> You mention the lack of CG for the Flyer ... ???  I'm a little confused
 > here. 
 > I thought the Toaster has pretty good character generation built-in.
The toaster does have a pretty good CG generator.  I use it all the time.
The CG part of the new 4.0 version of the toaster is supposed to be a WHOLE
bunch better.  
 > I  don't
 > know if you have to have Toaster software to run the Flyer system, but
 > I
 > assume you would.
Yes you do.  The flyer only costs $4,995 and you get the new toaster
software and the new lightwave (lightwave is $995 by itself).  You do need
the toaster to run it so you can add another $2,000 or so for that , and
about $2,000 for an amiga 4000 to run it.  You'll be looking at just about
$10K not including any drives.
 
 > The new Flyer user's internet message that I mentioned in my comment
 > said he
 > was using the version 0.9? Flyer software and he also mentioned "bugs",
 > but he
 > minimized the problems.  I'm wondering if this is beta testing
 > software?  
Yes, people who pre-ordered the flyer last year were given the option to
receive their flyers with beta software, and the upgrade as soon as it is
out.  They don't get the new toaster, CG, or lightwave though.  That would
be updated with the 4.0 version of all the software.  The flyers software
is lacking some features in it's .9 version, and of course with all new
software/hardware combination there are going to be bugs for some time.
For the money though, you can't beat the quality of the Flyer.
 > You also mention drives as being a limiting factor.  Do you mean the
 > speed
 > that the drives can supply data to the computer? 
I know that for me, the amount of HD space needed to do an actual edit can
be outrageous.  For example, the flyer needs to drives to do it's stuff.
The flyer writes to the HD at about 6 Megs per second.  That means I can
only edit about half an hour worth of video footage at a time with two 4
gig HD's.  I assume that for a lot of us SVHS and 3/4" users, the
adjustable compression ratio's will allow for more storage per gigabyte.
 > I get a laugh out of coming across an
 > old ad I
 > saved from my 1984 Osborne computer magazine .... for a 10 Meg hard
 > drive you
 > could get for only about $1,400.  
It's crazy how fast technology is advancing now.  It's to the point where
it's hard to keep up.  Wouldn't it be nice to suddenly hop forward 10 years
and pick up an outdated 1 terrabyte (1,000 gigs) HD for a few hundred
dollars. Aaaahhhh.
You take care!
-Manny
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