Revolution - NewTek (Video Toaster Demonstration)

[analyzingfunny]

This is why the porn was so cheesy.

[taitmedia]

This was the demo video that got me into video production back in 1993. I have since moved on from this and have had many editing systems since, but still have the Toaster and Amiga in my basement for sentimental reasons.

[makrisj]

Amiga can still do.

[XcXtrippyXcX]

The lightwave 3d Part was like porn or something... kinky... xD

"Like this... or like this(yeah...)" wtf!? seriously... that one thing i don't miss about the 90's xD

[KayAnders]

That's Ken Nordine narrating! I love that guy!

[arelys666]

Yeah... lol

[knowbuddynose]

The Blade Runner reference at the end just caps it.

[hannahfontana69]

A $400 laptop running a pirated copy of Adobe CS5 can outperform the Video Toaster.

[mahalodotcom]

@hannahfontana69 Yeah but in 1990, when the VT came out, there was no Adobe Premiere, and there sure as heck weren't any $400 laptops XD

[LogiForce86]

@hannahfontana69 It sure can, but only 20 years later and with a lot more processing power. The Amiga only had a 25 MHz Motorola 68030 32-bit cpu and 16 Megabyte of internal memory. Compared to the multi-core laptops of today running at at least 2Ghz with about 2 to 4 Gigabyte of internal.

So in terms of efficiency of using hardware resources, the Amiga with Toaster still wins big time. ;)

[FormulaZR1]

@hannahfontana69

Show me a $400 laptop that has a 4 input video switcher so that you can switch between 4 live sources.

I had an A3000 with a Toaster4000 card back in 1993. I had $7K invested in that setup and didn't even own a car yet.

[BohlBERG]

What the hell is at 6:18 hahaha

[BobocheMaster]

This NEVER grows old. Period.

[richardmaudsley77]

@BobocheMaster I wasn't even alive when it came out, hell they didn't even sell it in my country, and I love it.

[NiteHackr]

Realize that this was in the 90s when the PC's barely had sound and still used DOS. ;) I loved my Amiga.

[crontabminusell]

I wish I could find this demo. I had them send me the VHS copy WAY back in the day and I have NO idea what happened to it!

[Orteil42]

ToasterPaint ?

ToasterPaint.

T-T-T-TOASTER PAINT

this shit is so extreme and homoerotic

[VincentGreece]

Very good hardware, very good video but narrators sound like in porn movie :-)

[analyzingfunny]

lol!!!! This is great. I called the 800 number and got this VHS sent to me for free. We were so high and laughfing at this for months. Just couldnt afford it at 4000 plus 1500 plus a 5000 dollar camera at the time. Sure was cool and still is. They sure fucked the big boy good. The toaster guy did something else too what was it?

[marsandbrent]

Thanks for sharing this! Brings back many memories. :)

[gurtygurt64]

I don't know what's better, the funny song titles on the title demo bit or "Frankie the Robot" at 6:18, haha.

[milkmit]

Wow.. I watched this on VHS so many times as a kid that I actually still remember it word for word even after all these years.

[02daft]

lightwave, newtek ROCKS!!!!!!

[hwentertainment]

Nope, mostly commercial software like Apple's Final Cut or Adobe's Premiere or any Avid editing package.

[hwentertainment]

Not at all. The functions that the Videotoaster has, are to be found in even the most basic videoeditors.

[garak0410]

This guy was in a lit of commercials in the 80s and 90s...famous for talking to himself!

[doctordeejay]

The TV sitcom Home Improvement used Toaster to do those famous wipes before commercials.

[twh115]

I have this on VHS tape, autographed by Ms. Kiki Stockhammer herself! (buddy of mine took my tape with him to a NAB show a while back...she was thrilled to sign it!)

[kirkenshrir]

So, I guess I wasn't the only on to have watched this over and over again! I just loooved those voice-overs!!!

[AwakeAudio]

I wanted this SO bad when I was a kid!! I actually had this VHS tape and probably watched it 1000 times. Thanks for the upload:)

[madaracs]

Hey! That's Ken Nordine! Sweet.

