SeqWin sparkles brighter

Lowrie Woolf Associates recently announced a major software upgrade for their SeqWin Multimedia package - and the good news is, it doesn't cost a penny more.

V2.1 of SeqWin now includes patch-catching support for Gravis Ultrasound cards plus improved wave editing and mixing functions such as a clipboard facility and merging of multiple wave samples. MCI events can now be selected down to a resolution of just 1msec (ideal for dealing with unwanted sample noises), and the new version also includes the latest updates to the MIDI Master Plus driver package such as the improved Serial MIDI driver which prevents the occurrence of stuck notes.

The price of SeqWin V2.1 remains at £129 inc VAT, and existing registered users get the upgrade free of charge.

For further information contact: LWA, (Contact Details).

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Kraftwerk EXPERIENCE

"UNDISPUTED FACT: Experience is going to house some of the biggest names in the music industry. We are staging the most comprehensive line-up of club-runners, DJs and bands in Europe to date. The event is being divided into seven different areas. The main arena will house some of the most sophisticated laser and lighting systems ever to be brought into this country. The surrounding village will incorporate six other colour-coded 'big tops' which will encompass the complete musical spectrum."

This statement of intent was culled from over five pages of information describing a mammoth event due to take place over the weekend of the 30th April/1st May at Lydd airport in Kent. The statistics for Experience make for impressive reading: a 20-acre village site, seven different stages, a main stage area of over 30,000 sg feet, an "international food hall" covering some 15,000 sq feet, a 50,000 crowd capacity and a 75,000 ticket availability. Er... phew. Already confirmed for the 'gig' are Kraftwerk (yes, Kraftwerk), The Prodigy, 808 State, The Grid and Test Department. Additionally, the following attractions are on offer: Fluke, The Drum Club, Transglobal Underground, Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia, The Sandals, Ultramarine, Banco de Gaia, Autechre, Revolutionary Dub Warriors, Higher Intelligence Agency, Republica, Full Moon Scientist, Michael Dog, Evolution, MC Teabag, Dog Decor, Woof Cinema, Hassid Casualty Lights, Colour Sound Experiment, Vegetable Vision and Zooform, plus DJs, comedians and theatre groups.

Providing the technological back-up for the event are laser designer Ralph Bergman, and developers of the Turbosound system Tony Andrews and John Newsham alias Funktion One. Bergman is a consultant for one of the world's largest producers of laser effects; his designs include projects for Expo 92 in Seville, the Barcelona Olympics and Michael Jackson's '92 world tour. The show for Experience will use six 30-watt large frame laser systems generating up to 500 dazzling beam structures above the whole area, including pyramids, bin crosses and 3-D cubes. Also planned is a stunning strobe lighting effect and 27 coloured beams that will illuminate the whole sky, plus an additional 94,000-watts of lighting effects.

As you may have deduced from the artist line-up, the 24-hour event is being mounted in association with Megadog, the pioneering organisation which now includes its own record label - Planet Dog - alongside its unique live events which bring together DJs, bands, performers, lighting and sound designers.

Also drafted in will be Experimental Sound Field, an experimental group working in the field of "conscious bio-feedback loops connected with audio and visual appreciation". This, apparently, is achieved by placing creative personnel in amongst the audience - in their words, "dispensing with the old stereotyped format of a stage at one end and an audience at the other".

One often speaks of things not to be missed, but this really would appear to be an event no MT reader could ignore. The final word to the organisers: "Experience aims to touch all the senses with visuals, sounds, aromatics and food & drink for an overall feeling that reaches the heart. The concept of a music festival has been developed in order to create a totally safe environment that can be experienced simultaneously by thousands of people."

For further information contact: Oval, (Contact Details).

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Heaven gets bigger

Prolific MIDI software developers Heavenly Music recently announced the launch of a new Desktop Music Division to supply complete desktop music packages from manufacturers such as Roland, Yamaha, Twelve Tone Systems, Turtle Beach, Blue Ribbon Soundworks, BCK and many more. This complements HM's own range of 25 software titles including the Megga Tracks series of song files, which coincidentally, they're about to cut the price of by £1 per title.

