On Nov 08, 1994 at 12:43, Chris Baugh of 1:105/290.5 sez to Mike Christian:
 CB> Mike, you mentioned the AVer Pro bundle: character generator,
 CB> genlock/overlay, fader between live video and computer graphics, 
 CB> for around $3,000.  But for many years now, for under $2,000 
 CB> (street price) the Video Toaster has offered all of these, plus a
 CB> switcher/DVE, framestore and first-rate 3D rendering/animation 
 CB> system.
Yes, I am familiar with the now near-defunct :-( Newtek/Amiga Toaster. It 
single-handedly has cut or Pro Video sales by as much as 15%!  I installed 
one of the first Toasters, and was quite unimpressed with its video quality 
(artifacts, aliasing, "mosaic" distortion on slow moves) and the clumsiness 
of the operating system (having to exit the editor program to use the C.G.). 
I guess thngs have improved in the more recent versions.
I didn't really think the Toaster Graphics were on a par with the Deputy 
Producer software & AVer Pro hardware bundle, but I haven't done any A/B 
comparison.
I must admit I am somewhat biased towards the "old school" of video hardware 
- you know, back when you had to spend $40K for any kind of DVE, or 60K for a 
Grass Switcher (before you start adding options, of course) and 35K & up for 
a decent C.G. When the Toaster came on the scene I viewed it as a "toy", and 
I guess I never really upgraded my opinion of it ;-)
 CB> In any event, I think you're right that in the future, it will become 
 CB> more and more cost-effective to purchase accesories that use the 
 CB> computing power of an ordinary PC to drive video equipment, rather than 
 CB> buying expensive special-purpose video gear with a built-in computer 
that 
 CB> can only handle a single type of video application.
I had a discussion with a fella from I-Mix about this very thing. They make 
the Video Cube, a non-linear editing system with effects. He made the point 
that in fact DEDICATED boxes are the ONLY way to go. As a case in point, he 
pointed to the Video Cube. It uses an off-the-shelf MAC to control a 
dedicated machine controller/editor/graphics/effects box. The point he was 
making is that other folks are making plug-in boards that use the power 
supply and general support structure of a PC, MAC or Amiga, while the CUBE 
uses a hardware box that is optimized for the job it does. The MAC is just 
used as a convenient man/machine interface.
However, the TV market is shifting from a QUALITY and FEATURE driven market 
to a PRICE driven market(IMHO), as are many industries these days. There seem 
to be less dollars available to do any given task. Therein lies the future of 
the "Video System on a Expansion Board" market. We have seen the integration 
of control, effects and distribution products into a single product, and I 
have little doubt that some day we will have your basic TV studio or Post 
facility in a box. As digital memory becomes cheaper and more dense more 
features become available. Real-time digital video disk recording may be the 
wave of the future, but I suspect at some point the mechanical systems will 
be entirely replaced buy core memory. It is really an exciting time to be in 
this industry, eh?
                      **Mike**
On the Information Highway at: mike.christian@nopc.jaxx.com
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