AmigaShopper07-Nov91.pdf

RT ADVICE • TOP TIPS • BEST BUYS • NO GAMES!

STARTING DTP

How to build up a powerful desktop

publishing system explained......... page 123

BASIC POWER

Unleash the power of the Basic language

with this series of masterclasses.... page 83

FONT DESIGN

Learn how to create your own fonts for

screen and printer................................ page 35

BEGIN MIDI

Discover how easy it is to make music with

the Amiga with our new series. ..page 113

VISTA PRO

Seek out strange new

worlds and build your

own mountains with this

3D fractal landscape

generator....... page 26

PD WORLD

Eight pages of reviews and tutorials on

public domain programs ....pages 91,140

ISSUE 7 • NOVEMBER 1991 • DISCOVER THE AMIGA'S POWER

The best forum in Britain for solving your

real life problems. Sixteen pages of

expert advke start on page 49

WIN A £1,000 GENLOCK

2 Systems' VideoCenter Plus must be won - see page 1 54

I uiure

I PUBLISHING

Your guarantee

of value

KCS POWER PC BOARD

THE HIGHEST RATED PC EMULATOR FOR YOUR AMIGA

PLAY THE LATEST PC

GAMES ON YOUR AMIGA

BEFORE THE AMIGA

VERSION EVEN APPEARS

RUN PROFESSIONAL

MS-DOS SOFTWARE

ON YOUR AMIGA AT A

PRICE YOU CAN AFFORD

FITTED IN

SECONDS

AND DOESN'T

INVALIDATE YOUR

GUARANTEE

STOP PRESS...STOP PRESS...STOP PRESS.

ABOUT TO BE RELEASED

VERSION FOR A1500/2000/2500/3000

*S povn*

READ WHAT THE TOP AMIGA MAGS SAY

Germany's highest circulation magazine - Amiga Magazin 0 8 .9 1 using PC-Lab found the KCS Board often fa s te r than many 2 8 6 AT's. Their overall te s t ver

d ict "sehr gut" (very good). Computer Shopper "All the software I tried ran perfectly" Amiga Shopper "Stability 20/20 - Faultless operation in PC

mode from day one - very beginner friendly" Amiga Format "Faster than many 286 AT's" Amiga Shopper "Amazing Screen update". AUI "The PC

Board is indeed a very highly compatible device - an essential Amiga hardware purchase"

The KCS Board, although in name an XT, is so fa s t tha t we leave the last word to Amiga Computing - "What's the point in having a whizzo AT processor

if it's no faster" (and the KCS board does not invalidate your guarantee)

WHAT YOU GET

Memory: A m ig a -

512K b

RAM + 512K b RAM disk

Disk support: Floppy 3 .5 ", 5 .2 5 " up to 3 e xte rna l hard d rives - A 5 9 0

X T /S C S II/S u p ra 5 0 0 X P GVP s e rie s and o th e rs. Ring fo r info.

Mouse Support: A m ig a m o use as M ic ro s o ft m ouse

MS-DOS: 4 .0 1 (& m anual) Shell (& m anual), DOS-Help and GW -Basic, KCS

manual and o f c o u rs e o ur full helpline s u p p o rt.

PC - 704Kb

(1 5 0 0 /2 0 0 0 /2 5 0 0 /3 0 0 0 ) will use our on-board memory as 1Mb memory expansion.

Video Support: MGA, Hercules, CGA 16 colour

lmminent:EGA/VGA and in colour allowing the program

constant choice fro m the full 4 0 9 6 colour palette. This is a softw are upgrade

available to all.

HOW ITS DONE

IT'S SIMPLE - no screw driver, no soldering iron, no technical k

the cover and your Amiga PC is ready.

nowledge required. Just turn your Amiga o

ver, open the cover, slide the board into the connector, close

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAF - Copies of letters available on request

"surpassed my expect

installed the Board";

value for money"; "Si

ations"; "rivals the Compaq 286e I use at work"; even more incredible than I first thought"; "The Amiga hasn't had a look in since I

'May I take this chance to compliment you on the excellent performance obtained"; "much faster ana smoother than I expected - great

iperb service"; "Your advice ana assistance was certainly o f a standard that most companies have long forgotten ."

