Less than 12 Hours for a new Bounty to Toast all other bounty's

[Boot_WB]

@DiscreetFX

I applaud your dedication in 1) getting the VT sources opened and 2) continuing to promote their improvement. But I've got to say I agree with pretty much everyone here when I conclude: Why a re-implementation in FPGA? This seems utterly pointless.

The (already improved by the experts over the last 15 years) hardware is already there (VT4/5 etc) in PCI form-factor. Why re-invent the wheel?

Your 'un-named client' would be able to buy around 120 Video Toaster cards off Ebay with $12,000, so hardware lifetime is not really this issue here is it?

So perhaps you just need to manage your clients expectations somewhat.  

I guess the 'no interest' refers to Newtek's lack of interest in porting the modern suite rather than the users lack of interest in using it.
However, them may be willing to open up the driver specification, and allow drivers to be written for AmigaOS/MorphOS for their hardware. Then, via a common API, the hardware would be useable by any VE suite on the Amiga. This would be half the battle - if we are to have a modern updated VE suite, then it does not want to be tied to a hardware dongle, or hard-coded to only work with a particular capture/output device.

Additionally, in this day and age there is no real need for a realtime mixer output or genlock - far easier to accomplish with software: capture the video, save to digital file format, edit/mask at leisure, and play as many times as you want.

Again, I admire your enthusiasm, and respect the right to privacy of your 'anonymous client' (again), but I think that you have a responsibility to manage your clients expectations realistically. If (s)he truly wants something useful, then start a bounty to get an updated VE suite (either Newtek's or another) ported to PPC AmigaOS/MorphOS or AROS, and petition Newtek (or some other manufacturer) to give you sufficient details to write a hardware driver.

I suspect this approach would be easier, quicker, cheaper, more useful, with better results, more easily maintained (lets think about the future here too) and with a more realistic prospect of someone taking up the challenge.

Just my 40% of a shillings-worth, and meant in a constructive way. :-)

[Boot_WB]

@Everyone

Some great suggestions, we will discuss with the generous donator. He is getting up there in years and is not a computer techie. He loves Amiga & the Video Toaster Flyer after all these years and that is a good thing.

Wil Weaton?

(Sorry Wil if it is you - I don't really think you're "getting up there in years...")

[Boot_WB]

I don't get how some are dead seat against this bounty and also suggest alternate uses for the money... if Dick Van Dicke and I assume it's him want's to dedicate $12k to the task so be it. I differ to his expertise on the matter as he's been in the industry ...I dunno all his life? hell the guy worked directly with Disney so if he gets it and understands the value of this platorm it's because he was around when the old skool studio system controlled everything.

That's kind of the point though - it doesn't control everything anymore, and that kind of studio editing is well served by other platforms.

It all depends what is trying to be achieved:
If this is about a few retro enthusiasts having a new toy to do the same stuff with (and that's fine if it is) then this may be the way to go (although it beggars the question - why not just use a VT?).
If it's about moving the AmigaVT forward towards the current state-of-the-art, then it needs to be thought through at the concept level before deciding on detailed project plan.

Yes, I have a record deck, a record collection and a 35mm SLR camera. However, if I were going to develop a photo editiing suite for the Amiga(oid) platforms my primary focus would be on digital image processing.
If I were building a music editing suite I would first ensure that could manipulate digital input - if I wanted to record analogue input I would use a seperate recording (ie digitising) software.

Ultimately it comes down to: what are the desired outcomes from this? What does the donor want to achieve? What application does the donor see this as being focused toward?

In my experience, projects are quite often hobbled at the outset by the authors of the design brief assuming that the end-client's ideas are set in stone.
Most often what is stated by the end-client is THEIR CONCEPT of how to achieve the outcome, and not details of the desired outcome itself.