Early CGI | Tomorrow's World | Earth Science

[@kokonbini]

"A star of Australian television" He was ahead of his time

[@eloisanzara237]

frosty 2:00

[@Urammar]

He should start a show

[@MotorStorm66]

I'm pretty sure that joke's been around for a long time, it's just that Americans have only recently discovered it

[@marconavarro6499]

He passed away

[@DeeRuss]

M K it’s been a joke for decades and had nothing to do with America, you’re comment makes 0 sense

[@XelaPilled]

I love that he goes in depth and explains it instead of saying 'it's computers n stuff'. It helped to create a new generation that accepted technology, and to understand how it actually worked.

[@pyeltd.5457]

Xela well that's the point of the show.

[@roundel52]

And of course don't forget the BBC Computer Literacy project of the time.

[@1000sofusernames]

And now kids eat Tide pods. Progress eh?

[@johnmartinez7440]

@@1000sofusernames Kids did stupid stuff back then too

[@LeRouxshnikov]

i think its because it was an emerging technology, which at its fundamentals was 'simple' for people to understabnd and explain. But these days, relevant consumer tech has grown in complexity to the point where it becomes kinda impracticle to try explain it on a short TV segment. Plus, the overwhelming amount of imformation we have access to instantly might make it much easier to overlook gems like this. As for what's on TV, only the nose knows. I havent watched it in years

[@dedpxl]

this shouldn't impress me in the year 2019, but for some reason the way they show this still makes it look impressive.

[@redpheonix1000]

It definitely was for the time!

[@gorgon352]

Still is pretty damn impressive considering human beings use to dwell in caves

[@FinsaneLorist]

I think I still don't understand how dat magic box works so yes it impresses the hell out of me

[@wasabij]

Animation and effects have made incredible leaps in technology, but tools like this are unique because they were some of the first to allow real time effects editing. Think how different TV would look without live effects!

[@BlazingOwnager]

What's funny is it actually is still impressive. Today we'd use texture mapped 3D graphics; this is *faking* texture mapped 3D Graphics.

[@MinifigJez]

Oh my goodness, I ACTUALLY remember watching this episode as a kid. One of the first things that got me interested in video graphics and getting me to my eventual 25 year career in CGI !

[@laustinspeiss]

OMG, I actually remember using this gear !

[@TheBest-gj2mz]

Prove it

[@MinifigJez]

@@TheBest-gj2mz you talking to me or "I.Austin Speiss" ? - If it's me... I'm not sure what proof you'd like from me, that proves I remember watching this episode?!?!?!

[@cayden8794]

@@MinifigJez Ignore, he's a troll :)

[@anmolagrawal5358]

@@cayden8794 but...but He's The Best!

[@PlayerFiveVids]

"the 625 lines that make up the screen" ok, no need to flex on us with your extra hundred lines, pal.

[@Bluman2]

Is this a pun

[@Geellun]

If it is, it’s brilliant

[@moneyisenergy]

He's not your pal, dude.

[@4.0.4]

NTSC what you did there.

[@Geellun]

Nice when you find a good pun and don’t need to SECAM out.

[@jing713]

Like this..stupid square world..

[@TheNugettinage]

Stupid sexy square world...

[@AssClappicus]

Hahahhahaha I was like "aww" when he said it

[@allluckyseven]

T Zman Poor square world. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that.

[@TrollingAround]

Like this, stupid Minecraft world.

[@thefrosty1925]

allluckyseven All worlds are sexy, regardless of shape or size! :c

[@Marios5556]

It's amazing how much we take for granted the CGI and videogames today. Even these simple animations took years to develop.

[@GrijzePilion]

And yet he's making it look so cool.

[@gunfuego]

lol years? try decades lol

[@GrijzePilion]

No, not decades.

[@Akoalawithshades]

depends on where you start from

[@GrijzePilion]

Of course.

[@mikekaze7175]

That CGI is more smooth than my Google chrome tabs.

[@polishpaul]

Mike Kaze you running Intel Potato? Yukon Gold edition?

[@mrmaniac3]

@@polishpaul likely

[@liamsweeney4754]

@@polishpaul use firefox. or brave if you like the chrome UI

[@smolpanda5853]

You're computor is potato

[@bitterlemonboy]

It's your fault. Why are you using Google Chrome? Do you have any regard for your safety and privacy?

[@salvulcanosnumber1fan]

“Stupid square world” *Minecraft Steve has entered the chat*

[@autizmas]

Interesting fact: Minecraft world is actually flat.

[@Dead_Bot]

@@autizmas nope its square

[@autizmas]

@@Dead_Bot ok

[@kingpatty4628]

@@autizmas then how you explain the sun and moon revolving around it and it's unreachable?

[@autizmas]

@@kingpatty4628 ah shit you go me

[@pokeman3652]

"Like this stupid square world" damn, dissing minecraft 27 years before its release

[@KillJoy_Since2017]

RiggityRekt 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@sheeloesreallycool]

erik masterchef No it’s not. Search it up on KZbin for game theory.

