Time for action – watching Triple I's 1982 demo reel
It's just a short time later. However, computer animation is starting to come of age. It's no longer a gimmick, and for the first time, professional art direction is being used. The (Triple I) 1982 demo reel is the beginning of computer animation being used in films and TV. Computer animation now had to compete with traditional photographic techniques and looks. Watch this demo and see whether they succeeded:
- Search on the Web for the term
(Triple I) 1982 demo reel. YouTube, archive.org, or some other site should have the video. - Watch it now and enjoy it.
- Check out the magician Adam Powers. How do you think they animated him?
- Does the KCET-TV animation compare well with modern motion graphics?
- What is happening with the quality of modeling? How do the Star Wars X-wing fighters compare with the earlier Datsun car?
- The Cindy character is the first whole body human character. Compare her and the Peter Fonda head?
What just happened?
In the first demo reel, the animation pretty much consisted of objects floating in space. In the 1982 demo reel, the background becomes an integral part of the scene, and in the Adam Powers section, we have a simple character animation and the first mo-cap animation.
Bringing on a creative director, Richard Taylor, Triple I's animation started to have filmic qualities; the KCET animation was an early example of good motion graphics.
The team consisted of the same people, with the addition of an Art Director. So we can see that using principles of graphic design is starting to make a difference.
Not only are the models becoming more detailed as with the X-wing fighters, but now they are getting shaded. The Cindy model was the first shaded representation of the human figure. Like their work, you may start out simple, but your work will get better and better.
Introducing Pixar in 1984, and everything comes together
In 1984, Pixar was the first place that combined computer animation technology with traditional animation techniques. While the modeling and rendering were not much better than anyone else at that time, the use of the twelve animation principles revolutionized computer animation. When it was introduced, other animators were in awe.
