This year's MEMS show at Olympia was a surprisingly low‑key affair, with not a lot happening in the way of new products for the PC‑based musician. There were also a couple of surprise 'missing persons' — neither Akai or Yamaha had a stand. I find the latter's non‑representation particularly surprising, since they are reportedly bringing out some interesting new PC products in the near future.
A few things did catch my eye, however. For instance, the new pickup for the Lyrrus G‑Vox was on show at the Koch Media stand. I've mentioned the G‑Vox in these pages before — it's a guitar based pitch‑to‑MIDI system that connects directly to the PC's (or Mac's) serial port. The Windows version comes with driver software that does some clever processing to virtually eliminate the conversion delay common in guitar‑to‑MIDI systems — at the cost of some of the aural feedback that you get from a performance‑based system.
The new pickup is an improvement on the old one — it fits under the strings, rather than over, as on the previous version. The one I've got is a prototype, and is affixed to the guitar using small suction cups, though I believe that there will be a way to permanently attach the pickup if required. Koch were also showing the Windows version of the Riffs and Chords software that allows you to use the G‑Vox as an interactive tuition system for learning or improving your guitar playing. Koch can be contacted on 01252 714340.
Another product that caught my eye was the modestly‑titled Best Drum Sample CD Ever (reviewed briefly in the Sample Shop column of October '94's SOS — Ed), which comes with a floppy disk containing MIDI versions of all the loops and samples on the disk. Apart from the loops, the CD has all the individual sounds used, both as plain audio and Akai sampler data, which can be loaded via the digital I/O. The CD is distributed by Newtronic (0181 691 1087), who are also doing a number of Windows voice editors for Korg (05R/W, 01(R)/W, X3 and i1/i2) and Roland (JV80/100/1000). The editors cost between £70 and £90, and the CD is just under £50.
Images Of You...
The audio side of the PC is pretty well catered for these days, with a lot of choice available, both in terms of quality and price. However, as the power of the PC increases, more and more people are looking to it to handle video manipulation. There are a number of different ways you can use the PC in the video domain — for example, to control external devices such as VTR machines, effectively replacing the traditional edit controller. At the other end of the spectrum (or controller cable), the PC can perform the actual editing, by digitising the images onto your hard disk, and then using non‑linear editor software like Adobe Premiere.
How the PC is used for video rather depends on what the end product is going to be. For example, the last of the above options is ideal for producing digital video for inclusion in presentations, but you can't get the quality required for broadcast (or even low‑band) applications. So, if your video is going to end up on someone's TV, you have to stick to traditional methods, but if your images are destined for a computer screen somewhere, it's worth looking at a digital editing system.
Creative Labs RT300
The first thing to do is get the video onto your hard disk. The RT300 VideoBlaster from Creative Labs is the latest incarnation of the VideoBlaster, and is designed to capture live video (say from a VCR or camcorder) and store it on your PC's hard disk. The package consists of a full‑length ISA bus card, Adobe Premiere video capture and editing software, Asymetrix Presentation PE and the Video For Windows 1.1 Runtime software.
Unlike the original VideoBlaster, the RT300 is a dedicated capture card — it has no role in the playback process at all. Its sole purpose is to capture moving images from one of its three video inputs, and store the resulting data as an AVI file on your hard disk. Also, it has no sound capabilities, so if you want to capture a video soundtrack, you'll need a soundcard of some sort.
The RT300 incorporates hardware video compression technology from Intel, so you can digitise your moving video images, compress them in real‑time, and then save the video onto your hard disk as a single process. The card uses a hardware implementation of the Indeo compression system, based around an Intel i750 processor. This gives a compression ratio of 6:1, and can handle frame sizes up to 320 x 240, and frame rates up to 30 fps (frames per second).
Physically, the card is pretty self‑contained, with all inputs on the card's backing plate, three composite video inputs (RCA cinch or phono plugs) and a S‑Video signal (mini‑DIN socket) to give improved image quality when used with Hi8 camcorders and Super VHS VCRs. The first composite video input is actually doubled up with the S‑Video input, and you can only have one of these inputs connected to an external video signal — ie. S‑Video or composite input, not both — so the card can play no part in the mixing process.