The aim of the new division is to provide a one-stop outlet for sequencers, editors, sound cards, interfaces and cables at realistic prices and with HM own products included free of charge with many systems. Amongst the company's new products are a series of sample data disks in Akai, PC and Atari-compatible formats, plus new song file collections - Dr Rave and Jazz Riffs for guitar. Customers for any of these products will now find they can phone their orders through using credit cards and well as cheques/POs.

For a full list of Heavenly products phone: (Contact Details).

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Up your Musicator

Arbiters recently announced a v2.0 upgrade for their Windows sequencing package, Musicator. New features include 32 tracks instead of 16, full SMPTE/MTC and SPP synchronisation, a full automated mixer page, multiple record modes, on-the-fly punch in and out and support for multiple MIDI ports.

Despite its much-improved features, Musicator remains priced at £295 including VAT. But those seeking to upgrade from version 1.0 will have to find another £69 (inc. VAT). Still, the extra tracks alone should make it worth it.

Also announced by Arbiters are a range of parallel port MIDI interfaces for the PC. With four MIDI Outs and one MIDI In, the Midiator MP128N offers the best value in the range at £175 inc VAT. For the more ambitious MIDI user, however, the Midiator MP128S provides eight individual MIDI Outs and two (buffered) MIDI Ins, plus a powerful SMPTE synchroniser, and can read and generate SMPTE at all frame-rates. Further details, contact: Arbiter Pro Midi, (Contact Details).

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Something old, something new

Rising from the ashes of D-SUG (the Roland D-Series User Group) comes ROC, the newly formed Roland Owners Club. Brand spanking new, ROC is not just the old club with a new fancy name. Chairman Tony Eve (a founder member of D-SUG) has the full backing of Roland and intends to make membership of ROC essential for all Roland enthusiasts. Members will receive three issues of Roc-Link magazine annually, along with regular newsletters updating members on club issues, diary dates and services.

ROC are currently working on further enticing membership benefits. Ideas currently in the pipeline include: discounts on software including tones, programs and utilities; discounts when buying products and services from appointed retailers and companies; special rate insurance cover for members' equipment; and a members' bulletin board for stating viewpoints or selling used equipment.

If you are interested and want to know more contact Tony or Eric on (Contact Details) or alternatively catch them in person at the MEMS (Wembley Conference and Exhibition Centre 22-24th April) on stand 162.

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Much ado at TSC

There's been a flurry of activity at TSC recently with the announcement of some major new synth and digital audio products and a special offer on Apple CD-ROM drives. First the synth...

And the good news is that it's analogue, it has knobs and switches (35 and 62, respectively), and it was designed by a team headed by synth pioneer Don Buchla, who through his own company produced a series of classic synth designs back in the '80s. The Oberheim OBMx, first announced some three years ago, should be in the shops some time in April and features full front-panel parameter control. The movement of all these controls is recordable via MIDI, and 2-, 8- and 12-voice versions of the synth will be available (together with 2-voice expansion cards). The design features two oscillators per voice together with four multishape envelopes per voice, three LFOs per voice and two separate filters per voice - the latter of the classic Minimoog and SEM (Oberheim) designs.

The synth also includes audio inputs so that external sounds may be used as oscillators. There are stereo audio outs for each voice plus a large LCD for ease of editing. Described as the dream machine of analogue synths, the audio path of the OBMx rack expander is entirely analogue, giving it that distinctive 'fat' vintage sound, but with the addition of an up-to-date MIDI spec and 128 preprogrammed voices.

Prices including VAT are: £1499.95 for the 2-voice version, £2999.95 for the 8-voice and £3999.95 for the 12-voice. The 2-voice expansion card costs £499.95. It remains to be seen whether the major synth manufacturers will now still persist with their ridiculous argument that to produce synths with controls would be totally uneconomic.

