Test reports
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Test reports
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»Wildfire\7-Betatest 1.1
Our software test is divided in 3 parts. Part I describes the configuration on an Amiga 4000 with 68060. Part II tells about the impressions we got with Wildfire\7 on a PPC board by phase 5. In Part III we test the DraCo platform, at last. We show the possibilities to connect Wildfire in an elegant way with Movieshop which makes it possible to use the fantastic effects of the compositor in a running video...
P a r t I
Configuration: Amiga 4000 with Cyberstorm 060 Mk-I processor board, 72 MB main memory and CyberVision64 4 MB- graphics board. Picture output as YAFA-animation resp. single picture export in JPEG resp. IFF 24 bit.
Preface
In the following test of the brand-new version of Wildfire\7 we will test how good the usage and handling of the animation sequencer and the compositor are and which results you might expect on the different platforms.
Wildfire\7 is one of the few big program packages, which was developed for the Amiga, recently. Due to the bad taste of bankrupcy which is still with this platform, this circumstance has to be mentioned. Even, if there's the hope that the Amiga and its brilliant operating system contine since the Amiga show in Cologne in November 98, new developments especially in hardware, but also in software, become more and more seldom.
A program like Wildfire\7 has to do something special, to give the remaining Amiga users a reason not to go to the Windows world. And Wildfire\7 offers specials of a kind, which did not exist in the rest of the computer world. Not to mention with this price-performance ratio. But one after the other.
What is Wildfire\7?
First shareware for a very mathematical picture manipulation it developped within 3 years to a program package, which can't put into a category easily. On one hand it is a picture editing program, which puts clever effects on single pictures, which are much more than shearing or fading. You can also experiment with 3D as witch fonts and shadows, lights and reflections and then animate the result. This can be done with manipulating a picture about the time and so animates it or you take a sequence, an animation from a digital editing program (VLab-Motion/DraCo!) and then starts Wildfire\7. The results are converted into a seperate animation, a MPEG video or again as a series of single pictures for further editing. It is also possible to use existing Quicktime and AVI sequences for manipulation with Wildfire.
System requirements
Of course, the system requirements aren't the same as the ones you needed for Amiga programs some years ago. Professional results need professional hardware. So don't get confused, if you want to really use Wildfire you need a powerful Amiga. Especially, if you want to use the complete range of 3D effects. So you need at least a processor like Motorolas last one, the 68060. It would be better to own a PPC, which is supported by Wildfire\7 as one of the first large applications. Much RAM should also be available. 32 MB, better 64 MB and more. Because Wildfire\7 always computes with a color depth of 24 bit, a graphics board is useful. Current boards, especially the CyberVision, are supported directly. But even older boards like the wide spreaded MacroSystem board Retina Z3 can be used. Amigas with AGA graphics and 68030/40 processor are just enough for a small test. There is no fun with this type of hardware. You might have noticed at various other programs and you should act. The remaining hardware industry for the Amiga would be happy...
The complete range of Wildfire\7's power can be experienced, if you use the only clone for digital video editing based on AmigaOS, the DraCo. Because this computer is able to playback the renderformats of any size created by Wildfire\7 in an adequate way. A playback rate of 25 frames per second and a resolution of 768x576 pixels in 24 bit is no problem with a DraCo! An so you enter graphical worlds, which were restricted to the effect studios of the movie and television industry...
Installation
The new revision of Wildfire\7 is delivered on a CD. There you will find the program, example files and an online tutorial in HTML format. Included is there well-known browser IBrowse as a 30-minutes runtime special version (with some restrictions). But this is enough for reading the online manual. Important is to mention MUI, which has to be available in revision 3.8. A demo of MUI is also included, so you are able to install Wildfire. The MUI demo version cannot save the configuration, so you should think about registering for the shareware.
The actual installation is done as usual on the Amiga with the installer, which is available in English and German and copies the necessary program parts (a bit more than 20 MB) to the hard disk. This is done in a few minutes. After that an entry of Wildfire\7 is added to the User-Startup file and you can start the program. steht nichts mehr im Wege.
But the installer doesn't copy either IBrowse nor MUI on the hard disk. This has to be done manually with the "Bonus directory", if both programs weren't used before. Also on the CD you will find the current 68060 and PPC libs (phase5), which have to be exchanged manually, if there is a need for them. Wildfire\7 recognizes the processor type during the installation and copies the desired program parts to the hard disk.
Careful persons save the old libs, e.g. of the CyberStorm turbo board and exchange them for the new ones of the CD. With my A4000 computer I got a faulty start of the CyberVision drivers. Maybe that they also had to be adjusted. But Wildfire doesn't include any updates. Using the old 060 libs it worked, so the new ones aren't currently necessary. Which consequences this could have during the Wildfire run is not mentioned in the online manual.
The installation itself was without any problems. After that Wildfire can be started and after a little while the start window of the program appears as typical for MUI applications on the Workbench. If the Workbench isn't in a 24 bit mode Wildfire runs in mode, which isn't ideal according to the manual. Due to the internal 24 bit calculations all preview pictures have to be re-computed. So it is recommended to run Wildfire on a 24 bit screen. But that is not so easy on an Amiga. Some elder graphics boards as my CyberVision64 resp. Retina Z3 don't offer ergonomic resolutions in 24 bit due to graphic chip and graphic memory. This means if you don't want to forego for a high resolution screen the screen flickers with 50 to 60 Hz. This is no longer modern. Because Wildfire creates asynchronous windows, there could be open a lot of them, so an 800x600 screen is not good enough. The compromise is at 1024x768. A higher resolution would be better. A 16 bit mode can be recommended, too, because the re-computing is quite fast. Still the Amiga users dream of the 8 MB/120 Hz bards for little money as on the PC...
Program start and first impressions
The program start needs its time. You get the suggestion, that there "brought the big guns". The welcome window in full colour, which is not just modern since Photoshop on the PC and Monument Designer on the Amiga appears shortly to disappear at once, so you cannot read anything. But that can be done using "Project/about Wildfire". The click-off button with the shape of a red "Windows-X" isn't necessary. Should this be an omen for an Intel conversion?!
Bubble help
MUIs usual bubble help is extended and quite useable for the beginning. You can switch off the upcoming bubbles later. But now, they are welcome, because you can get puzzled easily when "entering" the software first. It begins completely harmless. With a index card, divided in 3 parts. This is the main menu of Wildfire\7, which was improved versus its pre-successor in its arrangement. This is at least the announcement.
Pulldown menu "Projekt"
The pulldown menus aren't many at this place. Just three of them are present. Using the "Project" you can load an already present project or save it. Or begin an entirely new one. MUIs ability to display HTML is set to work. But the GIF animations are lost. These are present with IBrowse (see top!) only! And just them suggest the beginner what he can expect from Wildfire: finest graphic effects...
Important in the first pull down menu are the general settings of Wildfire. The beginner must not mix them up with the ones of the just mentioned index card. Here you will find a top "Settings" on the third index card, too. But this is for the settings of the current project, while the settings in the first menu are the general settings of Wildfire, which are more than the project settings. These are e.g. the used font, the screen mode of the internal animation type YAFA, what pririty the program should have, where to save the setup, which is the path to the external players resp. editors, where to put the animation single pictures, etc. The definition of the function keys, which can execute macros, is set here, too.
Unfortunately the config file of wildfire doesn't remember, which was the output screen of Wildfire, you previously entered in the MUI setup. After a restart the Workbench screen is being set. So you have to repeat the settings in the compositor each time, which are valid up to the moment you exit Wildfire\7. This should be corrected in an update.
Below the Wildfire settings you find the ones of MUI. Here you can setup the public screen, Wildfire shall run on, if you use the MUI setup topic "System". This can be e.g. the Workbench itself or an own screen and in which colour depth.
Pulldown menu "Window"
The pulldown menu "Window" consists of 5 entries. The first one is the so-called "logbook". Here you can view a type of protocol file, which informs about the program run. It is also important with errors and their analysis. A very elegant solution is, that you can add own comments using the help of an editor, which was set into the path settings (see above!). the second entry shows the clipboard, which is similar to the one of Windows. Here you can store certain compositing data, so they are available quick. This accelerates the computing proccesses. Created "Sessions", as the scripts of Wildfire\7 are named, remember these clipboard data and with exchanging the actual picture data and changing the render parameters of the effects you quickly get new variations and creations.
