Announcement of fxPAINT, New Revolutionary Image Processing Software

Amiga Flame does not really focus on the serious side of Amiga software, however I thought I would make an exception for fxPaint, a new revolutionary image processing piece of software for the Amiga, which is to be released later in the year. To find out more read the detailed press release below:- WHAT IS FXPAINT ? fxPAINT is a new, revolutional image processiong software for the AMIGA, that will make use of the latest hard- and software existing for the AMIGA. It`s planned to release a first, full release on CD within this year (1999). Main Features fxPAINT is a strongly extended image processing software for the AMIGA. It contains the usual painting tools, but also offers a lot more. E.g. it`s possible to mark whole areas by a simple mouseclick. Gradients can be added by a simple dragging, too. fxPAINT allows you the usage of several, natural pens like chalk, pencil, the so called "Artist Pen" or simply with pens, that were cut from another picture before. As you might already have thought, when reading fxPAINT`s name, fxPAINT is not limit to painting with colors or cutted pens, but offers you a great palette of high-quality effects. This includes, but isn`t limited to: Standards-effects like changing of brightness, contrast or gamma. Special-effects like light-sources or bumpmapped surfaces, glow- and shadow-effects, waves, explosive supernovas, distortions, etc. You`ll also find professional tools like Gradtion-curves or matrix operations. This opens up a great number of posibilities to create and design pictures. Another special feature is fxPAINT`s realtime-mode, that shows changes to the effect-settings immediately after they were made. E.g. Light-sources can be dragged over the pictures - in realtime and full quality!! fxPAINT basically is similiar to a layer-based image processing package, but it isn`t directly equal to it. You can paint with effects while the Alpha-Channel (that can have full 24bit- depth) is fully used, if active. Painting-mistakes can be fixed easily by the undo and redo-function. Of course fxPAINT is not only very usable for changing and manipulating images but also for creating them. E.g. fire, fractals, screenshots, videodigitizes, etc. can be made directly from within fxPAINT by some simple clicks.

External Devices and Modules The support of scanners and videodigitizers and an open, documented Plugin-API will make you feel, that other programs aren`t needed any more. To guarantee brilliant printings, optimized routines for the printer.device and TurboPrint are available within fxPAINT. fxPAINT keeps the internal multitasking. You can work even while scanning! Internal Modules Maybe you are one of those (like me, too), that don`t make great efforts to sort the graphics on HD in order to keep an overview over them. That`s why you might like the inbuilt picture database called fxALBUM. Editing a picture is very easy then, as you only have to click on the image and on another button in order to have the picture loaded in fxPAINT. If you want to, you can print overviews over your pictures as well. For fast conversions between the file formats, the module fxCONV is available. It allows you automated conversion of several directories and/or files full of pictures into another format easily. If you want to create graphics for the WWW and want to make use of so called HTML-Imagemaps, fxIMAGEMAP might be your tool, allowing you easy creation of ImageMaps within minutes! The GUI-System fxPAINT has internal BOOPSI-classes of its own, that ideally adapt to the used hardware. No matter what hardware is used, the fxPAINT-GUI is full of images, what makes fxPAINT more usable and effective. Of course, a bubble-help-system is available describing the most important buttons, so you needn`t guess, what this or that button might be for. On truecolor-screens, fxPAINT`s GUI is most impressing, because it then uses 24bit-gradients, that give it an even more modern and unique look. fxPAINT offers you the ability to adapt to your already existing knowledge by offering three modes for novices, average users and experts.

Features Planned (and the major part of the list is already realised) features are: - Support of existing hardware Scanner (using RBM`s ScanQuix) VLab (by MacroSystem) and maybe also other video-digitisers - Creation of new pictures and textures as basic function Fractals Fire Screengrabber - Full PPC-Support PPC-Support was an important issue from the beginning of the development Support of WarpUP and PowerUP (ppc.lib) Open PPC-support allows support for theoretically every (maybe new) PPC-Driver-System - Optimized printing routines Support for TurboPrint Support for printer.device Support for the new API in AmigOS 3.5 - 24 Bit-Alpha-Channel Easy usage and choosing Full control over transparency effects aimed changing of red-, green- and blue-compentents of an image - Open and publically documented Plugin-API fxPLUGIN for Loader-Modules Saver-Modules Effect-Modules Modules for additional functionality - Tons of effects and special effects (ONLY A PART OF THEM IS LISTED HERE!) Effects are being calculated and displayed in realtime Effects are sorted by categories (find wanted effect fast) Mosaic (a picture is replaced by smaller ones) Bumpmapper with many options (for effects known of 'Candy Factory') Lighteffects (lensflares, explosions, supernovas) Distortions (pagecurl, lightspeed, earthquake, waves) Rubthrough of pictures Drawing on surfaces and textures Glow- and shadow-effects Great number of functions for retouche of picture Great number of functions for optimizing scanned pictures Oil-painting, button-border (for 3D-buttons) Matrix-operations (convolution, emboss) gradationscurves for optimal color-correction results MinMax - convert pictures of bad quality to pictures that are a pleasure to look at! Posterize, replace color (gradual, too), RGB-shifts colourize, explosion-effect collage-effect with mask and glow- and shadoweffects Interlace and deinterlace for working with videos Invert and logic functions Mirroring, pixelise, straw, spread, noise, remove isolated pixels Blur, Median, Zooming blur Sselective gaussian-blur (for professional rework of digitised pictures) Anti "red eyes", antique, black&white contrast-, brightness-, gamma-, red-, green-, blue-correction 14 different dithering- and colorreduction-methods - Extended painting tools Magic Stick (Pantograph)-function Gradients as basic tool Smear- and Blur-Tool usual basic-tools - integrated picture management with fxALBUM Fast catalogisation of pictures on your HD directly linked with fxPAINT and therefore has optimal abilities for image manipulation Printing of overviews Organisation as catalogues - integrated mini-converter fxCONV conversion of several dirs full of pictures with some clicks conversion from any to any format supported by fxPAINT - Completly new library of loader- and saver-modules highly optimized read/write formats like ILBM, PCX, BMP, TARGA, JPEG, YUVN, PCD, LJPG, PNM, RGB8, ... - PhotoCD-compatible Browse, view and catalogise your PhotoCDs using fxALBUM. highly optimised, fast loader - own GUI-System Realisation as BOOPSI-Objects 24Bit GUI-elements and gradients GUI contains many pictures Bubble-Help for easy usage three user-settable knownledge-degrees automatic fixation of window-positions no hacks, patches, etc. - ARexx-support connect fxPAINT with all your favourite programs! - Systemrequirements Minimal + AmigaOS 3.x + CPU: 68020 + RAM: 6 MB + 10 MB harddisk Recommended + AmigaOS 3.x + CPU: 68040/060 + RAM: 16 MB + 10 MB harddisk or more Perfect + AmigaOS 3.x + CPU: 68040/060 and PPC or even PPC-only + RAM: 32 MB or more + 20 MB harddisk or more - Price and distribution Price: 70 EURO/93 USD Innovative will deliver within Germany. Partners for international distribution are being looked for!(send your application to: [email protected]) Preorders possible (SAVE MONEY!) Pre-orders Ordering now saves you a lot of money and gives you a lot of advantages: - Preorder-price: 66 USD/50 EURO (YOU SAVE 27 USD/20 EURO!!) - including one free update via internet - You`ll be one of the first people to enjoy full PPC-power while painting - You motivate us to put even more functions into the final first release. Visit their web site at :- Innovative

E-mail - philip amigaflame.co.uk

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