Commodore AMIGA Computer Animation, Graphics, Multimedia, 1985 1991 home computing, software choices

[@cucho69]

Commodore produced two computers that revolutionized the history of computing: C64 and Amiga, even today there is much enthusiasm for these computers.

[@danielweston9188]

Loved my 128 - ran an entire farm with it.....

[@denniseldridge2936]

This is awesome - I remember visiting the States and seeing this animation on this model running in a mall shop window and being absolutely blown away lol.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Dennis, Cool! Glad you enjoyed it! ~

[@IHateYoutubeHandles615]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Wasn't there another demo of a sprite moving back and forth on the screen with a neighborhood behind it? Not quite like the robo city shown here; I think it had more detail. I saw it on a screen in a computer store at the time.

[@MarquisDeSang]

Real 3D (still sold to this very day as Realsoft 3D) was my weapon of choice back then.

[@alanguages]

The Amiga graphics compared to IBM wasn't much of a comparison back then. IBM may have been number two, but a distant number two at that. Amiga was way ahead of it's time, imagine if Commodore did not go out of business and the Amiga continued to evolve. The home computer of today would be professional quality.

[@belstar1128]

It wasn't even number 2 atari st and mac was. better even some 8 bit systems where better like the msx and c64.

[@valenrn8657]

IBM released PGA in 1985 with 640x480 256 colors from a 4096 color palette. Amiga 1000 has a 4096 color palette chipset at a lower price. IBM released PGA and EGA during 1985. IBM released 8514 and VGA during 1987. These IBM standards served as the basis for SVGA clones and IBM XGA.

[@daishi5571]

@@valenrn8657 PGA/PGC may have been capable of displaying 256 colour, but it was all but worthless at doing so. Even with an extra CPU built on the card its frame update was extremely poor and was only ever supported by a few programs (I just did a quick search only 3. I though it was more and I used that card) Amiga A1000 could display 640x512 and it could do it in up to 4096 colours not just a palette of 4096. HAM mode may have had fringing, but you can do some decent animations, doesn't require a special monitor and had real support with lots of programs. VGA may have been released in 1987 but its support sucked until 1990/91 Sometime what people mean by being better, isn't just technically better, but how it was used. A system (Amiga) that has actual standards, not just using that word as a joke (PC) to sell the next supposed standard, allows for a system that gets used thoroughly.

[@derekdexheimer3070]

Well, whaddyaknow. I have at last found the computer I wanted in high school...36 years late.

[@valenrn8657]

From 1987 until 1991, the Blender 3D app developers started their career by releasing Traces for Commodore Amiga computers. Ton Roosendaal left the Amiga because of unstable hardware (lacking the OS-supported MMU) and Amiga lacked 24 bits color support in 1991. The AGA Amiga’s came first in Q4 1992.

[@yauwohn]

I still have a 1000 in it's original box stashed away in the workshop, we bought it used, has the plug in memory.

[@TheSudsy]

Juggler sold me in 1987 - got a job to pay for an A1000

[@ericwood3709]

I used to make animations in the early 90s, but using HyperCard on a Macintosh LC. I still have the many, many stacks that I created back then and will sometimes look at them using Mini vMac.

[@ran2wild370]

From Wikipedia page @@In 1994, as Commodore filed for bankruptcy, Byte magazine called the Amiga 1000 "the first multimedia computer... so far ahead of its time that almost nobody-including Commodore's marketing department-could fully articulate what it was all about".[14]@@

[@valenrn8657]

@@madigorfkgoogle9349 IBM VGA has existed since 1987 and throwing K7 Athlon XP 2200 (1800Mhz) power at IBM VGA doesn't remove roll-up slow frame rates. With sufficient CPU power, Amiga OCS (original chipset) can scale and run Doom in 64-color EHB mode at playable frame rates.

[@d_vibe-swe]

It wasn't only the marketing that failed afaik, the leadership of Commodore apparently was very incompetent. Still makes me sad today :(

[@Design_no]

Like many of my generation I had an Atari first, then upgraded to the Amiga. It got stolen sadly, but I still have the Atari 600xl.

[@daveinthailand]

I Remember using most of those but i used a package called Animagic spent hours drawing every frame

[@belstar1128]

A very nice computer for its time cheap too.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Yes, relatively speaking, and considering all it could do, the price was not too bad!

[@ghostlytravel]

Awesome video

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Ghostly Travel, thank you for the feedback! ~

[@ran2wild370]

Poor Motorola, they were having this 68k for everything from Unix to Mac, but what happened and why they weren't able to develop 68k further?

[@mm-hl7gh]

Amiga and mac where closed systems. Pc was open for everybody. You could assemble a pc from components like you want, and developers can make hard and software for them without paying license fees.

[@daishi5571]

@@mm-hl7gh While you are correct that the Mac was a closed system, you are incorrect in that the Amiga was an open system.

[@danyoutube7491]

@@mm-hl7gh You didn't have to pay a licence fee to make hardware or software for the Amiga, I don't know about the Mac. There was loads of hardware available for the Amiga from early in its life and they were not hard to upgrade, in fact it was generally easier to get a new piece of kit up and running on the Amiga than on the IBM compatibles. But then, this discussion is nothing to do with what ran2wild even asked. From what I recall reading, the 68000 line got developed about as far as it could go with the technology of the day, for whatever technical reason they couldn't get beyond the 68060 (which was broadly speaking the equivalent of the first generation of Pentiums, though both had different advantages to one another), and unlike Intel's Pentium series the 68060 couldn't be developed to reach ever higher clock speeds.

[@fygarOnTheRun]

Where can I buy The Amiga?

[@jimjohnhaywire]

they named it The Amiga, so was that not so subtly implying that this computer would be like a girlfriend?

[@TheSudsy]

It was code they used in Silicon Valley - so anyone eavesdropping (Atari cough cough) thought they were talking about girlfriends. Paula, Gayle, Denise, Lorraine, Agnus. odd if heard someone's girlfriend was Gary or Buster though !!!