[EBTL0947]

I have the original video that i got when i ordered the info pack on the toaster. i was SOOO happy when i got it even thought it was just a video. i watched it so many times. Cuz it was the CLOSTEST I'll ever get to owning that 5000$ system. But man Man i wanted it soooo badly. that and LightWave 3D

[OlegSmirnoff]

That's a great commercial for a great product which indeed caused a paradigm shift, and with way better music than videos of this kind today.

But ,one thing is still like today, they promote it with being "easy". Even today, lots of software is promoted with their features of being "easy" which just isn't true ;)

[kargaroc386]

and all of this was done on a 25 MHz 68030.

holy shit.

[68040E]

hey thats a hot name.. Yeh

[Gmancrap]

What is the camera at 4:06

[tsangc]

@Gmancrap I think it's a Sony CCD-V5000.

[grjohnson7]

Built and used one of these back in the 90's. It was Kick Ass, but it had frequent locks in lightwave. Overall an awesome product.

[Karlfalcon]

LOL. $4000. How much would one of these models go for today?

[Microbrew]

They can be found on eBay for a few hundred. Once you include the flyer, the computer for the card to sit in, genlocks, video editing decks, cables, fonts not to mention the entire industry behind LW, you can still spend thousands on the setup. But as shown in the video, you probably could pick it up just shy of $700.

[TeensAreNotChildren]

$4000 is a lot cheaper than the $40,000 most studios would spend on a graphical studio.

We had one of these in our college TV station, and there were tons of them at NBC, Disney, and Warner Brothers for creating shows like seaQuest, Beauty/ Lion King, and Babylon 5.

[SkuldChan42]

why does every newtek toaster video on youtube have to have completely trashed sound?

[bryceguy72]

It's the fault of people who convert videos from tape to digital. Newtek boosted the audio signal on all their demo tapes so that it would be loud and well heard even on small TVs with tiny speakers. The people who convert the video tapes to YouTube format did not lower the audio gain so you get sound clipping aka distortion. It happens when the voltage from the audio source is greater than the highest voltage the sound digitizer can handle. I have the original tape and it sounds perfect.

[Microbrew]

alas bryceguy72 is right. However, I wasn't the original converter of the file and I've lost my copies of Revolutions long ago...

[philnolan3d]

Woohoo Kiki!

[RichGilly]

Yes but there is still a difference between a scalpel and a broadsword.

[Gradius0]

The audio is way too distorced, I have a better quality copy, if I found I'll upload it.

[morgs2020]

or this yeaaaaah

[morgs2020]

chromafx lol wankers

[beverins]

The person who made this video - why isn't he/she still making videos for Newtek? Their current "marketing" is pretty dismal.

[amdinga]

This was invented by Dana Carvey's brother!

[EdgarKritik]

WHAT????? Buzzzzz!!

[k8fan]

It's true. Bard Carvey was a NewTek engineer (though hardly it's "inventor") and the inspiration for Garth of Wayne's World.

[snouty2005]

Yeah this was early to mid 90s, I was hanging out at NewTek at the time and Kiki, pretty sure she was over 20. :) She's in a band called Warp 11 who released an album like last year?

[pacoreguenga]

Of course they didn't tell you at that time you needed very expensive equipment to record your animations to tape in a frame by frame basis. I had everything from the diaquest dq-taco to the kitchen sync and a full a/b/c roll umatic and betacam sp editing suite ages ago and it was very funny and challenging. videomaking has lost a lot with NLE software.

[Microbrew]

Actually, Newtek came out with the Flyer addon for the VT. Basically it was a Hard Disk recorder (like a Tivo) for the toaster so that people could record animations to disk (or video) then tie it into one of the toaster's input sources. But it was a Toaster 2.0 creation...

[pacoreguenga]

yeah, I remember that too. By then I was editibg audio on an amiga 2000 with a sunrise ad516 and studio 16 but was stiil editing video on tape. When the flyer arrived at last, I had one of the first units for a test drive. I returned it after a month. It was still very buggy as every new piece of hard(soft)ware. Still we purchased some other toaster units up to the 4000 version which are still working around.

[dblackmamba]

My god, why Adobe doenst make commercials like this that make feel that a software is better than a date with Joan Collins.

