Amiga OS4 - moviemaker

Back in the 1990s, when I first started using Amigas, myself and a good friend launched a demo group called "TeamLee" - if you look in the news section of the Xmas edition of Amiga Format '94 (the one with Pixel 3D Pro or whatever plastered over the cover) you will see we get a mention! Our demo group was not about coding, we couldn't code to save our lives and we just built OctaMed mods, made gfx and anims in Dpaint and PPaint and rendered stuff in Imagine - it was simple stuff but highly effective and we all know that, for its time, the Amiga's sound chip utilising samples was amazing, especially if you were using a tracker such as OctaMed SS.

Anyways, this thread is a little sad in its nature as it tells you above why I stuck with the Amiga and had so much fun with it, but how I experienced this for the first time with a Windows machine at the weekend.

Saturday night we went to a works night out , we celebrate in January because Xmas is imperative to our business and we need people to be at their best during the Xmas period, not coming in drunk!

Well anyway, my mate took some photos and filmed some videos on his new camera!

We had a right laugh watching the next day and then put it on his PC - then we booted up Movie Maker, I think its a free app that comes with XP Service Pack 2 (?)

Anyways, we had such fun applying the various effects on to the video, and then we used other apps to sample stuff and add some video footage using a Digital camera - he booted up a sample app and I showed my skills at editing sample waveforms just like I used to in Technosound Turbo and the like....

The reason for this thread, this is just what I used to love about my A1200 - you could take files, manipulate them and play about with them, edit them at the same time they were in memory being used by another application - you name it!

Its sad because, maybe PCs have been able to do this for years, but this is what I used to love doing on my Amiga and wish I could still do on my OS4 AmigaOne - sadly there are not enough apps out there (which is no-ones fault, not even the Romans! ) but I look forward to the day when I can do this again on an Amiga. I couldn't help finding myself feeling all sentimental - I was having fun using a computer again where I was not constrained (although I will say the programs were nowhere near as stable as my Amiga 1200 using OS3.0!!!)

As for TeamLEE, we're relaunching it now and plan to make our stuff multiformat using MPEGs and AVIs - if I can create stuff on OS4 I will do and will credit OS4 for making it possible - watch this space - some stuff may get onto YouTube!

Anyone got any comments they would like to add to this thread about their experiences and what they used to love using the Amiga for? Maybe this should be put into Free for all?

@Rudei

Another simple app (and superior IMHO) for making movies is Apple's iMovie bundled with OS X. Jolly good fun :)

Perhaps Hyperion could bundle a similar app with the next OS update?

@EARTHLING

I'd love to see something cool like Moviemaker, if I had a mac I'd check out the app you mentioned.

@Rudei

When (IF) the hardware starts flowing again then maybe MainConcept will port their NLE app MainActor back to its roots ?








Quote:

lol .. Wonder if they know there's a typo there !!

HeadquATERED

instead of Headquartered

and Muxing (Mixing ?)

@Outcast

It just feels unlikely. Are we any closer to a HW situation yet?

@Outcast

I think Muxing is a valid technical term in the world of Video.

don't know what it is though!

A MUXING is a language abuse meaning Multiplexing

Its good to see that you all had such great Amiga experiences in the past!

@Rudei

Don't feel upset about the lack of hardware! I know it sucks (easy to say typing this from AOS 4 final) but when it's there, you've bought it and sits there with AOS 4 you won't even remember that you thought that way.

Yes, it's that good .

@hotrod

I've already got it though
I just cannot do a great deal with it right now!
Maybe I should get myself a catweasel, does it work with OS4 yet?

Da Rude!

@Rudei

Oh you do! Feel lucky then . A driver is in the works for the catweasel (floppy support).

@hotrod

I havent got default floppy access working yet!
I have a floppy, its connected, it clicks when KS4 loads.

other than that, nowt! course, it could be a dicky drive...

@agafaster

first standard amiga floppy cannot be read with the
standard controller, then you must use FDTools to
tell the driver that you have inserted a floppy.

Check the cable of the floppy drive it's easy to insert it in the
wrong position.

Regards,
Paolo

@pvanni

If the floppy cable is inserted backwards, you'll know it: The floppy-drive read light will come on and stay on. Does no damage to the drive or the computer, though. Simply power off, turn that end of the ribbon over and reinsert it.

Hi Rudei,

The Amiga has lacked many years of application development whilst trying to rebuild itself again.

There are some interesting projects around, but I think the main problem is that we all lack time and there are only a small number of developers around.

Hardware and to grow the user base is the way to cure this.

Cheers,
Bean.

@bean

The userbase won't grow without hardware will it grow without software?

The regular user won't buy OS4 capable hardware unless some applications are available for it.
See this thread just to get an idea of what people expect to be INCLUDED with their OS of choice.

When people buy a computer and a new OS they expect to be entertained right out of the box and Amiga can't provide that anymore. No moviemaker, no picture editing software, no office programs, no music making software, no CD/DVD burning software.

Not even a webbrowser that can compare to whats available on other platforms

This is where the lack of support from Amiga Inc really shows IMHO. If Amiga werent as greedy as they are and would let Hyperion control all things OS4 we could have come MUCH further now I believe.

And Amiga Inc could have earned real $$ on OS4.

@Rudei

I hear You. Good experiences from the past also.(DP,NewTech's DigiViewGold, (had to travel for that in a train to get it when a kid to get camera grabs with the funny lenses,ActionReplay-fun and all the thousand rest things))
Only hopes for DeluxePaint6, FinalWriter2007, Protrackerxxx and VistaPro2007 could be dreamed on.

Luckily IB3 should be comming. Apps apps apps what we need indeed! A html wysiwyg editor, Skype, drawing program,text-editor... Put our visa-card in action!

My Thanks comes now to Visio program from Italy and I learned some words(Apri...)for seeing the digipictures and offcourse this IB2,4.

Minuses are the Mplayer etc. not working atm but a new Radeon should be comming and hopes are up that it is supported better than this older one.

-Last Edited typo-
-Then edited additions-

@Troels

Quote:

Not unless it is other developers who pick it up. ..but you have to start somewhere. If hardware was available you will get some curious types who will purchase and start to write/port apps for OS4. I'm sure there are a fair few developers who'd like to have a play with OS4 (The SDK with OS4 is pretty strong).

Then there are the people that missed out on OS4 the first time round, who will want to run some of existing software on it: Hollywood, Audio Evolution, Perfect Paint for example.

..or perhaps they'll be a few people who will want to just mess around with it - if it was cheap enough.

All I know is you can't get any further with it unless people are given the chance to run it, and in the short term that means new hardware.

@bean

Quote:

For the record, writing a video editor is on my to-do list. Don't expect it any time soon though. It's no small task and I'm having difficulty finding time to work on any of my projects. I'm also waiting for avcodec.library to finally include the video encoders as well as the decoders.

Hans