========================================================================= (C) 1993 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.Type XTX99437,GENIE and press [RETURN]. The system will prompt you for your information. ========================================================================== Category 7, Topic 9 Message 1 Mon Jul 13, 1992 GREG at 01:43 EDT Looks Like Kodak is going to meet both of the criteria for a color photo system with their new Kodak Photo CD Access System. Dust off the old Instamatic and get some pictures going this summer. We've been working on a viewer for the PC for the past two weeks and are just about done. It's All Relative will be offering a conversion service for PC Photo Access CD's starting on or about August 1. No need to own a CD player to view your vacation pictures on the ST. Keep an eye out here for more details. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 2 Tue Jul 14, 1992 AD-VANTAGE at 00:22 EDT Sounds great Greg, looking forward to more info. // Ron @ Atari Advantage Magazine // ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 3 Tue Jul 14, 1992 GREG at 01:44 EDT AD-VANTAGE: What makes the Photo CD System great is the fact that your data is stored in a format that surpasses the resolution of all viewing systems that are currently available. 24 bit color in 2048 by 3072 pixels. You don't have to worry about your datafiles becoming obsolete for a long time. Each picture is stoed in 128 x 192, 256 x 384, 512 x 768, 1024 x 1536, and 2048 x 3072. You can use the resolution best suited to your application or need. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 4 Thu Jul 16, 1992 GREG at 04:52 EDT Check out RF_PIC.LZH in the downloads area. It's a 16 color Degas Elite picture meant to be view through the RF out on a STe computer. A little bit of artifacting makes this one look more like a Spectrum pic. You should see what the Spectrum version of this one looks like if you thought the 16 color version looks good. We will be uploading sample pictures in about two weeks when we begin the conversion service. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 5 Thu Jul 16, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 21:37 EDT Has RF_PIC.LZH been released yet? I don't have it in my Aladdin file list. - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 6 Thu Jul 16, 1992 GREG at 23:25 EDT I just got a note from FB that the file is now released. The artifacting takes me back to the early 80's when we used it to do 4 color "HIGH" res on the 8- bit line. The picture really looks good for a Degas format in Degas low res. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 7 Sun Jul 19, 1992 GREG at 13:36 EDT I got a couple calls on how to locate a film developer that does Photo CD Access developing. For your nearest dealer, call Kodak at (800) 842-2424. There still are not a lot of vendors offering the service yet. They can point you to one that does. Right now, if you walk into a drug store and tell them what you want done, they look at you funny. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 8 Sun Jul 19, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 15:12 EDT Greg, I downloaded the Fountain picture. Very nice! I definitely plan on taking advantage of this service. If you have any other great examples, send some more up! :^) - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 9 Mon Jul 20, 1992 CHAZ at 21:50 EDT I downloaded FOUNTAIN, but can't figure out how to view it on a color TT. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 10 Tue Jul 21, 1992 GREG at 00:17 EDT CHAS: The file is in Spectrum format. Does anyone know of a Spectrum viewer that works on a TT? I'll send a .GIF file up here this week in a TT resolution rather than the ST resolution. I believe there should be a TT .GIF viewer. I'll check and get back to you. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 11 Tue Jul 21, 1992 GREG at 00:19 EDT You can convert to .TIF, .RIF, .PCX, .EPS, and .BMP directly with our Virtual BookMaker PC software. The software sells for $25.00, postpaid. Virtual BookMaker PC is available from Randall Kopchak, It's All Relative, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant, MO 63031. The software requires Windows 3.1, a 386 or better with VGA or better, at least 2 meg of memory, an XA capable drive, and about 500K of disk space. You can convert beyond your screen capabilities on the PC and then port the file to your killer ST, TT, or Mega. Pictures can be displayed with Virtual BookMaker on any PC with a VGA card. You don't need Windows or anything more than a 8088 to view. I did a virtual "letter" to Mom yesterday that I will post in the IBM area. A ST version of Virtual BookMaker is also available with support for the .PI1 and .SPC format. The ST version is also $25.00 with a special price for registered users of our other ST products, "It's All Relative", "BookMaker", "Forecaster III" and "Abbreviator ST". There is a demo program done with "Virtual BookMaker" posted here. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 12 Tue Jul 21, 1992 GREG at 00:23 EDT Got three pieces of E-mail tonight on conversions beyond .SPC Spectrum format. We can convert your Photo CD disk to .GIF format for $1.00 per picture. Using .GIF, you can then do your own conversion. Our conversion smooshes a 5,000 K file down to a 50 K .SPC file. The average size of a .GIF conversion has been running between 100 K to 200 K for a 256 color, 512 by 768 picture. Keep in mind that you will need 1 meg or more of memory to decompress the file for viewing on the ST using most converters. As resolution and colors go up, so does file size. We've had requests to post a higher format file here. I'll send one in the next couple of days. What format do you want to see. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 13 Tue Jul 21, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 06:17 EDT CHAZ, GVIEW11.LZH, in the Library, will allow you to view Spectrum pics on a TT, albeit with only 256 colors. - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 14 Tue Jul 21, 1992 GREG at 23:56 EDT Terry: Thanks for finding the TT viewer. The .GIF picture should look great on the TT, I know the SVGA on my PC shows them well and the TT is just about the same. I'll put a couple more .SPC pics up over the weekend. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 15 Thu Jul 23, 1992 M.FARMER2 [Mark Farmer] at 21:07 EDT To: OUTRIDER The GVIEW11,LZH only allows me 16 colors in Low res on a 1040STE are you saying this program will also work on a TT computer allowing 256 colors? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 16 Thu Jul 23, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 22:44 EDT Mark, Gem-View only allows 16 colors in Low Res on a 1040STE because that's all that are AVAILABLE at one time on a 1040STE. To show more colors requires 'tricks', ala Spectrum, and Gem-View's GEM interface and entire structure is not conductive to such tricks. I don't have a TT, so I can't say from experience, but I've been told more than once that Gem-View will show GIFs and Spectrum pics in 256 colors in TT Low Res. And do it well. - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 17 Fri Jul 24, 1992 REALM [Joey] at 04:09 EDT Mark, I've tried GEMview on a Matrix card at 640x528x256 colors and it works. Also tried it at 768x528x256 colors and it works there too! It also works in TT Low and Medium although doesn't look as good. Way better then ST Low though.:-) ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 18 Fri Jul 24, 1992 M.FARMER2 [Mark Farmer] at 05:35 EDT To: Outrider [Terry] Ok, well I was just wondering if Gem-View did or did not show the gifs in 256 colors. all of my 1000's of pictures are in GIF format and the 16 colors are limiting and converting them to SPC will cut most of the picture off pluss GIF pictures are smaller when converted from other formats to GIF. if anyone out there has a TT I would like to hear from you how many colors do you get from Gem-View, And how do the pictures look? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 19 Fri Jul 24, 1992 M.FARMER2 [Mark Farmer] at 05:47 EDT To: REALM [Joey] Matrix card? is this something you can add to any system? I have never heard of it. Doto I have no place to buy anything for the Atari. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 20 Fri Jul 24, 1992 SGUBER at 20:53 EDT Mark: The TT-LOW resolution does show GIF pictures in 256 colors with Gem-View. I have had no problems with it. Sol ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 21 Fri Jul 24, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 22:09 EDT Mark, If your GIF->SPC conversions "cut most of the picture off," you're not doing it right. I use several programs (including Gem-View) to convert GIF pics to other formats and none cut any of the picture off unless I want them to. DMJ GIF 3.0 does a GREAT job of converting to Spectrum, especially using the STE palette, and IT doesn't cut any of your GIFs off, either, unless you tell it to. It's a bit slow, but the end result is well worth it. And with the batch mode, you can always start it converting a bunch of pictures while you're away or busy doing something else. We now return you back to our regularly scheduled topic. :^) - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 22 Fri Jul 24, 1992 REALM [Joey] at 23:27 EDT Mark, The card I have is from Germany luckily Lexicor provided me with an English translation of the manual. I picked it used for a good price. One of those things you just can't pass up.:-) It fits in the Mega STe or TT VME slot. I don't think theres anything available for a normal 1040STe yet. Originally the Leonardo board was going to be STe usuable with an adaptor. I don't know if their still planning on that or not? I've seen the video of what it can do, thats where I'm going soon as it hits the street!:-) Theres a couple topics around here somewhere covering most of the graphics boards if your interested in something. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 23 Sat Jul 25, 1992 M.FARMER2 [Mark Farmer] at 06:49 EDT To: SGUBER thats nice to know then (GIF 256 colors using a TT). im sure the new machs will handle the gifs also maybe even better then. To: OUTRIDER [Terry] well that was on a SVGA GIF (about 250,000 bytes) I do not think spc can handle that large of a picture. There was nothing to do i just had to click on the picture i wanted converted and it did it. the program may have only been setup to convert so much of the SVGA GIF. Im waiting for DMJ GIF 4.0 I would hope it has a way to view (slideshow) all pictures. To: REALM [Joey] No, I just never heard of a Video board for the Atari ST to allow better screens. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 24 Sat Jul 25, 1992 GREG at 15:31 EDT SGUBER: I'll be doing a demo of the Kodak Photo CD pictures at the ACE Saint Louis meeting on Wednesday, July 29, Thornhill Library, Saint Louis, Missouri. Terry Shoemaker was going to the MIST Atarifest. If he comes back with pictures, maybe we can make a disk of the show and convert it to Atari viewable format. I'll give him a call this week. The meeting is open to the public. If your free, stop in and check it out. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 25 Sun Jul 26, 1992 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 17:45 EDT Mark, DMJ-GIF can handle large GIFs. Look at WAITRESS.LZH in the library here; I converted it from a huge GIF file (250K or so). It also does a slide show. Have you tried it out? Al ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 26 Sun Jul 26, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 21:11 EDT That's nothing. Check out WATRFAL2.LZH. I converted a nearly _700k_ GIF down to low res, med res and Spectrum pics. The low res and med res pics were done with GEM-View, and the Spectrum pic was converted with DMJ GIF 3.0. All use the STE palette VERY effectively. -----8<----- Greg, I've been meaning to send you mail, but why not ask here? How DO you get pictures developed onto Kodak CDs so you can convert them to SPCs or GIFs? If your pictures have already been developed, can the negatives be used? - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 27 Mon Jul 27, 1992 GREG at 00:11 EDT OUTRIDER: You can send your negatives or slides out for conversion to Photo CD. In fact sending the negative is a good way to go so you can see in advance that you did take the lens cap off. There is a list of dealers that will be offering the service published already, but my calls to most of these dealers brought a "don't know anything about it" response from most. If your anxious to get going Advanced Photographics at (908) 687-1111 is doing it now. Prices should fall as more dealers get involved. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 28 Mon Jul 27, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 23:53 EDT Greg, Thanks. Can you give me an idea of the cost of converting to Photo CD _now_? - Terry - ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 29 Wed Jul 29, 1992 GREG at 00:42 EDT OUTRIDER: From your Photo CD Disk to .SPC format ........... 0.50 per image From your Photo CD Disk to 256 color .GIF format ..1.00 per image Add $3.00 per order for return postage and handling and mail to Randall Kopchak, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant, MO 63031 ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 30 Wed Jul 29, 1992 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 10:22 EDT Greg, You misunderstood. I meant what are the current prices (at the location you gave) for transferring negatives to Photo CDs? Thanks. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 31 Thu Jul 30, 1992 GREG at 01:21 EDT Two sources are: Advanced Photographics at (908)687-1111 and A & I at (213) 883-1060. I used Advanced last. You can call them for the most current prices on the photo to CD service. My price list for both is about a month old now. I'll track down the latest. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 32 Tue Aug 04, 1992 GREG at 00:51 EDT Kodak made their product announcement of Photo CD at the Macworld in Boston, August 4. Here is some information posted by Paul McAfee of Kodak in the Photo Forum of CIS on Monday: The Photo CD system has two audiences: Consumer electronics, and Commercial/computer image users. Consumer: Kodak Photo CD players that play audio (to stereo system) and Photo CD discs to TV. Retails @ $449 and $549. On the market now. Commercial/computer: Same Photo CD disc, made by photofinishers and custom photolabs, with a per image scanning cost of from about $0.60 to $3.00 (depending on turnaround and other value added services). Pricing and Availability The service of transferring 35 mm negatives or slides to Photo CD discs is available now through photofinishers and commercial labs across North America. To locate a nearby photofinisher or lab that provides Photo CD services, consumers can call 1-800-242-2424, extension 36. Kodak will demonstrate the Photo CD system, and other imaging and color products, at the Macworld Expo in Boston, August 4 - 6, booth 5012. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 33 Wed Aug 12, 1992 GREG at 02:15 EDT If you belong to a user group and would like a disk of photo cd pictures to demo at your next meeting, leave E-mail to GREG and we will mail you a disk of Kodak Photo CD to Spectrum photos to show. Make sure you leave a mailing address. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 34 Wed Aug 12, 1992 L.ROCHA1 [Lou (Sysop)] at 10:13 EDT GREG, I am doing a lot of support work for ISD for their Calamus SL. I would be very interested in receiving your pictures to try out. Please mail to Megapublish, 4 Rustywood Dr., Don Mills, Ont. Canada. M3A 1R7 Thanks a lot. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 35 Wed Aug 12, 1992 AD-VANTAGE at 21:07 EDT Greg, The Photo CD disk is outstanding -- thanks! Have you considered uploading it? -- Ron ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 36 Thu Aug 13, 1992 GREG at 00:40 EDT Ron: I've uploaded a .SPC and a .GIF to the board here. Glad you liked the photos. Get a disc developed and bring it over to get it converted to a format you can handle. Call me and I can give you the name of a photo developer. There will be about 10 of them up and running in Saint Louis in the very near future. I'll have to arc the set and put it up here. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 37 Thu Aug 13, 1992 GREG at 00:44 EDT L.ROCHA1: If your working with Calamus, what format would you like to see. I can sennd a .PCX, .GIF, .TIF, .RIF, .EPS, or Atari .SPC format in black and white, 16 color, 256 color, and true color in .TIF. Does Calamus support any of these formats? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 38 Thu Aug 13, 1992 ISD [Nathan] at 07:58 EDT Calamus SL can import GIF, TIF and RIF. I'd say the TIF would be the best because it is supported in Calamus SL up to 32 bit colour. :-) My curiosity is aroused. :-) Some time ago I imported an 11 meg RAW IMAGE FILE of a bycicle race from a Kodak CD and it was "awesome"! Nathan @ DMC Publishing*s ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 39 Thu Aug 13, 1992 L.ROCHA1 [Lou (Sysop)] at 09:59 EDT Thanks Greg. I would like files in PCX, GIF, TIF and SPC as I will also be trying a number of graphics programs in addition to Calamus. Lou ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 40 Thu Aug 13, 1992 GREG at 23:55 EDT Nathan ISD: The bicyle picture is from the Kodak demo disk. It is very typical of the quality available and more importantly it is also typical of the quality of the discs of my photos converted to the Photo CD process. If you have access to a PC (386 with 2 meg+) we have Virtual BookMaker now for the PC that will allow you to access and convert Photo Cd images to file types readable on the Atari. (.TIF, .PCX, .BMP, .EPS and resource interchange format). Virtual BookMaker PC sells for $25.00. What makes it nice too is that conversions are done in memory not screen. This means that a 16 color Windows 3.1 can export a true color .TIF file or 256 color .PCX file. The Falcon and Photo CD look to be made for each other. I'm eager to get a Falcon and do a port of Virtual BookMaker PC. The Falcon answers all the limitation of the ST and STe series. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 41 Thu Aug 13, 1992 GREG at 23:58 EDT L.ROCHA1: For the .TIF format can you handle 1.44 3 1/2 or 1.2 5 1/4. I need more than 720K to send the disk. If not, I can split the file on two disks that you can assemble on your HD. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 42 Fri Aug 14, 1992 L.ROCHA1 [Lou (Sysop)] at 14:56 EDT GREG, are you going to use SPLIT.PRG? That is what I have. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 43 Sun Aug 23, 1992 LEXICOR2 [Ringo] at 19:02 EDT Joey. GEMview something for my Matrix setup, thanks for the hint. Ringo ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 44 Mon Aug 24, 1992 REALM [Joey] at 00:30 EDT Yeap, It works pretty good but you have to do some of it from the pull down menus or it crashes. I was going to see what the next version does before I sent in my shareware fee (since there travling so far). The Color IMG files created by it load into SL fine. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 46 Mon Aug 31, 1992 CYCLONE at 03:37 EDT For what's it's worth, the hopefully-soon-forthcoming Falcon could quite easily become a CD-I player (and hence be able to play Photo CD disks directly) with the addition of a bit of graphics hardware (and an appropriate SCSI CD-ROM). Anyone aware of a third-party company who might be qualified to manufacture and/or distribute this hardware (call it a CD-I Kit) is welcome to e-mail me; I can provide many details for what would be entailed. Bill ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 47 Sun Sep 13, 1992 GREG at 01:14 EDT Just got a report this week that Barry's Camera in Dallas is doing rolls of 24 to CD for $20.00. The fellow I talked to was very happy with the job they did on it. Barry's Camera's phone number is (214) 241-0582. Call them for more details on their services. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 48 Wed Sep 23, 1992 GREG at 00:24 EDT Saw a message today that Kodalux is now doing CD developing through the mail...... Slides PKT24 $23.44 PKT36 $34.10 Develop & Print DPT24 $28.63 DPT36 $41.81 Develop/no Prints DT24 $19.99 DT36 $28.85 Turn around time is supposed to be 3 to 5 days in lab. Morris ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 49 Sun Sep 27, 1992 GREG at 01:34 EDT Best Buy is now doing Photo CD for a little over $15.00 for a 24 exposure roll. Best price I've seen so far. O*s ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 50 Sun Oct 04, 1992 GREG at 01:10 EDT Marilyn caused quite a stir at Best Buy when she picked up the Photo CD disc yesterday. Seems no one in the store knew that they were doing it and everyone gathered around to see what it was. When she got to the register to check out, they had a 10 minute discission to decide if it was to be rung on the PHOTO or CD key. We were happy with the quality of the scans and prices that can't be beat. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 51 Fri Oct 09, 1992 GREG at 02:47 EDT We'll be doing a demo of Photo CD at the MDRCC Show in Saint Charles, Missouri, on Saturday, October 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If you're in the area stop by and say hello. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 52 Fri Oct 09, 1992 L.ROCHA1 [Lou (Sysop)] at 21:38 EDT GREG, just thought you'd like to know that yesterday I saw the very first ad for Photo CD on TV in the Toronto area. It showed a family clicking through family photos ON THEIR TV! Wow... great pictures. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 53 Sat Oct 10, 1992 EXPLORER at 18:43 EDT I caught Greg's demos of Photo CD Access system at te McDonnell Douglas Recreational Computer Club meet today -- WOW! The Windows version (256 color) presented photographs with significantly improved detail compared to the original photograph! Photo CD is a technology to keep your eyes on folks. The Falcon looks like the perfect platform for the technology. Ron @ Atari Explorer ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 54 Sat Oct 10, 1992 GREG at 23:17 EDT Lou: Kodak will be making a big advertising push in the coming weeks. A rep from Kodak said that call to their 800 number are coming in at record rates, over 1,000 a day. Ron: The resolution and color depth we were showing the Windows version of Virtual BookMaker in at the show today is one of the published resolutions of the Atari Falcon. We're very anxious to do some graphics on the Falcon. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 55 Sun Oct 11, 1992 LEXICOR2 [Ringo] at 01:33 EDT Greg. I seen a newspaper ads in the LA area. I have one of the ads at work. Ringo ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 56 Sun Oct 11, 1992 T.MCCOMB [=Tom=] at 21:44 EDT I 'heard' at WAACE that there is possibly a licensing deal in the owrks between Atari and Kodak for the Falcon030. Photo CD should figure prominently in the Falcons future. Sorry I don't have any other details! -Tom McComb ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 57 Tue Oct 13, 1992 W.PARKS3 [Dr. Bob] at 12:00 EDT That would definitly be an asset for the Falcon! Ya know.... it's got some great potential!!!!! Bye: Dr. Bob ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 58 Tue Oct 13, 1992 E.KRIMEN [Ed Krimen] at 14:00 EDT I've seen quite a few Photo CD television ads in San Francisco. They're cool -- they use morphing. :^) There's a Photo CD topic in the DTP Roundtable, too. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 59 Wed Oct 14, 1992 GREG at 01:04 EDT \TO ALL: Kodak has a Photo CD topic in the Photography area. Page 8009, item 12, to get there. It's part of basic services and free of charge to STAR service users on GEnie. Stop over and say hi! ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 60 Wed Oct 14, 1992 L.ROCHA1 [ Lou {SysOp}] at 06:48 EDT Thanks GREG. Can we count on you to highlight certain discussions over there for those of us who just can tear ourselves away from the ST RT? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 61 Wed Oct 14, 1992 POTECHIN [ Nathan] at 19:52 EDT In one of the press releases from the Boston launch of the Falcon 030, Kodak CD, Atari and a German company named Color Concepts, were all named in the same breath Tom. The main programmer of Color Concept is one of the old Calamus crew and still responsible for many of their high end color drivers. If a deal materializes between Kodak and Atari I expect these guys to make short work of a working driver for the entire Atari line. Personally, I can't wait!! ;-) Greg, we'd really appreciate hearing anything along this line right here please. Do you own an Atari perchance? Nathan @ DMC Publishing ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 62 Wed Oct 14, 1992 L.ROCHA1 [Blue Jays !!] at 20:37 EDT Well I just couldn't wait for Greg to post the "highlights" from the Photo Hobby RT so I went over myself and downloaded all 184 messages! If I can make sense of it all, I will upload a capsulized summary of the more pertinent message to our library. If YOU can't wait, type M8009;12. Then SET 22 and READ 19 ALL NOR. Oh, don't forget to turn on your Text Capture first! ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 63 Wed Oct 14, 1992 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 22:57 EDT Kodak has official Q&A on photo CD over in the PHOTO RT. AND IT'S FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Well...Sorta Free) -------------------------------> Sam ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 64 Thu Oct 15, 1992 GREG at 00:06 EDT Nathan: I've been an Atari fan for years. We are in the process of publishing a CD for the PC using Photo CD. I've got a deal going for German rights to the PC version of Virtual BookMaker with a developer over there but would be very much interested in talking to you on the possibliities of Photo CD and Calamus. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 65 Thu Oct 15, 1992 GREG at 00:15 EDT L.ROCHA1: In the Photography Forum, Category 18, topic 23, also has a Photo CD dialog going. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 66 Thu Oct 15, 1992 EXPLORER at 01:00 EDT Nathan, Greg has owned an Atari since there were Atari's to own :-) He has been very active in the St. Louis area users groups, sponsered SIG's at his home, held a number of club officer positions and is a registered Atari developer. If you have ever downloaded one of the ACE St. Louis Christmas disks, you have seen Greg's work. He's recently uploaded a number of Photo CD files, do a search under GREG. He currently markets a number of products for the ST. Ron @ Atari Explorer ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 67 Fri Oct 16, 1992 POTECHIN [ Nathan] at 19:24 EDT Thanks for the bio Ron. :-) That's ok then. :-) Sorry Greg. I was worried you weren't an Atari person. Sure, I'll talk anytime I love the entire Photo CD concept. Nathan @ DMC Publishing ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 68 Fri Oct 16, 1992 EXPLORER at 23:36 EDT I'd do the same for you Nathan ;-) Ron @ Atari Explorer ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 69 Tue Nov 10, 1992 GREG at 22:48 EST Does anyone have the number for a company called "Color Concepts" mentioned on page 16 of the November issue of Current Notes? I need to get in touch with them. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 70 Thu Nov 12, 1992 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 19:33 EST Greg, have you asked in the Current Notes topic? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 71 Fri Nov 13, 1992 W.FASTENRAT1 [h] at 20:58 EST Color Concept (it is witten without the 's' at the end) works in Germany near Cologne. Our telefon-number is 49-2246-7132. Why dont you see us at Comdex on the Atari-booth. You may see somthing with Photo CD, may be! Wolfgang F. Fastenrath, Color Concept. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 72 Sat Nov 14, 1992 GREG at 01:48 EST I'm glad I signed up for the new A T & T international program with Germany as my primary country. W.FASTENRAT1: Did you get your license for Photo CD from Kodak USA or Kodak Germany? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 73 Sun Nov 15, 1992 W.FASTENRAT1 [h] at 07:12 EST Hi Greg! there is something going on between Atari and Kodak I can't talk about before Comdex. But there will be some software available on the TT and the Falcon very soon. If possible visit us at Comdex on the Atari-booth. See you there? regards Wolfgang ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 74 Sun Nov 15, 1992 GREG at 16:07 EST W.FASTENRAT1: We will be publishing our first disc of Photo CD images in two weeks. The CD will have software on it to access the images from Windows 3.1, CD-I players, and Kodak Photo CD players. We also plan on adding Falcon support to future discs too. I'll be posting information here as soon as we are ready to ship the CD. Once you use Photo CD, nothing else compares. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 75 Sat Nov 21, 1992 GREG at 01:47 EST For anyone with an interest in Photo CD: Make sure you download STR846.LZH from the libraries here. There's lots of information about Photo CD and the Atari Falcon machine. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 76 Sat Nov 21, 1992 ST.REPORT [Ralph] at 05:18 EST That's file # 26598 STReport Issue # 8.46 :-) Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 77 Sat Nov 21, 1992 ST.LOU [Lou Rocha] at 11:20 EST And excellent information it is! The availability of PHOTO CD for our computers is one of the most exciting developments in months... ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 78 Mon Nov 23, 1992 W.JESSOP [WARREN PHOTO] at 23:08 EST Lou, Greg, and Fastenrat1, Can you tell me what this development portends for those of us who have 68030 upgrade systems? Will we need a Matrix or Crazy Dots Card in order to use the software written for the TT/Falcon? Any problems foreseen? Thanks, Warren ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 79 Tue Nov 24, 1992 POTECHIN [Nathan @ DMC] at 21:53 EST Best as I can determine, you need a Falcon and a TV. :-) Same probably goes for the TT. We now have a Calamus SL import driver for Kodak's Photo CD, not yet released but working perfectly. It was written by Color Concept. We used it on our TT but we were using a 24 bit Cybercube card. I never ran it without. I will test a few things in the office tomorrow and let you know. Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 80 Wed Nov 25, 1992 GREG at 00:17 EST If anyone wants a quick look at Photo CD, the new Hot Stuff II CD by Screen Artists has a set of Photo CD to Targa photos on it. The graphics are in 512 by 768 format in 16 million colors. The Hot Stuff II disc also has the same graphics in 256 color .GIF format for those who are running a ST or STe. They can be viewed with DMJ-GIF, available in the download section here on GEnie. After seeing one of these in 16 million colors you'll never be happy with less. W.JESSOP: Our Virtual BookMaker will port Photo CD to the format you select, when we release it. We are now shipping the Windows version for $25.00, postpaid. The Windows version does .PCX, .TIF in 16 million colors, postscript, .DIB, .BMP, .RIF. That's the beuty of Photo CD, the actual scan is stored at a resolution higher than most people can ever use. Ten years from now, hardware technology will catch up. For now, you create the format you can use today. An uncompressed .PCD image is 18 meg in size. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 81 Wed Nov 25, 1992 W.FASTENRAT1 [h] at 18:58 EST Hi! We will have color dithering for the 4-bit-screen of TT in our PCD- Software when we release it in december this year. 8-bit-graphics cards like Crazy Dots or so will work fine. Ask Nathan for release date and prize. regards Wolfgang F. Fastenrath Color Concept ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 82 Wed Nov 25, 1992 POTECHIN [Nathan @ DMC] at 19:35 EST That's release date and PRICE Wolfgang. :-) No prize for this gang. :-) Once the i's have all been dotted and the t's firmly crossed, I'll start the relevant topic over in Cat 16. Give me 4 weeks and start asking please. Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 83 Tue Dec 01, 1992 R.COBBLE1 [ROD] at 18:31 EST Where can I get, Kodak Photo CD info? Brochures, pricing etc... Rod ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 85 Wed Dec 02, 1992 GREG at 00:28 EST R.COBBLE: Call Kodak at (800) 242-2424 for information on Photo CD. Leave E-mail to GREG and I'll send some Atari info to you. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 86 Sat Dec 05, 1992 EXPLORER.5 [Robert Goff] at 17:21 EST Forgive me if this question has been asked before, but I'm confused. Just what _is_ the Kodak Photo CD system? Do you have to buy hardware or software, or just the CD? How do the photos get on the CD? Do you have to buy a special camera and hook it to a special CD deck? How do you display the photos? Can a regular CD deck hook up to a television, or do you have to buy some more hardware? Thanks for any light you can shed. |) | |)O|) Robert Goff ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 87 Sat Dec 05, 1992 ST.LOU [Lou Rocha] at 19:39 EST Bob, send me your real address in email and I will send you one of the neat little brochures on PHOTO CD that Nathan gave me. You have to see it to believe it. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 88 Sat Dec 05, 1992 EXPLORER.1 [ Ron ] at 23:33 EST Bob, Stop by most any camera store to see PhotoCD. Quality and resolution is excellent, even in 256 color VGA. The process involves taking your negatives to your film processor and asking to have them transfered to PhotoCD (about $15 for 24 photos). A few days later, you get a CD back with your digitized photographs. The CD can then be played on a video disk player capable of displaying PhotoCD format. Consumer players list in the $500 range but I have already seen them advertised for under $350. Ron @ Atari Explorer ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 89 Sun Dec 06, 1992 GREG at 00:05 EST I just got a brochure from Digital Zone that was done on a Mac using Photo CD technology. The output was then sent to a high end color printer for printing. The results were most impressive. This was the first example I have seen in print that was done on a Mac/PC machine. The brochure highlights a new Photo- CD they are doing featuring the works of Wolfgang Kaehler. I am looking forwrd to getting a print next week done with a new color printer driver for the HP 550C printer. If the results come through half as good as the Digital Zone brochure, I'll be most happy. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 90 Sun Dec 06, 1992 GREG at 00:52 EST EXPLORER.5 (Bob): Photo CD is a storage system for negatives or slides that are scanned by Kodak onto a CD rom disc. You can take either an undeveloped roll of film, loose negatives or slides into any of several thousand locations across the country and get them scanned onto a CD rom disc. Best Buy and a lot of corner drug stores are also doing the scanning now through Kodalux. After creating the disc, Photo CD can be many things: 1. The disc can be "played" on any Kodak CD rom player using your home television for viewing. 2. The disc can be put into any CD-I player and viewed. 3. The disc can be put into a XA capable CD rom player connected to a home computer or workstation. With options 1 and 2, the software for viewing is already in the machine or on the disc. With option 3, you will need software to access the data on the disc and convert it to a form viewable on your system. Software is currently available for the Mac and PC Windows environment. Software will be released in the coming months for viewing and editing on the Falcon. The photos can also be viewed on the ST and STe but suffer from the color and pixel resolutions of the machines (See FOUNTAIN.LZH in the libraries here). The graphics are still impressive. If you would like to see what true color looks like using the Photo CD process, the new Hot Stuff II CD by Screen Artists has examples of Photo CD converted to 16 million color Targa format. Even at 512 by 768 pixel resolution, the Targa or TIF files are still over 1 meg in size, and this is still only one fourth of the available resolution. If there's interest is a download this size, we can upload an example to the libraries here. A Photo-CD disc can travel across platforms as it uses what is called the 9660 standard for file storage. In fact there is a series of stock photos being released on a "rights-free" use basis that will include software for viewing on Photo-CD, CD-I, Mac, Windows 3.1, and Multimedia Windows right on the disc. Atari support for this series in also being planned but was held up due to lack of development hardware and a license snag. The BIG advantage of Photo CD is that your picture data is stored in a format better than most systems can currently use. In other words, the next generation of computers will be catching up with Photo CD technology rather than passing it up. The photos are stored at 3072 by 2048 pixels in 16 million colors. The actual uncompressed file size is over 18 megs per picture. Your software only chews enough off the disc to match the capabilities of your system. I hope this made Photo CD a little clearer for you. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 91 Sun Dec 06, 1992 EXPLORER.5 [Robert Goff] at 14:08 EST Thanks, Greg, that helps. A couple of questions: Yours and Ron's post indicates that Kodak has a special CD player to hook up to the television, for $300-$500. Is this a specialized, only-do-Kodak player, or will it do audio CDs and/or CD-ROM? What is an "XA capable CD rom player"? You said that the software for Atari isn't available yet. I thought that the Falcon was running the Photo CD Slideshow software at COMDEX? Thanks for the help! |) | |)O|) Robert Goff ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 92 Sun Dec 06, 1992 POTECHIN [Nathan @ DMC] at 14:21 EST Atari already has working software for the Kodak Photo CD technology. It is done and working and beautiful! ;-) It was shown at Comdex on a couple of Falcons AND on a TT. Greg, before you send Atari people off to view a Mac solution ;-), you need to see Calamus SL, using a 24 bit color card, on a decent monitor of your choice. The Kodak Photo CD import driver works beautifully! By the way, if you have Calamus SL, I have a brand new beta driver for the HP550C you might want to check out. Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 93 Sun Dec 06, 1992 M.JONES52 [Jonesy] at 15:11 EST Greg, Thanks, that sure helped. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 94 Sun Dec 06, 1992 GREG at 18:34 EST Nathan: I wasn't sending Atari people off to a Mac solution, I just stated that I saw the first use of full color Photo CD output in the brochure I received in the mail yesterday. If you would like to send me a copy of full color output from Calamus, I would be most happy to post my opinion of the output. I also wasn't aware that Photo CD for Calamus was now shipping. I hadn't seen information to that effect. Your going to sell a lot of both Calamus and Falcon after users see what it is capable of. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 95 Sun Dec 06, 1992 GREG at 18:40 EST EXPLORER.5: The Kodak player that hooks to your TV is for Photo CD only. It also will play audio CD's and will allow sound with Photo Cd pictures as soon as Kodak starts letting end users make use of the newst version of the technology. An XA capable CD rom reads a slightly larger sector size than a normal CD rom player. See the previous post from Nathan on Photo CD availability for the Atari. I wasn't aware that Calamus was now shipping Photo CD. My mistake. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 96 Sun Dec 06, 1992 EXPLORER.1 [ Ron ] at 19:21 EST Bob, Kodak's PhotoCD stores images in CD-ROM-XA multisession format. This means each image has its own header, or directory files. Most of the current CD ROM drives only recognize single session (single directory) formats. Images are stored in five 24 color formats with resolutions ranging from 192x128 "thumbnail", 768x512 "baseline television" to 3,072x2,048 "photo quality". The inital film to CD load is 24 images but up to 100 images can be placed on a single CD by returning the disk to the processor with more exposed film you wish to transfer to disk. Pioneer, Philips, Sony and Toshiba have all anounced plans to support the multi-session standards. Drives reported to be compatible now include Philips' Magnavox CDD461 and Sony's CDU 6205 and CDU 7211. Kodak can be reached at 1-800-242-2424 for more information. Ron @ Atari Explorer ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 97 Sun Dec 06, 1992 POTECHIN [Nathan @ DMC] at 22:20 EST :-) It isn't shipping yet. We are currently waiting on this tiny little technicality, a signed contract for us. It is expected shortly. I will be happy to send you off some samples though. Please leave me email with an address. Thanks. Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 98 Wed Dec 16, 1992 W.JESSOP [WARREN PHOTO] at 05:12 EST Aloha CD fans, I played with the Kodak Photo-CD player at my local camera shop today (impressive quality!), and have a few questions that I need answers to... 1) From recent posts here, I've gleaned that the Kodak player and a few players made by other manufacturers (all XA type) have a greater ability (in some way) than the CD players typically made for computers these days. What exactly does XA give us? More versatility in manipulation, or easier (quicker?) access due to better indexing? Or is it the ability to store changes made to the image (such as cropping, zooming, or panning?) [2) Can anyone describe what the available computer software allows one to do with the images? The Kodak player has a "frame" which gives one the ability to crop the image, but I figured that computer software might give us the ability to crop more selectively by varying the size and shape (length-width ratio) of the frame BEFORE we "tele" zoom or export it to our page design program. (Nathan, maybe you can tell us how the Calamus SL Photo-CD import module software works? Thanks to all! Warren ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 99 Wed Dec 16, 1992 POTECHIN [Nathan @ DMC] at 09:01 EST Warren ... The Calamus SL import driver simply allows us to import a Kodak Photo CD image in one of the file Kodak formats. Once in Calamus SL, we have an extra few hundred tools at our disposal to do with the image what we wish. :-) A standalone "toolbox" type program also for the Atari and Kodak Photo CD's will also hit the market probably in January. We will have ALL the appropriate tools for this great new technology, on our Atari, in a TIMELY