[@enkidoodoo]

@@sheeloesreallycool keyword: "theory"

[@sheeloesreallycool]

Nine Seven oof

[@ultimatefilmsc1272]

@@sheeloesreallycool its flat

[@AltarenGalil]

A star of Australian television xD that joke works better than ever 30 years later

[@jing713]

it's so subtle.. had to think for a second to get it - LOL good joke though!

[@jing713]

People keep calling Australia the 'land down under' and he's upside down

[@modisp]

***** I refering to it as "up side down" world. Relative to me, they are up side down so it is only question of perspective :D (physics joke intended)

[@darrenmadigan3912]

***** the americans have been referring to us as the land down under for at least over 30 years. when the kiwis won the americas cup they referred to them as the "other" land down under.

[@darrenmadigan3912]

no worries mate :)

[@heart0fthedrag0n]

Whoah, dude, when is this new tech coming out? Radical!

[@Jayman2800]

I heard its coming out in 1995! We'll have jetpacks then dude! totally tubular my friend

[@bashkillszombies]

Jayman2800 BZZT. Wrong! Try the 70's!

[@CragScrambler]

....1982

[@Kippykip]

Gnarly!

[@jelpy]

hooker cars

[@Olav3D]

Just imagine the CG in 35 years from now :O

[@260Xander]

Olav3D Tutorials they will be showing what the average high end PC is doing today, then showing that it can be done in your glasses.

[@PrinceWesterburg]

From now, then or when you posted?

[@zedtrek]

@Pill Cosbyyes, I can see we still need to grow up a lot.

[@ryann6919]

Black mirror

[@Alen725]

Imagine what? We already can make CG look like reality, theres no point above that. All we could do is make it easier or faster.

[@zrobeast]

“Stupid square world” *Raging flat earthers enter the chat*

[@Berserkr01]

The flat earth should be circular (not square)!

[@rickgriffis7684]

Watching someone else showing you true dimensions doesn't make them true. Most of reality is subjective, untill you awake.

[@christianege4989]

@@rickgriffis7684 Awake to what? The stupidity of flat earth? That is no awakening, but a falling asleep to the denial of reality, nothing more.

[@MrSlanderer]

Rick Griffis Says the guy who has never been to space himself, and fails to understand that the Earth, as a planet, is spherical, like all other planets. Where else is there a flat planet? It’s okay. Enjoy your part-time McDonald’s job.

[@mrcityman2437]

@@MrSlanderer Haha did you hear about the dark side of the moon? You belive everything you learned in school you probably belive in the ape theory but it is just a theory

[@Poolie]

This guy was so far ahead of his time

[@VV_PaVria]

You could say he's from... Tomorrow's World.

[@_mossy_8520]

Predicted thanos trend

[@PutItAway101]

Maybe one day they'll be able to make 3D rotating skulls to make your webpage look BADASS

[@Altoclarinets]

is this a deliberate tom scott reference or just a happy coincidence?

[@AbdulIsik]

@@Altoclarinets he talks about so much stuff that it's became hard for anything to not be a Tom Scott reference

[@Altoclarinets]

@@AbdulIsik while that is true, in one of the old computerphile videos (I think it was specifically about GIFs?) he talked about having once had a Geocities site with gifs of flames and 3D rotating skulls to make it look badass

[@DPedroBoh]

Im more of a horn playing or capoeira fighting skeleton guy.

[@samnub7912]

"Like this stupid square world" lmao

[@tanksindia7924]

meinkraft

[@Stigstigster]

He said it so brilliantly. The snap of derision in the word "stupid" gave me a laugh.

[@grandmastarflash]

disgraceful anti-square world propaganda!

[@JG-nx3jg]

In all honest it's one of THE most stupid worlds I've ever seen.

[@SkemeKOS]

@@sonacphotos Nothing is more stupid than the fundamentalist belief in a spinning water ball in space that retains all the water.

[@FrankJavCee]

This is so COOL!

[@RilevTV]

truly aesthetic

[@productiveworks]

+FrankJavCee oh look its frankjavcee!

[@Poodleinacan]

+FrankJavCee Oh look! It's Ass Dead Dicks meme-boy! ... But yeah, it IS pretty cool.

[@FriKuShAxP]

its a montage machineeeee you push the button and you get a montage just like in the movies you push the button and you get a montage-smosh

[@fatnoodle303]

FrankJavCee if you were a computer graphic, I would split you into a thousand points and wrap you round the globe

[@twistedtick]

The footage and audio quality is surprisingly good for being 37 years old.

[@TheJayson8899]

No it’s not. Your mind would be blown if you watched stuff from the 20’s that looks infinitely better than this.

[@sergeantbigmac]

Uhh but its really not tho? This quality of film was normal in the 80s. In fact it was common for decades previous too.

[@thecrazeecow1682]

Film has no defined resolution. Look up "Last Christmas HD" by Wham. They released the original without high resolution but today we can scale up the actual film and look at details up to a microscopic level.

