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*---== AM-REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Online Magazine of Choice!" from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" July 03, 1992 Volume 2.06 ========================================================================= > 07/03/92: AM-Report #2.06 The Online Magazine of Choice! -Progressive Fire -Jay Miner illness -Baud Bandit 2.0 -Dir Opus -DiskMaster II v2.03 -* Amiga 4000 & Classic *- -* Opal Vision *- -* Arizona State's Amiga Lab *- -* Much, Much More *- TODAY'S NEWS ..TODAY! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > AMReport's Staff The regulars and this week's contributors! ================ Publisher - Editor ------------------ Ralph F. Mariano PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION ----------- -------------- ------------ Robert Retelle Charles Hill R. ALBRITTON Contributing Correspondents --------------------------- Mike Todd (CIX) Jim Shaffer, Jr. (UseNet) 70117,634 on CompuServe amix.commodore.com!vanth!jms Andrew Farrell Australian Commodore and Amiga Review & Professional Amiga User Magazine Mike Ehlert, SysOp: PACIFIC COAST MICRO BBS -- FidoNet 1:102/1001 IMPORTANT NOTICE ================ Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: Compuserve.................... 76370,3045 Internet/Usenet............... 76370.3045@compuserve.com **************************************************************************** EDITORIAL ~~~~~~~~~ Okay, I know I said that there wouldn't be another AM-Report until I got the quarterly/yearly reports from Commodore, but here it is Friday and I've already got 47k of uncompressed text! I figure the CBM reports are going to be at least 25k, so I'm breaking it up into two issues. Besides, this issue is *HOT*. Besides having reports on the Amiga 4000 and Amiga "Classic" which look pretty darn authentic, there is a bunch of excellent stuff on new products and projects. [P.S. -- Referring to this as a *HOT* issue has nothing to do with PP&S burning down! :-] First, a few hot rumors. You think Lightwave and Toaster 2.0 are hot? Wait 'til 3.0 comes out. Right now, the Toaster and Lightwave is the next best thing to a Wavefront system. Word is, after 3.0 hits the street it will be the other way around -- a Wavefront will be the next best thing to a Toaster! (Can you say "spline patching" boys-n-girls?) When the movies "The Mallers" and "Tales of Regis" make the theaters, go see them. Many of the effects done in Universal's "The Mallers" are Amiga done (Toaster/Lightwave and Imagemaster). Most of the effects in "Tales of Regis" are Amiga generated. (Again, Lightwave and Imagemaster). I've finally seen Black Belt's Imagemaster and I have just one thing to say...WOW! CompuServe's front end for the Amiga, Whap! is being updated. The new program is called AutoPilot and currently it is in beta test. The author, Steve Ahlstrom, says it should be out in a couple of weeks and is significantly more powerful than Whap! Speaking of Whap!, I have been informed that Whap! and Backtalk do not work properly with the BSC MultiFace card's extra serial ports. I'm not sure when or if it will be fixed, or even what has to be fixed (Whap! and Backtalk or the MultiFace and it's software) but for right now, if you are a Whap! or BalkTalk user and plan on acquiring an MFC card, be certain that you can use the Amiga's main serial port for your communications and the MFC's for whatever else. Finally, after the next issue with CBM's figures, I don't know when another issue will be out. I have been contracted by a large company to do a custom database system. The project has a tight deadline (September 8) and a lot is riding on this contract. The company is a dedicated Mac shop and I convinced them to use an Amiga network instead of going with more Macs. This was no easy task. If I can show them that the Amiga is better suited for their work they plan on replacing their 20-node Mac network with Amiga 3000s. Successful completion of the contract will be the clincher, so....don't look for much from me until about October. Oh, yes, they are paying me in five figures for this system and supplying me with an 040-based A3000T and three A3000s to test the network on. So, with all due respect, AM-Report can sit and rot until I'm done [and paid!] ;-) ;-) ;-) Now, on with the show! ============================================================================ Amiga 4000 and Amiga "Classic" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1985 Commodore released the Amiga. It was a state of the art personal computer that wowed the industry. A couple of years later, CBM added the A500 and A2000 to the lineup. Essentially there was no technology change -- the A500 was a "C64ized" Amiga that was to be aimed at recapturing Commodore' glory days of the C64. The A2000 was a box version that allowed multiple expansion slots for addin peripherals, etc. Minor changes were made in the way of upgrading the custom chips. Nothing major was added until the release of the A3000, ECS and WB 2.04. The A3000 was a maor step forward for the Amiga [I'm not inviting any arguments] which addressed the "need for speed and power" by adding a Motorola 68030/6888x c[u to the motherboard to replace the aging MC68000. SCSI was added to the motherboard to address the need for mass storage that went along with the Amiga's found niche -- video. Still, no major overhaul was made to the custom chips. Oh, more chip memory was accessable, a deinterlacer was built in and a few new graphics resolutions were added. But nothing was put in to compete with the plethora of 24-bit, super-high resolution video boards cheaply available for the PC. Sound wasn't addressed at all, and with the introduction of the Soundblaster, ADLib and Soundblaster Pro cards