Aladdin 4D

After Death, Comes Rebirth

2012-01-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

After the death of Commodore in 1994 the Amiga died with it in a way. Millions of sales died, major developer support died, a steady release of new applications and games died. Even sales of the legendary Video Toaster in the USA eventually died off for the Amiga. But the Video Toaster was reborn and thrives today in a wide range of portable editing / live video production products called TriCaster. So too was the Amiga reborn as Amiga Virtual Machine (Amiga Forever), Amiga OS 4.x, MorphOS, AROS & FPGA based solutions.

The spirt outlived the silicon. Maybe one day one or more of these solutions will again achieve millions of sales for Amiga fans. So too will Aladdin 4D be reborn. From the ashes of the Amiga platform it will reemerge as a platform independent beginners 3D animation/rendering package. Reincarnation and enlightenment just takes time. The ghost in the machine does not have instantaneous programming skills. Humans must do that and it's not instantaneous, it takes some time to get it right.

Better than a 10!

2011-12-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

We like to sometimes mention other 3D Animation / Rendering software on the Aladdin 4D Blog. Especially if it has awesome features or is a must have powerful tool. A shining example of this is NewTek's Emmy Award winning LightWave 3D. This application blows Aladdin 4D away in its feature set and animation capabilities. The current version is 10 but version 11 is shaping up to be even better. It has a ton of new features like the ones listed here. A Pre-Release Upgrade of LightWave 3D 11 for Registered owners can be purchased on the link below.

NewTek Shopping

Why don'y you upgrade today or if you don't own LightWave 3D buy it now!

Rendered LightWave 3D Train Image
Courtesy of Ghostlight Productions

www.GhostlightDigital.com

Rumors - News & Nonsense

2011-12-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

A few rumors about Aladdin 4D 6.0 have been spreading lately, like it will never ship or has not even been developed yet. We have also caught some flake for developing the Mac OS X version first. We could have cancelled the Aladdin 4D 6.0 project long ago but chose to continue to put resources into it. As far as releasing the OS X version first, this helped to get the code cleaned up and will help fund the other versions. We can't give you a firm shipping date but we had hoped to have the Mac version done by November 30th, 2011 so we are getting closer.

Stoneworks!

2011-11-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

Because of the long upgrade cycle many of you have started to think Aladdin 4D might be forever stuck in software code time. This analogy might make sense when you stop to consider the program has stayed relatively unchanged from a customers standpoint since 1999. Like a block of stone timelessly frozen or at least from an outside point of view. But Aladdin 4D has slowly been crafted into something new and we hope you will be pleasantly surprised when the unveiling begins.

AmigaOne X1000 Limited Edition

2011-10-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

A-Eon has set a target release date and price on the AmigaOne X1000 Limited Edition. It's nice that this long in development system is finally coming out.

AmigaOne X1000 Limited Edition

Beautifully Rendered in Paper

2011-07-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

Aladdin 4D's new manual is a beautiful sight to behold. Free in digital form for our customers and also available in a nice spiral bound printed version for just $29.96. The new manual will cover both 5.x and 6.0 versions of the software. Please contact via the link below if you need one.

DiscreetFX Contact

Aladdin 4D 6.0 Beta Testers Wanted!

2011-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Beta Testers Wanted

We Have Been Catching Hell!

2011-07-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

We been catching some hell lately over the continuing delay and information about the release Aladdin 4D 6.0. Silence in this case is not golden. All we can say to all the naysayers is that we have a surprise in store. Soon will stop all the rumors and quite the critics.

Please Don't Cry a River

2011-06-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

The sun has set. The 50% Sale ended on June 10th, 2011 for the introduction of Aladdin 4D 5.x in the Project Metropolis Instant Download Application Store. Sorry if you missed out but don't cry a river. You can still buy it for $99.96.

Less than 30 Minutes to Go!

2011-06-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

SALE ALMOST OVER POTENTIAL LAMP RUBBERS! Get it if you must or forget about it. Only 30 minutes for the Project Metropolis 50% off launch pricing. That's just a mer 1800 seconds and counting till the end.

http://project-metropolis.com/

Project Metropolis Introduction Sale Almost Over!

