ScuzzBlog: 2nd February 2016
Subject 01: Tomb Raiding: Searching for a hidden artefact
Subject 02: The Power of Video: ... for the digitiser
Subject 03: Stuck in my thumb: What have we got here then ?
Subject 04: Disk Frenzy: Still a long way to go
Subject 05: Video Heaven: Definitely B494
Entry 1602: Blogs: 5
Tomb Raiding
Entry 1602: Blog: 1
Searching for a hidden artefact
I have been mucking about with old videos and animations that I have
created and decided to hook the VidiAmiga digitizer to a DVD unit and
have a play again. The V12 that I have uses the power from the disk
drive and this means I have to plug into the back of the HDFloppy. All
in all with everything else locked into the computer it does put a
touch of a strain on this old machine.
This got me thinking about the VidiAmiga24 which I have because that
baby has a separate power supply. But where on earth is the digitizer.
There was only one thing for it and I dived head long into the storage
room.
Having dragged away the dust covers I revealed my old A1200 tower.
Looking very sad given that I had robbed her of several bits and pieces
over the years and so I got distracted and decided to see if she would
fire up.
At this point I will show you a few images to explain and also direct
you to the page that shows how I first built the tower. The computer
was truly made up from all the scraps I had lying around the workshop.
The tower was crammed between a tower of storage boxes and sitting on an
old drawer unit.
Odd that the power supply is a single blue wire that goes into the centre
of the Amiga 1200 motherboard.
The tower benefits from a keyboard adaptor that allows me to use an
Amiga 2000 keyboard. The board is held in with red tape.
The HD floppy drive simply plugs into the rear of the computer
Drivebays on the machine hold two hard drives, a ZIP drive, floppy drive
and CD drives. All running through the software IDEFix 97, which I own
a registered version.
The accelerator is a Blizzard Turbo with the obligatory 32mb SIMM for
massive Amiga memory.
Inside the tower was distinctly chaotic and crammed with loads of wires,
ribbons and cables. Far more than you would normally expect from a PC Tower.
No idea why.
The outer casing of the A500 floppy drive was removed and all that is
visible is the base chassis of the unit. It truly is a skill to locate
the floppy in the unit.
The computer was connected to an Iiyama monitor which interestingly is
from an A3000T setup. And so the acid test. The screen flickered with the
normal blue test lines for the Blizzard. Next I got an intuition popup
telling me it was trying to reset some of the windows. And then was the
friendly face of Lara Croft. In just four colours to start with until I
changed the screen format
There you have it. A lost artefact, buried for I guess eight years and
sprung into life with little assistance. The computer is filled as ever
with Amiga goodies and so I have left running for a while so I can go
treasure hunting. This computer is a sad beast in truth. Was more of an
experiment given that the purest in me does not truly like cannibalising
and destroying Amigas. But I can forgive myself this one time. I do have
to throw the dust sheet back over her at some time. Just makes me sad to
see the 1200 disfigured in this way.
 A1200Tower Project Page
The Power of Video
Entry 1602: Blog: 2
... well for the digitiser anyway
After a lot of digging through large plastic boxes I finally retrieved the
VidiAmiga24 and in 'Real Time' no less. Not sure what time I had been
recording in previously
These digitisers were quite expensive in their day. Saying that I would
suggest that £ for £ I really have had my moneys worth. Don't think I have
ever used this particular unit. I was put off by that ribbon. Also the
version 12 was more than adequate for my needs.
As luck would have it when going through the boxes I found another unit,
well two to be precise. No power though.
Stuck in my thumb
Entry 1602: Blog: 3
... what have we got here then ?
Whenever I go on a tomb raid I always find more stuff to play with. That's
the joy of collecting so much over the years. Also my interests change so
maybe some things I stored I now really have great use for. My problem is
finding the stuff. So tripping over items is always a great joy.
At this point I should explain. I have debunked the bench in my workshop
to make way for computers so a simple white piece of foamboard is being
used as a backdrop for photographs. Sadly I am still stuck with the crappy
camera so you will have to excuse the images.
'Anyroadup'... I found this Amiga 1200 case. Clean and nothing inside. You
may recall I had a damaged case with black marker on. No need to try and
remove the marker I can now simply swap the cases. Stroke of luck that.
We were only talking the other night about the PD game Star Trek and there
it was in its clear plastic holder
All these games and PD Utilities had been stored due to their plastic covers.
Some were in loose bags with just the case covers and manuals. And yes...
Shadow of the Beast.
Disk Frenzy
Entry 1602: Blog: 4
Still a long way to go
Work is still progressing to catalogue and image copy all of my disks.
There is not a day goes by that I do not record and log a good 100
or so disks.
The mountain does not seem to be getting any smaller and I still have
all the CDs to check through.
I do sense as I view more and more of these disks acquired from other
users I am being lured down the dark and murky hole that is boot blocking
'Action Replay' world. Somewhere I vowed I would never venture. Though the
dark forces are very powerful. I guess it is just a matter of time.
Video Heaven
Entry 1602: Blog: 5
Definitely B494
My life prior to the Amiga was in truth one that involved video.
I enjoyed very much recording video both from the transmitted
world and through the lens of a camera. One of my favourite
hobbies was the editing of video tape and adding music and the
like. To this end I have created a special page on the website
featuring some of my edits.
When I finally moved over fully to the Amiga I could not simply
give up on all that I had done. That is where my interest in
DPaint and VidiAmiga comes into play. I have literally hundreds
of video captures and animations and have spent far too much time
with the video player hooked up to the Amiga. Today it is the DVD,
but I still have my wall of video tapes logged and filed so that
I can find anything from around 1994 onwards. Mostly music and
comedy with an ample sprinkling of fashion.
Anyway click the links and this will take you to the first page.
Only three videos thus far. The first is my take on Fred Astaire
with a Tina Turner twist.
The second here is a little different as it represents my move to
the Amiga and a Dpaint edit of Madonna. Sadly the file size prohibits
me showing the whole Amiga video, so I included one I recorded from
VHS and made into an MP4. Remember this is 1995 technology being
transferred from tape to DVD to VOB to mpeg to mp4 so the degrading
from analog to mp4 takes quite a rip out of the original.
I include on the first disk here a clip of the Madonna video which
can be viewed either in DPaint or by use of the Animation Workshop
on the second disk. You would need to play around with the function
keys to get the speed correct. I actually think it was the best that
Madonna had ever looked and her music at the time was also her best.
I include also on disk here Main Actor which is a good tool for
saving animations in various formats. There is also VidiAmiga which
can requires the didgitizer as does TechnoSoundTurbo. The ARP library
also needs to be in the LIBS drawer for Techno to work.
I did love the digitizing. I recall copying Ghostbusters and MPeople
sound bites and mixing with my own stuff and creating some great
stuff with AMOS and DPaint. I really had such a wealth of goodies to
input to the Amiga and the computer just enjoyed soaking up the media
and churning out these wonderful videos, images and music. Add to
that Protracker and I was truly in my element. Most of the files are
very large and not transferable to disk so stay on the various Amigas
hard drives.
scuzz 3rd February 2016: Still Crazy
My short Madonna clip |
Animation Workshop |
Main Actor
VidiAmiga |
TechnoSoundTurbo
|
