Scanimate

Scanimate is the name for an analog computer animation system developed from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

The Scanimate systems were used to produce much of the video-based animation seen on television between the late 1970s and early 1980s in commercials, promotions, and show openings. One of the major advantage the Scanimate system had over film-based animation and computer animation was the ability to create animations in real time. The speed with which animation could be produced on the system because of this, as well as its range of possible effects, helped it to supersede film-based animation techniques for television graphics. By the mid-1980s it was superseded by digital computer animation, which produced sharper images and more sophisticated 3d imagery.

Animations created on Scanimate and similar analog computer animation systems have a number of characteristic features that distinguish them from film-based animation: The motion is extremely fluid, using all 60 fields per second (in NTSC format video) or 50 fields (in PAL format video) rather than the 24 frames per second that film uses; the colors are much brighter and more saturated; and the images have a very "electronic" look that results from the direct manipulation of video signals through which the Scanimate produces the images.

How it works

A special high-resolution (around 800 lines) monochrome camera films high-contrast artwork. The image is then displayed on a high-resolution screen. Unlike a normal monitor, its deflection signals are passed through a special analog computer that enables the operator to bend the image in a variety of ways. The image is then shot from the screen by either a film camera or a video camera. In the case of a video camera this signal is then fed into a colorizer, a device that takes certain shades of grey and turns it into color as well as transparency. The idea behind this is that the output of the Scanimate itself is always monochrome. Another advantage of the colorizer is that it gives the operator the ability to continuously add layers of graphics. This makes possible the creation of very complex graphics. This is done by using two video recorders. The background is played by one recorder and then recorded by another one. This process is repeated for every layer. This requires very high-quality video recorders.

Television programs and films that featured Scanimation

* NBC Sports
* "The Electric Company"
* "Logan's Run"
* "Star Wars"
* "Sesame Street"
* "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory"
* "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film)"
* "The Letter People"

References

* Carlson, Wayne (2003). Section 12: Analog approaches, non-linear editing, and compositing (from "A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation"). Retrieved March 13, 2004 from http://accad.osu.edu/~waynec/history/lesson12.html
* Sieg, David W. (2003). Old-School Electronic Animation Central - Formerly the Scanimate Files. Retrieved March 13, 2004 from http://scanimate.zfx.com.

External links

* [http://scanimate.zfx.com/ Old-School Electronic Animation Central - Formerly the Scanimate Files]
* [http://scanimate.zfx.com/article.html Scanimation in the Analog Days] (An explanation of the Scanimate system)