From: gdonner@cyberlink-inc.com (Gregory Donner) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: MooVId movie player Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.multimedia Date: 21 Sep 1998 11:23:13 -0400 Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 290 Sender: barrett@belvedere.cs.umass.edu Message-ID: <6u5r11$4b1@belvedere.cs.umass.edu> Reply-To: gdonner@cyberlink-inc.com (Gregory Donner) Keywords: multimedia, video, Quicktime, AVI, shareware X-Review-Number: Volume 1998 Number 18 NNTP-Posting-Host: belvedere.cs.umass.edu X-NNTP-Posting-Host: belvedere.cs.umass.edu Path: rcfnews.cs.umass.edu!not-for-mail PRODUCT NAME MooVId v0.33b (NOTE: used to be AVId; the new name reflects the addition of Quicktime movie support). BRIEF DESCRIPTION A Video for Windows (.avi) and Quicktime (.mov) movie player for the Amiga. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: László Török (pH03N1x/CDi) Address: H-8900 Zalaegerszeg Cserfa 31. Hungary Telephone: +36 92 310 396 (after 18:00 CET) FAX: n/a E-mail: torokl@alpha.dfmk.hu REGISTRATION 15 German DM or $10 U.S. dollars, or the equivalent in another currency. For Central & East European Amiga users only, registration is just 5 DM. To register, send the registration fee (in cash) to László at the postal address listed above. Once the registration is received, the full version will be sent to you as a binary e-mail attachment. You may register via snail mail but please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and an error-free 3.5" DD diskette with your registration. Please note that László's bank (Budapest Bank) is unable to do money transfers outside of Hungary. After registering, updates are free providing you have an e-mail address. If you are a registered user, please DO NOT spread your copy of MooVId! DEMO VERSION The demo version (v0.99998) is available from Aminet as gfx/show/AVId.lha, but has the following limitations: ˇ Plays only the first 400 frames (approximately 30 seconds @ 15 fps). ˇ No STORM support, and the GUI is disabled. ˇ No Intel Indeo support SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE 1 MB CHIP or FAST RAM and a hard drive is required. A 68020 or faster processor, and an ECS/AGA Amiga or graphics card is also required. (note: with an ECS Amiga, output is limited to 16-color grayscale). Recommended hardware: 68040/68060 processor (or 68030 w/graphics card), a hard drive with at least a 1MB/sec transfer rate, and 1 MB FAST RAM. SOFTWARE reqtools.library v.38 or higher. Amiga OS 3.0 or higher. Picasso96 or CyberGraphX (currently untested) driver software (always use the latest version). MooVId works fine under Amiga OS 3.1, and requires it for both the AKIKO and SDBL functions. I have not been able to test it under other versions of the Amiga OS, but it should run OK under 2.x, and even better on 3.0. COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 2500 w/2630 (25MHz '030) w/68 MB Fast RAM, 1 MB Chip RAM. PicassoII graphics card running latest Picasso96 driver software. Toshiba XM-5701 SCSI-2 12X CD-ROM drive (internal). AIR 1.76MB external floppy disk drive. A2091 SCSI Controller w/Guru ROM. Seagate 1 GB internal hard drive. SyQuest EZFlyer 230 MB removable hard drive (external). Sony15sf 15" multisync monitor. AmigaOS 3.1. INSTALLATION Installation is simple, and therefore does not need the standard installer utility. You may copy MooVId anywhere you like on your hard drive as long as you have reqtools.library v.38 (or higher) in your LIBS: directory. REVIEW MooVId supports both Video for Windows movies, as well as Quicktime movies. Below is a list of the video and audio types that can be viewed in the respective movie formats: Note: Intel Indeo support is ready, and the license has been promised, but not physically received as of this writing. ======================== Video for Windows (.avi) ======================== Supported video encoders: Intel Indeo (IV31/IV32) 24 bit Microsoft RGB (RGB) 8 bit Microsoft RGB (RGB) 16 bit Microsoft Video 1 (CRAM/MSVC) 8 bit Microsoft Video 1 (CRAM/MSVC) 16 bit Radius Cinepak (CVID) 24 bit Radius Cinepak (CVID) 32 