for the PC, things were looking mighty dim. Still, Commodore has not been sitting on it's haunches [as many claim]. The A600 was recently introduced in Europe and it looks like it is positioned to be the next C64 -- if the price is right. A $199 introduction package in time for Christmas could blow away the computer wanna be's (Super NES, Sega) as well as the big guys who just opened their eyes such as Apple and IBM "there is no home computer market" Corp. Still, what to do about the high end. What can be released to compete with the Mac Quadras and '486 based machines that are becoming so popular? Answer: the Amiga 4000 and the Amiga Classic The following was posted to Usenet. Normally, rumors abound on Usenet and the "A4000" is a popular topic. What makes this message so interesting is that it isn't "I heard from a friend who has a friend" second-hand stuff. It was posted by an individual at a University (Ole Miss) who claims to be part of a beta-test site for Commodore. For now I'll let you read the message as I received it. My comments and analysis will follow. From: skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu Subject: Re: The Amiga is being left behind... Date: 16 Jun 92 19:00:07 GMT I've been chomping at the bit to speak out and right now I just don't care about the non-disclosure agreements. We have been beta-testing the A4000 and another model which may be called the A1000 Classic, A800, or possibly some other name. Both are based on the AA chipset and should be able to hold their own against other machines on the market, but there are still a few areas where they are lacking. The A4000 is pretty much an A3000 with an 040 on the motherboard, the AA chipset instead of the ECS, and beta 2.1 ROMS. Ours has 16M fast RAM and 4M chip, expandable to 64M and 16M respectively. ZIP RAM like that in the A3000 is used, but there is a chance that production machines will go to SIMMS. Our machine has a 105M Quantum hard drive and a true full- speed high-density floppy. The expansion slots are Zorro III and appear to be identical to those on the A3000. I am not positive, but the cpu slot looks to be the same as the one found on the A3000. The other machine is housed in pizza-box style case 3" high and 15" wide and deep. It has a 16MHz 030, the AA chipset, 2.1 ROMS, and sockets for up to 16M fast RAM and 4M chip RAM. It has the same floppy drive as the A4000, but the hard drive is only a 52M Quantum. There is a daughterboard with two Zorro III slots and one inline video slot, but it looks to be very cramped in there. The cpu slot is in the same orientation as that of the A3000 and A4000, but there is not much clearance. It is a very nice compact package and manages to look even "sexier" than the A3000/A4000. Both machines sport the same I/O ports, starting with the same ports found on the A3000. The floppy drive and serial ports are now stacked in the same way as the SCSI and parallel ports, as are the RGBA, VGA, and audio ports. There is a microphone port that works with the built- in digitizer, with 8bit 22kHz sampling possible. Not exactly CD quality, but better than the toy CODEC samplers found on the NeXT, Mac, and others. The keyboard and mouse ports are on the rear of the machine, with the joystick ports stacked vertically. This stacking leaves just enough room for a pair of MIDI ports and another port that was covered with a plastic cap on both of our units. We pried it off and it looks like a PCMIA slot, but we've not been able to confirm this. Given that the A600 has one, this would not be a bad idea, but it seems odd that it was covered up like that. The new mouse looks to be the same as the pregnant mouse, but the A4000 came with a three button and the other machine a two button. Both had standard A3000 keyboards. The most shocking thing about these machines is how much they feel like existing Amigas instead of a new breed. The AA chipset is a real improvement over the ECS, but it may not be enough to keep the Amiga competitive for another 7 years. Some of the chips are similar to those in the ECS, but none look to be drop-in replacements for existing machines. Agnus, Denise, and Paula have been improved and all three are now surface mount chips roughly the size of the fat Agnus. There are three other chips that have tape covering the names, but one of them is certainly an Amber type de- interlacer chip. It has what 1M of VRAM in order to handle the increased color depths and de-interlaces all but the highest resolution modes. We peeled back the tape a bit on the other two and one is named Lisa, the other was just a number. The Lisa chip appears to be responsible for the graphics, but its relationship with Agnus and Denise is not so clear. The other chip may be the rumored DSP chip, but none of the software we have mentions it specifically. There is an A/D chip for the microphone and two D/A chips for the audio in the same general area, so they are probably related. Amiga owners will be surprised at some of the features of the AA chipset and disappointed with others. The resolutions supported are similar to those of the ECS, with the addition of the 800x300, 800x600 interlaced, 1280x480, and 1280x960 interlaced. The Amber de- interlacer works with all of the modes, but most SVGA monitors can't handle the non-interlaced 1280x960 mode. All modes can be up to 8 bitplanes except for the 1280 modes, which are limited to six. The palette is 24 bit, but there is a way to simulate 12 bit for compatibility with some older software. A pleasant surprise is the SuperHAM mode which uses 10 bits to allow for pseudo-24 bit color. This works in the 320 and 640 modes and is nothing short of spectacular, with the bonus of being able to handle up to 30fps for some amazing animation. The 800 and 1280 modes have 8 bit 256k color and 6 bit 4096 color HAM modes, respectively. There is still a problem with fringing on raw images, but the better programs seem to do a pretty good job with reducing the problem. The sprites now change to match the resolution of the screen, so pointers look much more professional. They may be up to 64 pixels wide, with no height limitation. There are still only eight per scanline, but the number of colors is up to 16 in all modes except for 1280, which is only four. All in all, these Amigas have graphics that hold their own against offerings for the PC and Mac, but they won't be able to last for another seven years without improvement. We have not done much with the audio, but 16 bit four channel sound in up to 56kHz is available. A neat trick is that up to 8 8 bit channels at 56kHz and up to 16 8 bit 28kHz channels can be emulated. We don't have any software that takes advantage of these modes with the exception of the digitizer, but there is a lot of potential. The 2.1 OS is pretty much the same as what has been posted on the nets, but it really looks awesome on the new displays. We have found the 800x600 256 color Workbench to be very nice and snappy enough to be useable. The blitter may have been improved, but it does not feel like it is 4x faster as some like to claim. There are only a few programs that don't work on these machines, and all of those are pre- 2.04. If the developers have followed the guidelines set by Commodore, they should not have any problems. There will probably be more than a few folks who are pissed off by me letting the cat out of the bag, but it looks like something is needed to keep more people from joining the mass exodus. These machines are stable enough for production, but the higher-ups seem to have their heads up their asses and won't release them. I guess I really should not even bother trying to figure out Commodore's idiocy, but it is frustrating to see such potential wasted. [ I've added this paragraph below because somewhere along the line, Skip's crucial, final paragraph was dropped. --Ed Savage ] + In case anyone has not figured it out yet, this post reeks of being + a pipe-dream. But then again it may all be for real. It is left as + an exercise for the reader to determine the validity of this post. + Have fun. :-) ANALYSIS & COMMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For simplicities sake, I'm going to take this a paragraph at a time. 1) If this is true, the chances are good that Ole Miss won't ever be a beta test site for Commodore again. It is further possible that the current beta-test units will be removed and any/all developers involved could have their status revoked. The poster, almost certainly would have any developer status revoked and will most likely (at the very least) not be allowed any further access to the machines. If it is false, I'm not sure how it will be taken. If anyone from Ole Miss reads it he may get it trouble for associating the name of the University with an outright lie. 2) Sticking with Zorro III slots and the A3000 cpu slot makes a lot of sense. The Zorro III specification is a quite capable one and more than measures up to the competition (NuBus, EISA and MCA). It also retains a high degree of backward compatibility with A2000 and A3000 peripherals. A real plus. The AA chipset sounds like a 32-bit version of the ECS. If a true high density floppy has been added (not a slowed-down version like is currently available) then that means an upgraded chip -- most likely Denise. The poster mentions 2.1 beta ROMS, which is unusual but necessary. You would suspect that Commodore would use Kickfiles like it did for the A3000....but. the caches on the 68040 require that the OS be in ROM, not mapped into RAM. This is why Progressive and GVP stated that 2.04 ROMs were necessary for their 040 boards to run properly. 16Mb of chip RAM is a dream come true. The only thing better would be having all RAM addressable by the custom chips and actually I'm not convinced that it would be better at all. 3) The box mentioned for the "Classic" sounds a lot like what many in the industry are moving towards. Data General and Avion both have "pizza box" workstations and I think Sun has one, too. The two slots (with one inline video) means that expansion is at a minimum with the exception of external SCSI devices. No mention of a cpu slot is given, so this machine would most likely not be used for ray-tracing, etc. A 16 MHz 68030 is a great chip for things like word processing, small business spreadsheets, databases (small) and general business environment but for processor-intensive stuff like rendering, large database searches, etc. it doesn't cut it. (It would, however, make an excellent smart terminal.) 4) The ports make sense. Though I would have preferred multi-serial or possibly an Ethernet port as opposed to dual-MIDI connectors. PCMCIA would be great. This is what the computer world looks like it will be moving to and I'm glad Commodore recognizes that. The built-in microphone with sound sampler is also nice. This is in direct response to the Mac Quadra's. I know people are going to whine about the quality of 8-bit sound but let's get realistic, folks. Right now including 16-bit multi-channel audio would be prohibitively expensive. For most applications other than professional music, 8-bit audio is great. For "multimedia" where you need digitized sound and music segments such as point-of-sale, kiosks, and educational material a built-in microphone with 8-bit sound is fantastic. 5) No one should have expected drop-in replacements for ECS and a major jump in functionality. Some backward compatibility has to be sacrificed when advancing. Giving the Amber chip 1 Mb of it's own VRAM is interesting (makes it like a VGA card on a chip) but raises the question of who can address that mem? The 68040, custom chips or just Amber? Each has it's own problems. 