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1988-05-28
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Product review: TV*Show - Zuma Group Inc,
Lights, Camera, Action - Aegis
by DAVID MORGAN Surfers Paradise QUEENSLAND
Being a bit of a videophile as well as a computer nut I felt that some
comments on two new video related products might be helpful to others
wanting to use their computers for some creative video production.
First it is not a simple case of plugging your Amiga into a video for
recording purposes, without all the technical jargon it just cannot be done
without the interface of a genlock which is a device that "SYNCs" the
signal from the Amiga with that of a video recorder.
In my case I use a Neriki image master Genlock which is a great Australian
product that interfaces with the Amiga perfectly.
Once the above is accomplished you can now record video signals and the
Amiga output (whatever that may be) onto another VCR, or direct all Amiga
video output to a VCR without any other source video.
The next phase is to use software that can enhance your video masterpieces,
thus the need for this review. You can use any paint programmes that use
Amiga colour "0" as a base, which is the colour a GENLOCK uses as a
transparent colour in order to give you the appearance of characters or
other things appearing in/on your video.
The problem with this approach is the lack of control between the image and
recording. As an example, moving your image requires the mouse cursor -
this would be unacceptable if it appeared on your video.
A number of software programmes are now on the market, including Pro-
Video from JDK, a character-generation programme that allows you to
manipulate only words/characters in fades, wipes etc.
The Director is a slide-show script-driven program.
TV*Show - the subject of this review.
Lights, Camera, Action - also the subject of this review.
There must be some others out there!
Before we go any further perhaps we should explain some of the more common
TERMINOLOGY used in this review.
Transitions: the method one screen moves to another
Fade: A gradual replacement of a back screen with the front screen
Wipe: The removal of one screen with another by a "pushing effect"
Reveal: One screen replacing another with an "overlay effect"
Chip Memory: Presently on all Amiga's 512K of system memory.
Fast Ram: Optional expandable memory up to 8 megs.
PAL/NTSC: Two different video formats available to the Amiga.
Interlace: A different refresh rate that makes screens look smoother
HAM: The Hold and modify format on the Amiga permitting 4096 colours.
Event: One screen or action in a script.
TV*SHOW: Like L,C,A (Lights, Camera, Action), comes in two parts, an EDITOR
and a PLAYER. The player is allowed to be distributed to other people and
permits the showing of your creations.
The editor portion of the set is 162540 bytes in size and the player is
82108 bytes.
TV*Show comes with a slick tutorial created using TV*Show and leaves little
out in order to get you up and running fast. The manual is just adequate.
With both programmes reviewed, the purpose of them is to build a script
file that the player uses to call your video images from various places and
permit screen transitions using different video effects.
This process can be enhanced by holding an image on screen and overlay
another images such as a brush or animation.
With Director this is done by use of a WordProcessor or Text Editor with
TV*Show, and with L,C,A the user interface builds the script.
With TV*Show the editor is completely mouse controlled and by clicking on
various Icons you build a script that is saved upon request to a location
selected by the user.
TV*Show also permits you to narrate your video using the Amiga voice in
either male or female gender. If a screen is saved with a colour cycle
routine this can also be replayed using TV*Show.
TV*Show uses Objects which can be brushes saved from other programmes - as
an example you could create a title using, say Photon Paint, save it as a
brush and then use it as an object in TV*Show.
This permits you to put the title over an existing picture by having it
fade or wipe over the picture and then disappear in the same manner before
the programme moves on.
The number of screen transitions available in TV*Show is extensive and all
you'd probably ever need. Objects also have other transitions and all you
need to do is position the object on the screen where you want it to end
and detail the method of transition and it's done.
TV*Show allows as many events as your memory will permit and has many other
control modes to permit transition rates to be altered in speed and to
create loops and key prompts.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
----------------------
The editor portion of this programme is 172952 bytes and the player is
112132 bytes.
As both programmes are similar we won't go over familiar ground but point
out the differences between L,C,A, and TV*Show.
You must stipulate the screen format in L,C,A, and then use all the events
in the same format.
L,C,A, is designed to work with, and software control "SuperGen", another
genlock for the Amiga, but it does work with all other genlocks except in
the software control area.
L,C,A, only permits a total of 50 events, about 10 minutes of video at a 10
second view (delay) per screen, and as a minimum of three events are used
for playing a score this is a major limitation.
With L,C,A, you can use music to enhance your show providing it has been
saved as a SMUS file compatible with Aegis Sonix.
You can use animations in your show providing they are created using an
ANIM. format or taken from another programme using the GRABanim utility
supplied with L,C,A,.
You can attach certain events to others such as having music start and
finish to coincide with certain screen showings.
Screen transitions are extensive and the user interface is logical. L,C,A,
also permits severe overscan suitable for video applications and it also
provides a mode called Video-res which doubles the vertical resolution at a
saving over memory as associated with Hi-Res.
My Conclusions
--------------
Both programmes are very good, the prices are about the same although I did
purchase both of them at the AmiExpo in Chicago so do not know what the
cost here will be.
Both programmes need at least 1 meg of memory to operate effectively and I
would suggest that a hard drive is desirable to cut down disk access time.
Both programmes autoconfigure for PAL/NTSC Amiga formats, however NTSC
output on a PAL VCR leaves a lot to be desired, so try to get everything
compatible.
Both programmes use buffers to aid in clean/smooth transitions but at a
cost to memory availability.
The interface in TV*Show is much more user friendly and the usage of chip
ram is more efficient than that of L,C,A,: this is important as a small
chip memory availability could and normally will result in the visit from
the guru.
Both programmes use "art" created in all Amiga resolutions including HAM,
but once again HAM mode needs to be used with care as it is very memory
intensive and in some applications you can have 1 1/2 HAM screens visible
or in memory at once using some transition formats.
TV*Show allows you to "see" the image you're working with and to only show
portions of your entire script as you're building a programme. L,C,A, does
not have this facility.
L,C,A permits you to play Amiga music or digitised sounds saved where
TV*Show only allows the use of the Amiga "say" voice.
L,C,A, is orientated to Aegis-compatible support programmes where TV*Show
is happy with anything.
The size of the player is important as it is designed to be distributed
with the disk that your pictures are on. TV*Show has the smaller player.
I have found L,C,A, does not "cleanup" after itself too well especially
when using HAM and Video-Res this results in low chip memory and a visit
from you know who!
TV*Show has a utility called SCRIPTMOVER that, once started, will move and
rewrite your script to any location you nominate, whereas this must be done
in L,C,A, by reactivating the editor or using a WP-based editor.
Therefore without being insulting to Aegis I cast my vote for TV*Show by
Zuma Group Inc., a great product that adds that professional touch to home
or commercial videos.
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