On the digital audio front, TSC have announced a new Opcode MIDI interface for the Mac - the Translator Pro features two MIDI ins and six MIDI outs at a VAT-inclusive price of £129.95 - and also a new Mac-based dynamics processor called the Multiband Dynamics Tool. This is designed to replace conventional digital dynamics processors in applications such as mastering, track sweetening, sound effects and sample editing, and is configurable as a compressor, limiter, expander, gate - or any combination of these. In 'multiband' mode, the relationship of each spectral band to the master gain curve is adjustable, and this makes it possible to adapt the system for de-essing, spectral enhancement and dynamic EQing.

The Jupiter Systems MDT also employs sophisticated digital filtering for full-band, 3-band and 5-band applications and is fully compatible with Sound Designer and Deck software. Price including VAT is £411.25.

Also in the field of digital audio, TSC have announced the release of Digital Expressions' Softsplice digital audio editor for the Mac. A stand-alone system (rather than a plug-in Card), Softsplice connects to your SCSI port and offers 4-track recording, editing and mixing of digital audio. On board are a hard-disk drive, signal processor, and digital I/O board, and included with the system - of course - is the editing software for the Mac.

Softsplice also includes an integrated LTC time code processor which generates and chase-locks to all SMPTE frame rates during recording and playback, making it an ideal system for sync'ing to multitrack recorders and for video post production work. Editing is fully non-destructive so you can mess around to your heart's content safe in the knowledge that nothing has been lost or inadvertently changed. Signal processing is 24-bit; system demands are for a 68020 Mac or higher; Classic II; Powerbook 145; LC 1, 2 or 3; Performa line, Centris line or Quadra line. The VAT-inclusive price is £2113.83.

The news on the Apple CD-ROM drives is that TSC have made a special bulk purchase and can now offer both the CD300 and Power CD models at £170.38 including VAT. In case you didn't know, the difference between the two models is that the CD300 features double-speed transmission and multisession Kodak Photo CD compatibility, while the small portable PowerCD allows you to play audio CDs in addition to CD-ROMs. The drives are both compatible with Akai, Roland 760 and Kurzweil K2000 samplers.

Finally, TSC are to host a series of one day seminars during which Akai (9th April), Alesis/E-Magic (16th April) and Digidesign (30th April) will demonstrate their products and be on hand to answer questions. Further dates will be announced shortly.

For more information on this or any of the products mentioned contact: TSC, (Contact Details).

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Down at the club

Vestax have a couple of new products likely to be of interest to the DJ and club mixer. The first is the PMC-26 rotary control mixer, housed in a 19" x 4U case with no fewer than nine music inputs (three phono, six line) and two mic inputs. Each of the music inputs features trim level control and a preset balance to assign signals left or right. But it's main features are four large aluminium rotary mixing controls and crossfader which should be good news to all those that prefer turning to sliding and who would welcome having change out of £500. The RRP of the PMC-26 is expected to be around £495.

The second new product is a budget sampler offering 10-second sampling time - splittable into 2x5 secs - whose quality makes it "very suitable for music reproduction". The DSG-05 is apparently a stand-alone version of the sampler included in the popular PMC-15SL mixer, and includes an auto-loop edit facility for producing seamless loops.

The unit also has a recording pause function which makes it possible for several different sounds to be joined together. The VAT-inclusive price is £195.

Further details from: Vestax Europe Ltd, (Contact Details).

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Turtle Beach, Twelve Tone, etc

As you'll discover if you read this month's special feature on computer sound cards, not all have the kind of sound quality hi-tech musicians take for granted. For anyone saddled with less than inspiring sound from their PC card, a new development from Turtle Beach might just be what the doctor ordered.

Maui was designed to bring the benefit of true wavetable synthesis and sampling capabilities to owners of existing lo-spec cards. GM compatible, Maui's 24-voice, 16-bit samples are stored in 2Mb of RAM onboard the card. In addition to the 128 GM instruments provided, Maui offers user-definable sample playing so that new samples may be created using any existing Windows .WAV files as a starting point. This means that virtually anything may be recorded using an existing sound card, then played back via MIDI.

256Kb of sample RAM is included as standard, upgradable to 8Mb using standard SIMMs. Maui is also MPU-401 compatible for quick and easy installation into the Windows environment. Price inclusive of VAT is £199.