Making Movies
The RT300 comes with Video for Windows drivers that should let you use the card with any compatible capture software. The drivers are installed by a stand‑alone setup program, so you don't have to mess about with the drivers icon in the Windows Control Panel. The card is also supplied with a runtime version of Video For Windows version 1.1, complete with the Indeo 3.2 drivers. The bundled capture application can be run by itself or from within the supplied video editor software. You can select the frame size, frame rate and compression ratio, and choose between a number of capture methods, including normal video, single frame, step and timed capture. AdobeCap will also allow you to remotely control a VCR attached to your PC, if you have an appropriate MCI device controller installed. If you have a soundcard in your PC, you can also save audio along with the video clip.
To glue your captured video images together, the RT300 is bundled with Adobe Premiere version 1.1, which consists of a capture program (AdobeCap) and a video editing application (Premiere). The inclusion of Premiere is what really makes the RT300 into a complete video production system. Using the editing software provides a simple way to splice together your captured video clips along with bitmap graphic files and even Autodesk animation files, so you can get a pretty decent‑looking video. The software is capable of some quite advanced editing techniques, such as image superimposition and special graphic effects, and there are also three audio tracks, so that you can 'dub' sound to the edited video, with graphically controllable fades and cropping tools.
Getting It Taped
Premiere can save the edited video in AVI or Apple Quicktime movie formats, Photoshop 'filmstrip' format or (if you have suitable hardware and a powerful PC) print direct to a video tape machine. One way of doing this is to use another Creative Labs product — the TVCoder External. This is a compact peripheral that fits between the output of the computer's video card and the external VDU. The module has outputs for composite video, RGB and S‑Video, as well as a pass‑through for the computer's VGA/SVGA display. The TVCoder is switchable between PAL and NTSC standards, and has adjustments for signal colour, contrast and brightness, as well as a 75Ω termination switch to correctly terminate the VGA output when a computer monitor is not being used.
Two drivers are supplied, one for NTSC and the other for PAL systems, and the relevant one needs to be loaded to get any kind of display on your external TV. As the driver can be loaded from from the DOS prompt, it is easy to load it only when needed, which conserves memory — or you could add it to your autoexec.bat file if you want to have it available at all times. There is also a DOS program and a Windows application that allows you to size and position the display on the video monitor.
The TVCoder has other uses as well — for example, you can use it to drive a TV with a video input, which is probably going to be cheaper than a large‑format computer or video monitor for demonstration or teaching purposes.
The TVCoder's RRP is around £150 and the RT300 VideoBlaster is £299, but you should be able to get them cheaper if you shop around. To find out more about these two products, contact Creative Labs sales on 01734 344744.
Samplevision For Windows
One thing that the PC really lacks is a generic sample editing program for use with professional music samplers. Turtle Beach had a GEM‑based product called SampleVision which supported a number of well‑known samplers, and which incidentally looked a great deal like their Wave for Windows product. This has led to a certain amount of speculation as to whether SampleVision would be updated to run with Windows and the samplers that have come onto the market since the program's original release over seven years ago.
Well, Turtle Beach have finally announced a new version, SampleVision for Windows. According to the press release, it will directly support the Akai S1000, S900 and S950, and the Ensoniq EPS and ASR10, as well as the Turtle Beach soundcards and any sampler that understands the MIDI Sample Dump Standard (SDS). The software will also allow you to transfer sample data using SCSI as well as via the more common (but slower) MIDI protocol. New drivers are under development for the Casio FX1, Ensoniq Mirage, Emu Emax/Emax II and Korg DSM1/DSS1. The press release goes on to say that the full package will cost $249, and that existing SampleVision users can upgrade for $129. To find out more, contact Turtle Beach on 001 717 767 0200 — or try calling Mark Ballogh at Et Cetera, on 01706 228039, as they handle the rest of the Turtle Beach product line in the UK.