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'80 video clip - how was it done?

category: general [glöplog]
 
I was just seeing this video :

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=_XOY7lsBVpo

and wondering how such effects (stars background, transparency, multicolor rainbow , etc) were done ?

In the early 80', video processing trought software computering was already at the beginning or nearly dont exists. I cannot imagine processing something like 700x420 (or maybe less, dont know) of video data on a intel 8088.

Which kind of hardware did they use ?
added on the 2008-12-27 19:52:28 by Tigrou Tigrou
the link (fixed) (should use preview button next time )
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=_XOY7lsBVpo
added on the 2008-12-27 19:53:26 by Tigrou Tigrou
Probably some big computers (not an home computer but something much more powerful) and not working in realtime.
http://dave.zfx.com/f1.html

Dec PDP10 seems to be one of them ...
well there were other machines than just 8088s around and it need not be realtime, for starters.
added on the 2008-12-27 19:57:49 by superplek superplek
that song is from 1981- quantel paintbox was released the same year (also check the main quantel article)
added on the 2008-12-27 20:45:57 by havoc havoc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8iUttTm1wk highly advanced scroller from 72!!!11
added on the 2008-12-27 20:55:04 by maali maali
added on the 2008-12-27 21:14:54 by MooZ MooZ
Most of these effects are prolly done with analogue circuitry.
added on the 2008-12-27 21:43:50 by cruzer cruzer
dunno.. i think digital storage for SD video at that time was extremely (read, prohibitively) expensive. i mean, we're talking 10MB hard disks here. that's about 1 or 2 seconds of video in SD. so, effect memories were digital. the final product was completely analogue.

effects:

feedback only needs a few frames of memory, so that's ok.
the colourcycling polys don't need large memories either.
wether it's real-time or not.. no idea. havoc's link said the system could be used for live news feeds, which sounds impressive.
added on the 2008-12-27 21:47:40 by earx earx
Tigrou: I don't see anything on that video that can't be done with analog technology. There is a lot of analog video technology... I don't know if it is currently used or not, but in the 70s and 80s it was, so much.

Of course, it is not easy to tell how everything is done without being and expert in analog video processing, but for example, you all know about chroma key. With a chroma you can separate background from foreground. In the video there is a halo magenta effect at one point. It could be done in several passes: 1) using chroma key make a black/magenta image with the background/foreground. Optical blur with lenses. Apply with chroma the original image, only the foregrond.

Well, there are much more things in the video that looks done in a similar fashion. The rainbow looks like some kind of feedback effect, changing the hues and intensity... that is easy to do with analog circuits.

Remember that you can use all the steps you want since it is a video, you can apply an effect, record it, and use again the recorded video to apply another effect and so on...

About the starfield, I dunno how is it done... but it would have been computer generated... it is a very easy one.
added on the 2008-12-27 21:50:50 by texel texel
yeah paintbox, but a lot of the effects are analog optic exposure tricks and feedback too it seems
you can go back till the 1950s and see more "advanced" effects..

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=JzkEi-scG-Y#
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=TbV7loKp69s
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=nvWwlZSXaR0&feature=related

james whitney was a true pioneer.
added on the 2008-12-27 23:30:21 by Oswald Oswald
Tron
added on the 2008-12-27 23:35:41 by Intrinsic Intrinsic
This beauty is not done with analogue circuitry though :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNaKWXqXkhw

Quote:
Ian Pearson and Gavin Blair created the animation, using a Bosch FGS-4000 CGI system. The animators went on to found computer animation studio Mainframe Entertainment (today Rainmaker Animation), and referenced the "Money for Nothing" video in an episode of their ReBoot series. The video also included stage footage of Dire Straits performing, with partially rotoscoped-animation in bright neon colors, as seen on the record sleeve.
added on the 2008-12-28 00:15:47 by lug00ber lug00ber

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