[@battledroid224]

Don't think this is film though; looks more like VHS, which has a far more limited definition than film. (See more>>> kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIfTcnV5rc53l7c)

[@vernie_in_hell]

they probably have the audio archive, and the video must have been digitally remastered. technology is amazing lmao

[@spugesdu]

1982: Isn’t it incredible what can be achieved with computers! 2019: Hold my Future Fizz.

[@zedsdeadbaby]

2023: go back, go back!

[@CanalEmist3r]

0:43 Wait... he is just testing DirectX! lol

[@SantiagoRevecoLepeReborn]

DirectX?! Come on, man! You're kidding me.

[@deltaboogaloo633]

This is 1982. Microsoft came out with directX in 1994

[@abritinspace]

@@deltaboogaloo633 woooosh

[@dylanh333]

Hahahaha

[@youcanpunchmeintheface]

@@deltaboogaloo633 Capt. Obvious, thanks (?)

[@yousorooo]

That thing has a higher FPS than my BF3 on my computer.

[@ChaseMC215]

At least it's better thab The Crew. ZING!

[@dr.smitadubey267]

I am a portal fan too

[@WingMaster562]

Natively, analog always had higher refresh rate in terms of FPS compared to digital.

[@GerbrandStap]

This is quite impressive for 1982. In the early 90's we had an MSX computer that certainly couldn't handle CGI like that and that was 10 years later. But I assume that the device in the video was purpose built...

[@Mythricia1988]

It was an analog device for the most part, as far as I know - didn't actually run a "program" - hence it could operate as fast as it damn well pleased. Downside being it was a big fat box with tons and tons of electronics in it, and it could only do this, and nothing else, what so ever!

[@KarlBaron]

Mythricia Hmm, Wikipedia says it was a digital device, and could be programmed in Pascal by attaching an HP computer. Although I guess considering the time it was made I wouldn't be surprised if it was some kind of hybrid with a digital processor calculating the geometry and then using that program an analog video circuit.

[@MyShopNotes]

***** IT's a DSP, digital singnal processor and they were the only way to get any kind of speed for image processing back in the day. I worked on some medical image scanners back then and we had 6 very large dsp's doing the processing. Programming them was not simple back then.

[@FlyingPhilUK]

***** It's the Quantel Mirage - it's all digital - the HP Computer was used to work out the 3D projection maps, and the hardware did the 3D projection from the Input space to the Output space.

[@MikaelLevoniemi]

And for todays 100£ Video mixers these are simplest tasks they can do. =)

[@daletch1972]

look how far we have come over the years.could you imagine them seeing an avengers film back then.they would faint

[@W-meme]

Sorcery.

[@ReaperD6]

As a Square Earther myself, I must say that i don't appreciate him calling it stupid.

[@MazdaRX7007]

Well that's because the earth is obviously a doughnut !

[@quidamlambda5126]

He's controlled by NASA.

[@AayushDotiya]

Woah do you live in Minecraft or something

[@titmouse-distribution]

IT'S ROUND YOU NITWIT! Also Pls Like & r/iamverysmart Me.

[@vSIG_]

well as a cube earther im even more livid

[@digitalmetadata1]

This brings back memories for me as I helped install and maintain the equipment described in this video in the early 80's including the the Link 110 camera and the Quantel equipment at BBC Lime Grove Studios in Shepherds Bush. Also Lime Grove produced Newsnight in those days. Quantel based in Newbury Berkshire made the first digital video processing and rendering equipment in the world.

[@monteceitomoocher]

Apparently there's a whole vintage digital scene devoted to restoring and running the quantel system, I'm no expert but i understand they were very secretive with the software which hampers modern day devotees.

[@richards1708]

Ah Good ol Quantel, their equipment cost quite a bit and as computers were becoming more mainstream they realised the problem and even tried to sue photoshop to maintain its supremacy, luckily it didn't work out..

[@dougaltolan3017]

It must have been late 80s or early 90s. Of the 5 Quantel EditBoxes in the country, I installed 3 of them.

[@mikecumbo7531]

Was this a DPE5000?

[@chass1771]

@@mikecumbo7531 it's the DVM-8001 aka Mirage. One of these puppies cost around £300,000 in today's money, weighed about 400kg and took 4KW of power to run it. It was programmable via the attached HP mini-computer, although in practice this was rarely done as it was a highly specialised job requiring knowledge of Pascal. Most folks therefore relied on its library of pre-programmed effects. All the hard work was done in custom hardware, which is why they were so expensive.

[@prebenjaeger]

Why would you crop interesting videos from the archive into 16:9?

[@renzo0227]

i dont see any problem with that

[@SomePotato]

Thomas, because people are philistines! Old TV shows are cropped, movies get frame interpolation and DNR turned up to 11, music is range dynamic compressed to death. I wonder that colorized black and white isn't more common.

[@PurpleColonel]

@@SomePotato I mean colorized stuff is kinda different. Looks a lot better in my opinion. It's also basically a new artform, taking and coloring every single frame.

[@danielul05]

@@renzo0227 you dont because you re a dumbass

[@mikeymcmikeface5599]

@@renzo0227 You are stupid.

