DESKTOP VIDEO ARRIVES 

(Editor's note: In the beginning computers could only communicate in capital letters. This is one of 20 columns from Dr. Tomorrow's original series, included here to indicate change as well as describe it. Those columns also hold another story, that change is swift and offers both disaster and opportunity.)

IN THE FUTURE YOU MAY BE "WATCHING" THE NEWSPAPER INSTEAD OF READING IT!

THE HOTTEST CURRENT FEATURE IN THE COMPUTER WORLD IS DESKTOP PUBLISHING. INITIALLY INTRODUCED BY APPLE VIA THE MACINTOSH, THIS UNIQUE APPROACH TO "PUBLISHING" HAS REVOLUTIONIZED THE METHOD AND COST OF PUBLISHING DOCUMENTS, BOOKS (EVEN THIS "BOOK"), PAMPHLETS, NEWSLETTERS AND NEWSPAPERS. THIS INNOVATION IS MAKING OBSOLETE PREVIOUS FORMS OF PUBLISHING, WHICH HAVE BEEN OPERATING BASICALLY ALONG THE SAME LINES SINCE JOHANN GENSFLEISCH GUTENBERG SET UP HIS PRINTING PRESS IN GERMANY AROUND THE YEAR 1450.

NOW AN EVEN MORE REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT, USING THE SAME APPLE COMPUTER, HAS JUST BEEN DEVELOPED: THE FIRST PRACTICAL AND ECONOMICAL EXAMPLE OF "DESKTOP VIDEO".

AMONG MY COLLECTION OF PICTURES COLLECTED FROM MY OWN COMPUTER IS ONE THE OPENING SCENE FROM "MIAMI VICE", ANOTHER FEATURING OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN SINGING AND A THIRD SHOWING THE ANCHORPERSONS FROM "THE TODAY SHOW" IN ACTION. PRINTED OFF COMPUTER SCREENS THIS SHOWS JUST WHAT CAN BE DONE. THESE ARE NOT TELEVISION PICTURES RELAYED VIA A VIDEO CAMERA, VCR OR SATELLITE DISH. THEY ARE ACTUAL MOTION PICTURES CONSTRUCTED ON A COMPUTER AND "STRUNG" TOGETHER TO MAKE WHAT, UP UNTIL NOW, HAS BEEN KNOWN AS MOVIES OR TELEVISION. DESKTOP VIDEO WILL OPEN UP A TOTALLY NEW WORLD OF CREATIVITY FOR ARTISTS, VIDEO PRODUCERS, AD AGENCIES AND ENTREPRENEURS. IN THE YEARS TO COME, REMEMBER YOU HEARD ABOUT IT HERE FIRST!

STEPHEN C. BECK WAS THE GENIUS WHO CONCEIVED THE CONCEPT, DESIGN AND COMPLICATED ALGORITHMS USED TO PRODUCE THOSE PICTURES. HE HAS BEEN WORKING SINCE 1970 ON DESIGNING EQUIPMENT TO SYNTHESIZE VIDEO IMAGES WITHOUT A CAMERA. SINCE THOSE EARLY DAYS (IN THIS BUSINESS AN "OLD-TIMER" IS ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A DECADE), COMPUTER GRAPHICS HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED VIDEO PRODUCTION. TO QUOTE STEVE BECK, "THE SURFACE HAS ONLY BEEN SCRATCHED".

NOW THE ANIMATION SOFTWARE PRODUCED BY HIS COMPANY BECK-TECH, PUTS THE POWER OF MOTION PICTURES INTO A MACINTOSH. IT ENABLES USERS OF THIS COMPUTER TO QUICKLY AND EASILY MASTER THE PREVIOUSLY TIME-CONSUMING ART OF TRADITIONAL ANIMATION. THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE KNOWN AS "MAC MOVIES" ALLOWS CREATION OF PROFESSIONAL MOVIES NOT ONLY FROM OTHER "MAC" PROGRAMS BUT ALSO FROM DIGITALIZING CAMERAS AND SCANNERS. COUPLED WITH ANOTHER BECK-TECH PIECE OF HARDWARE KNOWN AS "THE CHROMATRON", THE VIDEO OUTPUT CAN BE PLAYED BACK THROUGH A VIDEO MONITOR AND RECORDED ON ANY VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDER/PLAYER.

IN MY OWN BUSINESS THIS NEW ADVANCE ENLIVENS MY EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND LECTURES, SEMINARS, AND ENTERTAINMENT. THE SOFTWARE CAN CONVERT "OLD-AGE" STATIC SLIDE SHOWS INTO DAZZLING 30-FRAMES-PER-SECOND MOVIES. COLOR ME IMPRESSED!

A WHOLE NEW WORLD AWAITS THOSE WILLING TO ENTER A GROWTH INDUSTRY NOT YET STARTED. SOME WILL LAUGH AND SAY IT'S TRIVIAL. THAT WAS SAID ABOUT MOVIES IN THEIR EARLY DAYS. THOSE WHO DIDN'T LAUGH, BUT WHO ENTERED THAT FIELD, CREATED A FLOWERING OF WEALTH PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN ON THIS PLANET. ARE YOU THINKING POSITIVELY?

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

HOWARD GOLD OR RICHARD MCKENZIE, VICE PRESIDENTS, BECK-TECH, 41 TUNNEL ROAD, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94705.

TEL 415/548-4054.

* * *

< previous | chapter index | next >
back to Main Chapter Listing
back to Home Page