Saturday, January 28, 2012
Pong!
For those who would like to check out Pong, here's a java-based site that hosts the game!
http://www.xnet.se/javaTest/jPong/jPong.html
Can you hear me now?
Film, VHS, CD’s/ DVD’s, TiVo and now what? Yup that’s
right... the same stunning graphics that you get on the computer and the best
HD movies, right on your iPhone. The iPhone 4S was introduced to the hungry
market in late 2011, loaded with brand-new gadgets and gizmos. The graphics in
these phones are amazing. I have one (not the 4S, but the older model 3Gs) and
when I picked up the new iOS5 (iOperatingSystem5) I was totally floored. How
can a company take an older model, and make it just as jaw-droppingly awesome
as the newest one on the market? Seems impossible right? But really it’s not.
The iPhone 3GS has been equipped all along to accommodate the cool stuff that
they added to the new 4S, but the company didn’t even know that they were going
to add all of it yet. What’s so great about it you may ask? iOS
is a desktop-class operating system that’s been reinvented for mobile devices.
Because it’s based on the world’s most advanced computer operating system — OS
X — performance in iOS is fast and stability is rock-solid. It manages power
efficiently and delivers outstanding battery life. iOS even ensures that
performance and battery life don’t suffer when you’re multitasking with
multiple apps open at the same time. It also has a duo-core A5 processor. Some
older models of computers don’t even have two cores… but those are really old.
(A core lets you multi-task, but it’s slower. Two cores make multitasking
faster, such as having multiple apps open at once.) Another thing about the graphics
is that these games are totally safe. Apps run individually, and data can’t be
traced from third party sites (disables hacking!). Since Apple develops both
the hardware (the phone itself) and the software (everything you do with it)
the match is seamless. This allows for the crazy good 1080p HD graphics to work
on the phone, at any time. Watch movies, play games, FaceTime with people who
are far away… anything! (apple.com)
Action? Come on Mario... move!
Throughout the history of video games, the industry has had
an inferiority complex when compared to Hollywood. (fastcompany.com). But why?
Do video games not have the same technology as the movies do? The answer is
yes. Totally. Nowadays, but not before the addition of CD-ROM to technology’s
yearbook.
So I’ve decided to branch off for a segment and talk a little bit about graphics in other types of media, instead of just the movies. Ever see an old Atari (probably not) or Nintendo system? (The ones with the plug in cartridges). During the same time that Nintendo was running simple graphics, the movies were booming, with the sales of home video (VHS). Now some of you may wonder why there was such a difference in the qualities of the technologies up until recently, with the release of Halo 3 and the new Call of Duty series. The answer for that is quite simple. For interactive graphics, meaning something that is manipulated by the human playing the game, it requires a lot more power and technology behind it. Film running in front of a projector light is basic compared to the video games. The technology hadn’t yet been developed to create graphics that were realistic like film and still moveable by a controller.
In 1972, the first official video game, Pong was created by Atari, the company now widely known as being the father of video gaming. FairChild Channel F was the first company to release a cartridge based system, but again, Atari takes over, making the idea more popular, and selling more games in total than FCF. That was in 1977. In 1985... BAM! Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment system (NES) effectively killing off the competition. Nintendo's graphics were more binary-based than Atari's, making the graphics more solid. After that, Sega and Sony came out with their own systems, Sony being the first to use a disc instead of a cartridge. Now we're getting somewhere... From there you can guess how all the new systems (Xbox, PS3, Wii – and even Alienware gaming computers) came into play. It’s just basic evolution. My point here is really not about the evolution of video game systems, but the technology behind them. See, the first Atari video game system only had 128 bytes of ram. Nowadays, Xbox 360 has 512 MB of ram... a helluva lot more than the originals, giving a faster gaming experience for those games such as Legend of Zelda or Halo 3 (droolworthy graphics) that rivet you to the seat. You don’t need lagging there.
So I’ve decided to branch off for a segment and talk a little bit about graphics in other types of media, instead of just the movies. Ever see an old Atari (probably not) or Nintendo system? (The ones with the plug in cartridges). During the same time that Nintendo was running simple graphics, the movies were booming, with the sales of home video (VHS). Now some of you may wonder why there was such a difference in the qualities of the technologies up until recently, with the release of Halo 3 and the new Call of Duty series. The answer for that is quite simple. For interactive graphics, meaning something that is manipulated by the human playing the game, it requires a lot more power and technology behind it. Film running in front of a projector light is basic compared to the video games. The technology hadn’t yet been developed to create graphics that were realistic like film and still moveable by a controller.