[@fireaza]

Little known fact, the creators of this software were burned at the stake for witchcraft when they first demonstrated it!

[@zyerrawalton5812]

In the words of month Python holy grail "BURN THE WITCH!"

[@PseudomoniaProject]

zyerra walton they turned me into a 3 dimensional CGI newt... I got better...

[@OutlawMaxV]

Did they died?

[@richards9407]

PseudomoniaProject Well we did do the nose........and the hat.

[@ewyot]

Flying Spaghetti Monster dieded*

[@sirchickenfood8561]

Its 2019 nearly 2020 and I find this fascinating

[@gorgon352]

sirchicken food it’s quite advanced technology, they don’t make stuff like this these days now it’s all 4K tvs and rokus

[@AMikeOnLine]

I have a lovely NEW jumper i got as a christmas present. It's got 9 buttons.. but I can only fasten 8.

[@ProjectGamerYT]

Bless you child, you had no idea what was to come

[@Rodwayy]

@@ProjectGamerYT XD

[@DragonFire360Media]

Stay away from 2020! You won't like it.

[@alecchandler8962]

When 1982 CGI run smoother than my computer...

[@mt1104uk]

If the bbc still made programs of this quality, paying the licence fee wouldn't seem so bad. At the moment I don't get a huge deal from my contribution.

[@babydonnaP]

Em Te Say no to the Goons! the Tv license is a scam, refuse to pay it and when the Goons come knocking at your door *do not give them any details* they don't have a leg to stand on*

[@Thorpe]

Em Te Don't pay for it then.

[@tFighterPilot]

It's funny. In Israel there's recently a lot of debate about the public broadcast channel. Many of those who are for its closure say that if at least it was good like the BBC then it might've had justification for its existence.

[@50Banana]

The documentaries are good.

[@tomfrank2115]

Germany here... our public programs are realy bad and cost 20€ per month... for each house hold.. I was in England, and actualy enjoyed the BBC program, they even got good entertainment for the younger generation.

[@thegreatagitator4675]

Well, that's something. It's a Quantel Mirage! You are looking at $300-400k of digital video effects goodness. Weighing as much as a washing machine and draining an ungodly amount of power. We had a follow-up model to this at WPIX in the late 80s. Doing anything beyond the build-in effects was complicated and normally involved a 'poor' guy punching in coordinates for half a day.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

And just a few years later you could do the same a lot easier with a simple Commodore Amiga and the VideoToaster Hardware Addon.

[@sadiqmohamed681]

@@KRAFTWERK2K6 I doubt it. There's a PDP-11 inside the box, plus a load of dedicated hardware to encode and decode and a lot of very expensive ram. This box could input a full motion, full resolution 625 line composite TV signal and wrap it round a shape IN REAL TIME! I know, I used to use one for a living.

[@cloerenjackson3699]

@@KRAFTWERK2K6 No you couldn't. The Quantel Mirage was released in 1982, ten years before the video toaster, and the video toaster had exactly zero real-time 3D effects. The Amiga and Video Toaster are the two most overrated pieces of computer equipment ever made. The Mirage is a lot more impressive for its date than the Video Toaster, which was basically a 24bit graphics card and an RS232 interface.

[@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou]

"...stupid square world..."

[@geminiXXX]

damn squeraphobics

[@passerbypassinbi]

Petr Valek *Tetraphobics, or quadrilateraphobics as to not confuse them with those afraid of four.

[@Trev359]

The worst are the flat earthers.

[@OldBloxycube]

Minecraft: *Sad Blocky noises*

[@SkemeKOS]

@@Trev359 Yeah, because a spinning water ball in space that retains all its water, and has people living upside down makes sooooo much more sense than than a flat and non-rotating earth... Got any scientific proof thats backs up your fundamentalist BELIEF in a spinning water ball in space? I'll be waiting... (You won't ever find any)

[@mitchjohnson4714]

That Newsnight animation was incredible. I never would have guessed it was hand-drawn.

[@animatewithdermot]

Ditto

[@UnchainedEruption]

The animations in the 70s and 80s had way more effort put into them than today. Even the ads looked like there was creative talent behind them.

[@walkwithdeath]

1982: stupid square world 2019: hold my beer #flatearth Update: wow! 800 likes! Never have I ever! Thanks everyone!

[@mattgmail5349]

🤣

[@FamusJamus]

*hold my Future-Fizz

[@Emppu_T.]

It was just one side all along!

[@DheerajKumar-st6wz]

What's the joke here

[@TheCodexNecro]

Did the likes somehow enrich your wellbeing? I don't get it. Maybe I'm too old.

[@vectoredthrust5214]

It's so cool watching this introduction on how computer graphics work when they were a new thing. It's amazing how far we've come Also, that presenter's British snark levels are through the roof XD

[@blazikem]

that's what we're good for! 😅

[@DeathBringer769]

It took about 4.5 years for Ivan Sutherland and his brother Bert Sutherland along with the TX-2 team to create the very first 3D CAD program at MIT in 1959. Computer graphics were already 23 years when this video was filmed. Funny how fast the improvements speed up later on in time, compared to how slow the progress was for the first couple decades, lol.