FASHION!!! :-) (I like that) Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 100 Thu Dec 17, 1992 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 22:48 EST Warren ---> I belive that the XA (x-tended architecture) are faster than the current cheapie CD ROM drives that are around now. They can do >300K/sec instead of the normal 150K/sec. I think they do this by doubling the speed of the platter but they can also cope with the slow speed required for audio CD's. Also, new to the market, and best for photo CD, are multi-session drives. If you get 24 pictures developed onto photo CD and then decide to get another 24 put on the same CD at a later date, you will not be able to access the second batch unless you have a multi-session player. This has to do with the directory structure of the disc. For more info, try the Photography RT where there is a photo CD topic or two, as well as some very informative Kodak reps who can answer almost any question you may have about Photo CD. Nathan ----> There are a few people over in the Photo CD topic in Photography discussing it's potential for desktop publishing.... maybe you should head over there to enlighten the poor souls as to what is and isn't the State of the Art. ;') ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 101 Fri Dec 18, 1992 W.JESSOP [WARREN PHOTO] at 05:25 EST Nathan and Sam, Thank you for your quick and cogent replies to my questions...I guess with an E-mail handle like mine there's no excuse to stay away from the Photography RT, right? !! The reason I'm fired up about this technology is because it SHOULD finally give us photographers the ability to get our photos into DTP software without having to pay someone else to scan the image (except the Photo-CD scan, of course). I guess I'll need to talk with Nathan about that in the Calamus topic... For any of you photographers who haven't seen the demo of the Photo-CD yet, get on down to your local camera shop and check it out!! Aloha, Warren ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 102 Fri Dec 18, 1992 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 21:39 EST Warren, the main thing about the XA protocol is that when you take a Photo CD back to your developer to add an additional roll of pictures to the disk you will be able to find these new pictures. This is because each time you add additional pictures (up to the maximum) a complete new directory is set up for the new pictures. Older CD-ROM drives had great difficulty finding these additional pictures, some were unable to find the additions at all. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 103 Sat Dec 19, 1992 GREG at 00:35 EST Tom Z.: Quite a few Photo CD processors are not charging much more to copy all old pictures to a new disc and put new ones on it. On the multi-session issue, if you have to pay $200 more for an equivelent multisesion drive, you need to ask yourself "How many multisession discs do I plan on making?" At a $5 to $10 price differential, it can take a long time to get a payback on investment. I just got a Photo CD to HP 550c printout in the mail today from George Hamma that he did with Photo Edge software. It has to be the best color printout I've ever seen from an under $1,000 printer. I was disappointed that the 550c color ink is still not waterproof like their new blacks. I'll bring the printout to the ACE Saint Louis meeting on Wednesday, December 30, Thornhill Library, Saint Louis, MO. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. Calamus is supposed to be sending a Calamus color print also. If it comes in time, I'll bring it also. Black and white is sure looking boring. Does anyone know of a place that does cheap color copies? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 104 Sun Dec 20, 1992 ATARIAUSTRIA [J.Widi] at 04:59 EST Tom Z., even a XA-drive won't let You access these additional pictures. To be more specific, You need at least a drive with XA-support to look at a photo CD at all. To see the additional pictures You need 'multisession' capabilities as well. (All this and more I learned from the Photo CD topic in the Photographers RT - highly recommended) Greg, a multi-session drive may be more useful than You think. I had a talk with a KODAK guy the day before. He said that even when You process 100 pictures in one run there is still the possibility of a technical problem in the middle of the writing process. So You might end up with two sessions on Your disk even then. Besides, I cant imagine many users who don't want to look at their photos as soon as possible but save them to reach the magical '100' number before processing. My bet is, a large number of discs will end up as 'multisession' disks. -Johannes ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 105 Sun Dec 20, 1992 GREG at 23:34 EST J.Widi: It still takes a lot of discs at a couple dollars apiece to make up the difference. Unofficially, most processors are shippping all single session now. In practical use now, I've found that usually one roll or two are taken at a given event. Keeping each event on a single disc makes it easier to file, sort, and store the CD's. The same principal as not putting your pictures in the album until you can fill all pages. Most people don't do it like that. They make a wedding album, a party album, a Christmas album, rather than sticking everything in one big book. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 106 Mon Dec 21, 1992 EXPLORER.1 [] Ron [] at 00:46 EST Greg, Photo CD and a "family tree program" would be an interesting application. Ron @ Atari Explorer Magazine ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 107 Mon Dec 21, 1992 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 07:18 EST Greg, check with Wally at Flash Print over by the airport. They have a color copier and he is a member of ACE. This month's DTP SIG meeting will be at Flash Print at 7:00pm Monday 21 Dec. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 108 Wed Dec 23, 1992 GREG at 00:42 EST Tom: We will have a Falcon demo at the ACE Saint Louis meeting on Wednesday night, December 30, 7:00 p.m. at the Thornhill Library, Fee Fee Road, Saint Louis, MO. The meeting is open to the general public. This will be the first public showing of the Falcon in Saint Louis. Please pass the word along. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 109 Wed Dec 23, 1992 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 03:42 EST Ah, so the bird has arrived. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 110 Wed Dec 23, 1992 GREG at 23:43 EST Tom: Got a chance to see some Kodak Photo CD pics on a 27 inch color monitor today. The results were impressive. Could you bring your multi-sync to the meeting. Our SC1224 is a little dark. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 111 Thu Dec 24, 1992 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 07:55 EST >Could you bring your multi-sync to the meeting. Our SC1224 is a >little dark. I don't have a multisync. I have a Magnavox 1CM135 for color, basically the same as the SC1435. I'll bring it to the meeting. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 112 Sat Dec 26, 1992 GREG at 16:21 EST Tom: Thanks, bring the Magnavox. The digital sound on the Falcon is spectacular. The falcon has a couple demo programs on the disc and we'll see if we can come up with a Falcon demo before Wednesday to add to the collection. Should be a great meeting. Thornhill Library, Fee Fee Road, Saint Louis, 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 30. Open to the public. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 113 Wed Dec 30, 1992 J.SNYDER7 [Josh Snyder] at 20:33 EST Will my Atari CDAR 504 Read Photo CD? Josh @ Cali-Co. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 114 Fri Jan 01, 1993 EXPLORER.5 [Robert Goff] at 18:41 EST Probably not. The Photo CD is "multi-session," which means there may be more than one directory on it. I don't think the 504 is multi-session capable. |) | |)O|) Robert Goff ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 115 Fri Jan 01, 1993 GREG at 22:31 EST EXPLORER.5: Very few Photo CD's are actually multi-session. Most are single session. If your drive can read the extended sector size, you could be able to read a Photo CD disc. A simple test would be to go out and get a roll of film processed to Photo CD and stick the disc in the drive. If you can read the directory off the disc, you can use it with the proper software. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 116 Wed Jan 13, 1993 GREG at 00:26 EST We uploaded DUCK.LZH here this week. It is a Photo CD picture in Falcon XGA format, a raw picture data format in 16 bit color. You are looking at only a portion of what Photo CD is capable of. The picture can be enlarged by a factor of 64 without additional pixelation setting in. This would be a graphic 7+ screens wide and 8+ screens deep. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 117 Wed Jan 13, 1993 D.A.BRUMLEVE [kidprgs] at 01:42 EST Greg, how can we view this format? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 118 Thu Jan 14, 1993 GREG at 00:55 EST I'll E-mail you a player for the Falcon. No error trapping in it but you'll see graphics like you have never seen before! We were able to get most 16/24 bit color formats up and running on the falcon before we sent the machine back to Ron. They just need to be polished and error trapped yet. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 119 Thu Jan 14, 1993 D.A.BRUMLEVE [kidprgs] at 01:43 EST Thanks, Greg, that'll be great! ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 120 Thu Jan 14, 1993 POTECHIN [RT~Sysop] at 10:06 EST Can this file format only be viewed on a Falcon Greg? And can you also place the player in the library for the rest of us with access to a Falcon? I'd like to see this graphic. :-) Nathan ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 121 Thu Jan 14, 1993 D.A.BRUMLEVE [kidprgs] at 10:26 EST Nathan, if Greg has no objection, I will forward his player to you. Got that -- now I have to go get the duck! ;-) ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 122 Thu Jan 14, 1993 EXPLORER.1 [] Ron [] at 21:54 EST Greg's player works great! Everytime I see real Falcon030 video I get goosebumps ;-) He left some pretty neat AVR's on the computer when he returned it also. Ron @ Atari Explorer Magazine ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 123 Fri Jan 15, 1993 GREG at 00:03 EST We will post the Falcon viewers as soon as we can get them fully error trapped and tested. It was designed only as a utility to quickly load a Falcon screen from disk to screen memory for testing with some 16 bit color routines and Photo CD applications. As such, it currently is not up to our standards for program release. As sooon as we get a Falcon we can neaten it up for release. We are also working with DMJ software on a "vegamatic of viewers" for the Falcon. If anyone has seen what Damien can do with 16 colors already can anticipate what he is capable of on the Falcon. You can also epect to see a 50K sound editor in the near future too! ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 124 Fri Jan 15, 1993 DARLAH [RT~SYSOP] at 10:18 EST We apologize to those that downloaded DUCK.LZH. We have hidden the file due to the lack of a utility to view it. I realize the utility is now in beta but without our paying members having access to it, the file can't be out to be downloaded. We look forward to seeing a utility to view this file that will be distributed to the public. Until then we must leave the file hidden. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 125 Sat Jan 16, 1993 S.DANUSER [Soul Manager] at 01:53 EST Darlah - What format is DUCK.LZH in? Is it in a format those of us with Photochrome could load? If so, I'd like to be able to get ahold of it. Soul Manager ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 126 Sat Jan 16, 1993 POTECHIN [RT~Sysop] at 11:16 EST The DUCK.LZH uncompressed to XGA which is an extended VGA term. Nathan ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 127 Mon Jan 25, 1993 GREG at 23:52 EST Dr. Bob posted a b/w XGA file viewer as file #27441. I'll check it out tonight. Me and the duck are getting to be good friends as I've done him in just about every file format there is (TIF, TGA, BMP, GIF , SPC, PCX and more). We've also been busy doing some original Falcon pictures this week and should have quite a few ready to go as soon as the Falcon hits our shores. I'll also have a 16 bit color slide show program ready to go about 10 minutes after we get a Falcon again. We're also waiting for a couple discs from Best Buy and Kodalux. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 128 Thu Jan 28, 1993 GREG at 01:04 EST Tom Z. from Fenton printed out some IMG files done with Dr. Bob's converter and they looked great. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 129 Thu Jan 28, 1993 GREG at 01:06 EST If your taking pictures like crazy in anticipation of the release of the Falcon and Photo CD, stay away from real fast film. I saw some graphics done with 400 film last night and the film grain is very noticable in all but the lowest resolutions of Photo CD. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 130 Thu Jan 28, 1993 AEO.3 [Lyre] at 09:17 EST Greg, Since you mentioned that very fast film should be avoided when considering placement on a Photo CD, is it possible that the Ektar line of Kodak film might off-set the film grain? I'm asking because I have heard that the Ektar line is supposed to use a very fine grain. Allowing extreme blow-ups without a loss in picture quality. Assuming Kodak's advertisement wasn't retouched, I saw one example where a mountain-climber (about a 1/4") in one picture was blown up to regular picture size. It did not seem as though their was any real loss of detail at all. Just wondering. Lyre 9:04 am, January 28, 1993 ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 131 Thu Jan 28, 1993 J.HICKEY6 at 10:31 EST Sounds like the Photo CD captures all there is and then some if you can see the grain in 400 film. I'm impressed. Next advance would be to use a scanning electron microscope.(color of course) Jack ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 132 Thu Jan 28, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 23:21 EST Would the rather high contrast of the Ektar film be a detriment to quality on Photo CD, as viewed by Falcon? mike.k ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 133 Fri Jan 29, 1993 GREG at 00:29 EST The 400 film we were discussing concerning grain was 400 Gold. MIKE.KELLER: Haven't tried Ektar film. You may want to ask the question in the photography forum. There is a special area for Kodak that has a very active Photo CD thread and two online reps from Kodak for the harder questions. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 134 Fri Jan 29, 1993 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 19:10 EST Lyre, the film that Greg mentiond was 400 ASA Kodak Kodacolor Gold. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 135 Sun Jan 31, 1993 R.BROWN30 at 01:37 EST Relative to the grain and Ektar films issue: The slow speed Ektars tend to be contrasty for negative emulsions, as already mentioned, to the point of "erasing" blue skies for white while maintaining foreground detail. Any of the non-Ektar offerings in the 100 ISO range should be reasonably grainless, even at maximum photo CD resolution. For controlled lighting, however, even the contrasty Ektar 25 might be out of this world extraordinary. Color slide films, like Kodachrome, truly require high-end scanning for good image quality, but at the same time, these films will continue to defy even the current photo CD resolutions, and will sooner tell the story of poor lens quality than film grain. Also, please keep in mind that "grain" is still with us, even in the slickest of mainstream Madison Avenue advertising. Grain in itself is not a bad thing, and is in fact often sought after in advertising and other graphic circles. PhotoShop (on the Mac) even nods its concession to the grain issue with a "film grain" filter, allowing grain to be _added_ to an otherwise grainless scene. For certain Kodak films, like the black and white TMAX 3200 speed (TMZ) emulsion, the totally unique image rendering offered by the extreme speed comes with a unique grain structure that is actually quite pleasing if not artistic to the eye when appropriately utilized in photography. My question: has anyone heard if black and white scanning will be offered on the Kodak Photo CD. In that black and white images often look best scanned "in color", I'd be interested in this capability as well as the obvious color support. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 136 Sun Jan 31, 1993 GREG at 02:48 EST Concerning film type, Paul McAfee of Kodak has posted... If you are shooting the film now, I would recommend a fine grain color negative film. ISO 100, such as Ektar 100, is ideal. I have found that with ISO 200 film (Kodacolor Gold Plus 200), when I view my images on TV and use the ZOOM function, the grain becomes visible. By switching to Ektar 100, the grain is less apparent. If your TV has a 27 inch screen that is, say, 22 inches wide, when you use the 2X zoom feature, you are blowing your 35 mm negative or slide up to an effective 44 inch wide print! Most people never look at their pictures that big (the print would cost as much as a TV) . A P.S. On an Atari monitor the highest resolution PCD would be 84 inches wide if printed at the size of your monitor viewport. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 137 Sat Feb 06, 1993 GREG at 23:38 EST The following E-MAIL was sent to D.VICHA and ST-INFORMER concerning the Die Hard article in the January issue of ST-Informer.... Your Die Hard article in the January, 1993, issue of ST Informer contained some misinformation on the Kodak Photo CD technology. To use Kodak Photo CD on a PC does not require 8 meg of memory and a 38 meg swap file. Our Virtual BookMaker PC can view and convert Photo CD images to other formats while running with 4 meg of memory and a 4 meg swap file. In fact you can use the program on a 2 meg system running Windows 3.1. We have not seen the official Atari version of the Kodak Photo CD Developers Toolkit yet but anticipate that Photo CD will also be usable on a Falcon with similar memory requirements. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 138 Fri Feb 19, 1993 GREG at 22:49 EST TOM.Z: Did you ever upload the graphics to GEnie. I saw a message somewhere that you were going to but haven't seen them yet. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 139 Sat Feb 20, 1993 MUSE [Tomas] at 18:39 EST Hi folks, I'm in the middle of an arguement over on the Starship (Amiga) RT about whether or not Atari and Kodak have made some kind of professional arrangement regarding Photo CD. The statement has been made that if the Atari has Photo CD capibility that it MUST be an unlicensed hack based on the "legendary" level of piracy in Atari circles. I'm mad as Hell. These people are petitioning Kodak demanding that they release the tools necessary for Photo CD developement on the Amiga. I didn't start the thread and I certainly want to see them succeed in getting Photo CD support for the Amiga. I only want to find some documentation to support the notion that Kodak and Atari have an agreement on this subject. Can you help? ...Nathan? ...Bill Rehbock? Help! This is happening in CAT 5 TOP 24 Page 555 ===Tomas=== February 20, 1993 @ 3:12:58 pm PST ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 141 Sat Feb 20, 1993 W.PARKS3 [Dr. Bob] at 20:29 EST I haven't witnessed any larger degree of piracy among Atari users than I have seen among Amiga users. Bye: Dr. "thinking out loud" Bob ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 142 Sat Feb 20, 1993 GREG at 23:25 EST MUSE: Atari and Kodak are developing a Photo CD ToolKit for the Falcon. They have already shown Photo CD on the Falcon at some of the larger shows. Virtual BookMaker with Photo CD support is currently available for Windows and will also be available for the Falcon as soon as Atari puts the finishing touches on their end of the software. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 143 Sun Feb 21, 1993 MUSE [Tomas] at 03:00 EST Dr. Bob, That's just the point I tried to make, that piracy is _people_ not computers. GREG, Thanks for the information. ===Tomas=== February 20, 1993 @ 11:39:27 pm PST ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 144 Sun Feb 21, 1993 POTECHIN [Nathan] at 06:18 EST Sure ... I'll pop on over and invite them back here. ;-) Nathan ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 145 Sun Feb 21, 1993 EXPLORER.5 [Robert Goff] at 12:42 EST Weren't there Kodak reps _in_ the Atari booth at COMDEX while Nathan was demonstrating the Photo CD import module for Calamus? Tell the Amigoids to get real. Even if Kodak reps weren't there in person, Atari Corp. isn't going to condone "ripped off" development at a high-profile show like that. If you want quotes, get the transcript of Bob Brodie's RTC just after COMDEX -- I think it has some things in there about the development arrangement between Kodak and Atari. If I remember correctly, Kodak and ISD simply cooperated to produce the Calamus import module, and there isn't a "developer's kit" from Kodak yet. |) | |)O|) Robert Goff ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 146 Sun Feb 21, 1993 POTECHIN [Nathan] at 16:49 EST Atari themselves have commissioned the Atari version of the Kodak Developers Kit. As he is one of the original Calamus crew, we had no problem getting a perfectly working Calamus SL import driver in all 5 Kodak Photo CD resolutions. In fact, an entire Atari version of the Toolbox is now done and the manual is being written. The only delay is at Atari's end formalizing the Kodak royalties and the like. I went over to Starship and straightened them out. :-) Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 147 Sun Feb 21, 1993 AEO.3 [Lyre] at 18:58 EST Thomas, Maybe the following RTC information sent to me might be of some help to you. From: PHOTOBASE2 John D. Crane Sub: Kodak CD Conference Ever wonder what PhotoCD is all about? We all know that it's Kodak's hottest new technology, but most of us know little about how it works and what it takes to use it. Today we're writing you to let you know that we've made special arrangements in conjunction with Kodak for a very special Photo & Video Roundtable Conference this coming Thursday, February 25th at 10:30PM Eastern/7:30PM Pacific in our own conference area. Joining us that evening from Kodak's Information Center in Rochester, NY will be Joel White and Paul Wisotzke Kodak Electronic Imaging Specialists and from Kodak-Canada Shane Brady. They'll be here to answer all your questions about Photo CD such as CD drive compatability, where you can have Photo CDs made, will they fit your "prepress" needs and other issues like image quality. Plan now to be in the Photo & Video Conference area(page 660;2) on February 25th at 7:30PM Eastern. PHOTOBASE2 Since I just happened to get this letter at the same time as you asked the question, I thought I would post it here in case anyone is interested. Lyre ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 148 Sun Feb 21, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 20:37 EST Could Kodak be holding back from the Amiga because of Commodore's involvement with CD-I? I have no idea if the two are related, but if C= is involved with something potentially competitive, why should Kodak assist? mike.k ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 149 Sun Feb 21, 1993 GREG at 22:47 EST MIKE.KELLER: Kodak Photo CD does work with CD-I players. In fact the software to use Photo CD with CD-I is included on every disc that you get back from the photo processor. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 150 Mon Feb 22, 1993 STEVE-J [FunkPopARoll] at 02:16 EST MUSE - According to Atari, an agreement was signed w/ Kodak at last November's Comdex. Sounds like there's A LOT of idiots over there. Actually, it sounds like they're beligerantly jealous! ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 151 Mon Feb 22, 1993 MUSE [Tomas] at 03:38 EST Robert, Nathan and Lyre: Thank you all for your help. Nathan, Watch your step over in the Starship, they might ask you to port Calamus to the Amiga! ===Tomas=== February 21, 1993 @ 11:30:36 pm PST ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 152 Mon Feb 22, 1993 POTECHIN [Nathan] at 09:55 EST They've been asking for years Tomas. :-) Nathan ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 153 Tue Feb 23, 1993 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 00:34 EST I haven't uploaded any of the pictures yet. I had placed a message over in the Photo-CD Roundtable offering to upload the GIF of the cat on the rug but no one replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tomas, maybe this message from the Photo-CD topic on the Photo Roundtable will be of assistance: >Photography RoundTable >Category 18, Topic 23 >Message 256 Mon Feb 22, 1993 >B.REHBOCK at 02:32 EST > >Atari is scheduled to begin shipping it PhotoCD Developer kit for TOS >right after CeBIT in Germany (March 23-30). We will also be shipping >a low-cost PhotoCD application ourselves which will allow users to >view their PCD's at various resolutions, rotate, crop, and save out >sections in TIF, and TGA formats. It also allows the user to >"playback" Portfolio PhotoCD's such as "From Alice to Ocean" and other >PCD's with a PLAYLIST file. Portfolio PhotoCD's are correctly >navigated using the numeric keypad or by selecting the "hot-spots" >with the mouse. > >-Bill Rehbock, Atari Corp. > >---------- ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 154 Tue Feb 23, 1993 MUSE [Tomas] at 03:06 EST Tom Z., Oooh, good ammo! Take that you A ME GUNS! Hey, wait a minute, I'm an Amigan too. I'd better be more polite to myself. What I, personally, am going to need is a CD solution I can switch between different CPUs, whatever they may be. I guess I'd better head over to the Photo RT. ===Tomas=== February 22, 1993 @ 11:39:46 pm PST ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 155 Wed Mar 03, 1993 GREG at 00:13 EST We will be doing a demo of DBXGA at the A.C.E. Saint Louis meeting, Wednesday, March 3, 7:00 p.m. at the Thornhill Library, Fee Fee Road, Saint Louis. Here's your chance to see examples of Kodak Photo CD in glorious black and white using a monochrome monitor hooked to a stock ST. We've also did some printouts of the Photo CD examples on the cover of the November/December Atari Explorer magazine using Seurat by SKWARE ONE Software on a DeskJet 500. We will have the examples for viewing. If you can't make it to the meeting, we will be uploading four of the examples of Kodak Photo CD on the cover of the November/December Atari Explorer to the Libraries here. The files are in Falcon 16 bit color format and can be converted to IMG format on a stock ST using DBXGA by Dr. Bob, a super utility. On the examples we are uploading from the Atari Explorer cover, DBXGA converts best with brightness set somewhere between 150 and 200. Within the next week, we hope to have a Falcon true-color viewer available for downloading on GEnie. It's All Relative ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 156 Thu Mar 04, 1993 W.JESSOP [WARREN PHOTO] at 05:17 EST Greg, Will your true-color viewer work on '030 upgrade equipped machines? Even though I only have 16 colors in 1024 x 768 mode (ISAC board), would I at least be able to see the image in hi-res, rough 16-color mode? Thanks, Warren ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 157 Thu Mar 04, 1993 GREG at 22:26 EST W.JESSOP: The viewer I will be uploading is Falcon only, but I'm sure that our Virtual BookMaker will support all machines down to the stock ST. If you SEARCH keyword GREG in the databases, you will be able to find some conversions we have done from true-color to .SPC and PI1 formats. Some of the SPC pictures are surprisingly good. The DBXGA program by Dr. Bob does a nice job of monochrome conversions from 16 bit color. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 158 Mon Mar 15, 1993 GREG at 20:22 EST Had a chance to print a photo on a HP LaserJet 4 yesterday. Wow, I am impressed. Anyone want to buy a HP DeskJet 500? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 159 Fri Mar 26, 1993 OAWALKER [OPA] at 02:19 EST Greg-I am interested in the two versions ofyour programs(PC&ATARI). Please forward ordering info to E-MAIL (OAWALKER). Thanks. I have BTW, a fine Player made by TEXEL which is fast, MUlti Session etc. and XA. Am very anxious to try it out on the STe using the drivers from ICD. Cheers from OPA. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 160 Fri Mar 26, 1993 OAWALKER [OPA] at 23:53 EST Greg-Also interested in a Photo-CD driver to read CD's with the above named Player. Do you have a source for that?-Thanks-OPA ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 161 Sat Mar 27, 1993 GREG at 00:31 EST OAWALKER: I'll E-mail info on the PC version of Virtual BookMaker. The Atari version is not yet ready. I will send info to you as soon as we have it done. It's All Relative ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 162 Mon Mar 29, 1993 S.KALEITA [SAK] at 08:43 EST Greg, send some of that E-MAIL to me too. SAK :) ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 163 Sat Apr 10, 1993 GREG at 01:57 EDT In case anyone missed the RTC with Bill Rehbock on April 7... <[John] JKUEHN> Bill, What is new on the Kodak Photo CD front? And who are the current players/developers doing PCD? PCD Developer material is ready to go. <[John] JKUEHN> The PCD Toolkit is done? The cost of the development kit is $700 (same as the Kodak kits) and we are taking orders as of today. The kit comes with Pure C, GCC, bindings and Lattice bindings are being reved and will be ready in about a week. <[John] JKUEHN> ST or Falcon or both? It will work for all TOS Systems. BTW, I do want to mention on the animation front that Meridian from Lexicor is looking really good and should give users a lot of flexibility ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 164 Thu May 06, 1993 GREG at 02:09 EDT You can get a Photo CD made from a roll of film at any photo processor that uses Kodalux. Just tell them you want the film developed to Photo CD. Even if your drug store or super market help doesn't know what your talking about, if they mark the envelope PHOTO CD you will get a disc back in 7 to 14 days. We had a user get a roll done at Walmart like this last week. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 165 Fri May 07, 1993 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 20:59 EDT K-Mart here in the local area (St. Louis) offers Kodalux processing including Photo-CD. I am currently having a second roll of film added to a first by Kodalux going through K-Mart. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 166 Sat May 08, 1993 E.WINDELL [GENE] at 14:01 EDT Tom Z., What kind of CD-ROM player are you using to display Kodak Photo CD. Most available units can display single session, but only the newer ones can display multi-sesson (the subsequent batches of images placed on the disc). Also, can you select individual negatives to be imaged onto the disc - or do you have to have the whole roll of film entered onto the disc. The only difference between a good photographer and a bad photographer is: a good photographer doesn't show anyone his lousey pictures. ;^). Gene ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 167 Sat May 08, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 16:27 EDT Gene, >... The only >difference between a good photographer and a bad photographer is: a good >photographer doesn't show anyone his lousey pictures. ;^). So true and a useful feature for this system. Is it available? Last I heard no but it may have changed by now. Brian ... Written on Saturday 08 May 1993 at 04:31 p.m. ADT ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 168 Sun May 09, 1993 T.ZENTHOEFE1 [Tom Z.] at 08:16 EDT Gene, You'll have to aske Greg about the CD-ROM drive itself. From what I understand, you can take individual slides and negative strips to be placed on the CD. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 169 Sun May 23, 1993 GREG at 03:12 EDT We now have a Virtual BookMaker Falcon demo program ready to go. The demo consists of 19 true-color images and a slideshow program to view them with. The slideshow has background digitized sound. It can be run from any Falcon resolution with or without Multi-Tos and uncompresses to 8 meg of digitized sound and graphics data. The demo runs on anything but a SM124 monochrome monitor. It maintains aspect ratios for all three color outputs, broadcast TV, Atari monitor, or VGA monitor that supports Atari true-color modes. The demo is available for $5.00, postpaid, from Randall Kopchak, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant, MO 63031. If you are an Atari dealer or user group president, leave E-mail to GREG on GEnie with your name and address. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 170 Sat Jun 12, 1993 GREG at 00:40 EDT Does anyone have a CD rom drive connected to a Falcon yet? If you do, what drive are you using? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 171 Thu Jun 17, 1993 GREG at 00:28 EDT Photo CD on the Falcon is no longer vaporware. It is real, alive and doing well. We will be ready to ship in the next two weeks. Just spent the last hour viewing Photo CD graphics on a 27 inch TV in true color using the Falcon. The photos look so much better on the screen than they do as prints ( and who can afford 27 inch prints?). It's All Relative Software ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 172 Thu Jun 17, 1993 K.HOUSER [Kevin MQ Def] at 02:01 EDT You can get poster size prints for about $6 to $12 each from some places that I've forgotten the name of. :) --Kevin ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 173 Fri Jun 18, 1993 EXPLORER.1 [] Ron [] at 22:52 EDT Sounds fantastic Greg! How's the PhotoCD video on the Falcon compare to the PC? What were the price and order details again? -- Ron ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 174 Sat Jun 19, 1993 GREG at 00:52 EDT EXPLORER.1: The big advantage the Falcon has over the PC is that you can direct your video output to a broadcast TV or VCR. I've optimized output for each of the valid monitors. In order of my preference, I rank it Large screen broadcast TV, VGA monitor, Atari SC1224. This is my humble opinion only. I'll have information on pricing and availability early next week. K.HOUSER: Could you post information on the poster size print here. Sounds too good to be true. I haven't been able to find a price for poster prints anywhere near the price you posted. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 175 Sat Jun 19, 1993 K.HOUSER [Kevin MQ Def] at 02:28 EDT Greg, I'd have to look it up since I didn't really 'care' when I saw some info on poster size prints. I'll talk to some of my photographer buddies and see if they recall it. :) --Kevin ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 176 Sat Jun 19, 1993 GREG at 14:55 EDT Dr. Bob got his .TIF module out just in time. The Photo CD Sampler program we are releasing will support export to .TIF format in 24 bit color along with export to XGA in 16 bit format. For Virtual BookMaker PC users: In conjunction with our Falcon release we have made a few changes to the PC Windows version to increase speed. Leave E-mail to GREG on GEnie and I will E- mail an update to you. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 177 Mon Jun 21, 1993 W.PARKS3 [Dr. Bob] at 19:49 EDT Greg, Sorry if I was misleading in the 'short' description of MVGTIFF but the two modules handle only class-B TIFs. That's "B" for Bi-level. I had planned for COCAT to support the same bi-level TIFs but left that format for a later date. Maybe we can talk GEmail on this though? Maybe we can work something out. Bye: Dr. Bob ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 178 Tue Jun 22, 1993 GREG at 02:50 EDT Dr. Bob: I'll get a Falcon Photo CD version of a TIF out to you this week. Been busy playing with a NEC-38 MultiSpin CD rom drive on the Falcon. The MultiTos XSF driver has been very stable and can read both Photo CD XA format and standard CD rom 9660 format. The speed has been a real surprise. The Falcon and NEC put the PC and my Sony drive to shame. Been watching slide shows all night using our soon to be released "Photo Show" software. We have been thrilled with the results we have obtained with it. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 179 Wed Jun 23, 1993 GREG at 23:08 EDT Kelly Webb of SKware One Software will be showing our Photo Show at the KC show this weekend. Stop by and say hello. Pick up a copy of Seurat while your there too! He will have a NEC 38 running on the Falcon. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 180 Wed Jun 23, 1993 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 23:47 EDT Greg, Could you Email me more info on your products? Now that I have this Falcon thing, I need some good software! Or is there a "relative" topic somewhere? ----------> Sam ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 181 Thu Jun 24, 1993 GREG at 23:36 EDT SAM-RAPP I'll get a flyer out to you tomorrow. If you are going to the KC show, SKware One Software will have flyers and the program running with a NEC 38 CD rom attached to the Falcon. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 182 Sat Jul 03, 1993 GREG at 13:54 EDT Did anyone see the Photo Show demo at the KC show last weekend? ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 183 Sat Jul 03, 1993 EXPLORER.1 [] Ron [] at 18:35 EDT I saw the Photo Show demo at KC last weekend Greg, Kelly Webb had it running with all his stuff. It was amazing to see the Falcon directly reading PhotoCD's on the NEC MultiSpin. I noticed quite a few people stop to take a look. Many people were amazied how good everything looks even on the standard Atari color monitor. -- Ron ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 184 Sat Jul 03, 1993 A.STUDER1 [Andrew] at 23:59 EDT GEM-View also shows GIFs in astounding color on the Falcon as well (great resolutions). The GIFs on my Falcon are the exact same quality as displayed on my 486/33 VL-bus 24bit graphics card. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 185 Sun Jul 04, 1993 GREG at 14:31 EDT A.STUDER1: After seeing true-color on the Falcon, it's aweful hard to drop back to the 256 colors available in a GIF file. GEM-View also does a nice job displaying 24-bit TIF true-color images. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 186 Fri Jul 09, 1993 GREG at 01:35 EDT In response to many requests, we have made a change in the exports module of Photo Show so it will be able to run on any Atari system with a Cd rom drive that can read Photo CD format. You will be able to convert to TIF, XGA, EPS, and more in true-color format while running a 1 meg ST with a moniochrome monitor. We've made some great printouts from the EPS format and the TIF format will allow you to cross platforms to either the Mac or PC with your image. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 187 Fri Jul 09, 1993 POTECHIN [Nathan] at 08:40 EDT That's great news Greg, congratulations. Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 188 Mon Jul 12, 1993 S.BLACKBURN [STEVE] at 22:37 EDT Re: Importing images from Kodaks Photo CD system Are there any sample files of photographs taken from the CD in the library here? I would like to import some and see what they look like. How do they print? (I have an SLM 605) Would higher rez output be necessary to reproduce these images? Is there a way to add a screen to one of these pictures so that you could sidestep having to have Stats created. Am I dreamin.... Steve Blackburn ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 189 Tue Jul 13, 1993 DMJ [dmj] at 00:08 EDT Steve: I'm sure GREG will tell us where the sample images are... I'm pretty sure he uploaded a few Spectrum pics a while back, converted from Photo CD. I've seen lots of 'em, and they look really good. They look even better when displayed in a higher resolution, like 640x480x65536. Displayed like that, the quality is simply stunning. As for how they print, that depends very much on the software you use to print them. The image is really nothing more than a high-resolution true color image, albeit stored in a custom format. At 300dpi, the highest-resolution PhotoCD image is 10"x6.8". Once dithering (or rather, halftoning) is applied, you can't really appreciate on printout how high the resolution really is. On a 1270dpi output, though, it's another story... - Is there a way to add a screen to one of these pictures... What type of "screen" did you have in mind? -dmj ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 190 Tue Jul 13, 1993 GREG at 20:48 EDT S.BLACKBURN: If you browse XGA in the files library, you'll come up with some Falcon true- color images, a utility from Dr. Bob for IMG conversions, and a couple of utilities from SKware One to use with the images. I'll put up a TIF and EPS file this weekend too. To keep the downloads small, keep in mind that the images we posted here are only at 1/64 the available resolution of Photo CD. A full uncompressed image is over 18 meg in size. Do you have an Atari dealer near you? If you do, leave me E-mail with their name and address. ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 191 Thu Jul 15, 1993 S.BLACKBURN [STEVE] at 02:58 EDT >DMJ [dmj] at 00:08 EDT >GREG at 20:48 EDT> > - Is there a way to add a screen to one of these pictures... > >What type of "screen" did you have in mind? > > -dmj My whole reason for using something like the Photo CD is to put images that I take (I'm a photographer) and print them from Calamus and take them to a printer for reproduction. I'm trying to avoid having regular prints made, having them sized, then made into "Stats" that would reproduce on an offset printer. If I could take the film ( negative or positive ) and have a printable file made from it I could save a lot of time and money inserting photographs in my DTP work. As far as I know, you need a dot pattern (from a screen tint) placed in the picture for it to be reproduced properly. Is something like this going to be posible with the PHoto CD? ---------- ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 192 Thu Jul 15, 1993 DMJ [dmj] at 20:07 EDT Steve: You're talking about a halftone screen, then. Since a Photo CD file is basically just another picture format (albeit a new one) all you would need would be a Photo CD import driver for Calamus. _Calamus_ would then take care of the appropriate halftoning when the image is printed. -dmj ------------ Category 7, Topic 9 Message 193 Fri Jul 16, 1993 DMJ [dmj] at 01:20 EDT Hmmm. It has just been pointed out to me that the Photo CD import driver will only be available for Calamus SL. I knew that, just forgot to say "SL". Foot- in-mouth disease strikes again... -dmj ------------