How was the CG part of the movie "TRON" that introduced CG for the first time in the world?

A movie released in 1982TRON"Is a movie that introduced computer graphics (CG) in the world for the first time in the world, and in particular the scenes that symbolize in the work are confronted with a vehicle called" light cycle ". The CG part of "TRON" was created by several companies, but the main CG part of the first half such as this light cycle sceneMathematical Applications Group, Inc.(MAGI) was made by the company.

MAGI / Synthavision
https://excelsior.asc.ohio-state.edu/~carlson/history/tree/magi.html

the Computer Graphics Museum MAGI SYNTHAVISION & TRON DYSNEY
http://computergraphmuseum.free.fr/magi.htm

In the movie below, you can tell how CG of "TRON" was made while watching the light cycle scene and the storyboard of the movie "TRON" side by side.

TRON: The Legacy of Digital Animation - YouTube


There was a department specializing in CG production called SynthaVision in MAGI which was in a corner of New York. Although it was a small department of about 6 people, I contracted with Disney around 1980 and will be involved in the production of CG animation part of "TRON."


First of all, it shows the scene of Disney's animatorStoryboardI will draw. What is displayed on the left is the actual "TRON" image, and the right is the scene storyboard. It is understood that the image is specifically drawn so that the image is easily transmitted to the MAGI members such as the unique background using the straight line and the designation of the light color.




Members of MAGI who received it will calculate the movement of the model such as velocity and angle by considering not only the viewpoint of the camera but also the movement and shape when looking directly above or directly beside it. Then, drive the computed result into the computer and make animation.



However, the monitor of the computer at the time was only displaying the character string that typed in the program. In order to check Disney's animators and directors not familiar with computers, it is necessary to convert from character strings to images, but Disney's studio is located in California on the West Coast of the USA, from Magi's studio where New York City had a studio It is more than 3000 km apart.


So, instead of creating color animation from the beginning with high resolution, first make low resolution version of the data made with monochrome and send it from MAGI to Disney using a telephone line. Monochrome low resolution data is converted to an image at Disney's studio, and the animator sees the video and instructs MAGI's studio to correct the timing and movement by phone. Members of MAGI will receive a call from the animator, redo the calculation and send the correction again to the Disney studio.


After about 2 to 3 takes, the check is over and when OK comes up, we will create a high resolution color version at the MAGI studio. Then,Vista VisionEnter the image on a machine that transfers the image to the color film, and visualize it.


MAGI was able to quickly respond to animator correction instructions because it adopted a method of calculating and cropping various preformed 3D figures to create a CG model. It is not suitable for making complicated and curved models, but because it is suitable for moving pictures, I was given the first half light cycle with many action scenes and the CG part of the tank.

In addition to the movie "TRON", a sample demonstration of CG animation MAGI created in 1980 can be seen in the following movie.

MAGI Synthavision Demo Reel (1980) - YouTube