John Whitney - Experiments in motion graphics 1968 - Generative graphics

[@tortysoft]

2021-1969 - 43 years. I'm 63. I watched this evolve. I played my part and still do. These changes were always exponential, now they actually look as fast as the word implies. Oh my word, the singularity is basically here.

[@toamaori]

it must have been an amazingly exciting time for those working at the cusp of the technology

[@NuGanjaTron]

Thx for posting! Glad to see an intelligent comment here for a change! 😉

[@sanyamvarun6967]

While most people are commenting that this become a screensaver, I am just amazed by the far-sightedness of Mr. Whitney. We HAVE come so far with real-time Computer Generated Imagery, and it is truly marvelous. He is one of the first ones that saw the potential, Despite not completely pinpointing all applications, His philosophies of computer-generated art seem to be visible across the internet and the digital space today. I am blessed to have the technology that lets me create imagery like a Musician can come up with their next composition, in REAL time. A true blessing.

[@ConstruktMedia]

This narration is precious

[@leuchtspurmedien]

As a matter of fact.

[@davidlincolnbrooks]

Imputing such fascination and gravity to what we would now see as the most basic and banal computer graphic.

[@captainoblivious_yt]

"I expect some of these hardships to ease" You betcha

[@Snail-FX]

Me: Watching this on my phone. John Whitney Sr.: "Computers are too big to take home over the week-end"

[@Sol-jj5ov]

This ages so well.

[@KeizerHedorah]

This guy wanted to make trippy animations in real time like a guitar player plays music or artists painting a picture, he wanted/predicted that one day people would be able to improvise computer animations live.

[@davidholek]

Wow, extremely fascinating. Also very fun that since he lived until 1995 he literally got to see everything he predicted and worked on, come to fruition.

[@DanFiebiger]

Assisted by Whitney's two sons, John Jr. and Robert, original images were only black and white. And each element of the final composite was created separately, then transferred to high-contrast B&W 35mm film. Color was added to each element on a film contact (and/or optical) printer and combined via multiple passes thru the printer to create a single master negative from which final prints were made with a photographic optical soundtrack added to the edge of the film before development. This massive amount of work, creative decisions, and technical expertise was how they made all of their pioneering films, which were originally sold to colleges and libraries in 16mm by an "art-for-art-sake" distributer called "Pyramid Films" They were also the first to create fully-rendered shaded non-film color computer graphics in 1977.

[@cyvose]

It's so fascinating that all the frustrations that John Whitney expresses with the state of computer art has all seemed to be resolved in the modern era of audio visual media. I wonder how much joy he'd experience using the motion graphic, video editing & vfx software of today.

[@alanrogers7090]

So, we can thank John Whitney for inventing computer screen savers, at least the early ones of Windows 3.1. (Oh, what memories.) When I took a computer course in 1971, we were still using punch cards. We didn't know how prolific computers would be in our own futures. I was learning how to use a computer in banking systems at the time. Punch cards were great for storing simple figures as needed in everyday banking, at the time. None of us taking that class could have foreseen that in only fifteen years, or so, we might own a computer of our own, in our house, that was much smaller, yet more powerful, than the ones we were learning on. Technology just keeps going. It is us, the people, that have to move with it, or fall behind. I am now 71 years old, and try to learn something new every day.

[@BDMZ404]

This is fascinating to hear Alan, i'm in my early twenties and this sort of easthetic/generation is inarguably cool

[@jingleskhanaudioproductions]

imagine what the generation 50yrs ahead will think about our present state of technological affairs

[@GrandTourVideos]

It will be a completely different world.

[@Razlo5000]

I sure wish I could go back in time and show this guy a few episodes of Tripping the Rift.

[@NuGanjaTron]

And you think the Man who made it all possible would be impressed? You can at least hold his beer. 😉

[@devonc3948]

I wrote the below because I thought what he was mentioning is a cool exercise in when playing around with new things, parenthesis are my own organized thoughts: [ > indicates transcripted quote with my own added punctuation ] ( Demonstrating the movements on screen of a swirling figure ) > I call it a "linear figure"! ( Considering the "what's the purpose?" question ) > The essential problem with this kind of motion must resemble the creative problem of melody writing: it is, perhaps, in its pure form, the most highly concentrated case study of the essence of art itself. > Involving as it does: balance, contrast, tension, and resolution all brought into play with minimum expenditure. ( Considering enhancing the "linear figure" for further purpose - one can imagine a VR headset? ) > Perhaps if these actions were structured with still greater contrasts of motion and scale, and some as yet unknown qualities, they might be developed through variations that we could recognize, and respond to directly and emotionally. ( On the merging of the "linear figure" and its enhancements + audio ) >Of course, even these actions on the screen might work better if there were music of some sort related to them. >I think of sound as a partner to this kind of visual experience; but I do not want the graphics to play a role of the lesser subservient partner. >Starting with recorded history, I suppose, we have had as much experience creating melodies as creating poetry, but who has experienced the satisfaction of composing more than a fragment in this new audio-visual art? ( He's like Tony Stark's dad) >What is needed, therefore, is for someone to be able to add a few years experience to perfect his skill at designing motion for the eye to perceive.

[@devonc3948]

This dude at the end sounds like every computer programmer of the day, but just before, he sounds like he's had incredible visions of the future - this was great

[@retromograph3893]

really amazing!

[@erikshure360]

Early days of the demoscene

[@jx3821]

I know all of this is supposed to be scientific, but all this video is making me do is turn out the lights, light up a fat blunt and get baked watching these trippy pictures.

[@lit2021]

and today we have Jerobeam who creates oscilloscope music - motion graphics which are also sounds :D

[@NuGanjaTron]

Yeah, tried that on my Tektronix; works great on analogue scopes. Abstract shapes on scopes are nothing new, tho.

[@julianx2rl]

Is dat a touchscreen in the 60s?!

[@lego5745]

Yes, it's called a light pen, and the use of it can be traced as far back as 1955.

[@BFett-Human]

I was surprised to see that too.

[@xxlabratxx01]

I think it's probably not. I think that's just a light pen. Like duck Hunt for NES on non touch CRTs

[@mixchief]

@@xxlabratxx01 Or the pen on a Fairlight CMI

[@LoganGuerra]

Awesome

[@specialresp3ct]

Im more baffled we had Touchscreens in the 60's what else is the main society held back on Tech wise🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@kirgan1000]

He did see the future of smaler cheaper "TV computers" for home use, glade that he did live to see his prediction.

[@The.dudeinator]

Extreme seizure warning at the beggining

[@UltimateAzumanger]

0:02 The theater.

[@illygah]

10:13 not true. A word that waves back and forth is called an echo and while maybe lot linguistically defined appropriately, it is humans understanding that language is made of waves that can bounce off matter.

[@thentertaineronyoutube]

yes true

[@Theakker3B]

Four Line Conics

[@DigitalLife3000]

I know what that is!

[@liamacosta2879]

Yeey

[@kennys1881]

Code on github?

[@m2klever]

4:57

[@assirrisaqathi5628]

Kaciw

[@ianmi4i727]

Too modern for the time

[@davidhofmann3264]

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