BDL B ITCON D EVICES L TD

Trade enquiries welcome - UK and abroad

Com patibility is excellent, but no-one can guarantee every single pro g ram available

th e refore if yo u r purchase depends on a p articular p ro g ram , please ask us firs t or

send in a copy o f the p ro g ram . (With suitable S.A.E. if to be returned.) Price subject

to change w ith o ut notice.

HELPLINE: 091 490 0202

8 8 BEWICK ROAD, GATESHEAD, TYNE & WEAR, NE8 IRS, ENGLAND.

Tel: ( 0 9 1 ) 4 9 0 1 9 1 9

Fax: ( 0 9 1 ) 4 9 0 1 9 1 8

W E L C O M E

OME

Graphics on a flat screen can really come to

life by adding three-dimensional effects. While a

skilled artist can draw 3D images directly, with the

help of the Amiga even those of us who are lacking

in painting skills can produce pictures with proper

perspective and shading, and textured surfaces

which look just like the real thing. These effects

are created using 3D painting packages, and we

put four of them to the test in this issue.

But the Amiga can help your artistic talents

even more. With V i s t a P r o , reviewed on page 26,

the computer can take real geographical data and

draw a landscape based on it from any direction or

perspective. For once the tired cliches about

exploring the world by computer are true; this is a

remarkable program.

As ever, I hope you enjoy this issue of A m i g a

S h o p p e r , and don’t forget to write in with your

comments and suggestions.

A M I G A

AT A GLANCE

GUIDE

To help you find what you want

quickly and easily, this is a cross-

referenced list of all the products

and subjects covered in this

month's A m ig a S h o p p e r. The

subjects covered in Amiga Answers

are detailed on page 49; the many

PD programs covered on page 140

are listed there. The page numbers

given are for the first page of the

article in which the product is

mentioned.

W e want to help you get the best out

of your Amiga. That’s why you will

find this issue packed with tutorials

and ‘how-to’ guides which cover the

whole spectrum of Amiga computing. If you want to

set up a desktop publishing system, then turn to

page 121. Beginners in MIDI would do well to read

the first part of a major series on Amiga MIDI

which starts on page 113. More advanced users

will find that our detailed new series on Basic will

show the way to build better programs. You can

learn how to let more than one person use your

Amiga at the same time on page 105, and C and

AMOS programmers will already be familar with our

sections on those topics. And that’s before you

even consider our renowned 16-page Amiga

Answers section, or the business column on

graphing data, or the tutorial on M e s s y D O S .

This is the biggest ever issue of A m i g a

S h o p p e r - 156 pages of advice, reviews and tips.

As we grow we hope to expand our pages of expert

tutorials even more, so you can look forward to a

magazine which really helps you get to grips with

your machine.

3D painting

3D Professional

AmigaDOS

105

AMOS

Answers

Basic

Beginners’ Answers

Buying Advice

153

Cave Maze

Editor

138

Clubs

Competitions

100,154

A M 1 C|JV

Concept Keyboard

Databases

131

PUBU

DICE

140

Draw 4D

DTP

123

Education

There are thousands of Amiga programs which are

available for little more than the price of a disk. And

many more which allow you to try the software free

before you buy. Each month in Public Domain World

we examine the best of these programs and explain

how to get hold of them.

This month PD expert Phil South reviews a batch

of utilities disks. There a dozens of PD utilities which

no Amiga owner can afford to be without. Virus

killers, disk utilities, programming aids, file archivers

and many others. Find out which disk offers the best

selection. Plus graphics, music, demos...