[@marvintpandroid2213]

Its a Quantel Mirage if anyone wants to know, DVM8000

[@ShamrockParticle]

Now that joke from Kryten in the episode DNA is even funnier, thanks for name dropping the Quantel unit model :)

[@Cris022]

2:02 happy to know that Australia jokes haven’t changed at all over the decades

[@PhilShary]

90% comments: "Stupid square world" 10%: actually discussing the topic

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Don't be the c-c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!

[@justinbaas843]

When did it become cool or whatever you want to Call it definitely not creative but when did it happen why does everyone feel the need to copy what was said in the video we all watched already why why why OMG

[@varunemani]

Ah well observed.. And as usual the 90℅ Masses are too smart to care as they r just happy to be merely born at all possibly! 😎

[@DiegoM265]

The stupid square world IS the topic!

[@PhilShary]

@@DiegoM265 I kind of agree

[@capoz33]

For anyone’s information, the top train was a British Rail APT(Advanced passenger train) in executive or swallow livery respectively. The bottom train is a British rail class 253/254 or commonly known as the Class 43 in its original 1976 Intercity 125 livery.

[@capoz33]

Honest mistake, the APT has an the original custom livery of its respective class. Later this livery would be used for the Network South East lines in London and southeastern England

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

For the ones who are more technical, I believe this hardware uses a technique called "Bit blittering", which is very fast compared to GPU computing. Like a programmable asic for graphics. The Amiga, not coincidentally, had this capability, which is why it was so good at graphics for the time.

[@renderizer01]

I can still remember very vividly the first CG logos and animations for German telly stations in the 80s. I was doing graphics stuff myself at the time on my trusty old 8 bit Atari machines, so I was very aware of - and excited by - the changes.

[@TerryMartinART]

Sounds about like how far back I was too, remember downloading digitized songs on the C=64 from BBS. Thinking how amazing it was that a computer could play a song. And the songs were just short few second clips. Remember the screen doing crazy noise when it played those types of songs.

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa393]

2:01 "...and I become a star of Australian television" lmao

[@falnesioghander6929]

Towards the end I could almost hear "What a time to be alive!".

[@VectrexForever]

Haha, I got that reference.

[@augustjschroeder]

Love how sophisticated and professionally it's presented.

[@DrBuzz0]

Awesome and shows how far we have come. Remember, the state of the art always will end up looking comically simple years later, just as your awesome new iPhone will look clunky in 10 or 20 years.

[@SivleFred]

Then 25 years later we can do all that in Windows Movie Maker.

[@gangsnapp_yt5945]

i have MM so i can do it

[@groggythereturn]

1982: Stupid square world 2019: M I N E C R A F T

[@buizelmeme6288]

More like... 2015: M I N E C R A F T

[@supertornadogun1690]

@@buizelmeme6288 More like 2010: m I n E c R a F t

[@SuperiorSquid]

Ahem... 2009

[@supertornadogun1690]

@@SuperiorSquid only like 5 people played minecraf5 in 2009

[@SuperiorSquid]

@@supertornadogun1690 Yeah, fair point

[@AprielPhaskah]

2:01 and i became a star of an australian television

[@jdashow9037]

Yes. It was mind blowing to know that the upside down australia meme is that old. Perhaps its even older

[@minorukurosawa1429]

@@jdashow9037 So true lmao

[@ZORU11]

And here's something Walt Disney has spent years developing... The page turn effect Was that positive or negative?

[@darthdmun]

@anomie nous then came along Kathleen Kennedy! who showed how to kill a franchise in dead in less than a decade. :(

[@mccobsta]

@anomie nous can't forget racism with micky mouse being based on minstrel shows and good old song of the South

[@ahmedp800]

Loving these retro tech video! Keep them up :)

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

I was brought up with Tomorrow's World and loved watching how technology grew.....if only we knew what we know now back then!

[@valenrn8657]

In 1985, the Quantel Mirage was the showcase digital effects system going at ~$250,000

[@abyisheik007]

That's seriously amazing..... The things we are taking for granted today were yesterday's miracles obtained through sheer hard word and ingenuity.👏👏

[@organismseven3700]

An Amiga and a VideoToaster. Now that was state of the art computer graphics. Played around with the first version of Lightwave 3D. Great fun.

[@antjarvis]

Great piece of archive, I actually remember watching it go out live :O.

[@625tvroom]

Anthony Jarvis me too :-)

[@ReallyWemja]

this is an easy (and low budget) way of showing the young audience of KZbin how technology used to be. great idea

[@wojiaobill]

The British accent makes it even better

[@gramursowanfaborden5820]

there is no such thing as a British accent, this particular accent is Queen's English, which was spoken by most media hosts and narrators at the time, but is pretty posh and pretentious by modern "commoner's" standards.