Distributing Maui is a new company, Et Cetera, formed to meet the growing demand for PC-based music, sound and multimedia products. The company has already signed deals with Turtle Beach, Twelve Tone, Innovative Quality Software, Music Quest and Music Ware and is negotiating several more.

One of the Twelve Tone products that Et Cetera are handling is a new entry-level MIDI sequencing package called Cakewalk Home Studio. A development from the critically-acclaimed Cakewalk for DOS and Windows programs, Cakewalk Home Studio includes multitrack staff viewing and printing of up to 16 staves per page. On screen faders provide real-time control of volume, pan and effects levels and it's possible to 'draw' MIDI controller data using the mouse. Traditional 'piano roll' editing is incorporated in the program along with a multitrack event list. Cakewalk Home Studio also supports the embedding and playback of digital audio .WAV files from within a MIDI sequence. System requirements are for a PC running windows v3.1.

For further information, contact: Et Cetera Distribution, (Contact Details)

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Bigus Diskus

2200AV SERIES

Acknowledging the growing demand by musicians, multimedia and desktop video producers and graphic designers for fast, mass storage systems for their Macs, US company Micropolis have developed a new range of removable, expandable storage devices known as Microdisk AV.

As you might imagine, the AV suffix stands for Audio Visual, and this aptly describes the anticipated market place for the new drives which have been specially designed to enhance the performance of audio-visual and multimedia systems by ensuring continuous transfer of digital data and eliminating the likelihood of missed frames and dropouts during recording and playback. To this end, the drives incorporate advanced SCSI technology and caching techniques to maintain a maximum, sustained and uninterrupted data flow of 2.9Mb per second.

Equally important, however, is the modular approach taken by Microdisk AV designers. This makes it possible for users to increase their storage capacity by adding extra modules. You simply snap on additional modules as and when you need them.

And the price for this flexibility? Probably not as much as you think. The Microdisk AV comes in two base systems; a 1.05Gb version at £1219 and a 1.76Gb version at £1556.

For further information contact: Micropolis, (Contact Details).

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FIVE STAR PRIZE

Fancy five days free recording at a top studio facility? Yes, it's a competition, but no, you don't need to answer three dumb questions and dream up a tie-breaker. This is a competition that's designed to offer an undiscovered band or artist a step up in the world and the chance to record their music at Pentagon Studios in Bristol. Entrants simply submit one piece of music (on any format) for consideration by a panel of judges that includes Paul McDonald (A&R, London Records), Fergal Sharkey, Pete Tong (Radio 1 DJ) and Chris Porter (producer, George Michael).

Entrants must be resident in the UK, be unsigned, and must get their entries in before 13th May 1994. The winner will be notified later in the month.

The competition is actually a joint venture between Pentagon Studios, DDA and Stirling Audio and the prize is said to be worth over £2,000. The studio itself was opened last year and includes a live room, digital studio and writing/preproduction room. The main control room features an automated DDA desk and offers 24-track recording on a 2" Otari or ADAT system. Cubase is up and running on an Atari Mega and they a fully MIDI compatible, so there should be no problems patching in your gear.

One of the objects of setting up the studio was to provide a focal point for bands, singers, songwriters and producers, and Pentagon are currently looking after two bands, four producers and a handful of singers who use studio down time to develop at their own pace. If it sounds like the kind of place you could develop in, send off your entry to: New Band of '94 Competition, (Contact Details).

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The key, the secret

Cubase creation can only begin once that learning curve has been conquered. To ease this battle, Steinberg are launching the Education pack. Available for all platforms (Mac, PC and Atari), the pack comprises Cubase Lite or Cubase Score with manual, supporting educational booklet, two tutorials and a disk of musical examples.

The tutorials are designed to unlock the basic features of Cubase programs by involving the user in an additional interactive study of music theory and history. Although designed to make Cubase Lite and Cubase Score accessible as educational tools for use in schools, they are available for domestic users new to Cubase programs or simply wishing to improve their basic music literacy skills.

To coincide with the launch of the Education pack, a series of user courses are in the Steinberg pipeline. These will cover Cubase and all other related Steinberg products for beginner, intermediate and advanced users. Dates are not available as we go to press, so anyone interested should contact Jane Pendry, Assistant Marketing Manager at Harman Audio on (Contact Details).

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Interactive CITY

In The City - Britain's annual music convention - has taken its theme for this year's event as the 'Interactive City', reflecting the current wave of interest in computer-driven technology and multimedia. Taking place in Manchester from the 17th to the 21st of September, the convention (at the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza Centre) will include new technology' displays, hands-on tests of the latest computers and software, demonstrations of multimedia and music-related interactive developments plus panel discussions and seminars about the impact of new technology' on the music industry.

Comments Anthony Wilson, former Factory Records supremo and all-round Manchester person: "We want to bring together all the key players - the hardware and software manufacturers in CD-i and CD-ROM and the international music industry. Our convention is the perfect place for an extreme mutual curiosity to be sated. We believe that both CD-i and CD-ROM present whole new horizons for the music industry".

This year's event is a natural progression for In The City. In its inaugural year, 1992, the convention featured a working display from ESP, the Cambridge computer company, and also a panel discussion on the possibilities of new computer technology for the music business. In 1993, the event was supported by Philips Interactive and also included two seminars on multimedia. 1994's 'Interactive City' will, it is believed, "be the interface for two industries that need to shake hands and get hands-on".

For a full brochure of the event contact: Robert Partridge Associates Ltd, (Contact Details).

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Global Radio: Wave of the Future...

February 11th saw Japan's leading FM radio station, J-WAVE, make history by broadcasting a live three-way radio show linking DJs in London, Tokyo and San Francisco via ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). The first-ever such ISDN link-up, the show was transmitted all day (9am-6pm) on J-WAVE to approximately 35 million listeners during Foundation Day, a Japanese national holiday.

The first six hours were presented from the British Forces Broadcasting Service studios in London, with among others ex-Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates, KISS FM's Wilbur Wilberforce and Choice FM's George Kay playing a mix of popular, jazz and dance music. Then former Radio 1 DJ Jakki Brambles took over as presenter for two hours, broadcasting from KCBS studios in San Francisco, while for the final hour Simon Bates, Jakki Brambles and Tokyo presenter Yuka Nukina linked up for a live global 'DJ jam'.

During the nine-hour marathon many artists put in guest appearances, including Aretha Franklin, Roachford, Coldcut, rapper Maxi Jazz, Brazilian band Batu, D:ream, Oui 3 and Alison Limerick - some performing live on air. The show was produced by London-based independent production company L.O.E. Entertainment Ltd, with technical support from Japanese telecommunications giant NTT and sponsorship from leading Japanese life insurance company Sumitomo Life.

So what about the technology involved in this ambitious global three-way link-up? Well, as you might imagine, it doesn't come cheap, so don't expect to be able to hook your bedroom studio into Radio 1 and broadcast to the nation just yet. In the UK, an ISDN connection is actually available to anyone whose phone is hooked up to a digital exchange. These days that means most people, but BT's installation and quarterly rental charges for a single ISDN-2 line (as of writing, £200 and £84 respectively) effectively put ISDN technology beyond the reach of the average home user.

However, all the signs are that these costs will fall sooner rather than later. One reason is that forward-thinking service providers are looking for ways to pipe their services directly into people's homes. BT, of course, would like their phone network to be used for this purpose, but it won't happen unless there's widespread adoption of ISDN technology by phone users - ie. you and I.

At the same time, BT themselves are desperate to become a service provider. To this end, they are running video-on-demand trials to test the viability of delivering video digitally via the existing copper-wire phone network - which again, means using ISDN.

The BT ISDN Helpdesk can be contacted on (Contact Details).
L.O.E. Entertainment Ltd are on (Contact Details).

APT authorised distributors Sound-Link (who can provide complete packages for studio-to-studio digital audio transfers via ISDN) are on (Contact Details).

