Frazetta

Photon · 24 July 2015, 13:37

We released this at Edison; yesterday we uploaded the final on ADF and also the extended LHA version. It's a tribute to Frank Frazetta and reproduces faithfully his oil paintings on Amiga OCS with enhanced color.

There's lots of info about this display format in the scrolltext, nfo and in the below link, please have a look at the source to use the PCHG format. Artists can just use the provided ConvPCHG to check conversion results, and I think HamLab is in The Zone still

>> Frank Frazetta by Scoopex & Jack Burton <<

Asle · 25 July 2015, 00:47

nice prod, Photon

and I have no clue how to read the "two hidden messages"

Photon · 26 July 2015, 13:31

Heh

Well, they're pretty dorky. Added them on a whim for those so inclined.

Leffmann · 26 July 2015, 16:33

Nice one! I didn't read all the details, but I guess it's EHB or a lower screen depth, and a matter of finding the optimal way of changing the palette on a scanline basis. A neat trick that was always underused on the Amiga.

Photon · 26 July 2015, 20:49

Yep, and in HAM also, but there it's used to minimize fringing. The conventional way for HAM pic scans is to oversaturate and overbright the pictures so there are few dark tones close to each other and few tones close to grayscale. But this affects the pictures, of course.

I would say that Jack did a good job considering that these are oil and watercolor paintings, with dark and pale tones, and trying for more realistic reproduction on CRT. But at the same time this sort of doesn't showcase what is possible. F.ex. some background brushwork looks like uneven dithering, the dark tones will look overbright on LCD screens, and f.ex. the Atlantis statue and self-portrait has flat shaded areas, so that they doesn't showcase hold and modify, just hold :P

So, a tricky choice for a showcase maybe. But we had already not chosen an airbrush or pixel artist, we wanted Frazetta and nothing else

invent · 30 July 2015, 01:58

Just saw the demo today, besides the great artwork its nice to see these interesting tricks on OCS machines.

The same method can be applied to ECS/AGA also?

Photon · 30 July 2015, 02:34

The answer is "yes, but..."

ECS doesn't really make any new tricks possible, it's just the superhires mode and 1MB chipmem support, basically. Pictures would basically look the same as on OCS.

On AGA it doesn't give as big improvements since you already have HAM8 and 256 color modes there, with 24-bit palette colors. I guess it could reduce fringing on HAM8 colors and extend the 256 colors a little, if HamLab or another image processing program supports exporting it. I have not tested whether PCHG supports f.ex. 15 color changes x 24-bit color depth in its format. There's nothing in theory to prevent it, and if it was used there it would be notices less on AGA since image quality is already good there.

So the purpose of this format/converter/source code is mainly to increase picture quality on all non-AGA Amigas.

Thorham · 30 July 2015, 03:47

Cool, thanks

invent · 30 July 2015, 05:10

Thankyou Photon, appreciate your insight

24 July 2015, 13:37	#1
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,602	Frazetta We released this at Edison; yesterday we uploaded the final on ADF and also the extended LHA version. It's a tribute to Frank Frazetta and reproduces faithfully his oil paintings on Amiga OCS with enhanced color. There's lots of info about this display format in the scrolltext, nfo and in the below link, please have a look at the *source* to use the PCHG format. Artists can just use the *provided ConvPCHG* to check conversion results, and I think HamLab is in The Zone still >> Frank Frazetta by Scoopex & Jack Burton <<

25 July 2015, 00:47	#2
Asle Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Paris/France Age: 52 Posts: 526	nice prod, Photon and I have no clue how to read the "two hidden messages"

26 July 2015, 13:31	#3
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,602	Heh Well, they're pretty dorky. Added them on a whim for those so inclined.

26 July 2015, 16:33	#4
Leffmann Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,269	Nice one! I didn't read all the details, but I guess it's EHB or a lower screen depth, and a matter of finding the optimal way of changing the palette on a scanline basis. A neat trick that was always underused on the Amiga.

26 July 2015, 20:49	#5
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,602	Yep, and in HAM also, but there it's used to minimize fringing. The conventional way for HAM pic scans is to oversaturate and overbright the pictures so there are few dark tones close to each other and few tones close to grayscale. But this affects the pictures, of course. I would say that Jack did a good job considering that these are oil and watercolor paintings, with dark and pale tones, and trying for more realistic reproduction on CRT. But at the same time this sort of doesn't showcase what is possible. F.ex. some background brushwork looks like uneven dithering, the dark tones will look overbright on LCD screens, and f.ex. the Atlantis statue and self-portrait has flat shaded areas, so that they doesn't showcase hold and modify, just hold :P So, a tricky choice for a showcase maybe. But we had already not chosen an airbrush or pixel artist, we wanted Frazetta and nothing else

30 July 2015, 01:58	#6
invent pixels Join Date: May 2014 Location: Australia Age: 52 Posts: 476	Just saw the demo today, besides the great artwork its nice to see these interesting tricks on OCS machines. The same method can be applied to ECS/AGA also?

30 July 2015, 02:34	#7
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,602	The answer is "yes, but..." ECS doesn't really make any new tricks possible, it's just the superhires mode and 1MB chipmem support, basically. Pictures would basically look the same as on OCS. On AGA it doesn't give as big improvements since you already have HAM8 and 256 color modes there, with 24-bit palette colors. I guess it could reduce fringing on HAM8 colors and extend the 256 colors a little, if HamLab or another image processing program supports exporting it. I have not tested whether PCHG supports f.ex. 15 color changes x 24-bit color depth in its format. There's nothing in theory to prevent it, and if it was used there it would be notices less on AGA since image quality is already good there. So the purpose of this format/converter/source code is mainly to increase picture quality on all non-AGA Amigas.

30 July 2015, 03:47	#8
Thorham Computer Nerd Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Rotterdam/Netherlands Age: 47 Posts: 3,751	Cool, thanks

30 July 2015, 05:10	#9
invent pixels Join Date: May 2014 Location: Australia Age: 52 Posts: 476	Thankyou Photon, appreciate your insight

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