Graphics - General


The Amiga is a long way ahead when it comes to graphics.  There is nothing
on the PC to allow you to do animation for below £100, in fact I have never
come across a piece of software to do animation at all on the PC, whatever
the price (being unfortunate enough to own one myself)

There is a program called Autodesk on the PC which allows you to do
rendering, but the slight disadvantage is that it costs £2500!  You can
get a version of Imagine on the PC, but it does not have the features or
capabilities of the Amiga version.  Lightwave, on the other hand,
costs £300 and has been used to create films such as the new
"Star Trek" film and many shows such as "Babylon 5" and "Seaquest DSV."
It is used extensively by American TV networks and also by "Meridian
Television" (the South East of England's local TV station) to create
graphics.

Deluxe Paint 5 is the perfect system for artists of all levels of ability,
which allows you to animate, create easy perspective images and has effects
such as light table and rub through.  Not to mention programs such as
Photogenics, Brilliance 2,  Art Department Professional.

Image processors on the PC however is just a no-go area.  I have never seen
one and if anyone ever has please send me some details such as price and
functions so that I can include this in a future version.

The Amiga has the advantage of being able to be plugged straight into a
television or video recorder.  This is very useful for recording animations,
 titling videos or genlocking.  To plug a PC into a TV is very expensive
and the quality is not all that good.

All of the above can be done without having to improve your hardware or buy
a graphics card at all.  However, it is possible to buy 64-bit graphics
cards or the amazing "Video Toaster" which is used extensively by
television comapanies and professional graphics companies.

Screen resolutions on the Amiga without extra cards can be as high as 30,000
x 30,000 using Lightwave, and 1,024 x 1,024 in Workbench.  Using a video
card Workbench can be in a screen mode of up to about 4000 x 4000.

The highest screen resolution on the PC is Super VGA, 800 x 600, or you can
change this to be higher in one direction but lower in the other.  However,
SVGA is so memory-guzzling that it is hardly worth using in games,
although Windows uses it which is one of the factors that makes it
even slower.

See also:
  Graphics Software  

Converted on 22 Aug 1996 with RexxDoesAmigaGuide2HTML by Michael Ranner.