I’ve got my Amiga 1000 setup today with something special. This is the Frame Grabber from Progressive Peripherals and Software (PP&S) and it’s a video frame digitizer that connects to the Amiga over the parallel port. It can create images up to 640x480 in 4096 colors, which was a big deal in 1990.
It has a cool feature of toggling the monitor between the Amiga and a preview the camera in real time. It can do this because the monitor loops through it and since the Amiga is based on NTSC video, it all just passes through. Pressing C captures a frame and shows it on the Amiga. From there you can save it as an IFF file and process further with something like DPaint.
Here’s some pictures I digitized. I shot these originally on my phone and then used a centipede of adapters to get the phone’s HDMI video out to NTSC video. It’s easy to see the HAM artifacts. This is 320x400.
In 2013, I explored the greyscale version, called the Frame Grabber 256. I had to make a cable to supply the three needed voltages but it worked.
Last year, one of the creators of the Frame Grabber left a comment on the post that he wrote the software and the basic hardware architecture! What a surprise! He even sent me the original production prototype which looks identical to mine, except no serial number. It works too!
An 'emotional' #Twitch stream tonight from 8pm GMT - the final part of my playthrough of all the #Amiga Power mag coverdisks. Four commercial games to finish - let's drive some fast cars, break off for a relaxing cricket match and then get on our motorbike for another race (but not before, er, turning into a blue blob and jumping on platforms in outer space).
I actually forgot to post here about last week's #Norwich#Amiga Group meet which was really busy and a lot of fun - I'll post some more pics at a later date.
For now though here's a highlight - one of our members created their own box for their A1200! How cool is this? And far sturdier than any cardbox box it would have originally shipped in.
New #Amiga games eh? We seem to get some really exciting ones these days... no less so than the brand new Final Fight Enhanced! And how about some fun puzzling in Spheroid too?
Hello! At 8pm GMT, I'll be streaming on #Twitch playing through some of the final #Amiga Power magazine coverdisks (just seven left). Why not come and join us to see what we're faced with tonight and also join the friendly and relaxed community we have over there?
Next #Norwich#Amiga Group meet is on Tuesday 23rd January at Albion Games Cafe, 21 St Benedict's Street, Norwich, NR2 4PF from 17:00 - 21:30. It's free entry and all are welcome!
We'll have plenty of Amigas out to use and play with plus there will be an OctaMED demonstration and tutorial too!
I was due to mark my third #Twitch anniversary tonight with a mighty #Amiga request stream, but unfortunately last night I appear to have come down with what could be described as flu-like symptoms and it isn't pleasant. And sadly it is not conducive to a 4-5 hour stream, staring at a screen & talking constantly.
I've been lucky to have never missed a stream due to illness and it's frustrating it's happened tonight of all nights but I need to be sensible. I'll be back Tuesday!
@neffo@troed@dukope I also carry a torch for the #Amiga, having grown up in #Commodore's backyard in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and owned an #A500. But both the #Workbench 1.x and 2.x-onward default red mouse pointers were garish. probably deliberately so to contrast with the TV-friendly background colors.
My first #Twitch stream of 2024 is the second instalment of my look back at the #Amiga game releases of 2023. Many delights will be contained within but I may also have a new version of @nivrig's Rogue Declan to try out...
Come and have a look at https://twitch.tv/NAG_Graham from 8pm GMT - all welcome to join our friendly and laid-back stream and community.
Apologies for being quiet on here for a while - meet pics to follow over the weekend 🙂 so many platforms, so little time!
Anyway, the next #Norwich#Amiga Group meet is on Thursday 7th December at Albion Games Cafe. As always it's free entry and all welcome to attend! Lots of Amigas to check out, people to meet and possibly even a festive high-score competition...
Now starting to feel more human after yesterday's 15-hour #Twitch stream, playing mostly really terrible #Amiga games to raise money for Safe In Our World.
A huge thanks to all those who donated, watched, shared, supported etc - we've currently raised a huge £543.75 which is amazing work from everyone. It was incredible fun and really worthwhile thanks to you all.