Shelley Lake at Digital Productions 1983

Digital Productions was a

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

company in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, that produced

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual w ...

for films in the 1980s. The company was founded by John Whitney, Jr. and

Gary Demos Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

in 1982, following their departure from

Triple-I Information International, Inc., commonly referred to as Triple-I or III, was an early computer technology company. Background The company was founded by Edward Fredkin in 1962 in Maynard, Massachusetts. It then moved (serially) to Santa Monic ...

. They received financial support from Control Data Corporation. Whitney and Demos felt that greater computer power was needed to produce effects such as those being made by Triple-I for ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programme ...

''; Digital Productions became famous for using a Cray X-MP supercomputer to render their animations. The company referred to its animation as "Digital Scene Simulation." Digital Productions first feature film project was the hyperspace sequence in the film, "The Ice Pirates" then went on to create 27 minutes of animation, in 300 scenes, for the film ''

The Last Starfighter ''The Last Starfighter'' is a 1984 American space opera film directed by Nick Castle. The film tells the story of Alex Rogan ( Lance Guest), a teenager recruited by an alien defense force to fight in an interstellar war. It also features Rob ...

''.Ohio State University CG history page
/ref> Each frame of the animation contained an average of 250,000

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two t ...

s, and had a resolution of 3000 x 5000 36-bit

pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the s ...

s; they claimed that the imagery was 50 times more complex than the graphics in previous feature films. They estimated that using computer animation required only half the time, and one half to one third the cost, that would have been required if then-traditional methods had been used. Other work done by the company includes effects for ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

'', ''

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'', and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

's "Hard Woman" music video. In 1986, Digital Productions was bought out by Omnibus Computer Graphics in Toronto for 6 million US$, who also took over

Robert Abel and Associates Robert Abel and Associates (RA&A) was an American pioneering production company specializing in television commercials made with computer graphics. Robert Abel's company, RA&A was especially known for their art direction and won many Clio Awards. ...

(7.3 million US$) and purchased Triple-I's

Foonly Foonly Inc. was an American computer company formed by Dave Poole in 1976, that produced a series of ''DEC PDP-10'' compatible mainframe computers, named ''Foonly F1'' to ''Foonly F5''. The first and most famous Foonly machine, the ''F1'', was ...

computer, all using money from Royal Bank Canada. Next year in May 1987, Omnibus Computers Graphics defaulted on its loan agreements and with 30 million US$ debt, closed its doors in October 1987.

Notes

References

* * Computer animation Visual effects companies {{compu-graphics-stub