[RichGilly]

We had this at my highschool. It was such a POS compared to Premier.

[Microbrew]

You can't even compare the two. This system does real time editing while Premier is a NLE environment.

To be a fair comparison, you would have to treat it like the quality of your local newscast and the network evening news. Not on content but in quality of video.  Plus I can't imagine high schoolers really putting out great video. It's meant to be a introduction to professional video. Anyone can do NLE.. Just click and drop video frames. Linear Editing takes skillz.

[RichGilly]

Yes, Linear Editing takes skill. So does crafting a table from a hunk of wood. But I would rather go down and buy a table at Ikea. It's better then messing around with a circular saw and probably making a pile of sawdust and crap. Also a skilled Premier user will make better videos then a skilled Video Toaster user.

I can compare the two. They are both used for editing video. That's like saying you can't compare a Ford Mustang with a Ford Model T.

[Microbrew]

"But I would rather go down and buy a table at Ikea."

Me personally, I'd rather buy solid whole wood furniture than Swedish built particle board. But hey, you get what you pay for. Your entitled to your opinion.

[pacoreguenga]

I support Microbrew and would like to add this: The fact that anyone can do NLE editing does not make them GOOD EDITORS. Besides, the Toaster was used by prosumers and professionals. Premiere and Vegas are used even by my own children (who hate windows movie maker, btw). If you are serious about NLE you should be editing at least on an Avid system. And if you were really a pro, you would be using Discreet's Smoke.

[EdgarKritik]

A bad workman blames his tools. If someone is a good editor with a good sense of pace, style, and storytelling, they'll be able to create something great on the Toaster or on Premiere.

[analyzingfunny]

@RichGilly So let me get this straight....you LIKE cheap ass glue and formaldehyde with paint on it and shit thats crap and wont last but a few years?

[Oakland74]

Yes. Ken Nordine and Kiki. What is she, about 20 years old in this? What an 80's rocker chick. This is great!

[CapJTKirk]

Boy does this bring back some great memories!!!

Thanks for posting it! :)

[depper]

Newtek made the very very very FINEST videos. Newtek made the Amiga so exciting. And if you owned an Amiga like I did, you KNOW you had the finest computer on your block, in your neighborhood, and in the World!

[exactspace]

Nice!!! I'm so glad someone posted this. I haven't seen this in YEARS since my father brought home a VHS from work in the early 90's. This shits da bomb. Some of the effects still look fresh today. I can't believe you had to have a character generator to display it on video streams. Stuff sure has changed. Also lightwave 3D on Amiga...haha.

[AnalogX]

Let not forget. the computer that made this possible.. The Commodore Amiga!!!

I think i have an original copy of this demo reel on a Pro VHS Tape.

[tommyjones1978]

Agree! but at that time! ONLY the amiga can make it possible!! no hardware can andle so many things at same time!!! The real multitasking

[zymaymyn]

Kiki's in a band now, called Warp 11. All their songs are Star Trek related, some of them involving sex. One such song is "Suck My Spock".

[DJNesSimepolys]

School events,weddings,EVEN DIVORCES lol.

[reactos23]

Great video :)

[stardust59401]

This Marketing video is one of the best i have ever seen in my life! I remember when I saw it first in the 90's, It is inspiring, uplifting and extremely creative! WOW!

[HubmaN1234]

Meh... a Quantell PaintBox could do the same thing.

[Microbrew]

Most certainly with modern technology. But...

1.) This was done in the late 80's/early 90's. NewTek has other offerings that are more "modern".

2.) For a cost of around $5000 or less if you have the computer you can do all of this compared to the PaintBox which costs $55000. Dollars per donuts, the VT blows your PaintBox away.

[jarjar2b]

kiki is hot

[beverins]

This was back when Newtek knew how to advertise their product...

[lezbriddon]

ntsc/pal etc resolutions have no pixels, they are analog signals!

They only 'have pixels' once you start to digitally edit them.

[mrynit]

wow. i love old computers. shows how powerfull that old stuff is

[pippilina]

Ken Nordine, nooo why

[Microbrew]

Well not only were there excellent talents like Ken Nordine, but the Video Toaster even converted such Macintosh die-hards like Todd Rundgren to use the Toaster with their own Music Video (Change Myself from 2nd Wind). As far as I know, it was the only time Todd used any platform other than the Mac.

