Operational Aspects of the Syntha Vision Process

Syntha Vision is a computer animation process for producing realistic images of solid objects. The system employs a digital-computer simulation of the photographic process, in that three-dimensional shapes, reflection properties, light sources, and camera lenses are all mathematically represented within a large general-purpose computer such as an IBM 360/65. The physical laws of reflection are then used to compute the image that would be produced on film if all these elements really existed. Controlled motion is obtained when the “film director” uses a specially designed computer input language to create a set of simple instructions defining the frame-to-frame motion of the “objects” as they would appear to the camera. The computed pictures, generated in digital form on magnetic tape, are processed by a digital-to-analog converter which drives a high-resolution cathode-ray tube; the CRT images are then photographed by a conventional animation camera. Using an actual project as an example, we describe the important steps in producing a Syntha Vision film. Because the computer does no more than follow the instructions of the film director, all of the creative steps normally involved in animated film design are still completely under human control.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1976-08

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J07585