6) The extended resolutions are great. 800x600 is the equivalent of extended VGA and if there is a palette of 16.7 million with color registers for 256 that is almost perfect for MS-DOS conversions. 1280x960 sounds like a souped up SuperHiRes and it surpasses SVGA (1024 x 768). It will, however, not be cheap on monitors. You need something that can handle 1280x1024 which means the higher end of multiscans (thousands of dollars). Still, it makes for an awesome CAD resolution and pretty darn good for motion pictures. The SuperHAM mode fits perfectly. A couple of months ago Commodore bought rights to Black Belt System's HAM-E device. This stuff makes *lots* of sense. The upgraded sprites is also good news. Matching the resolution of the current screen presents problems since the Amiga can display different resolutions on different parts of the screen. Makes for better looking pointers, though. 7) Audio that supports four 16-bit channels at 56 KHz is great. That comes damn close to professional quality sound. Now all you need is a digitizer to support it... 8) Speeding up the blitter is nice. The blitter is old and it needed a boost. Yes, it can draw pixels at a rate of over 1 million per second, but consider that most heavy-duty graphics boards (TIGA, etc.) can draw pixels at over 100 million per second. Ameristar is claiming a rate of 180 million per second with their new A3000 hires board. That is *fast*. Also consider that 1280x960=1,228,000 pixels not including overscan. That means that the blitter would take over 1 second to update a full screen! (@ .25 sec with the new blitter rumor). 9) The higher-ups are probably waiting for Commodore's end-of-year statements and the inventories to be taken. That is now, folks. Commodore closed it's doors for one week (July 1 to July 6, I think) for end-of-year inventory. This month should be real interesting. Don't look for the new machines until at least Christmas or possibly next year. Remember, something that complex has lots of places for bugs to hide. Quashing all the bugs *before* public release is necessary for Commodore to maintain a professional appearance. (Microsoft is the obvious exception. Monopolies must be fun.) The AA chipset is real and is also known as the "Pandora" chipset. From what I have been able to check out, some of the items mentioned in the post are correct. Specifically SuperHAM (most of it) and the use of Zorro III and the current A3000 fast cpu slot. Other than that, I can't get definite confirmations on much of anything. I'm working on it, though. I think the next biggie will be the A600 and Christmas. It could be a mega-hit if priced right (<$300) for a base unit. One final note. I can guarantee you that the name "Classic" will not be used by Commodore on any Amiga. Apple paid big bucks to another computer company (not Coca-Cola!) for the rights to that name. It is in heavy use and there is no way they will let Commodore use it. -Chas Editor AMR ============================================================================ THE ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY AMIGA LAB An update on the future... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the ASU Amiga computer lab was installed in December of 1990, we declared our dedication to develop four areas of emphasis around the Amiga: Instruction, Research, Information, and Development. It is our pleasure to inform you of the accomplishments we have reached in each of these areas over the past year and a half. EQUIPMENT --------- The lab consists of 13 Amiga 3000/25-50s, 5 Amiga 2500/30s, each with 50MB harddrives. All A3000s have 6MB RAM with 2MB Chip ram. Peripherals to the computers include: Video Toaster, DCTV, Sony LDP-2000 laserdisc player, Sony RGB video projector, CDTV, SoundMaster, VoRec One, laser printer, Syquest 88MB drive, A2286 BridgeBoard, Edmark TouchWindow touch screen, and other miscellaneous audio/video devices. INSTRUCTION ----------- Three semesters worth of classes have been offered specifically for the Amigas. AMIGA TECHNOLOGY; first in the Amiga series of classes, "AmiTech" has been offered twice. Teaches up to twenty undergraduate and graduate students the unique aspects of the Amiga platform and familiarizes them with the operating system and the various hardware and software options available. AMIGA ANIMATION; next in the series of classes, "AmiAnim" offers an in depth study of animation techniques using Deluxe Paint, Disney Animation Studio, and Imagine 3D modeling software. Many students enhance their products with digitized sound effects. Students are encouraged to enter their final projects into the AmigaWorld Animation Contest. INSTRUCTIONAL TELEVISION; not specifically in the line of Amiga classes, students had the option to use our NewTek Video Toaster to add special effects and titles to their video productions. With a new multicamera Hi8 video production system recently delivered, this class will be offered again in the future with more emphasis on Desktop Video. AMIGA PRESENTATION/AMIGA INSTRUCTION; two other classes which are in the planning stage. Students will use AmigaVision, Foundation, or other authoring systems to create multimedia presentations or instructional applications. Projects may be stand alone or incorporate laserdisc or videotape technology. Every Amiga class offered has immediately filled up during early registration. In fact, this Spring semester's Amiga Technology enrollment would have approached 100 students if all requested overrides were granted. Unfortunately, the number of Amigas in the lab limits the enrollment to 20 per class. RESEARCH -------- The first summer after the Amiga lab was installed, we offered a special