[Silent700]

Is that Ken Nordine doing the narration, or a sound-alike?

[Microbrew]

Yes. His credit for him and his band starts at 9:46

[k8fan]

Ken's son was a big Amiga booster, and I worked with him at an Amiga dealer in Chicago.

[sanbell]

what year was this made

[jci10]

1990. The toaster/lightware/photoshop/CG­/mixer came out in October in 1990 for $1500.0. It was first presented in Las Vagas in 1989...

[ehrichweiss]

I think the VT was much more than $1500 when it came out. I seem to remember $2500-$3000. I bought one used for $1000 in 1994 and they were still being sold new by Newtek.

[JiggaJagga]

That's still a fraction of the cost of a video production suite.

[ehrichweiss]

No doubt. Back in the day I used to have all the equipment they were referring to as the "$100,000 studio" including a pretty spiffy chromakey.

[jci10]

No, its on the video, "less than 1500.00 dollars". For $2,500 it INCLUDED the computer (Commodore Amiga 2000), but the card was $1,500.

[ehrichweiss]

That's weird but then again maybe I'm thinking of the VT4K. It's only been 13 years at this point. I eventually sold my VT though because it required too much equipment, and instead bought a Vlab Motion NLE w/Toccata audio card and LightWave standalone so I could produce 3D animations without needing the $10,000 stop-frame recorder(the one thing they don't mention that they needed for that video).

[jci10]

The Video Flyer was around $4,500 and that added digital, LOSSLESS video editing to the toaster. I think that was released around 1994.

[ehrichweiss]

It was supposed to be lossless but fell incredibly short of the D1/D2 video standards they had promised it could deliver. The SCSI drives they designed it around were too slow to deliver the bandwidth required. It was that fact that caused me to choose the VlabMotion over the Flyer. It delivered BetaSP quality video 640x480(actually more like 640x400 since it used square pixels) for about $3,000 less than the Flyer.

[JiggaJagga]

How did you get along with 640 x 480 on standard television sets?

[ehrichweiss]

NTSC is 648x486, and most sets cut off 6-10 pixels on each side. On top of that it used square pixels which are different from the non-square that you're likely used to seeing. Google "square pixels"(minus the quotes) and there'll be more info, I tried to post a link but it wouldn't allow me.

If you wanted BetaSP quality you usually got a small bar of black on the top and bottom but with a good imagination you used it like a letterbox effect.

[jci10]

I thought NTSC signal was (still is) 768x480x30 while PAL (the EU) is 768x580x26 ? The amiga handled both well...

[ehrichweiss]

Nope. It's 648 by 486 in non-square pixels. Guaranteed. A google search for "ntsc resolution" turns up more than enough info.

[jci10]

Well Wiki states 720x480...

[ehrichweiss]

No, you're reading it all. First of all 720x480 would be a 3:2 aspect ratio. NTSC is 4:3. Widescreens are 16:9. You might be confusing a bunch of their numbers without realizing what the digits are actually representing.

[ehrichweiss]

that should be "No, you're reading it all wrong."

[atrocity6x111]

Overscan.... Any video professional knows that part of the raster of the video image gets lost to the viewer.

[jci10]

As well as people handle Youtube videos which are 300x200x20... :)

[liquidsolomon]

I am so stoked that this video was posted. This is the video that convinced me that I wanted to do video production. I got a Toaster and dual TBC about a year later and started producing wedding videos and event videos at age 17. The Toaster also gave me an edge in college when my video projects had effects and polish the other students didn't have access to. I still have my toaster in the garage but the VHS revolution video was lost. Seeing it again is like revisiting an old friend!

[AlienRelics]

Oh, man... fantastic!

Anyone have the Kiki After Midnight videos?

[Vidiot42]

Complete with music by Ken Nordine!

[mackhine]

I use to have this video. Even got to see Kiki demonstrate it at a convention. Nice!

[gregvb]

Micro, thanks for posting this. I had the original tape--including Todd's vid--when it first came out. I'm sooooo sorry now I got rid of it. Although I never owned one, it was great inspiration for me to get into video.

