Old Framestore Conversion Help

W

wmcole

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It is time to retire the old Amiga Toaster 2000 / AmiLink A/B roll linear system. It is networked to the PC systems and I can move all the old Toaster project files I built up with framestores and Amiga Lightwave files. The one fly in the ointment is that I don't have a way to get Framestores into PC useable picture formats unless I use AdPro on the Amiga to convert them all to TIFFs (assuming I still remember how to do that, and that AdPro will still run...)

I also have some old Amiga Lightwave files that use Framestores for backgrounds. The PC LW 8.5 seems to load and with a little futzing, hook up to all the object, image, and textures etc. EXCEPT if they are framestores.

QUESTION: is there an up-to-date (i.e. Win XP compatible) utility to convert framestores to PC-readable picture file (TIFF, JPG, etc.)?

NOTE: I have only tried loading framestores in their native filename formats (e.g. "001.FS.somename").

ALSO NOTE: I Mirage 1.5 the framestores load, but they have that solarized look we used to see when that pallete switching format came along to deal with the limited number of colors in ILBM files. (Can't remember what they were called, but the framestore in Mirage looks like when advanced amiga format was loaded into DPaint.)
 
Why don't you just load up the Framestores in the Amiga and play them into the VT via Y/C or composite (whichever you have) ?

Grab a still of each one and you're done.
 
wmcole said:
It is time to retire the old Amiga Toaster 2000 / AmiLink A/B roll linear system.
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Ahh, the good old days. Back in the day I wrote an offline editor in AmigaVision that exported EDLs to Amilink to edit.

I use AdPro on the Amiga to convert them all to TIFFs (assuming I still remember how to do that, and that AdPro will still run...)
Click to expand...

That's the suggestion that popped to mind when I saw the subject of the thread, and I think your best bet. If you have FREd with AdPro it would be quick and easy to set up a batch process for the lot of them.

Converting is easy, just load it with the filetype as universal, and save as file type TIFF or JPEG with high quality, so it uses lossless compression.
 
Thinking way back if I remember correctly, if you don't have AdPro (and this is a very slow way to do it) you can open each framestore in Toasterpaint and save it from there as an IFF, which can then be opened in Photoshop.
 
Iff

in the Photoshop installation disc, there is a folder named "goodies/optional plugins/other formats"

in there are optional plugins for other files including IFF files
this is on all photoshop 7 - CS2 discs.
When this is installed to the correct folder in photo shop you can batch process the files to any format you want.
Pete
 
Wasn't there an Arexx script on the Toaster (one of the "?" ones I think) that coverted them to jpg or maybe BMP?

You might modify that one to take all the framestores in a project and convert them in a batch.

If you don't have an Amiga anymore, you might try the WinUAE Amiga emulator and run Adpro or ImageFX on that. I converted a BUNCH of audio files to WAV that way.
 
Actually, after I posted I found that I can import the FS directly into Avid. They have the HIIP loaders (essentially the Windows equivalent of the ADPro loaders from the same people - remember Avid bought AdPro company after they turned Morph Plus into Elastic Reality for the PC). They imported quickly and looked great. I'm set. Thanks for all the suggestions

I had forgottenabout FRed and I also have another program TRexx which I think can also generate an ARexx script to automate the conversion. But then I have to dust off my "Amiga smarts" which have faded considerably since I had to move the majority of my work to PC starting in '96.

wmc
 
Love this thread. Was just looking at my old Amilink card on a shelf the other day and wondering if it was time to ditch it yet. The Amiga has been gone several years now. Some how just couldn't pitch it yet.
Lew
 
Frames

I still have a working AMIGA 2000 with flyer. While I don't really use it, if I have some old flyer files to put in my VT3 it is great to have. I do just like to other person suggested and plug my Flyer into to VT3 and record. When it comes to Frames however I use my Avid Xpress DV program. It will import the Old Toaster frames directly from a disc and convert into many formats. While I no longer edit in the Avid Xpress DV I do use it as a file converter for my VT3 projects. It is also great for converting sound/music directly from a CD and then you can convert the sound to WAV for VT3 use, keeping the sound as original as possible. If you don't have the Avid Xpress DV program you might want to invest in one, they are really cheap now ($400-$500) and really makes a great convertion program for the VT3 or VT4.
 
VisionTecVideo said:
While I no longer edit in the Avid Xpress DV I do use it as a file converter for my VT3 projects.
Click to expand...

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Wow, I've look EVERYWHERE on the web and could not find anyone discussing how to convert Toaster Framestore files into something usable in the PC/Windows world. I greatly want to save all my old Framestores from the 90s and maybe use them in remastering old tapes. But I have NO Amiga and probably can't get one. You all have talked only in terms of something you can do with an Amiga. (I absolutely cannot afford to buy one anywhere near what the current prices of an Amiga 2000 are.) Does ANYONE here know of any PC software that can convert to some kind of image that can be used on a PC???
 
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