program called AMIGAKIDS. A spin-off of ASU's successful Center for Academic Precocity (CAP), AmigaKids was a heuristic study of how children relate and interact with computers. With five video cameras placed throughout the lab, over 300 hours of valuable data were recorded. The AmigaKids program received national coverage on a cable channel program called Campus Directory which spotlighted the Amiga computers being used at ASU. Taking the AmigaKids program one step further, a grant was awarded to the Amiga lab from the State Department of Education's Migrant division. We are giving 20 Amiga 2000HD/P computers with software, modems, and printers to a selected group of disadvantaged children. They will use the Amigas for schoolwork, writing journals, and creating graphics with Deluxe Paint 4 which they will upload to an Amiga bulletin board system installed at ASU called The PRIDE Network. This project, will continue to expand and a network of students using Amigas will begin to use the BBS for the sharing of information and files. Other significant plans are under way as well, including an important partnership with the Phoenix Union High School District and their MetroTech vocational high school. INFORMATION ----------- We are constantly receiving requests for Amiga demonstrations and are happy to provide information about Amiga computers to educators who are not familiar with the Amiga as a creative tool. Many conventions held in the Phoenix area attract visitors from around the world. Here are some of the highlights that we have participated in: National Educators Computing Conference National Art Educators Association Microcomputers in Education Conference East Valley Personnel Management Association Tempe Union High School District PACE program Phoenix Union High School District FUSION project Computer Graphics and Animation Association Classes from Interactive Computer Graphics major Classes from Educational Media and Computers major many many more... DEVELOPMENT ----------- We are dedicated to the ideation, development, and production of instructional material for the Amiga. This includes everything from self-paced software tutorials to interactive laserdisc instruction on the water cycle. One of our overall goals is to develop the Electric Classroom where students can stay at home and insert a disk into their Amiga with a weeks worth of instructional material on it and follow through it at their own pace. This will be accomplished by combining the resources of instruction, research, information, and development at the Amiga lab. In addition to producing materials in-house, our diverse range of software and hardware facilities offers an ideal site to test new products from outside companies. We were a beta test site for the Commodore Amiga 3000UX UNIX platform and CDTV before they were released. We were involved in testing Impulse's Foundation authoring system. We were the first Amiga site to receive an Edmark TouchWindow touch screen with Amiga software drivers. We are hoping to work with Kurta to test software drivers for their drawing tablets. Hopefully by informing the public of the ASU Amiga lab's capability, we can encourage other hardware and software vendors to test their products in our university environment where many different people have the chance to use them. HERE'S TO THE FUTURE... ----------------------- A few short years ago, the ASU Amiga lab was a mere dream in the eyes of a few people. Today, the Amiga has surpassed all expectations and continues to grow. We will continue to press the limits of what is "current" to reach even greater aspirations. I am certain this report will require regular modification, and will be presented again for your information in the future. If you have questions or would like to contact us for any reason, please write or call: ATTN: Amiga Computer Lab Educational Media & Computers Arizona State University Tempe AZ 85287-0111 USA EMC department office: (602) 965-7192 AUTHOR: Brian C. Berg EMAIL: aubri@asuvm.inre.asu.edu ============================================================================ PROGRESIVE FIRE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following message was left by Steve Ahlstrom on CompuServe's AmigaUser forum: Progressive Peripherals and Software (PP&S) burned to the ground last night. Almost an entire block burned. It was in an old section of downtown Denver (5th and Kalamath). From a helicopter aerial view (shown on TV) there's nothing left of any of the businesses in that block -- just a part of the ediface and some steel structural supports are left -- everything else is ash. PP&S said that they have another office in town (I didn't now about it -- the 5th and Kalamath location is the main location/warehouse) and they hope to continue business operations. [Ed. -- I have confirmed the fact that PP&S burned but no one seems to agree on what it was that burned. The distributors I spoke with said that they are expecting a one to two week delay before PP&S gets back in gear.] ============================================================================ [The following couple of articles are reprints from *StarShip* News Network which also goes by the name Viewport. SNN is a production of the StarShip Amiga echo on GEnie. Check out the StarShip echo on GEnie for a complete copy of this and past SNN/Viewports. Next month's SNN will contain reviews on PP&S accelerators for the A500. This month's has one on the Zeus for the A2000. Check it out and tell them AM-Report sent you!] Reprinted by permission from the 5-MINUTE Weekend News Network, a *StarShip*(tm) Production on GEnie(R). _ Jay Miner Recovering / \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / - \ *StarShip* News Network / ___ \ (_/ \_) casual telephone interview this week with Jay Miner revealed that kidney problems continue to plague the father of our favorite computer, although his health is reportedly on the upswing. Jay sounded tired, but says he feels well enough to continue his full time job, and remarked that because kidney dialysis requires four hours every day, he hasn't had time recently to groom the hard drive controlling the popular BBS he runs from his home in northern California on an Amiga 2000. Jay doesn't travel much any more, but says he would like to go to the World of Commodore/Amiga show scheduled this fall in Pasadena, California. We hope he feels up to attending because the *StarShip* will be there and it's great to see his hearty smile. Hope you're feeling 100% soon, Jay. Hugs from the *StarShip* Crew! -*- BaudBandit V2.