The third entry makes tension: "Anim displayer" shows YAFA and IFF animations, Wildfire created. There are many examples on the CD, so you get a suggestion, which can be done. In the settings window "Player" you set some basic things: The path to the animations, which are on the CD. With "Display" you set, which size and quality the animation shall have. This even can be optimized for an output on a video beamer! The actual playback of the animation can be set with "Output". Here you can choose between the output via "Hardware", which is a 15 kHz AGA-output on the desired monitor and at once can be edited e.g. via genlock. The fastest display is with 256 colours. The output in a window in wildfire is also possible. This depends on the colour depth (see preface!), but according to tests 16 bit is enough. At least small dimensioned animations of low pixel resolution are fast enough.
An additional window output with "HG-Window" is selectable, too. The use of this output cannot be realized, because there was no difference in the output, at least at this test, even if BubbleHelp means there was another "click away resp. select click" available... However, the screen refresh redraws the background of the animation window, if this is moved. Why an own menu point for that?!
At last there is the output on any screen, so you can select an Amiga screen mode like "Super72"! The output isn't scaled like with the PAL output (no zooming!), so it appears sharper, but a bit slower.
In addition you can play the animation on a freely selectable screen of the graphics board, so the Wildfire desktop is faded out. This setting is done with the setting field "screen mode". Together with the setting field for the colour depth you can optimize the playback " for the speed". Because all the animations are rendered with a maximum of 256 colours you cannot notice any difference. To make them run on any hardware this is expected to be necessary. But what puzzles me: a display in grey was selectable, but not possible!
Because any single picture output is possible for the colour depth as well as for the resolution of the pictures, absolutely professional results can be made, if the appropriate hardware is presen (single picture recording with non-linear editing system like the DraCo).
With the information button you can show the data of the animation. Here you will be informed something about the used effects, the profile of the animation, the number of frames and the playing speed, how many pixels are in the frames and in which colour depth the rendering process was. You are also informed about the rate of compression. Why the display fields are editable is not revealed here, that's why that's a mystery for the tester, yet...
The menu "Window" is completed with the settings for a playing cache, that buffers pictures and can be manipulated in its MB size. In addition you can setup, that an animation is only started after pressing the space bar (and also stopped), to make an output on video easier.
The quality of the demo animations is different. Due to the repeating of the basic motive (the character "WF" rotate in front of a purpur pulsing background) it gets a bit boring. On the other hand this shows the "theme with variations" with the various effects Wildfire offers, quite good. There are shown animations of the 2D and 3D range. This is done with linear and non-linear computing. This is one of the innovations in Wildfire. Up to now you had to learn the use to the sometimes very tricky script list in a "linear" way to control it. Many effects of Wildfire\7 (the so-called NLFX - non-linear effects) can be merged in a non-linear way. So you need not care about the buffers, Wildfire manages for in- and output of picture data. You move picture thumbnails into the input and combine them with the effects and move the result into a window, which stands for the output buffer. Nice and efficient for a number of standard effects, which are "just" computed by Wildfire\7.
For a lot of more complex computing processes (especially the 3D animations) still need the linear arrangement in the effectlist (the session script). So you can switch betwenn both modes. The effects in the effect list are marked, so you get an orientation, which are for lineare list and which are for the non-linear list.
The demo drawers on the Wildfire-CD contain even more! "Timeline", "Transitions" and "Without Sessions" which unfortunately have some distortions, you ignore with pleasure due to the great variety, which bring a lot of inspirations.
Interesting are the examples of the drawer "ImageFX3" which served as animation deliverer and works fine with Wildfire. Maybe a drawer "Movieshop" could be added, which could contain ARexx scripts for communication with the editing software for the VLabMotion and the DraCo. Then it would be possible to use Wildfire "operators" directly in the timeline of Movieshop.
Pulldown menu "PlugIns"
PlugIns extensions of the program, which can be additionaly "built-in". The plug-ins can be made by the program author, but with making the plug-in interface public it can be expected, that many external programmers help to extend the possibilities of the software. The documentation of Wildfire\7 shows all the ARexx commands, which can "remote control" the program. Some of these "controls", like e.g. the fading generator (Transition maker) are included.
At this place it's not the plug-ins for effects, that are interesting, but the general functions, which can be added or removed by selection. After adding and selecting the "menu button" all the plug-ins are added. So they are integrated only temporary into the program and need memory only if wanted.
A preview to the effect section: Not just a little bit the plug-in possibilities of the classics like PhotoShop, After Effects or Premiere helped for this nearly "standard" software to succeed. The concept of Wildfire is quite similar with its plug-in drawer, but later more in this matter!
It would be nice, if the plug-ins of the PC and Mac-world could be used. But licence fees and the differences of the processors will not make this possible. But the the PPC version of Wildfire should be able of this, if you consider the Apple version of the named programs...