SIXTEEN PAGES DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO

ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS

Every month in Amiga Answers our panel of experts

answer more genuine reader questions than any

' ' ■ ■ : ■

problems on: DATABASES • SCREEN

PROGRAMMING • SERIAL CABLES > HUNKS •

First Letters

Fonts

Fractals

Genlock

23, 154

Graphics

Graphing

131

Imagine

Letters

Maths Dragons

DISKS • BOUNCING BALLS(!) • VIDEO TITLING •

ACTION REPLAY • MODEMS • SCSI • HARD DISKS

MessyDOS

MIDI

113

Modula 2

and many, many more.

Multi user system

105

Music

113

THE ANSWERS START ON PAGE 49

BEGINNERS TURN TO PAGE 71

News

ENTER THE PD WORLD ON PAGE 140

Personal Fonts Maker

Programming

74, 77, 82, 97

Public Domain

29, 91, 140

137

Reader Ads

Real 3D

Your guarantee of value

Shapes and Colours

This magazine comes from Future Publishing, a

company founded just six years ago, but which

now sells more computer magazines than any

other publisher in Britain. We offer:

diagrams, summary boxes, annotated

photographs and so on.

Shareware

29, 91, 140

118

Subscriptions

Talking Shop

Greater relevance. At Future, editors operate

under two golden rules:

• Understand your readers’ needs.

• Satisfy them.

User Groups

138

Better advice. Our titles are packed with tips,

suggestions and explanatory features, written by

the best in the business.

140

Utilities

Video

More reader interaction. We draw strongly on

readers’ contributions, resulting in the liveliest

letters pages and the best reader tips. Buying one

of our magazines is like joining a nationwide user

group.

The home of Britain’s finest computer magazines:

Amiga Shopper • Amiga Format • Amiga Power

New Computer Express • Public Domain

Commodore Format • 8000 Plus • PC Plus

ST Format • Your Sinclair • Sega Power

Amstrad Action • PC Answers • PC Format

and

Mountain Biking UK • Needlecraft • Classic CD

29, 154

VideoCenter

Stronger reviews. We have a cast-iron policy of

editorial independence, and our reviews give clear

buying recommendations.

Videopilot

Vista Pro

Clearer design. You need solid information, and

you need it fast. So our designers highlight key

elements in the articles by using charts,

Better value for money. More pages, better

quality: magazines you can trust.

Cover Image by Manfred Kramer

A M IG A SHOPPER • ISSUE 7 • NOVEMBER 1991

Introducing SaxonScript Professional, ™ the most powerful and sophisticated PostScript Interpreter

available on the commercial market. It’s like turning your dot matrix, ink-jet or laser printer into a

full fledged PostScript printer, with the added flexibility of being able to edit and manipulate

individual files! On printers equipped with resolutions of 300 dpi or more, the output quality of

SaxonScript Professional actually e x c e e d s that of 300 dpi Adobe PostScript laser printers!

Halftoned areas in particular, are consistently sharper, more detailed and feature better transitions

between various levels of grey than comparable images produced by using PostScript.

FEATURES

* T ru e v irtu a l m em o ry for

co m p atib ility w ith low

m em ory A m igas, or under

co n d itio n s

heavy

multitasking.

1 A pow erful P o stS c rip t

In te r p re te r featu rin g the

implementation of all of the

standard PostScript operators.

* Support for ail Preferences

printers.

■ A standard set of fonts,

m atching those m ost com

m only found in PostScript

printers: A v an t G a rd e ,

Bookm an, C entury School-

book, C o u rier, H elvetica,

P a la tin o , T im es, Z a p f

C h a n c e ry

P o s tS c rip t O u tp u t at 3 0 0 d p i

S a x o n S c rip t O u tp u t at 3 0 0 d p i

and

Z a p f

Dingbats.

’ Support for all P o stscrip t

downloadable fonts including

C o m p u g rap h ic , A dobe

Type 1 and A dobe Type 3

fonts obtained from any

number of different sources.

A n y P o stS cript font on

an A m iga disk can

be m anipulated w ithin

SaxonScript Professional.

* C onversion of P ostS cript

fonts into Saxon Publisher,

Am iga Bitmap, or Adobe Type

1 formats.

‘ A full colour P o stS c rip t

screen p rev iew w hich is

100% a ccu ra te to the

lim itatio n s of the screen

display.