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now shipping, BaudBandit V2.0 jumped from v1.52 and now sports a cleaner Workbench 2.0 look. PP&S has expanded its ARexx support, added more protocols (Auto-Zmodem, Kermit, CIS-B Plus), added a remote function (ala Procomm on the PC), automatic file decompression to a predetermined directory, half-height interlaced screen (like on DiskMaster 2), and true IBM ANSI suport (8 colours, but 16 are mapped through quite well). Upgrade cost with original BaudBandit disk is only $15.00 (US). Not bad, eh? DiskMaster II V2.03 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exciting NEW features make this super-popular directory utility program even better! Besides upgrading printer support and replacing the long lost Print Dir command, DiskMaster II now offers new public screen host support, AutoKey commands, "Sort By" function and AutoModPlayer (for Tracker modules). Upgrade cost is $10 (US) from any version of DiskMaster II, $25 (US) from any version of DiskMaster prior to II. ____ Directory Opus Sale Ends June 30th! (_ _) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / _/ / (____)NOVAtronics' popular Directory Opus has been the Amiga's Number 1 selling directory utility. A special price of $49.95 ends on June 30, 1992. That is $10 off the normal retail price. Martin Murray, Presiden of INOVAtronics says, "I guarantee you will love this program." Included with the directory utility people have been talking about for months is an exhaustive manual and a great initial configuration. You can order on the INOVAtronics toll-free number, 800-875-8499. They honor Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Directory Opus was named one of the "Top Ten Toaster Accessories!" by BreadBox, the Video Toaster magazine. Remember to get the special price of $49.95, you need to place your order by June 30th. Tell them The *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Network News reminded you of the sale deadline. The features are so numerous I'm hard pressed to get them to fit here, but let's try. o Plays Anims o Shows Brushes o Plays Brus Anims o Launches CanDo Decks o Runs Executables o Displays Fonts o Displays Hex o Shows Icons o Plays 8SVX Sounds o Shows Pics o Plays raw Data Sounds o Plays SoundTracker Files o Memory Monitor o Configurable o AmigaDOS error code help o User configurable buttons o Help for all functions o Clean DOS 2.0 look & feel o Standard Dir Util Features: o copy, move rename, delete files o copy, format and install disks o archive files automatically o read and print text files o create new directories o make assigns, encrypt files and more o Special Features: o 100 configurable menus o Unlimited configurable buttons o Memory resident w/ hotkey access. Iconifyable o Complete directory tree o Complete directory history o Complete ARexx support o Support for all 2.0 screen modes o 1.3 or 2.0 compatible o TOO MUCH MORE TO LIST! This shopper will not be missing THIS sale! I've been meaning to pick this program up for months. -*- OpalVision: Centaur's 24-Bit Graphics & Video Solution ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _____ Seeing is Believing / _ ) from Centaur Development / / ) / / (_/ / (_____/palVision thrusts the Amiga back into first place as the most powerful video and graphics computer in the industry. OpalVision links the ultimate video painting software with cutting-edge, high quality hardware providing magnificent graphic and video capabilities. OpalVision's modular design lets you select only the features you need while providing expandability for the future. OpalVision MotherBoard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o The core of the OpalVision system, it is a true 24-bit frame buffer and display device with 16.8 million colors available for every pixel. o Uncompromised 24-bit higher-than-broadcast-quality, crystal-clear images which far surpass any composite video or HAM system. o Amiga graphics and animations can appear in front of or behind OpalVision images on a pixel-by-pixel basis. o Double buffered 24-bit and 15-bit animation can be performed in medium and low resolution modes while 8-bit double-buffered animation is available in all resolutions. o VLSI Microcode Graphics Co-processor enables resolution changes, stencil modes, a host of transition effects and smooth scrolling between screens. o "Palette-Mapped" design updates screen colors in real-time. Fade pictures in and out and change their palettes on the fly. o Available in an internal version which occupies the video slot of the Amiga 2000 and 3000 series computers. The external version connects to the RGB port of any Amiga, including the Amiga 500 and 600 series computers. o Equipped with 1.5 MB of display RAM. o Automatically self-configures for NTSC or PAL operation. Included Software ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OpalPaint: Unequalled 24-bit painting and image processing presentation program. See the following pages for complete description. OpalPresents: A comprehensive icon-driven presentation program offering complete control over OpalVision images, Amiga graphics and live video (when the Frame Grabber/Genlock is installed). Includes numerous built-in transitions and effects including wipes, fades and scrolling effects. Takes full advantage of OpalVision's double buffering and intelligent image preloading to minimize delays. Utilizes 24-bit image thumbnails in both editor and file requester. Trigger transitions by mouse button, timer or ARexx commands. Initiates CLI and ARexx scripts. Fully multitasking. OpalVision HotKey: Display OpalVision images any time by using key combinations. Show OpalVision and Amiga graphics simultaneously with single keystrokes to control two different OpalVision screens, priority masks, genlocking and other OpalVision features. Multitasks with all Amiga software to provide 24-bit backdrops for Amiga graphics. ARexx compatibility integrates all OpalVision features into Amiga environment. King of Karate: The world's first 24-bit personal computer game! An exciting karate competition which is lots of fun and an excellent demonstration of OpalVision's capabilities. OpalVision Enhancement Modules ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A complete range of enhancement modules will be available soon. Add framegrabbing and genlocking, de-interlacing, Digital Video Effects and input switching capabilities. OpalVision's modular design circumvents the usual problems with incompatibility and loss of signal integrity associated with the external components available from third parties and the "rat's nest" required to connect them. The expansion modules connect directly to the OpalVision MotherBoard without tying up Amiga slots. Adding all of the modules creates a complete 24-bit Amiga desktop video system. OpalVision Frame Grabber/Genlock Module: o A true 24-bit frame grabber, genlock, composite decoder (color splitter), composite encoder, 256-level linear keyer with alpha channel output and live video effects processor. o Broadcast-quality S-Video (S-VHS or HI-8) or composite input and output. o No external splitter required. Uses the Sony broadcast camera chipset for quality in excess of broadcast standards. o Instantly freeze and save multiple video frames or a sequence of frames as 24-bit images. No still frame or signal preparation required for image grabbing. o High-quality integration of 24-bit OpalVision and Amiga images with video. Define a 256-level transparency overlay (alpha channel) for OpalVision or Amiga images so live video can be displayed through transparent and semi-transparent portions of the image. o All features are software controlled for fading, source switching, keying, etc. o Uses external video or internal Amiga sync. o Installs directly on the OpalVision Mother Board. No external wiring or power supply required. OpalVision Scan-Rate Converter: o Display Amiga Graphics, OpalVision 24-bit images and live video as rock-solid, non-interlaced, flicker-free images on any multi-scan or multi-sync monitor. o Acts as an independent 24-bit frame buffer for two-screen multimedia applications. o Perfect for high-resolution applications such as desktop publishing and word processing, paint and ray tracing software, etc. o Requires and plugs into the OpalVision Mother Board. No external wiring or power supply needed. OpalVision Quad-Input Production Switcher o An external unit which plugs into the OpalVision Frame Grabber/Genlock for software controlled switching between two video sources. o Incorporates four video input signals each with its own color splitter. These four inputs can be assigned to A and B sources for switching in any combination. o Performs cuts, dissolves, wipes and all the transitions made possible by the OpalVision Roaster Chip between two different sources. o Each input includes both S-Video (S-VHS or HI8) and composite jacks. Output is provided in both S-Video and composite format. o Includes a jack for input or house sync, and output of the alpha (transparency) channel as a 1V p-p signal for production mixing desks. o Requires and plugs into the OpalVision Frame Grabber/Genlock board. No external power supply needed. OpalVision Roaster Chip o Real-time processing and morphing of live video. OpalVision images or standard Amiga output. Take any live video signal. Flip it. Scale it. Wrap it on a sphere. Wave it like a flag. Do page turns to reveal a second source image. Provides an infinite variety of amazing, real-time Digital Video Effects. o "Picture-In-Picture" capability allows the display of full 24-bit live or frozen video in a scalable window on the Workbench. Zoom in on a portion of the image and pan around for a close-up look. o Includes software to design and accurately sequence custom video effects and transitions. Includes an expandable library of useful wipes, dissolves, wraps, etc. o Plugs into the OpalVision Mother Board. The Roaster Chip is a fully integrated part of the OpalVision system and is fully compatible with all other modules. For effective use, the Roaster Chip and software requires the Frame Grabber/Genlock Module. OpalPaint ~~~~~~~~~ An unequalled painting and image manipulation program. Fast. Real-time. Full 24-bit. OpalPaint gives you complete control over OpalVision's 16.8 million color palette. Includes a full range of drawing tools and image-processing modes. Tools o Includes all standard painting tools: Sketch (Dotted & Freehand); Line; Filled/Unfilled Outline; Arc; Filled/Unfilled Ellipses/Circles/Rectangles; Text; Brush Cut. o "Rip and Replace" repeats last drawing action after moving one pixel in any direction. Very useful for precise placement of brushes and objects. o Definable level of anti-aliasing in any mode and with any tool. o Definable level of global