Although not involved in the J-WAVE linkup, Dolby Laboratories also have a system for transferring high-quality stereo audio via ISDN, known as Audio Fax; for more information contact Andy Day on (Contact Details).

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BEACH BLANKET TECHNO

The association between dance music, technology and spectacular visual distractions is merging into a counter-culture. On 31st March, the Megatripolis club in London stages an experimental night of video projection sync'd to the DJ program (see next month's MT for a full report), and elsewhere on these pages you will find details of Experience, an event who's organisers view the multimedia ingredients of Megadog as "a movement".

Taking this premise to its logical conclusion, the Obsession organisation is staging its own epic weekend of compatible attractions, heralding the advent of the hi-tech weekender as the '90s equivalent of the rock festival. 'Virtual World' promises to be very real, with top bands and DJs appearing in, on and around the following areas, all stretched out along a beach in Cornwall like a space-age shanty town: an Obsession hardcore stage; the Bowl Arena; Beach House stages 1, 2 and 3; an R&S Records stage; an Ambient Light Show; Virtual Game Domes; a Chill Out Zone; a Philosopher's Stage, and much more.

Is this the new Woodstock? Only one way to find out: erase everything from your diary from 6pm, Thursday 26th May until late on Monday 30th (which is a Bank Holiday, by the way), and get yourself down to Carlyon Bay near St. Austell in Cornwall. Life, as I believe a very learned person once said, is a beach.

See next month's MT for a special preview. Further details can be obtained from Chapter III Ltd, (Contact Details).

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A Date With Ami

SPECIAL report

Whilst no computer platform can be said to have gained universal acceptance, Amiga owners have more reason than most to feel left out in the cold. Despite a wealth of excellent third-party software and peripherals, the Ami still appears to have something of a credibility problem within the wider computing fraternity. Addressing themselves to this, the organisers of the recent Amiga Desktop Video, Music & Multimedia Seminar are out to win hearts and change minds - as Simon Trask discovered...

The UK has long been a stronghold for the Amiga - witness the monthly appearance of some 10 magazines dedicated to Commodore's computer range. However, the underlying reason for the Amiga's UK success - its popularity as a games machine - has also given it something of an image problem. Put simply, most people don't view it as a serious computer - the sort of computer which, for instance, could handle the demands of desktop video and multimedia production.

But is this a true picture of the Amiga? Stateside, the situation is very different. Thanks largely to Newtek's powerful Video Toaster package (which has never been made available in a PAL version, unfortunately), the Amiga has long been perceived as a professional video production and fx machine; indeed, Amigas are used in large numbers (the proverbial 'Toaster farms') by the Hollywood video fx professionals. It's not exactly in the same class as a Silicon Graphics machine, but even that could be set to change with the introduction of a new Amiga add-on, the UK-originated WARP transputer board (nothing to do with Sheffield's finest!). And now Newtek's Lightwave 3D animation software, which forms an important part of the Video Toaster package, is available in standalone form in the UK.

In truth, the Amiga is looking ever more attractive as a desktop video and multimedia machine. The Amiga Desktop Video, Music and Multimedia Seminar, held recently in London, provided an all-too-rare showcase for the talents of Commodore's computer in these areas. Organisers Premier Vision are themselves enthusiastic advocates and users of the Amiga for graphics, animation, multimedia and music work, and it was this enthusiasm which carried the day when the organisation proved to be a little rough around the edges.

Although the Seminar, which attracted 57 attendees, wasn't a Commodore-sponsored event, Commodore UK's Managing Director David Pleasance put in an appearance to provide the opening address. Acknowledging the company's poor marketing record ("sales-prevention officers" was one memorably disparaging phrase he used, only half-jokingly), he also stressed that it was "very important that we start sowing the seeds of multimedia in professional circles" - the 'we' in question seemingly encompassing everyone in the room. And in a sense Commodore have always survived more through the appeal of their technology than the power of their marketing - unlike, say, the PC clone manufacturers, for whom the opposite situation applies. Perhaps that's why the company's foray into the PC clone market was such a disaster.

