Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ptsfa!ames!husc6!ut-sally!utah-cs!peterson
From: peterson@utah-cs.UUCP (John W Peterson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: What kind of gear are they using?
Message-ID: <5147X@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: 21 Jan 88 00:00:00 GMT
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Lines: 22

> 
> We have all seen the kind of graphics the boys and girls at Disney can
> produce. My question is as follows, "What kind of eq. are these people using?"
> I must say that I am very impressed with the scale of their work in such
> movies as "Tron"(I know it has been out for a long time). 

At the time it was produced (~1981-82) Tron consumed the movie-quality
animation resources of most of the country.  Production houses like
Robert Able, MAGI, Digital Effects, and Information International's film
division all contributed to the project using a variety of equipment;
mostly large mainframes and specialized film recorders.  (All of these
production houses are now defunct.)  

It's worth noting that much of Tron's animation was done by hand.
Live-action footage was shot in black and white, the frames were blown
up onto large transparencies, and shipped to the far east (Taiwan?)
where a large crew painted them all by hand.  The painted transparencies
were then re-photographed on an animation stand ("colorization" before
Ted Turner...)

Cheers,
jp