiga fanatic.
>
>mike
>-- 


I think you may have the facts a little messed up here.  The Video Toaster 
is a video production device, not a renderer.  It is designed to give you 
near commercial quality transition effects and some limited graphics (titling,
etc).

Transition effects include:

	- fade from one video signal to another
	- video signal in flying window
	- slide image in from the side.
	- chroma keying of one signal over another
	- etc.

Basically, the device allows you to combine video signals in a neat way, to
create some of the snazzy scene transitions they have in commerical
newscasts and shows like "Entertainment Tonight".

In the version of the toaster I have seen (which was demonstrated to our
company), there were no significant rendering functions.  This means
you cannot create anything even resembling the "lifesaver commercial" with
the toaster - it is intended for an entirely different purpose.

The toaster could be used to take existing video of the lifesavers and
combine segments in interesting ways, but could not produce the graphics
themselves.  To compare it to Pixar or SGI products is like comparing
Apples and screwdrivers.


Eric
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