How was CGI output with enough scaling to look good on film, when the Spectrum only had composite output?

Similarly, with early CGI like Tron, what was the render/target resolution for film?

Not sure about Tron but here are a few details [1] about the Foonly F1 used on that film and how it was later used for Flight of the Navigator:

> They had pushed for Triple-I to build the DFP, the first (that I know of) high-resolution digital film printer for motion pictures. This was the next generation PFR, using an 8" CRT which had fast-decaying phosphors so that it could be used for scanning in film (using photomultiplier tubes built into a special camera) as well as printing. The imagery was amazing

> Since the Foonly only had enough disk storage to hold the frame being computed and the frame being printed, the numbers worked out like this: 30 seconds of film at 24 frames per second works out to 720 images each computed and printed at 6000 x 4000 pixels.

[1] http://dave.zfxinc.net/f1.html

The trick with Tron was that it was not CGI.

Tron was a mix of CGI and not-CGI. The not-CGI stuff, w/ all the photographic technique, was pretty wild. The CGI, in contrast, was not as wild.

I believe this was the documentary I watched a couple of years ago re: the making of Tron that went into a lot of detail about the effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbgHMrLPQrE

This was my show as a kid, the one my parents had to get us back home in time to watch or else much stroppiness would occur. I haven't heard it for many years, but the opening notes of the theme tune made me grin ear to ear.

Wow ... big part of my childhood ... those robot ball things! Weird how this seems largely forgotten

According to Wikipedia, problems with broadcasting rights meant it wasn't really repeated after the original 1980's broadcasts.

As an aside, it's hardly surprising our American cousins haven't heard of Terrahawks. I doubt the tongue in cheek humour (typified by 'robot ball' Sergeant Major Zero) would translate well!

You're talking about the generation that grew up with Monty Python and The Goodies.

We were also familiar with the latex puppets because of Spitting Image and the Genesis "Land of Confusion" video.

And the idea of a ball-shaped droid with a Cockney accent just seemed like a big miscalculation, unworthy of the Anderson legacy.

But to be fair, if you go back and watch Space: 1999, most of the episodes aged poorly in retrospect except for one of two of them (e.g., Dragon's Domain still holds up).

> You're talking about the generation that grew up with Monty Python and The Goodies

Yet would be entirely baffled at the concept of a British panto.

> ball-shaped droid with a Cockney accent

That my friend, was the voice of the one and only Windsor Davis, initiating his role as St Mjr from 'It ain't half hot mum'. Though I do recall a Scottish zeriod ("droid") and one with a French accent and handlebar moustache.

> Yet would be entirely baffled at the concept of a British panto.

Monty Python, and in particular Terry Gilliam's animation style, were both heavily panto influenced.

It was also a nerd rite-of-passage to watch Eraserhead which was directed by David Lynch, who then got to direct the Elephant Man.

The panto scene at the end of Elephant Man is one of the few scenes in a movie that wrecks me every time I watch it. Unfortunately it gets scrubbed every time someone posts it online.

> Wow ... big part of my childhood ... those robot ball things!

Yes! And the noughts-and-crosses game they played during the credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nJ2vyXKOOE

Not actually true. The title sequence was hand drawn, and the series didn’t even start filming until after Tron had come out.

Indeed, at it seems particularly unlikely when you consider that the absolute state of the art in the ZX Spectrum demoscene nearly fifty years on still isn't as high-resolution as Terrahawks' title sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJd6GtM5P9E

By the way, there is an excellent orchestral rendition of the theme music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, seemingly from a recording for the 'On Screen' album in 1986:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lEQFrl9bEE

Yes, it looks similar to the Hitch-Hiker's Guide graphics from around the same time, they were cartoons.

This was discussed a few weeks ago.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41509558

Kevin Davies, who animated the opening and ending credits for Terrahawks (credited as "Video Game & Titles") was an assistant to Rod Lord when he was making the graphics for the TV version of Hitch-hiker's.

More practical methods were fairly common during that period since they was actually cheaper and quicker than real computer graphics. The wireframe sequences in "Escape from New York", for instance, were actually miniatures with fluorescent paint applied to the edges.

Even Tron had quite a bit of Rotoscoping with a „computer look“, especially the scenes with human actors. Not shots like the lightcycle scene, those were actual CGI.

Fun fact: That was one of James Cameron's first gigs.

Never knew this series but little me (from the Netherlands, from 1982) would have loved this show, I certainly loved Thunderbirds (even though 50% of the show was the same TB launch sequence ;) ). I feel sad that I seem to have lost the capacity to experience the epicness of such series/films.

Anyway, very cool that that Mars base is from 2020... It seemed so far way back then. The SciFi future with Mars bases and flying cars that never happened. We did get Smartphones though... What will humanity look like in 40 years? Unrecognizable probably.

I actually loved the new series

https://www.amazon.com/Thunderbirds-Are-Go-Season-1/dp/B086H...

As well as being a huge fan of the originals

The ZX Spectrum bit seems unlikely, considering that was a Z80 box and the quality of those graphics is pretty good.

See the Terrahawks game on the Spectrum:

https://youtu.be/diLez1bM3jo

Is there a source for this, that would actually be interesting.

> the quality of those graphics is pretty good.

IIUC grandparent post refers only to the sphere & ships projected into 2d stills, not all of the titles. A software wireframe renderer seems "easy" compared to modeling the ships. Even if it took a day to render each one, this was all done in the service of a pilot episode, so probably not a lot of pressure. They're on the screen so briefly before fading to the filmed miniature, I suppose it would easily hide most issues.

This is not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrahawks#Title_sequence_and_...

People aren't getting the joke because nobody here realizes how essentially crappy the ZX Spectrum was. You'd do better to render it on a four-function calculator or, perhaps, an abacus.

Thank you :-) Personally I thought the "cluster" part would cause most consternation, but apparently that part sounds legit :-)

Wow #1, I don't think I ever expected to read "cluster of prototype ZX Spectrums", even on Zombo.com where anything is possible.

Wow #2, Terrahawks was in a box in the back of my mind for a long time. Don't think I ever actually watched, I just saw it, if you know what I mean. But I was about 7 when it came out so that makes sense. I remember the Zeroids more than I remember any of the characters.