There is no doubt that NewTek have done much for the Amiga in the past. Thanks to the Video Toaster, their revolutionary product, the Amiga found its way into to the highend 3D and video market. That long list of programs (Babylon 5, Star Trek, X Files to name a few) that use Amigas would never have been so if this single product had never been released. And of course, there is the unbeatable Lightwave 3D, originally part of the Video Toaster, but available separately since version 3.5
Years ago, an Amiga with a 25MHz '040 was still too slow for commercial rendering compared to Alpha processors, but the problem was solved with 'Toaster' farms, a whole network of '040 Amigas rendering together. The '040 was a reasonably good valued processor, and Lightwave was only available on the Amiga, so such a setup was better value than using Alpha workstations.
But times change. Sure the Amiga has moved up to the 50MHz '060, but Intel x86 and Alpha processors have moved on further, meaning a network of '060s is no longer such good value. And to add to that, Lightwave is available for those processors, as well as SGI and PowerMac.
A look at NewTek's website sickens me. Lightwave v5.5 has been announced, and available for a whole range of platforms. Now, maybe this is a typo, or maybe I'm blind, but I couldn't actually make out the word 'Amiga' in the list of platforms supported. Excuse me?
Sure, ditch the 680x0 processor, but now the Amiga can have PowerPC processors, and indeed, there are Amigas that come with these PPC cards already fitted (just check out the new high end machines from Nova!) So why is there no port for PowerPC Amiga? Not even news of one?
There is surely demand for one, given that the Amiga is still widely used for 3D rendering. Surely, such companies would rather just slap in a PPC card if they are already using Amigas, rather than sell up and buy a whole load of new machines. And apparantely there is demand for a PowerMac version, despite the fact that the areas it is used in do not generally involve 3D. In fact, there is a 'Developer's Page' which lists 'plug-in' programs for Lightwave. A whole load are available for the PC version - but a whole load are available for the Amiga. There are less, but still quite a few for Alpha, and about two for the Mac.
This may just be one piece of software, but for the future of the Amiga, at least in the high end markets, a port of Lightwave to PowerAmiga is essential. The sorts of markets machines like the Nova are aimed at will require a decent, industry standard raytracer, ie, Lightwave. Sure, programs like Aladdin and Cinema 4D may be great, but let's face it, these are not suited to high end commercial rendering, compared to Lightwave.
It is not all bad - news is that NewTek have asked Phase 5 for a PowerUP board. Maybe they are considering porting Lightwave, and just don't want to announce anything yet.
Another thing to remember is, of course, the Video Toaster. This is still only available for the Amiga. So has it been abandoned? Nope, their website contains news of the latest version, and raves on about how good it is. Of course, in typical NewTek's typical anti-Amiga style, there is no mention of the Amiga, the only clue being a mention of a new ARexx port in one of the programs...
But at least it shows that NewTek still are supporting the Amiga, although it does beg the Lightwave question again. I would have thought a lot of Toaster users would also be using Lightwave, and they would surely want the latest version (and preferably in PPC format too). It seems a contradiction that there is demand for the Amiga Video Toaster, but not for an Amiga Lightwave.
It is a pity that this attitude continues to this day, especially in the current Amiga situation. Anyone viewing NewTek's website would never know that the Amiga was originally the only platform that Lightwave was available on, and they would probably think that the Video Toaster was a product for the PC or something...
It amused me to read about Amiga International having a stall at the NewTek expo in a recent CU Amiga. I just had this image of Amiga Int on this small stall, tucked away in some small dark corner, with people walking past thinking 'So who are they?' I presume it wasn't like that of course, but from NewTek's website, you would think it was.
Ending on a happy point, on the Yahoo search engine, it is nice to see that NewTek are described as the 'Manufacturers of the Amiga Video Toaster'. Hurrah...
In fact, in speeches made by NewTek, they stated that even if Gateway 2000 said they didn't want anything to do with NewTek, they would still continue developing for the Amiga. Other interesting statements include:
Even so, it would be nice if their website wasn't so anti-Amiga...
Mark