bit Run Length Encoded (RLE) 8 bit Supported audio codecs: PCM MONO/STEREO 8/16 bit MS-ADPCM MONO/STEREO 4 bit (16 bit) ===================== Quicktime (.mov, .qt) ===================== Supported video encoders: Apple Video (RPZA) 16 bit Intel Indeo (IV31/IV32) 24 bit Radius Cinepak (CVID) 24 bit Radius Cinepak (CVID) 32 bit Supported audio encoders: RAW MONO 8/16 bit TWOS MONO 8/16 bit STEREO and IMA4 (coming soon) MooVId has a control GUI that can be used with both playback modes: a window on Workbench, or a custom screen. The GUI sports the following controls from left to right: Top row - Play/Pause button Video track slider Frames/sec Display & adjustment. Bottom row - Prev/Next AVI/MOV (when multiple files are selected) Volume slider Brightness slider Repeat movie toggle Skip frames toggle DOCUMENTATION MooVId comes with standard AmigaGuide documentation which covers all the aspects of MooVId's features; how to get the best playback for your Amiga's configuration, troubleshooting/reporting bugs, and more. Keep in mind that while László's native language is not English, he does a good job of keeping the documentation clear and to the point. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned Amiga user, you'll find the documentation helpful, and you shouldn't have many questions left to ask. LIKES MooVId provides a very fast and stable movie player for the Amiga. It not only supports the major codecs, but also has optimized playback routines for 68040 and 68060 processors. It sports a control GUI on both custom screens and Workbench window configurations. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS I have only two (major) suggestions for MooVId: add support for as many audio & video codecs as possible, and add MPEG audio and video support. I'm happy to say that these are László's goals--as he gets time. He has already spent many hundreds of man-hours on MooVId, and--shameless plug--is likely to in the future, providing people register and show their support. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS MooVId is not the only player for Video for Windows (.avi) and Quicktime animations (.mov). CyberAVI/QT, TapAVI (no longer supported), XAnim, Mavi, and the Main Actor series also support one or both of these movie formats to varying degrees. Since I do not own either Mavi or Main Actor, I was unable to compare either of these movie players with MooVId. However, MooVId is without question from 2-3 times faster than CyberAVI/QT, TapAVI, and far in excess of XAnim. MooVId is optimized for fast playback speed even on modest Amigas, and it shows. BUGS It's hard to complain about a product that is constantly being updated; it may not (currently) support all the codecs that CyberAVI/MOV does, but it supports all the major codecs, with more on the way. Most importantly, it is FAST. Even on a 25MHz '030, smaller movies (160 x 120) can get around 10-12 fps--rates you won't currently find with CyberAVI/QT, or TapAVI. Since MooVId is constantly being improved, it is almost pointless listing bugs here--they would very likely be fixed by the time this review is released. Suffice it to say that any bug, properly reported, will be fixed. VENDOR SUPPORT Support is very good. László strives to answer all e-mail within 24 hours, and is open to suggestions (register first!). Any bugs I personally have reported have (or will be) fixed and an updated version was sent to me via e-mail. WARRANTY N/A. CONCLUSIONS If you want a powerful movie player for your Amiga, get MooVId. It is well supported, and is constantly being improved. It is more than worth the registration fee when you consider the immediate access you have to the literally thousands of movies available from the Internet and PC community in general. I give MooVId a 9 out of 10. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Freely distributable. Written by Gregory Donner (July 27, 1998). e-mail: gdonner@cyberlink-inc.com web: www.cyberlink-inc.com/gdonner --- Accepted and posted by Daniel Barrett, comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews Web site: http://math.uh.edu/~barrett/reviews.html