In 1972, the first official video game, Pong was created by Atari, the company now widely known as being the father of video gaming. FairChild Channel F was the first company to release a cartridge based system, but again, Atari takes over, making the idea more popular, and selling more games in total than FCF. That was in 1977. In 1985... BAM! Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment system (NES) effectively killing off the competition. Nintendo's graphics were more binary-based than Atari's, making the graphics more solid. After that, Sega and Sony came out with their own systems, Sony being the first to use a disc instead of a cartridge. Now we're getting somewhere... From there you can guess how all the new systems (Xbox, PS3, Wii – and even Alienware gaming computers) came into play. It’s just basic evolution. My point here is really not about the evolution of video game systems, but the technology behind them. See, the first Atari video game system only had 128 bytes of ram. Nowadays, Xbox 360 has 512 MB of ram... a helluva lot more than the originals, giving a faster gaming experience for those games such as Legend of Zelda or Halo 3 (droolworthy graphics) that rivet you to the seat. You don’t need lagging there.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
3D and me!
The time of red/blue 3D is likely coming to an end as 3D film making has gotten a digital makeover. New technologies and adaptations of old technologies are paving the way for scores of 3D films in the next few years, and 3D is making it’s way into our living rooms already.(http://www.flickr.com/groups/anaglyph/ )The way it used to be, is being replaced. The previous technology? Red- blue or sometimes red/green 3D movie. Again based upon the ability of our eyes to see two slightly different images, two images are simultaneously displayed on the screen, one in red and the other in blue (or green as the case may be). The colored lens glasses then only allow the images of one color to pass into each eye: Red light is perceived by the eye with the blue lens and blue light is perceived by the eye with the red lens. While this method is effective in presenting fun 3D gags like the Chinese yo yo, a spring-loaded punching glove, or a baseball flying toward the audience, the color effects can be rather irritating when trying to view a color movie. That's where polarization comes in.(tecca.com)
For motion pictures, the traditions of stereoscopy were adapted to more theater-friendly techniques. The one we are probably most familiar with is the
Filmed in the same way as any other 3D image or film, with two cameras, slightly offset, the
So as far as 3D technology goes, the new stuff is eliminating headaches across america (and other countries of course) one pair of polarized poly-carbonate(plastic) lenses at a time. Hopefully when the time comes for a newer and better technology to arise, they’ll find a way to make 3D glasses that fit over previous prescription lenses. It’s a problem that I seem to have each time I go to a movie in 3D, those plastic ones slip off my nose because my prescription ones are in the way underneath them. Oh well, its an idea for any amateur inventers out there! RealDsystem is the current forerunner of 3D motion pictures. RealD Cinema requires only one projector, but unlike a traditional film, RealD is projected at 144 frames per second. To put things in perspective, a normal movie is shown at 24 fps, one sixth the rate of RealD. The system relies on the push-pull electro-optical modulator (yeah, I know) invented by Lenny Lipton, the writer of the lyrics to Puff the Magic Dragon. The ZScreen developed by Lipton allows for circular polarization. This simply means that the images that make up the film can be projected from a single source and the effect of separated images and double imaging, created by linear polarization, is eliminated. With the RealD system a single "time" of film, the two images that comprise one moment during filming, is projected three times. With the polarizer in place, this means that for each frame filmed, your eyes get alternating views of the frame three times each, thus accounting for the 144 fps rate of projection.(tecca.com)
For motion pictures, the traditions of stereoscopy were adapted to more theater-friendly techniques. The one we are probably most familiar with is the
Filmed in the same way as any other 3D image or film, with two cameras, slightly offset, the
So as far as 3D technology goes, the new stuff is eliminating headaches across america (and other countries of course) one pair of polarized poly-carbonate(plastic) lenses at a time. Hopefully when the time comes for a newer and better technology to arise, they’ll find a way to make 3D glasses that fit over previous prescription lenses. It’s a problem that I seem to have each time I go to a movie in 3D, those plastic ones slip off my nose because my prescription ones are in the way underneath them. Oh well, its an idea for any amateur inventers out there! RealDsystem is the current forerunner of 3D motion pictures. RealD Cinema requires only one projector, but unlike a traditional film, RealD is projected at 144 frames per second. To put things in perspective, a normal movie is shown at 24 fps, one sixth the rate of RealD. The system relies on the push-pull electro-optical modulator (yeah, I know) invented by Lenny Lipton, the writer of the lyrics to Puff the Magic Dragon. The ZScreen developed by Lipton allows for circular polarization. This simply means that the images that make up the film can be projected from a single source and the effect of separated images and double imaging, created by linear polarization, is eliminated. With the RealD system a single "time" of film, the two images that comprise one moment during filming, is projected three times. With the polarizer in place, this means that for each frame filmed, your eyes get alternating views of the frame three times each, thus accounting for the 144 fps rate of projection.(tecca.com)
Digital beginnings...
The transformation of an analog signal to digital information via an analog-to-digital converter is called sampling. Most digital media is based on translating analog data into digital data and vice-versa. Digital media can range anywhere from Television, to CD's, to that alarm clock sitting on your dresser that says 10:45 instead of having a clock face with hands that circle around it. But for movies, its kinda different. Take James Cameron's Avatar for example. He took technology that existed already, and tweaked it to make it fit his dreams of a futuristic sci-fi world.