Maybe someone writes a converter for this matter.
Pulldown menu "Save modules"
Here you can view and manipulate the save modules of Wildfire. Currently they are present for the file types EPS, ILBM, JPEG, PNG and PPM. All of them can be manipulated using the "Settings", especially the compression. Why JPEG allows only 95% as a maximum value puzzles me. The input to non-linear editing systems can handle the nearly hidden 100% setting and would gain a slightly better quality with current data reduction. It should be possible to change this, especially for the "purists" with a DraCo, extended on a maximum level. Even if there is the ILBM (so it's IFF) output which is without compression. But then you have to read more data...
An output to TIFF would be fine, to implement the Apple- and PC-platforms, which programs like Photoshop and especially After Effects handle TIFF best. Using the datatype this could easily added, due to the fact that they are supported without further ado. Credit point!
Start screen of Wildfire
The start screen is, as mentioned, visible at once and show an index card, which is divided into three parts, to the user. The project menu is first. There are presented to fixed windows: The input- and the output window, which Wildfire names "Stream".
In the current revision 7 there is a commercial window in the output window which changes randomly. If this is necessary is to discuss. It is quite irritating, especially in the beginning. But due to the low price one or the other Wildfire user might grumble, but most will accept. Unfortunately this is a usual experience!
Who don't know the Microsoft-cartoon: "This error message is sponsored by Budweiser!"
In the input stream you setup, which is to be used for input. This is done in the window "Type" and defines, that the input is an animation (YAFA, Quicktime, AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2 or IFF). Single pictures from a list (e.g. from a single picture output of an editing system like the one of the DraCo with its Movieshop) can be selected second. Here you can load pictures in ILBM, JPEG, PPM and PNG format, but also use the pictures of the available Amiga datatypes. Quite often of importance are "black pictures" for special arrangements. These can be created and loaded using the third selection point. In the picture sequences there are also lists, which are executed one after the other, and whose pictures can be loaded. In the first case you select the pictures manually and collect them in a list, which has to be sorted and edited generally before making it available to the program for execution. In the last case the series of pictures is imported by Wildfire due to setting of a start- and an end point. But it is possible to exclude pictures from editing or to put out special areas of the rendered animation using the "Area" controls. I expect this not to be present anywhere else!
How Wildfire works should be understood, so you have to care, in addition to that, about the creative part only.
Both of the named windows (streams) show the principle quite fine. In the left window you define, which are input data Wildfire shall use. Via the picture type you define, which kind of data you want to load. In "Settings" the number resp. the name of pictures are adopted. Using "Output-Stream" you define the path of the output data. With "Type" the type of output. There is the possibility to compute YAFA-, IFF or MPEG1/2 animations, to output the animation as single pictures or to display it only. A GIF animation put into brackets in the menu was eliminated due to the licencing problems.
There is to mention, that you can select the modern MPEG2 for output. In how far this is compatible with the DVD standard, which is described as MPEG-2 MP@ML by the IPB norm is not mentioned and is then up to the try-and-error of the beta testers. Due to the lack of a DVD player resp. writer (who could lend me the last one for a weekend?) I cannot answer this question, yet.
Any of the output formats can be adjusted via parameters. So you can define the compression of the picture data, the colour selection, generate a time code, manipulate the speed of the picture display duration as well as defining the colour data using RAW or Chunky, which is a speed manipulating due to the opimization of the animation, with the YAFA animation,
But first we want to edit a single picture with Wildfire. We select "New" from the project menu to reset any previous inputs. The effect menu is emptied, else (this is one of Wildfires' strong points) a present script (session) could be used for the new input data. In this case Wildfire automatically recognizes the changing sizes resp. picture numbers and fits the script to the new input data, if wanted. Brilliant!
As indicated, we want to use a single picture, first. With this an effect should be generated and saved as a YAFA animation. It is important to distinguish between loading a single picture into the "picture list" or as a "Sequence". If you load a picture into the picture list and add no more this is just a single picture, which is handled as a single picture in the output. So you cannot render any animations, but effects on this one picture, which is in memory. If you want to generate an animation you have to load this single picture as a "Picture sequence". In the small preview window of the project index card you notice the picture to be loaded as a thumbnail. The pre-setting for the sequence to compute is 60 frames. This can be changed with a click on "Settings". All the variables are adjusted, if wanted, because Wildfire is able to load the data (pictures) with a already present script and run the script "on them". In this case the size and number of pictures is adjusted to the changed conditions. So it is possible without any problems to use a script, what expects the resolution of 320x240, but the new picture data contain single pictures with a resolution of 640x480. Wildfire adjusts the script to these new conditions. The saves much time and work and is really exemplary.