' The ability to convert

P ostS cript files into a

c o m p ressed P o stS c rip t

fo rm at for faster output at

service bureaus.

* The ability to test screen

angles and den sities for

m o ire p a tte rn s before

printing.

* The ab ility to integrate

individual separations into a

single full-colour document

for accu rate colour proofs

on colour printers.

•The conversion of PostScript

files into IFF, EPS, EPSF, or

D R 2D form ats for editing

and manipulations in various

applications.

* Automatic sensing of 68881,

or 68882.

* Im plem entation o f all

standard PostScript operators.

* An open architectu re to

allow custom isation by PD

programmers.

* Delayed printing and print to

disk options.

When pixel values cannot be reproduced exactly, PostScript

renders the affected pixels in the closest d a r k e r s h a d e

available at the given screen density. S u b tle d e t a i ls a re

in e v ita b ly lo s t as a re s u lt. PostScript halftones also tend to

have a grainy appearance because of PostScript’s inability to

produce irregularly shaped halftone cells.

Because SaxonScript’s algorithms intelligently switch

between h a lf t o n in g and d ith e r in g , any pixel value can be

accurately reproduced. Notice the greater detail found in this

image. S a x o n S c rip t’s images are also sharper and crisper than

comparable PostScript images because of the program’s

unique ability to create irregular halftone cells.

PostScript’s approach to

halftoning lim its the

maximum number of pos

sible greys to a func

tion of both resolution

and screen frequency.

At lower resolutions, this

gives rise to the creation

of very visible bands of

grey which degrade the

overall quality of printed

images.

Our unique approach to

halftoning does not limit

the number of grey levels

which can be printed.

Consequently, no banding

is visible in areas con

taining colour gradients.

This permits smoother

transitions and enhances

the overall quality of

printed images.

accurate colour proofs on screen. Using the included

moire testing program , you can also test screen

angles and densities for visible artifacts before

printing! After verification, SaxonScript’s proprietary

compression algorithms can be used to compress your

PostScript files into a more compact PostScript format

for faster, i.e., much less expensive output.

SaxonScript Professional is available at yo m

nearest dealer for only £99.95 inc. VAT! A free

copy of SaxonScript Professional is also included

with every purchase of Saxon Publisher VI,2,

F O N T C O N V E R S I O N U T I L I T I E S

SaxonScript Professional supports all PostScript

downloadable fonts, including Compugraphic and

Adobe Type 1 fonts. Custom utilities further allow

you to convert PostScript fonts in Amiga Bitmap,

Saxon Publisher or Adobe Type 1 formats for use in a

variety of different applications!

I M A G E C O N V E R S I O N U T I L I T I E S

Convert your PostScript files into IFF, EPS, or DR2D

formats for manipulation in various paint programs

and desktop publishers! Or attach IFF headers to your

EPS files, effectively allowing you to view EPS files

on'screen!

SURFACE UK LIMITED

5 ROCKWARE AVENUE,

GREENFORD

MIN REQ: 1 meg,

2 drives.

*Amiga is a registered trademark

of Commodore-Amiga Inc.

*A11 other products mentioned

herein are the property of their

respective owners.

TEL: 081-566 6677

P R I N T I N G U T I L I T I E S

Preview linotronic files for potentially costly errors

before sending your output to a service bureau. Print

PostScript directly to the screen display to obtain

MIDDX

EXT: 204/205

UB6 OAA

FAX: 081-566 6678

Dealer Enquiries Welcome

i r o n u m

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Haws 6

Details of a stunning graphics system, the year’s biggest

show and more...