transparency for all operations, or set transparency levels of individual RGB or HSV components. o Texture mapping with 32-bit brushes, using any Drawing Tool, Drawing Mode and Transparency Gradient. o Transparency overlays "painted" using Alpha Work Mode can be attached to cutout for 32-bit brush. o Magnify tool with complete Zoom in/out control. Modes o 18 built-in Drawing Modes, including Paint, Tint, Colorize, Brilliance (Brightness), Contrast, Gamma, Additive, Subtractive, Mosiac, Smear, Smooth, Shade, Sharpen, Negative, and many others. Most modes have independently adjustable parameters via an on-screen slider; for example, you can adjust the Smear amount from 1% to 100%. All Drawing Modes are used in conjunction with the Drawing Tools; apply effects to either limited areas or the entire image. o Additional Drawing Modes on disk for unlimited image processing power and expandability. Includes such Drawing Modes as Add Noise, Convert to Grey, Median Filter, Emboss, High-pass Filter and Logical Operations. o True 24-bit multiple color gradients with adjustable radial, linear, horizontal, vertical, border, and point gradient fill choices; gradient colors can be either RGB or HSV color spreads. o Transparency gradients. Define multiple levels of transparency for a fill, similar to color gradients. Can be used alone or in combination with color gradients. Resolutions/File Formats o Loads IFF (any resolution including HAM), IFF-24, JPEG, OV_FAST. Saves IFF-24, JPEG and OV_FAST. o Define unlimited spare pages. Spare pages can be any resolution and page size. o Rub through from any one spare page to the same or another spare page. o Supports all resolutions of the OpalVision card. o Page size in any resolution is definable up to the limits of available memory, or hard-drive space if the virtual memory option is utilized up to 32,768 x 32,768 pixels. Large images can be scaled for viewing on standard screen. o Two different stencil types: Keep-out stencils (like artist's friskets) which can be drawn with the painting tools over any area of the image, and color stencils, which can include or exclude ranges of color based on HSV tolerances. o With one mouse click, switch between three different Work Modes that all use the same Drawing Tools; Paint mode, for normal painting and image processing; Stencil Mode for drawing keep-out stencils, and Alpha mode to paint with grey scales representing transparency. This transparency mask is used with 32-bit cutout brushes and is supported by the OpalVision Frame Grabber/Genlock for semi-transparent live video overlays. o OpalVision Frame Grabber/Genlock can grab images or cutout brushes directly into spare pages and the work area. o Combine Drawing Tools, Drawing Modes, Texture mapping, Transparency and effects for incredible image manipulation power. Palette Control o Supports several methods of real-time 24-bit color selection. Choose colors from RGB & HSV sliders, use the 16.8 million "color picker," choose from a list of named colors, or use OpalPaint's color mixing area to create your own. o A working palette of 260 selected colors is available at all times. Load and Save custom color palettes. This palette can be changed at any time without changing colors already in the image. Colors in gradients, smoothing, etc., are not limited to colors in the working palette. o Includes pre-defined palettes such as Pastels, Metals, Ocean, Skintones, Camouflage, Fluorescents., etc. Each has its own pre-mixed mixing area for easy color selection. Unique Features o Easy, intuitive icon-based interface. No cluttered screens of buttons or layers of menus. o Fast, real-time operation. No waiting for buffer updates or working on a second screen. o Virtual memory support. Store unused portions of the image, spare pages, or spare cutout brushes on hard disk to save memory. This allows you pages much larger than memory would typically allow. o Unique nozzle brushes can be independently used with adjustable "Artist's Tools" such as perfectly smooth airbrushes, pencils, charcoals, texta, oil paints, etc. In addition, the "paper type" can be adjusted, such as smooth, rough, watercolor paper, etc. for realistic, real-world effects. o "Magic Wand" allows automatic filling or cutting of irregular objects using edge detection. o Supports pressure-sensitive Wacom(tm) drawing tablet in conjunction with Artist's Tools for incredible real-life effects. (Requires Workbench 2.0.) General Characteristics o Load/Save file requesters show an "Art Gallery" of 24-bit "thumbnails" or miniature representations of images, Cutout Brushes and Palette sets on disk for visual location of files. Create Art Gallery thumbnails for existing IFF images. o "Undo" button for any operation. o "Dynamic Undo:" Use the right mouse button as an eraser to paint from the undo buffer with any tool. o Keyboard equivalents follow DPAINT(tm) standard where possible. o Full AREXX support and fully compatible with Workbench version 2.0. Price: OpalVision Mother Board with OpalPaint -- $995.00 (Prices not available for Modules) Availability: Late July 1992 Created by: opaltech(tm) of Sydney, Australia Manufactured and Distributed by Centaur Development ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4451-B Redondo Beach Blvd. Lawndale, CA 90260 Phone: 310/542-2226 Fax: 310/542-9998 For More Information Call: 1-800-621-2202 ============================================================================ Until next time... """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" AMReport International Online Magazine Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" AMReport "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" July 3, 1992 16/32bit Magazine copyright 1992 Volume 2.06 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""