The setting of 60 pictures is enough for the first excercises. On one hand it is decisive, how large the pictures are, on the other hand many single pictures there are within the animation, to get quick results within the test stage. 60 single picture are approx. two and a half seconds in PAL (two seconds in NTSC) and due to the always active endless loop there can be created nice effects.
Below in the window you see the run bar for the single pictures, which can be moved between 1 and 60. The "Test" button allows to watch the screen on the set screen. Moving the slider of the run bar makes it possible to "test" and watch any picture. The subpoint "Operation" contains the value "linear". If you click on "Render preview" the sequence of 60 frames is rendered without the effect "linear" in a preview, which is shown in a small (50% large) preview window. The size of the preview window can be selected, of course as well as the screen, where it shall be displayed. If the colour depth of the result of the rendering is higher than the selected screen Wildfire automatically switches to the best mode. Nice!
But let's return to our single picture: If you would like to generate this sequence of a no-motion-picture to an animation you enter the "Output stream"-window, select the type of output, in this case "YAFA-Animation" and enter the path and filename, you want to save the result. With "Settings" in the output window you can define the type of compression. If you set the preview window to "Window output" the animation is rendered after clicking on "Convert", written to hard disk and shown in the window of the Wildfire screen at the same time.
The progress of the rendereing is displayed in a percent scale as usual. It is possible to cancel the operation and watch the time left. During the rendering and after that the screen is "dirty", because it is not being refreshed, at least under CyberGraphX 2.1. This can be corrected manually with moving the windows. Forget it! But it should be corrected, anyway.
As with the included YAFA anims it is possible to load the just rendered with the anim displayer. The animation of 60 frames is played endless. You can see the no-motion-picture without stuttering on the screen, when Wildfire plays directly from the hard disk. Of course, (depending on the size of the anim and of the RAM) it is also possible to play the anims from the Ram Disk.
Of course, it is not very exciting, to create an animation of a still picture. It would also be possible to display the picture using a picture view and to save lots of CPU time;-)
So, we start to work:
We want to animate a picture, let's say in a resolution of 320x256 pixels, because it should not take too much time and we can watch the result quickly.
Wildfire knows a large number of animation possibilities: Starting with easy fadings (transitions), timeline actions, which allow setting of the actions about the time, actions controlled with ARexx, linear and non-linear effects, which can be processed in 2D or in 3D up to animation import of other programs like ImageFX, ADPro, raytracers...
Let's begin the easy way and process a transition (a fading). E.g. with a moving out of the screen from the left to the right... There is another picture to appear below the moving picture.
Because Wildfire starts with a loading path where the program takes its demo picture and the clipboard is filled with various data (at least with this revision) we want to create a "virgin" start session. With the program settings (project menu) we select our public screen to make previews displayed there. As we read above, Wildfire\7 forgets this screen and takes always Workbench. In the settings of the program on the index card "Directories" a path to a picture viewer can be entered. This is practically to be able to test the loaded picture data quickly.
To generate a start session without contents we delete the path line in the input stream and the clipboard contents in the window menu. In addition we select "New" in the project menu. In the output stream it is possible to enter a target path for the future animation and define settings for the preview screen. Everything is saved in the data of the session.
The just created (empty) project is to be saved. Future tries can begin on the basis of this "empty session".
We quit Wildfire and restart it, load the empty session and notice, that Wildfire is ready for the own creations. But unfortunately the clipboard is filled again.
A bug, which should also be removed. Irritating is also, that if you forget to clear this clipboard an "alien" picture is in a buffer and is used by Wildfire for the animation.
First we set the input stream type to "Picture sequence", load a picture and change the presets in "Settings" to 100 pictures, what is about 4 seconds in PAL (3 1/3 seconds in NTSC), if necessary. We answer the question, if the variable should be changed with "Yes". Now we got our first picture in the buffer "stream".