[@hogcranker123]

@@gramursowanfaborden5820 are you an idiot

[@MBM1117727]

@@gramursowanfaborden5820 It's actually called Received Pronunciation

[@MsPinkwolf]

oh hush

[@arseface2k934]

@@gramursowanfaborden5820 but it is an accent found in Britain. dare I say, a British accent?

[@richardmattocks]

I’m probably the only person here who was more excited that that they had managed to blag the actual BBC1 globe from the “noddy” presentation suite and have it shown in all its glory. It might be a spare unit (which is still cool) but I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a very nervous member of staff waiting to take it back to be plugged back in ASAP!

[@romygaldamez515]

I can’t be the only one who thinks that mark ruffalo was on the thumbnail

[@ASIMO001]

@Ganda Gandara He could wear a wig for the classic 80s look. I thought it was him also.

[@jonnomonodesu]

Those heady days when sets received 625 lines instead of the 405 monochrome transmissions. Real high definition times.

[@TheJoebus666]

Nathan Baxter No mate, 26 line mechanical televisions are high definition.

[@aidanlunn7441]

Nathan Baxter The 405 line system was still going at the time this was broadcast.

[@TCWordz]

+Aidan Lunn (Ferguson Videostar) How was the conversion from 625 which everything was filmed at, to 405 actually done real time? Was stuff just cropped off or did they point a 405 camera at a TV screen (a-la Apollo 11) or something like that?

[@aidanlunn7441]

Tommy59375 They used a fully electronic method of conversion, relying on electronically storing the incoming video signal, interpolating the information down from 625 to 405, then converting the sync pulses from 625 to 405 by 220 of the line sync pulses and spacing them equally. The frame sync pulses stayed as 405 and 625 both had a framerate of 50Hz. Interpolation was the process of combining the information from video in lines on the 625 system to form new information in lines on the 405-line output. It was to avoid the effect of "stepping" on sloping surfaces seen on the screen. So if you were watching Bob Monkhouse or May Bygraves-era Family Fortunes, it was so you could read the information on the dot matrix board on there. Without interpolation, 220 lines would simply be dropped from the picture and the board on FF would subsequently be unreadable! There were two broadcast-level 625->405 converters, both developed by Pye for the BBC. The original analogue (but fully electronic and all-transistor) Pye CO6/501 or 501A was introduced in 1963 so that anything made by the BBC (for BBC2) or foregin broadcasters in 625 could be shown on the 405-line BBC1. The BBC decided, for technical reasons relating to the upcoming colour technology and repeat potential of BBC1 material on BBC2, that ALL new programmes broadcast on BBC1 from January 68 had to be made in 625 and subsequently passed through a converter on transmission for the 405-line equipment in BBC1's transmission control to cope with. The 501A was a slightly modified version used by the ITA, firstly installed at each of the ITV contractors in the mid-60s to convert any material made in 625 to 405 for their own transmission controls to contend with, then once the ITA instructed all of them to make the switch to colour on 8th September 1969, in rreadiness for ITV's colour service to begin in November that year, they were moved to the 405-line transmitters themselves, to take in a 625-line feed. This process involved the converters - usually a set of four racks about the size of a large wardrobe - being de-rigged, packed up, transported (some in excess of a hundred miles), unpacked and rigged up again at the transmitter(s) between closedown and start of schools programmes the next day - a huge feat of engineering undertaken in just under 10 hours! The one main problem of the 501/A was that it could be unreliable and so regularly needed maintenance, and the transmitters themselves, that they were feeding, were so old that they couldn't be remotely controlled from a distant site as was becoming the norm for newer stuff around that time. In other words, either every transmitter site had to be manned at all hours or they had to risk leaving this tempramental piece of machinery for long hours. So the BBC, ever looking to be economical, developed in conjunction with Pye possibly the world's first piece of digital video hardware - the CO6/509, in the spring/summer of 1969. This used the absolute latest sets of chips to convert the 625 signal from analogue to digital, do the 625-405 conversion/interpolation in the digital domain and then convert back from digital to analogue, at 405. This not only resulted in space-saving economies (the 509 could easily fit into the boot of a hatchback as opposed to needing a large Transit van for the 501), it also meant it was much more reliable and needed much less maintenance. They used these at their more remote 405 transmitter sites, the ones easier to access and regularly or constantly manned had the 501s from BBC studios around the country, including TV Centre, installed. So things stayed relatively easy for the next 10-15 years until the early 80s then the age of the equipment began to cause problems - real problems as the age of the equipment meant that parts were often no longer available. Even by the early 70s, engineering staff were reduced to scouring electrical junk shops for parts that might be useful. During daytime testcard transmissions, they'd turn the power down on the transmitters to preserve the valves as long s possible. By the late 70s, a type of valve was being hand made because the BBC were the only customer that manufacturer (Mullard, IIRC) had that ordered that type! All this said, the BBC, save for a severe black-level problem on their Wenvoe 405 transmitter in South Wales, scored full marks for technical quality right until the end of 405 in January 1985. ITV was a different story. Their 501As were just getting worse all the time. Their Croydon transmitter, carrying Thames and LWT, was the worst. By the end that had a severe mains hum bar through the picture and no sound on one converter for one transmitter at that site, the other had good sound but no picture at all. The one at Winter Hill carrying Granada had problems where the horizontal and vertical hold controls would slip. As that was an unmanned site by that time, this necessitated sending someone out for the regional control centre at the Emley Moor mast near Huddersfield to Winter Hill near Bolton, to only make a slight adjustment to a couple of controls! The Burnhope site in Co. Durham, carrying Tyne Tees, developed wiggly vertical lines down the screen! The Lichfield site north of Birmingham, carrying Central, gradually lost power as the transmitters by the end were quite simply worn out! More severe problems occurred at the Dover (TVS) and Mendlesham (Anglia) transmitters - both of those sites transmitters or converters had broken down completely and repair was not a viable option. So they closed early, Mendlesham in the summer of 1984, Dover a few months early of the 405-switch off, in November 1984. But the worst luck came at Caldbeck, near Carlisle, carrying Border TV. A colleague tells me in September 1983, that site suffered a lightning strike, which damaged the transmitters, but destroyed the transmission aerials atop the mast. Getting the 625 service from there back online was no problem, but because no spare 405-line aerials were available by that time, 405 was closed early there. This was probably more significant than you think - as VHF signals are better at negotiating topography like hills and moorland, up there in the Borders there were still many isolated communities or cottages where the only reception of TV was 405! The IBA got hundreds of letters about the closure of 405 from Caldbeck! These are not all of the faults that the ITV 405 transmitters had, just the ones I am aware of. It was a merciful release when 405 finally closed in January 1985, it can't have lived on much longer!!!