James Cameron wrote his first treatment for the movie in 1995 with the intention of pushing the boundaries of what was possible with cinematic digital effecrs. In his view, making Avatar would require blending live-action sequences and digitally captured performances in a three-dimensional, computer-generated world. Part action-adventure, part interstellar love story, the project was so ambitious that it took 10 more years before Cameron felt cinema technology had advanced to the point where Avatar was even possible. (Popularmechanics.com)
The movie uses digital 3D technology, which requires audience members to wear polarized glasses. It is a vast improvement on the sometimes headache-inducing techniques that relied on cardboard cutout glasses with red and green lenses and rose and fell in popularity in the 1950's. (Msnbc.msn.com) Unlike ast methods that captured dots placed on human faces to trace movements that are reconstructed digitally, now each frame is analysed for facial details such as pores and wrinkles that help re-create a moving computerized image. Cameron’s technology, basically a sphere of cameras that captures each and every movement from every angle imaginable. The technology is fairly new, but James Cameron’s Avatar grossed 1.8 billion dollars total, so he must have been doing something right.
In the first generation of 3D films, back in the analog era, it was hard to control the alignment of the cameras. Today, it’s much easier for all kinds of films. And for those created using computer graphic rendering, the alignment can be perfect. 3D technology is a brand new era, replacing almost all former digital media... whats next?
James Cameron wrote his first treatment for the movie in 1995 with the intention of pushing the boundaries of what was possible with cinematic digital effecrs. In his view, making Avatar would require blending live-action sequences and digitally captured performances in a three-dimensional, computer-generated world. Part action-adventure, part interstellar love story, the project was so ambitious that it took 10 more years before Cameron felt cinema technology had advanced to the point where Avatar was even possible. (Popularmechanics.com)
The movie uses digital 3D technology, which requires audience members to wear polarized glasses. It is a vast improvement on the sometimes headache-inducing techniques that relied on cardboard cutout glasses with red and green lenses and rose and fell in popularity in the 1950's. (Msnbc.msn.com) Unlike ast methods that captured dots placed on human faces to trace movements that are reconstructed digitally, now each frame is analysed for facial details such as pores and wrinkles that help re-create a moving computerized image. Cameron’s technology, basically a sphere of cameras that captures each and every movement from every angle imaginable. The technology is fairly new, but James Cameron’s Avatar grossed 1.8 billion dollars total, so he must have been doing something right.
In the first generation of 3D films, back in the analog era, it was hard to control the alignment of the cameras. Today, it’s much easier for all kinds of films. And for those created using computer graphic rendering, the alignment can be perfect. 3D technology is a brand new era, replacing almost all former digital media... whats next?
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Let's Get Digital!
For all you tech geeks out there, you'll be happy to know that the first digital movie, was Sci-Fi! George Lucas kicked off the digital cinema charge in May of 2002 with "Star Wars: Episode II, the Attack of the Clones" the first big budget live action movie shot entirely on digital video. (howstuffworks.com) The reactions to this new technology sparked a rise in interest, and the digital movie industry took off with a flash.
The basic idea is to use bits and bytes (strings of 1s and 0s) to record, transmit and replay images, rather than using chemicals on film. (howstuffworks.com) Anybody who knows computer coding could tell you exactly how difficult this kind of thing is to produce. The idea behind the new digital technology is that no information is lost in the process of transition, unlike the previous use of analog technology (film).
My generation knows that VHS tapes (that used film) degrade over time, and become grainy as the film is replayed over and over. Digital technology is an entirely different language than the analog technology, and DVD players never actually touch the information, unlike VHS, that slides along a projector-like viewing system... effectively weakening it.
The rise in DVD technology sales and production changed the movie viewing world, and practically became limitless in ways to improve. The first ideas for 3D came with the idea of adding depth and shadow to pictures, as if it was real life. In the early days of working with 3D, the glasses came out, one lens red, one lens blue. On the picture itself, the image was created with three different layers, the picture that the designers wanted people to see, then a slightly off kilter red outline, and a blue one. The result was an optical illusion in the brain that, through the glasses, made the image appear to jump out. (howstuffworks.com)
The basic idea is to use bits and bytes (strings of 1s and 0s) to record, transmit and replay images, rather than using chemicals on film. (howstuffworks.com) Anybody who knows computer coding could tell you exactly how difficult this kind of thing is to produce. The idea behind the new digital technology is that no information is lost in the process of transition, unlike the previous use of analog technology (film).
My generation knows that VHS tapes (that used film) degrade over time, and become grainy as the film is replayed over and over. Digital technology is an entirely different language than the analog technology, and DVD players never actually touch the information, unlike VHS, that slides along a projector-like viewing system... effectively weakening it.
The rise in DVD technology sales and production changed the movie viewing world, and practically became limitless in ways to improve. The first ideas for 3D came with the idea of adding depth and shadow to pictures, as if it was real life. In the early days of working with 3D, the glasses came out, one lens red, one lens blue. On the picture itself, the image was created with three different layers, the picture that the designers wanted people to see, then a slightly off kilter red outline, and a blue one. The result was an optical illusion in the brain that, through the glasses, made the image appear to jump out. (howstuffworks.com)
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