Now we need another picture, which has to go into the first temporary buffer (Temp1). This is the picture, which is to appear below the moving picture. The necessary operator for this loading action is to find in the buffer effect types and is named "LoadImage". Double clicking or dragging the effect window (index card "Effect") moves the first effect operator into the session script. NOw we have to define the picture file, which is to be loaded by the LoadImage operator: double click on the operator in the list and a menu opens. We define the output of the picture into the buffer Temp1 and enter the path where the picture is located. Then we close the window.
Now we have to tell Wildfire what has to be used as a background of the roll animation with help of the "SetBackground" operator. The operator is to find in the type "Various". You can set, if a picture is to be used as a background, and if so in which buffer it is. Because we loaded our background picture into the buffer "Temp1" we set Temp1, of course. If you want just a colour as background, this is also possible. Then you have only to leave away the LoadImage operator.
But the actual effect is to come:
We want to roll the picture out of the window from the left to the right. For this purpose we enter the operator window again and get nearly crazy due to the large numbers of effects. These are divided into buffer-, colour-, 2D- and 3D- as well as into particle effects. In addition there are effects, which can't be put into one of these categories. These are to find in "Various". The effect window is divided into two parts. In the upper part we select an effect type of the just numbered classes. After that we notice the selection of the effects, which belong to the effect type class in the part below. To roll the picture we need a 2D effect. We click on "2D" in the type window and then on "Roll" in the part below. Immediately the Thumbnail of the effect window changes at once and shows a sample picture with the the expected result of the effect. Effects that can't shown on that way are represented by a question mark. Maybe this is changed with the next update of Wildfire\7, because this doesn't look very nice.
Our script- resp. session list shows three entries, by now. With the help of "Test" it is possible to select and to render a preview picture, which can be adjusted with a slider. "Preview" puts the preview picture on the screen and - at last - clicking on "Render preview" of the index card "Project" starts rendering the complete animation into the preview window, which is done very quick. With the slider of the preview window it is possible to run through the animation manually.
You should continously save the session. If the preview has been created without errors it is possible to render the "real" animation with clicking on "Convert". It is being saved on the defined path and is available at once for playing with the YAFA player.
With this method you can create numerous animations. No matter, if in 2D or in 3D. Computed sequences of single pictures can be used for the Wildfire creations. Actually there are only limitations due to your phantasy. The tools for the enormous variety of effects and picture manipulation are present. Now it is just to get exercised and practice to use the offered possibilities.
The playing with the 3D-effects, which could be adjusted over parameters would last for weeks and the descriptions of the varieties would fill complete books! The results of these plug-ins are enormous. Highlited rotating 3D-structures, plasma clouds with just a few mouse clicks. Particle effetcs and whirls, which sink into the nebula or are moved away by wind and waves! An all this rendered to moving pictures, if the required digital picture material is present. Even the Movieshop software of the DraCo resp. the VLabMotion, which is actually brilliant, doesn't offer the possibilities, Wildfire is able to offer. Due to the enormous possibility to parameter gives free reign to the variations. Once found "formulae" can be saved and used again and again, cause you quickly lost it as you found it, if you really start playing...
I'm planning to create a nice demo video with help of the DraCo and Wildfire\7 including a workshop. If you are interested, you can call me per eMail (*) with wishes and suggestions!
The possibility to control Wildfire and its parameters via ARexx allows modular extensions, which could result in effects not even thought about. Basically everything you know from the movies and the television is possible. And the PowerPC platform, which enters the Amiga offers the necessary computing power without any doubt!
With analysing the included animations, as well as the "raw data" of the session script of all rendered demo animations you can quickly get own results (with modification of the picture data). With changing of the many, nearly not countable parameters you get seduced to experiment. And that's fun!
Actually, during the test stage Wildfire\7 1.0 seemed to be quite stable. Nearly no crashes appeared. And if, the author of this small test admits he is to blame due to "unqualified clicking"...
The online documentation should corrected due to typing errors. In addition an extended manual, which explains the exact use of the plug-ins, is most likely to be welcome. The beginner is oversupplied and has to figure out the "internal logic" of the buffer concept, to find out how the program works.
Of course, Wildfire\7, as it appears, is unique on the Amiga. And due to the price level of 300 DEM (approx. 153.06 Euro) unique about the platform borders! I don't know a program like this neither in the Mac- nor the PC-world, which creates the most brilliant special effects on single pictures and animations. It is to hope, that many programmers and tinkerers support the open concept with plug-ins and ARexx scripts, so Wildfire is extended...
December 1998 - (c)RiDiTV Richard Diezmann - ridi@ridicom.franken.de«
To be continued...