2011-06-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

We promised to make Aladdin 4D 5.x available on the new Application Store site Project Metropolis and that happened on June 7th, 2011. To introduce the store we did something we never do, a 50% off sale. It's shocking and will not happen again but please enjoy great prices until they end on June 10th, 2011. Rub the Lamp, Render the Magic.

Project Metropolis Site

Aladdin 4D 5.x will also be available to buy on the Project Metropolis Site

2011-06-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Aladdin 4D 5.x will join other Apps on the new Project Metropolis Application Store very soon. More information via the links below.

Project Metropolis Announcement

Project Metropolis Website

Rusted Lamps in the Egyptian Desert

2011-05-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

People keep trying to pin us down on when Aladdin4D 6.0 will ship. It kind of reminds us of the great pyramids of Egypt and the Sphinx that watches over them. We found Aladdin4D in that desert when it was a rusted old lamp at the end of 2007. It wasn't a Christmas Present though but instead more like an antique puzzle you find in a thrift store. Rubbing the lamp revealed rust not luster. But we will rub harder and harder until the golden lamps glow shines through. We have hope because we saw the Sphinx wink at us when we found the rusted lamp in his desert.

A Lone Wolf

2011-05-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while a lone wolf begs us to cancel Aladdin 4D 6.0 on all platforms with the exception of Windows. It happend again today in fact. This only strengthens our resolve. Aladdin 4D 6.0 will never be sold for Windows, the only way to get it for free is to buy A4D for one of the other platforms. We are a Windows developer under protest. We believe like many many others that Windows is a legacy garbage operating system. It's old and out of fashion. Its time has truly passed. The Lone Wolf can wine and cry but our decision is unmoving and its final.

Humpty Dumpty Amiga

2011-04-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses, And all the King's men Couldn't put Humpty together again! The Amiga once was a brand from Commodore, sure you had different models like the A1000 or the Amiga 4000T but the specs were similar and from one company. Today the Amiga is like Humpty Dumpty, it fell off the wall after Commodore's death and broke into many pieces. Don't be sad, this is in fact a good thing. MorphOS, Amiga OS 4.x, AROS, NatAmi, Amiga Virtual Machine (Amiga Forever) FPGA Arcade and more all competing for customers and adding features is great news.

When Commodore dictated the Amiga it was a slow agonizing process. How long did AGA take to come out, way too long for sure. If you're a fan of Pringles brand potato chips think of it like that. In the 1970's you only had a choice of one flavor of the famous chip. Today up to ten flavors of Pringles exist. What great news for customers that they can pick and choose the 21st century Amiga that is right for them. Why do we bother even talking about these alternative platforms? Because Aladdin 4D runs on them and they are interesting.

The Light is Still On and Someone is Home!

2011-04-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

A few of you have voiced concerns about the long development time of Aladdin 4D 6.0. Truth be told we were naive on this one. We acquired the package without a full code review and kind of got in deep and almost drowned. The water was very deep and we thought we spotted jaws and or bottles and lamps in the water a few times. Rest assured we never give up and the product will come out. Since the main new feature is multi-platform you can buy and enjoy the current form of Aladdin 4D today on your Amiga Virtual Machine. No one ever said you have to wait to rub the lamp and render the magic.

Better Late then Never!

2011-03-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

We like to report here whenever a new version of Mac OS X, Amiga OS 4.x or MorphOS ships. For some reason it totally slipped our minds to report that MorphOS 2.7 shipped. It was available on December 02, 2010 in fact. Now that we have reported this a new version will probably be out any moment.

:)

MorphOS 2.6 Now Available and supports more Hardware!

2010-10-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Great news from the MorphOS Team. Version 2.6 of this great operating system is now available for downloading and it runs on more PPC based Mac hardware. MorphOS is one of the target operating systems for Aladdin 4D 6.0 and we enjoy using this fantastic operating system. Link to complete news item below.

Public Release of MorphOS 2.6 & Introduction of PowerMac Support

NVIDIA’s Long Term Plans Show Diversification

2010-09-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

At its annual GPU conference, computer graphics chip maker NVIDIA mapped out a long-term plan which highlighted its diversification into new computing spaces. The company's three day conference focused on many of its newer products as well as the emerging industries and technologies they can be used in. Aggressively expanding beyond just the traditional PC market is a smart strategy for NVIDIA analysts say. Click on the link below for more information.

