[rescue] next dimension cube

[Joshua D Boyd]

On Wed, Apr 24, 2002 at 07:16:03AM -0500, Randy Bowie wrote:

> The "9-pin" connectors are SVHS in and out. The other connectors are NTSC
> video.   The NeXT Dimension can capture and play(create) video.   It acts
> like a video overlay card.  At one point there was some software for frame
> accurate VCR's ( beautiful black video toaster ).

The jpeg chip on the dimension board is really awefull.  If they had just 
delayed release 6 months, they could have used a replacement chip that 
wasn't roken, but the board was already horribly delayed to begin with, so
they couldn't afford to wait.

The short of it is that the jpeg chip can't perform at a decent level for
doing anything more than quarter frame work.  So, don't get your hopes up
too high.

However, with a frame acurate VCR (available on ebay for prices that aren't
too similar to highway robbery), you can circumvent the jpeg chip altogether,
in exchange for non-realtime captures.  And if you can't find the software
for it, well, RS-422 VCR control is pretty much standard, so writing your
own should be pretty easy.

But, editing isn't going to be real time either.  Maybe you want to
use it lay off animation from PRMan, buit BMRT on a linux machine is
still faster, and such an old version of PRMan is unlikely to have the
features that BMRT is missing.

As to the proper VCR, something like:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1347465432 (a SANYO
GVR-S955 with the opitonal single frame controller) or
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1348243819 (a Sony EVO 
9650).  There are other sonys that would do the trick also.

If it were me, I'd probably go for it, be we all know I'm insane like that.

> The NeXTDimension was a lot of fun to play with.  

Oh yeah.

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd