Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!icecave!e._john_love From: e._john_love@icecave.wimsey.bc.ca (E. John Love) Message-ID: Organization: Animatrix Newsgroups: comp.graphics.visualization Subject: Re: Video Recording Date: 17 May 91 17:14:09 PDT I assume you're interested in low-end options as well as higher-end ones, so here goes... I'm using Amiga 1000 and 2000 computers to create 2D and 3D images and animations for educational television programs for our provincial educational TV channel. Most of our images work at the level of 'diagrams' and as such do not reallt need that many colours - 32 is usually enough. For any Amiga system there are a number of low-cost genlocks and encoders available to translate the computer's RGB signal to a composite NTSC video signal. At the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, here in Vancouver, we currently are using the 'SuperGen' genlock which is good quality, but might not be the best alternative if you want true broadcast quality. The best quality genlock I know of for the Amiga is called the 'Magni' by Magni Ltd. They are producers of broadcast quality equipment for the professional video industry, and as such have a good rep. We have used the Magni genlock in a professional video setting, recording the Magni's output directly to 1 inch tape, and the quality is most likely the best possible! I would highly reccomend this genlock - the model we used had an S-VHS output as well as a composite output. For higher quality images, I use the DCTV unit from Digital Creations. (They are also makers of the SuperGen genlock.) DCTV allows me to display 24 bit graphics on any NTSC monitor using the DCTV's composite output signal. It comes bundled with paint, digitizing, and conversion software. I use it to compile 3D animations created with the Imagine! software. (Once all the 24 bit frames are converted to DCTV's own compressed video format, the Amiga thinks they are actually hi-res picture files, so you can load them into Deluxe Paint III and compile them into a RAM animation quite easily!) I haven't had a chance to compare the quality of the output from the DCTV to that of something like NewTek's Video Toaster, but I've seen others call the Toaster's output quality 'excellent', with the DCTV's output being 'good'. Hope this info is useful to you! Cheers!! "Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Television..." ------------------------------------------------------- E. John Love The Ice-Cave BBS Vancouver BC Canada (604) 873-8452 e._john_love@icecave.wimsey.bc.ca