International Business Times

Open Video Toaster Redesign

2010-09-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

The Open Video Toaster website has been totally redesigned. Download the source-code and play around with updating this great software suite for Amiga OS 4.x, AROS & MorphOS. Sadly the source to Amiga LightWave 3D was never allowed to be included but you have the option to buy Aladdin 4D 5.x which fully supports the Amiga Video Toaster and the Flyer.

Links

Open Video Toaster

Aladdin 4D

Amiga.org

Aladdin 4D Forums have a new home

2010-09-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Not long ago we moved the Aladdin 4D forums for the Amiga/MorphOS/AROS version to the high traffic website Amiga.org. This was at the request of customers that did not want to worry about log ins to several forum sites.

Linky

Aladdin 4D Forums

Blast from the Nova Design Past!

2010-09-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

We thought you might like a bast from the past and posted this Aladdin 4D promotional video that Nova Design created in the late 1990's.

Aladdin 4D™ & ARES Computer Partnership

2010-09-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

For the first time get Aladdin 4D 5.x integrated at a special price when you buy an ARES One

Chicago, IL / Duisburg, Germany – August 28, 2010 – DiscreetFX, a Visual Effects powerhouse in creative software and content creation enabling products, and ARES Computer, a market leader in AROS system integration, today announces a partnership to include 3D animation / rendering / effects tools with each ARES One computer sold. Bringing hobbyist animation, rendering and particle effects creation software to new AROS computer graphics professionals.

Now enjoy the speed and native hardware support for AROS on an ARES ONE and great creative software to make you more productive using AROS. The ARES ONE also comes with other exciting software including Amiga Forever 2009 OEM, Cinnamon Writer, Art Effect, AMC and Frying Pan. Aladdin 4D 5.x is an optional Instant Download when you buy an ARES ONE. Price is an attractive discounted price since it is being purchased as part of a system solution. Bonus objects, textures and effects are also included as part of the ID. Aladdin 4D 5.x operating system integration is also available as an option for MorphOS & Amiga OS 4.x if those developers choose to partner with DiscreetFX. Purchase an ARES ONE & Aladdin 4D 5.x together and get lighting fast 3D renders and animations.

The ARES ONE is only sold through Vesalia Online

http://www.vesalia.de/e_aresone2010.htm

http://www.vesalia.de/e_aresone.htm

About DiscreetFX 

Want to see DiscreetFX’s effects software in action? Turn on your television, we have been creating visual effects software products for editors and creative professionals for over 15 years. DiscreetFX creates Real-time transitions and effects seen on over 100 television programs including Blind Date, 5th Wheel, Shipmates and many more! You can also see DiscreetFX software used on the following networks HBO, Showtime, Discovery Channel, PBS, Fox and more!
DiscreetFX is privately owned visual effects startup and based in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, please visit:

www.discreetfx.com.

About ARES Computer

ARES Computer (owner Pascal Papara) started in 2009 to bring AROS enthusiast and newbies a powerful but inexpensive, fully AROS-compatible System. The result was the AresOne and his now available successor (www.vesalia.de).

With Broadway, AMC, the ultimate MediaCenter for all three Amiga-like Systems (AmigaOS/AROS and MorphOS) and the coming app-browser(working title), we are aiming also to non- amigans. Our longtime target is to get back a healthy and commercial interesting Amiga eco system.

Available only at www.vesalia.de

So Long, Farewell: AMD to Kill ATI Brand Name

2010-08-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

Rest in Peace ATI Brand. AMD is killing off the name very soon. Their market research shows the AMD name is more well known then ATI. This did not work so well when Macy's killed off the famous Marshall Fields brand name but that's another industry and story altogether.

Future versions of Aladdin 4D will take advantage of powerful GPU's in ATI cards and NVIDIA cards.

DailyTech

NVIDIA intros 3D Vision Pro for professional workstations

2010-08-25T09:29:00.001-07:00

In October NVIDIA will introduce new professional glasses that are said to eliminate line-of-sight and crosstalk issues that often plague IR glasses used for at-home viewing applications.

The new glasses bring “true stereo 3-D to the desktop” and provide a 150ft wireless range to RF synching. The glasses were designed for modern professional workstations and multiuser, large-scale visualization environments, such as video walls and collaborative virtual environments.

Links

NVIDIA

Broadcast Engineering