[beverins]

this was back when Newtek actually knew what marketing and advertising was..

[nfxdetroitdotcom]

I have 4 diffrent VHS tapes of the Video toaster, including the new 2.0 segment. Contact me if you want a copy.

[watchtheskies]

wow thats great, and only 4000 dollars! (what does that add up 15 years later?)

incredible that we dont really need any outboard gear to do any of this today, just a regular pc/mac with any cheap gamers graphics card,

[Microbrew]

The difference being that today we use NLE and this is Analog Editing. This system is what you would use for Streaming Media (vs. cutting up a movie clip)

[JiggaJagga]

watchtheskies, technology has advanced but you try doing broadcast-quality stuff, including channel mixing. This gear was ahead of it's time, it springboarded countless cable stations in the US into the spotlight, without which they simply could not have afforded access to such technology. It's a production suite on a card - what had the PC got at the time?

[JiggaJagga]

Just to clarify, if you want broadcast-quality editing then expect to pay a lot of money even today, for cards made by the likes of Matrox. The Amiga back then what would otherwise cost upto $100,000 - in a box. It's just a pity Commodore didn't market this wonder machine properly. The PC could not even multi-task properly back then, and this piece of kit was making waves when PC technology was struggling to even get video-out features.

[JiggaJagga]

Considering it's using late 80's technology, this thing was a exceptional value for money and you also had access to the Amiga software such as Deluxe Paint and Scala. All running concurrently.

I saw this kit a trade fair it blew everyone away.

[cresshead]

retro revolutions!

[legerdemain]

Yeah, me too. I had this tape. I think I let a friend borrow it. Good find.

[sanbell]

I had one of those tapes a long time ago

[TedRR]

Gotta love the company that brought affordable, real video tools to the masses.

And they are still doing it.

Can you say SpeedEdit?

[DeathChronx]

I want one!

[gleep52]

Does anyone have the video NewTek put out that had a Red Lamborghini Countach on the Golden Gate bridge stuck in traffic, it sprouts wings, then flies over them all and over some mountains?  There was some great guitar music to that video (electric of course) and I'm trying to find that song... Any help?

[jci10]

A Commodore Amiga/Newtek system was lightyears ahead of anything on the market back in 1990. I still dont think there is anything on the market now (2006) that can do all that for $4,000. Heck, even Lightwave now is quite expensive and it was "thrown in" for free back in 1990. Most of the crapt for the PC today still does not come close with even True, lossless broadcast quality signal. Anyone remember the specs that came with the Toaster? Flawless.

[BergVisionStudios]

Oh how I remember this Demo. This is a Classic for sure. We used to have one the Toaster 4000 in our studio many many years ago. Oh how things change.

[projectfarm]

This video promo was created in 1990-91. This promo made Newtek a lot of money! Great piece of work.

[shaolinwind]

What year was this made?

[Microbrew]

There should be a date in the credits. But I'm thinking around 1987-88.

[mrboutwell]

1990

I think it was my first system

AGAPE PRODUCTIONS

[feikedoi]

BTW I also have original tapes of the LA Crustaceans User Group, tapes 4 and 5, doing step by step tutorial on VT 2.0

[feikedoi]

VTF55< for me too dude, i was REALLY impressed that newtek actually sent me this original demo tape, with fancy box and shit, all the way to Brazil, no cost!! I still have the ORIGINAL intact tape WITH box and flyer showing signal tests with TBC!

[vtf55]

WOW. This single sales video has been so influental to me way back then. thanks for posting

[sysx]

It´s a classic!!

[Microbrew]

Yes, It is. This is like the later version of this demonstration tho. The original had "Todd Rundgren's - Change Myself" video tacked on at the end of it. Of course it was pimping the Amiga, but I've seen versions for the Macintosh also. The Amiga is featured in this one just generically referenced.

[jci10]

The version for the Macintosh was simply an external box (an Amiga 2000) with a toaster hardware board. The mac controlled the Commore Amiga/Newtek Toaster system. There was never really a Mac/Toaster system. It was simply impossible with the Macs feeble, slow, underpowered system....