Taken from the October '93 issue of Micro Publishing News
L.A. Artist First to
Experiment with
HSC's Live Picture
Image Software
Santa Monica-based HSC Software has established an "early adopter" program to get feedback on Live Picture, a Macintosh graphics pack age whose underlying technology could revolutionize computerbased imaging, according to some industry observers. The first beta user of the software, Los Angeles designer Tony Redhead, says the program allows artists to work with image files
as large as 200 or 300 megabytes without the serious performance problems that usually plague files of that size.
"It doesn't stop the creative flow," says Redhead. "If you're in another program and you have to rotate an image a couple of degrees, you go to get a cup
of tea or you learn to juggle. Live Picture says that all of these actions are done
immediately. There's no break in the
continuity of the work."
Live Picture, originally developed by
a French company called FITS Imaging,
uses a file format called IVUE and a
technology known as FITS, an acronym
for Functional Interpolating Transfor-
mation System. The IVUE format pro-
vides high-speed access to the entire
image, or any portion, with unlimited
zoom capabilities, HSC says. As the
artist modifies the image, the actions are
stored almost instantly as mathematical
expressions in an underlying FITS file.
In addition to offering fast performance,
this approach allows for an unlimited
number of undos. Once the artist is
happy with the work, it is rendered into
TIFF format in a manner analogous to
processing a PostScript file for output.
Image manipulations are performed in
48-hit color, which, according to HSC,
eliminates banding and leaves a clean
transition between composite images or
image effects.
The FITS technology is resolution-
independent. "The closest analogy is
PostScript, which is a resolution-inde-
pendent language for describing docu-
ments that contain text and line art,"
says Bruno Delean, who invented the
technology. "The same image can be
output on different devices, each with a
different resolution. Further, the image
The same image can be
output on different
devices, each with a
different resolution. can he viewed at any resolution
multiple images, of varying resolutions,
can he composited without forcing all
images to the same resolution. Each
image is held in a separate layer at its
own resolution and size."
HSC and FITS Imaging are currently
adding new functions to the software
and Redhead, who serves on HSC's advi-
sory board, has become something of a
legend among Los Angeles-area com-
puter artists. In 1984, he became art
director at Quantel, a British manufac-
turer of computer graphics worksta-
tions, and assisted in the development
of Quantel's Video Paintbox and Graphic
Paintbox. In 1987, he established a Los
Angeles company called Electric Paint
that became the first U.S. installation for
the Graphic Paintbox. He also helped
develop the first link between the
Graphic Paintbox and the Macintosh.
His current company, RedDog Con-
sults, specializes in scanning, retouch-
ing, and output of high-resolution im-
ages for the entertainment industry.
The studio produces output on an
Iris inkjet printer and the Fire 1000 film
recorder. Another company owned by
Redhead, PaintPort Productions, pro-
duces a software product that links the
Quantel Graphic Paintbox to the Mac.
Redhead says he learned about Live
Picture after meeting HSC executive
vice-president Kai Krause at Macworld
Tokyo about six months ago.
Krause, the developer of Kai's Power
Tools for Adobe Photoshop, is also
working on the Live Picture upgrade.
In its present form, Redhead says the
software lacks the wide range of paint-
ing tools and image filters found in
programs like Adobe Photoshop and
Fractal Painter. In some cases, he uses
these programs to modify small por-
tions of an image, first converting the
image segment to TIFF format and then
bringing it hack into Live Picture.
"If you're working on smaller files,
you'll find a much richer toolset in
programs like Photoshop and Painter,"
he observes.
But once files reach 100 megabytes
or larger, he adds, these programs tend
to l bog down.
HSC presidentJohn Wilczak says that
the finished product, to be available
early next year, will include tools, fil-
ters, and other features, such as a text
layer, that are not in the current beta
version. He won't reveal other planned
additions, saying only that 'we want to
surprise people with some of this stuff."
Even with these plans for new features,
Wilczak dismisses any notion that Live
Picture is intended as a Photoshop killer."
'We look at Live Picture being
complementary to programs like
Photoshop and Painter," Wilczak says.
"Live Picture is not trying to say that you
don't need those products anymore.
People who create imaging and graph-
ics to make a living need toolboxes.
We're bringing a set of tools like Kai's
PowerTools and Live Picture that we
think are offering new solutions. We're
going to bring things that add value to
the overall toolbox." HSC plans to show-
case Live Picture in a large exhibit with
an 85-seat "theater" at the upcoming
Seybold San Francisco conference.
Wilczak promises some major announce-
ments at Seybold concerning the product,
including RIP upgrades for output
devices that will support direct output
of FITS files.
HSC also intends to develop modules
for Live Picture that will customize it for
such vertical markets as broadcast, medi-
cal imaging, scientific visualization, and
print production. In the latter case,
Wilczak says, "you're going to see a
killer CYMK engine with this stuff."
Live Picture currently requires 32
megabytes of RAM, with 64 megabytes
recommended for optimal performance.
Redhead believes it will perform even
better on forthcoming Macs running
under the new PowerPC RISC
Under its "Early Adopter" program, HSC
is soliciting input from what it describes
as a "limited number of high-end imag-
ing professionals" who work with large
images, including artists, prepress professionals, motion picture producers,
and lithographers. To be considered,
users must provide information about
their company. If accepted, they must
also pay $3495 to obtain the pre-release
version of the package. The early adopter
program also includes a day of training at
HSC's Santa Monica facility. For information, call HSC Software at (310) 392-8441.
