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The Beginnings of Computer Animation

HYPERRAUM.TV documentary: the developments in the 20th century

The Science and Technology Channel has just published a documentary by Susanne Paech (in German) on the history of computer animation in the 20th century. These were two decades of rapid development. The beginnings were in Bell Laboratories in the mid-1960s. Major milestones in the development showed the 1970s and 80s, the golden age of computer animation. These were two decades of rapid development. In the 1980s it was no longer just industrial research institutes that produced innovations in hardware and software; computer experts in the film and advertising industries also contributed. Spurred on by the emergence of special graphics processors and powerful supercomputers, so-called vector graphics set completely new standards for visualization and simulation techniques in research and industry. In the 1990s, the technology of hardware and software finally matured to the point where it was possible to create all imaginable virtual worlds in photorealistic dynamics.

For her documentary, Susanne Paech also processed information that she gathered on a journalistic research trip on the same topic together with her husband Herbert W. Franke in the mid-1980s. At the time, the two had visited a number of important animation companies and research institutes from New York to California and met numerous pioneers in person. Susanne Paech’s report also includes excerpts from the Film Night of the Generative Art Summit, which was organized by the Herbert W. Franke Foundation in July 2024. Larry Cuba, a pioneer of the scene, hosted the program of the evening event.

Larry Cuba: 3/78 (1978)
Charles Csuri : Hummingbird (1967)
John Whitney Sr: Arabesque (1975)
Susan Amkraut / Michael Gerard: Eurythmy (1989)
Rebecca Allen: Musique Non Stop (1986)
Paul Debevec: Fiat Lux (1999)

The documentary shows clips from famous short films that have long since become cult. These include:
1965 HyperCube – A. Michael Noll
1967 Hummingbird – Charles Csuri
1973 Hunger – Peter Foldes
1974 Rotationen – Herbert W. Franke (Sound: Peter Scheffler)
1975 Arabesque – John Whitney sr. (Score: Manocheher Sadeghi)
1978 3/78 – Larry Cuba (Sound: Kazu Matsui)
1980 Vol Libre – Loren Carpenter
1981 The Juggler – Information International Inc / Adam Powers
1982 Star Treck II – Lucasfilm
1984 Sexy Robot – Bob Abel & Randy Roberts
1986 Musique Non Stop (Kraftwerk) – Rebecca Allen (Musik: Kraftwerk)
1988 Particle Dreams – Karl Sims (Sound: Robert Moore)
1988 Evolution of Forms – William Latham & IBM UKSC
1989 Eurythmy – Susan Amkraut & Michael Gerard
1999 Fiat Lux – Paul Debevec & Berkeley University