[@TCWordz]

Aidan Lunn That was a very interesting read and thanks for taking the time to write it all out.. I can only assume you would have worked for one of these companies ;)

[@Retrovibes]

Just to make it clear: this wasn't the most advanced CGI back then, it was just the more affordable one, that would soon become the norm on television. 2D and 3D computer effects appeared in movies (albeit in short sequences) in the 70s. By 1982, far more complex CGI like "Tron" was already possible.

[@cromulence]

Incorrect. It was the most advanced realtime 3D video effects that you could do. Yes, you could get more complex CGI, but it was rendered offline.

[@vapourmile]

@@cromulence Incorrect. He didn't stipulate "real time", he only mentioned CGI, so he is right, this isn't the most advanced CGI of the time.

[@dieseldragon6756]

Most advanced or not, don’t forget that this wasn’t being funded by blockbuster movie venture capitalists…It was being funded by British Television viewers, so a balance between performance and value for money would always be at the top of the table. 🇬🇧📺😇

[@nicktasteless360]

It's crazy how far we've come in terms of technology and the thing is, there's still more for us to discover. 🤯

[@UnitCodesChannel]

This makes us appreciate it even more. How far have we come... Wow.

[@remerico]

2:20 the guy just explained beautifully how bitmaps and frame buffers work

[@bercg]

This one took me back. I used to love Tomorrow's World. To a kid growing up in the 80s it really felt like we were starting to live in the future. But I'm surprised we could do this as early as 1982. Anyone else notice the dirty fingerprints on the top of the world map display board though? All this hi-tech wizardry on display yet no-one thought to use a low-tech damp rag.

[@haikalmiftah2529]

We already in the future from their perspective and for young yourself. Though we still don't have flying car like in "Back to the Future" movie, we have a smartphone that beyond their imagination.

[@Nole2701]

2:48 Earth: "I'm not feeling so good"

[@ak-th5xt]

Ok but that Man's presenting style is better than 90% of today's KZbinrs

[@GlassesnMouthplates]

I'm mesmerized to learn that a batch of transition & morphing effects accessible with a click of a button on a digital software installed in our computer used to be one physical box of hardware specifically invented to make those effects.

[@SethiozProject]

the simplicity in those older videos is gold! this is exactly how nowday computers work aswell, those basic effects are all made by just re-arranging the pixels. i really wish i could live thru 70s and 80s .. i was born in 90s, but i really wish i was born in 50s.

[@karenelizabeth1590]

As someone who didn't grow up with this show, I'm astounded with the detailed explanation of the technology along with the assumption that the audience /isn't/ stupid. I'm jealous.

[@mariegriffiths]

Thank you Karen. I always felt the program should come back and is need more so today and much more of the world is shaped by technology.

[@TARUNVERMA911]

It's surprising that they used to teach about all this technical stuff on TV to general audience and non-expert public. The demos are very professional and easy to understand. They don't make such programs now. People want entertainment stuff more than educational.

[@UnchainedEruption]

There are channels like "How It's Made."

[@spongbros]

Why do some people struggle so much with presenting 4:3 content these days?

[@DeathBringer769]

+Denny Sweeney Totally agree. Removing parts of the video is ALWAYS the WORST choice. These editing decisions were asinine.