The Amiga's ability to engender enthusiastic support was much in evidence during the day. Premier Vision's Andy Bishop got the proceedings off to an energetic start with his demo of the Sunrize AD516/Studio16 multitrack hard-disk recording system, Bars and Pipes Professional MIDI sequencing software and Superjam! auto-composition software. The Amiga has long come a poor fourth to the ST, Mac and PC for serious music use, However, with the advent of these packages it has at last begun to establish a professional profile, with well-known musicians as diverse as Bobby Brown and Evelyn Glennie using it.

While the Sunrize system may not be as well developed as many of the Mac and PC offerings (for instance, as yet it has no digital EQing or timestretching capabilities, and its effects processing is basic), it certainly scores on sonic quality, ease of use and value for money. And while Bars & Pipes lacks the degree of sophistication and polish which ST and Mac sequencer users are used to, it's a powerful program with a strikingly original take on the MIDI sequencing environment. As Andy pointed out, Bars & Pipes is more than just a music sequencer, it's a multimedia authoring program, capable of sequencing and synchronising text, graphics, digital audio and video along with the MIDI music tracks.

Bars & Pipes and Sunrize fit together seamlessly, with the latter appearing as tracks within the sequencer. But most excitingly, you can integrate a Scala presentation into your Bars & Pipes sequence, allowing you to add text, graphics, animation and video to your music; conversely, you can easily incorporate a MIDI songfile into a Scala presentation. If you're interested in multimedia authoring, you can't afford to ignore Scala's Multimedia MM300 software - which also means, of course, you can't afford to ignore the Amiga. The program is very easy to use and yet extremely versatile and powerful - while, thanks to an ever-expanding array of add-on tools, it's becoming ever more capable. Due shortly is an MPEG utility which will both write and play back an MPEG data stream - opening up the possibility of Amiga-based Video CD preparation. At around the £300 mark, Scala compares very favourably in price to the likes of Macromind Director, the Mac standard for multimedia authoring.

Scala's Barry Thurston provided one of the high-spots of the day with his lively and enthusiastic demo of the MM300 package, while Premier Vision's Andy Gould gave a useful overview of other multimedia authoring packages available for the Amiga.

Thanks to a new program called Aladdin, Commodore's computer can act as a lighting controller, with 48 channels, multiple automatic and manual crossfades with individual curve assignments, five 20-step chasers with variable level and time settings for each step, and industry-standard DMX fighting control. MIDI also fits into the picture, offering yet more possibilities for multimedia control within a sequencing environment.

Anyone involved in single-framing anims onto tape will be ecstatic about another new product, Digital Processing Systems' DPS DR-3150 PAL Personal Animation Recorder, a plug-in card for the Amiga which was demo'd at the Seminar by Commodore's Joe Benzing. Essentially, the DPS allows you to single-frame onto hard disk and then output the finished whole to video as a component analog (Betacam, MII), composite (Hi8) or S-Video (S-VHS) signal; at last you can wave goodbye to timebase errors, jitter, skipped frames and other pitfalls of tape-based single-framing.

Other products discussed, if not always demonstrated, included the Zen Video Toolkit (professional titling, teleprompting and character generation for the broadcast industry), the MO-Miga 1.2Gb magneto-optical disc drive (an ideal, but costly solution for storing all your digital audio and video data), the QuickNet Ethernet network system (professional networking comes to the Amiga), and Helfrich International's Peggy Plus MPEG board (inexpensive digital video encoding and playback).

The Seminar wasn't without its problems: a heating system which did its best to send everyone to sleep, some speakers who seemed to be talking in their sleep, and not enough practical demonstration. Also, it tried to cover too much and appeal to too many people, with the result that while, say, the video postproduction guys were having an interesting time, others felt a bit left out in the cold (or, in this case, the heat). Still, this was Premier Vision's first attempt, and at least they're doing something. The company are already planning further seminars, this time more narrowly focussed (for instance, concentrating on multimedia authoring, or video post-production, or music). If they pay heed to the lessons learnt from their first Seminar, they should do well.

For more information on any of the products mentioned or on future planned seminars, contact Premier Vision on (Contact Details).