Basic programming

AMIGA SHOPPER

Issue 7 November 1991

Editor: Stuart Anderton

Art Editor: Jacquie Spanton

Production Editor: Ian W rlgley

Technical Editor: Cliff Ramshaw

Consultant Editors: Jeff Walker,

Mark Smlddy, Phil South

Contributors: Sam Littlewood, Pat

Winstanley, Paul Andreas Overaa,

Gary Whiteley, Jolyon Ralph,

Stewart Russell, Mick Draycott,

Michael Lazarou, Dean Cracknell,

Paul Ockenden

Ad Manager: Margaret Clarke

Senior Ad Sales Executive:

Shaun Lancaster

Ad Production: Deborah Cook

Illustrations: Kev Sutherland,

Jolyon Webb

Photography: Ashton James

Production Technicians:

Simon Windsor, Chris Stocker,

Jerome Clough

Promotions Manager:

Michele Harris

Publishers ’ Assistant:

Tamara Ward

Circulation Director: Sue Hartley

Group Publishing Director:

Greg Ingham

Printed by Thamesmouth Printing

News Trade Distribution -

UK: Future Publishing 0225 442244

Worldwide: MMC Ltd 0483 211678

Future Publishing Ltd. No part of

this magazine may be reproduced

without w ritten permission. We

welcome contributions for

publication but regret that we

cannot return any submissions.

Any correspondence w ill be

considered for publication unless

specifically stated otherwise.

Editorial

30 Monmouth Street,

Bath BA1 2BW

Tel: 0225 442244

Fax: 0225 446019

E-mail:

amshopper @cix.compulink.co.uk

Advertising

Rayner House, 23 Higher Hillgate,

Stockport S K I 3ER

Tel: 061-474 7333

Fax: 061-476 3002

Subscriptions

The Old Barn, Somerton TA11 7PY

Tel: 0458 74011

A new series for advanced users starts by looking at

accessing library calls.

Talking Shop

is the Amiga any use at college? A m ig a S h o p p e r readers

have their say.

13 Education 87

Learning can be an adventure in itself, especially with the

right software.

Using MessyDOS 91

Hints and tips for using the PD program which lets you

read and write IBM PC disks.

Language of the mentis

An occasional series on programming languages gets

underway with an examination of Modula 2.

Cliff's C d e Conundrum 1 0 0

Write a program to count the words in a text file and you

could win a prize.

Solid art

AmigaDOS 105

How to control your Amiga down the serial cable and set

up a simple multi-user system.

Amiga art packages can take the effort out of

producing images which look solid and three

dimensional. We look at four 3D paint programs, and

recommend what to buy for ultimate realism.

Starting out with MIDI 113

A brand new series on making music with an Amiga and

MIDI instruments starts out by examining what MIDI is

and how it can be used in principle.

Wisto Pro 26

Create solid landscapes based on real geographical data

and explore them with this American import.

Subscriptions offer 123

Take advantage of this unbeatable offer to have A m ig a

S h o p p e r delivered directly to your home.

Video

This month we review EMR’s Videopilot V320 video

editing controller, G2’s VideoCenter VC3 genlock and a

disk of shareware video tools.

Beginning DTP 123

Thinking of setting up a desktop publishing system? This

is the place to start.

Concept Keyboard 34

A keyboard without any keys which can make a child’s life

much easier.

Presenting your data 131

Information can be enhanced by the careful use of charts

and graphs.

Personal Fonts Maker 43

Design and create your own Amiga screen fonts with this

sophisticated editor.

Reader ads 137

The best way to buy and sell used Amiga equipment.

Amiga Answers

Sixteen pages of expert advice on real-life difficulties

encountered by you, the readers. See page 49 for details.

49 User Groups list 138

Get in touch with other Amiga owners in your area by

joining a club. We list dozens across the country.

Beginners' Answers

Public Domain World

140

If you are new to the Amiga, this is the place to start.

We put the latest in public domain and shareware

software on test.

AMOS 74

Hints, tips, advice and reviews, including a look at A M O S

3 D and calculating the time.

Buying advice

153

Follow our simple rules for hassle-free buying.

77 Win a £1,000 genlock 154

G2’s excellent VideoCenter Plus genlock must be won in

this month’s competition.

€ programming

The last in our C programming series puts the finishing

touches to A D ra w .

A M IG A SHOPPER • ISSUE 7 • NOVEMBER 1991

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