[@Scripture-Man]

Cropping 4:3 video is one of my pet hates. It's less offensive if it's sourced from film and quality isn't lost, but still pointless. There're so many old music videos on KZbin that have been inexplicably cropped to widescreen. I guess a lot of people must see 4:3 as a "stupid square world".

[@sheepsnoopshep]

grrr, and maybe you have a 4:3 monitor and want to see the video without black bars on a youtube video but the uploader rendered it as 16:9 so when you go to watch it on the 4:3 tv it's just a small square surrounded by black.

[@brujo_millonario]

I love the enthusiasm he had for what we now see as such simple effects.

[@electricdiesel1993]

Before Maya and Blender, it used an 3D editor connected to a CRT monitor whilst recording a texture to create a geometry instead of free hand modelling with UV texture.

[@Exophis]

Loving these early tech vids keep them coming

[@neoasura]

I'm actually more impressed how they used to make that logo before CGI.

[@chaos.corner]

All the "computer graphics" in Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV show were drawn by hand.

[@dazfirth7084]

this, whats it called CGI will never take off!

[@manictiger]

A computer in every home? Preposterous!

[@johnstanley3939]

manictiger a computer in every pocket and on every wrist? in your dreams

[@jabatodadze1841]

This reminds myself in early ages of learning CGI when i was showing my friends what i can do with weird textured tubes and teapots :D

[@SouthwesternEagle]

Every bit of this was brilliant!

[@kevinm5940]

It took me way too long to realize that this is actually from the 80s and that that's not just an aesthetic they chose for some reason.

[@ImHereFindMe]

this will never catch on

[@ahmadys2011]

He is killing me with windows movie maker effects

[@hormelinc]

Ahh, the Quantel Mirage was literally a revolution almost on par with the Printing Press for TV. All film animators thought they would be unemployed janitors very shortly. What they didn't know was they would be re-employed as electronic "Paintbox" artists doing tons more animations since it was now a fraction of the cost of film animation!

[@moetama_]

This channel is a hidden gem

[@Betruet]

Watching this in VR on my Oculus Quest in 2019

[@jarded056]

Most of those animations can be done in PowerPoint now.

[@kristijanoros7208]

This is the first "Australia is upside down" meme and nobody mentioned it

[@flaggerify]

Hardly the first.

[@THE16THPHANTOM]

makes me appreciate modern 3d modeling software. but also admire what those people achieved with such incredibly limited tech.

[@yongamer]

Amazing editing skills.

[@Menhikatu005]

I wanted to be a model maker and graduated filmschool at the start of the digital age. 😩 I’m a landscape gardener now after working in graphic and digital effects for 15 years. Just couldn’t stand sitting all day in front of 3 screens. Prefer to get my hands dirty!!!

[@gorgon352]

Your a bad son, if I wanted a gardener I would have adopted Martha Stewart

[@poweringaccounttermination4026]

Want your hands to get dirty? Then go work at the sewers.

[@chatteyj]

Good for you Blair too many useless numpties sit on their arse all day these days!

[@RollsRoyceFanatics]

"Future - Fizz" has a hyphen, so I can sleep well that the Mandela effect is absolute

[@warriorcatskid003]

The empire when Leia refused to give up the location of the Rebel base 2:45

[@jakeservo7178]

Tarkin: "Ohhh~, the power of it!"

[@wobedraggled]

Love this guys delivery...

[@leafyon]

I love the dry humor in this video. The British seem to be really good at that

[@AngusBeer]

Holy crap this is awesome! :D

[@TheElcentralen]

the funny part is, this advances has taken part in about 1 generation but ill bet in 40 years people will start to forget simple fundamental building blocks in the code they use for different applications as allot of stuff uses the same code at heart and month will be dedicated to finding out how 60 years old code worked to tweak it to new applications. for example half-life 2 use a little of the original Quake code.

[@TheOriginalEviltech]

You don't realise that people have stopped even learning about the building blocks... They use ready made hardware and software to compile their ideas, not realising the amount of rubbish code they leave in the devices they have made. Today we completely overload our processors emulating emulations of emulations to run a simple 2-3 page program that could run just fine on a calculator CPU if written in Assembler language.

[@TheElcentralen]

Eviltech yes this is my point, but we are sort of in the same generation. so old people still got a understanding even if they did it 30-40 years ago. so now in 40 years when no one ho experienced the start is still working. shit might hit the fan for real : b. all the games being developed on cry engine or unreal, now don't take this the wrong way, but its more of a building environment then a coding environment.

[@RisinT96]

Tobias Bergstrand All the people who study program engineering at my uni are studying assembly and C/C++, I'm not a coding student though but they are studying the fundamentals too.

[@TheElcentralen]

im not telling people this Will happen. More of a scary taught. I am by far not a software dev or a coder so dont take my rambling to serius.

[@RisinT96]

Eviltech I believe they are taught what they need to know, computer engineers are taught about the hardware for sure.

[@GamingRoadkill]

“This stupid square world” Minecraft players: square up m8

[@zamnodorszk7898]

Pioneers of digital imagery. What geniuses they were.

[@MsJeffreyF]

This is awesome! Love seeing the history of computer graphics