The story of VFX, Amiga and Babylon 5

Foebane · 07 March 2019, 09:28

[ Show youtube player ]

How the best creative computer combo of the 1990s, the Amiga and NewTek Video Toaster, helped launch a whole industry for budget CGI in TV shows and movies!

jdb78 · 27 April 2019, 23:54

Wow, thank you! That was quite interesting.

Mrz · 28 April 2019, 10:15

they used Amiga 2000s in 1994 -1998 ? what

anyways ,good video thanks for sharing foebane

btw,

anyone knows where you can download some episode of babylon 5 ?
specially season 1 or 2 ,post a link plz

lilalurl · 28 April 2019, 11:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrz

anyone knows where you can download some episode of babylon 5 ?
specially season 1 or 2 ,post a link plz

It is not a good idea to do that in public on EAB. The studio owning the rights (Warner Bros from what I can see) probably would not be happy.

honx · 28 April 2019, 15:46

is this documentation new? i feel something like deja vu... somehow...

Welshieinnz · 29 April 2019, 00:49

Really interesting, thanks for sharing!

Makes you wonder what the present would be like if commodore hadn’t messed up like they did!

TEG · 15 August 2021, 14:11

Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Robocop, Total Recall... and they didn't manage to harvest the fruits to develop the hard!

fxgogo · 16 August 2021, 00:57

Production values on the video seemed good except for that terrible robot voice over.

Steady · 16 August 2021, 07:47

Yeah. That robot voice was really distracting.

Frog · 16 August 2021, 10:58

thank you !

gimbal · 16 August 2021, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by honx

is this documentation new? i feel something like deja vu... somehow...

It's a video from 2018, I'm sure it has passed through this forum at least once already at some point

Doesn't matter really, it'll always be a pleasant surprise to at least some people.

d4rk3lf · 16 August 2021, 17:03

IMHO, Amiga could do even more in this department.
I am pretty sure that the effects from Independence Day and Starship Troopers could be done on Amiga (of course, with maximum expanded A4000 and the latest Lightwave).
With combination of life footage and miniatures, nice and smart texturing and lightning, LW motion blur, scenes could look spectacular, even for "today's eyes".

Locutus · 16 August 2021, 19:54

Could, but not economically Should.

It's the classical justification for workstation prices (and it applies even now).

(numbers at random)
Scenario: I'm a well paid VFX Artist, and i get paid 50$, and i expect to work on a cool Scifi Graphics project.

I could buy a Amiga setup for 5000$, and i can accomplish the task in a full employment years work (~2000 hours, let's not count off-line rendering).

I could also buy a entry level DEC Alpha EV4 with NT3.51 machine at 15k a machine possibly 8 to 10 times as fast.

On the Alpha machine i'm way more efficient as i have near real-time line previews, higher screen resolutions, etc. Let's say that results in me being twice as fast.

So....let's say:

Amiga: 5000$ + 2000*50 = 105000$
Alpha: 15000$ + 1000*50 = 65000$

The scaling for this is a bit notional. However you can play with the number and it becomes obvious that once salaries are high enough, saving on tools just ends up rarely making sense.

Note; once the Babylon production crew knew they where in it for a couple of years, they did upgrade to Alpha workstations (XL266's IIRC, relatively budget Windows only machines) for exactly these reasons.

07 March 2019, 09:28	#1
Foebane Banned Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Cardiff, UK Age: 51 Posts: 2,871	The story of VFX, Amiga and Babylon 5 [ Show youtube player ] How the best creative computer combo of the 1990s, the Amiga and NewTek Video Toaster, helped launch a whole industry for budget CGI in TV shows and movies!

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27 April 2019, 23:54	#2
jdb78 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Neckargemünd/Germany Age: 45 Posts: 22	Wow, thank you! That was quite interesting.

28 April 2019, 10:15	#3
Mrz Banned Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: I Posts: 338	they used Amiga 2000s in 1994 -1998 ? what anyways ,good video thanks for sharing foebane btw, anyone knows where you can download some episode of babylon 5 ? specially season 1 or 2 ,post a link plz

28 April 2019, 15:46	#5
honx Registered User Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Klagenfurt / Austria Posts: 1,559	is this documentation new? i feel something like deja vu... somehow...

29 April 2019, 00:49	#6
Welshieinnz Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Wellington/New Zealand Posts: 74	Really interesting, thanks for sharing! Makes you wonder what the present would be like if commodore hadn’t messed up like they did!

15 August 2021, 14:11	#7
TEG Registered User Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: France Posts: 567	Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Robocop, Total Recall... and they didn't manage to harvest the fruits to develop the hard!

16 August 2021, 00:57	#8
fxgogo Also known as GarethQ Join Date: May 2019 Location: Twickenham / U.K. Posts: 715	Production values on the video seemed good except for that terrible robot voice over.

16 August 2021, 07:47	#9
Steady Registered User Join Date: May 2021 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 40	Yeah. That robot voice was really distracting.

16 August 2021, 10:58	#10
Frog Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: France Posts: 1,385	thank you !

16 August 2021, 17:03	#12
d4rk3lf Registered User Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Novi Sad, Serbia Posts: 1,645	IMHO, Amiga could do even more in this department. I am pretty sure that the effects from Independence Day and Starship Troopers could be done on Amiga (of course, with maximum expanded A4000 and the latest Lightwave). With combination of life footage and miniatures, nice and smart texturing and lightning, LW motion blur, scenes could look spectacular, even for "today's eyes".

16 August 2021, 19:54	#13
Locutus Registered User Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Finland Posts: 1,176	Could, but not economically Should. It's the classical justification for workstation prices (and it applies even now). (numbers at random) Scenario: I'm a well paid VFX Artist, and i get paid 50$, and i expect to work on a cool Scifi Graphics project. I could buy a Amiga setup for 5000$, and i can accomplish the task in a full employment years work (~2000 hours, let's not count off-line rendering). I could also buy a entry level DEC Alpha EV4 with NT3.51 machine at 15k a machine possibly 8 to 10 times as fast. On the Alpha machine i'm way more efficient as i have near real-time line previews, higher screen resolutions, etc. Let's say that results in me being twice as fast. So....let's say: Amiga: 5000$ + 200050 = 105000$ Alpha: 15000$ + 100050 = 65000$ The scaling for this is a bit notional. However you can play with the number and it becomes obvious that once salaries are high enough, saving on tools just ends up rarely making sense. Note; once the Babylon production crew knew they where in it for a couple of years, they did upgrade to Alpha workstations (XL266's IIRC, relatively budget Windows only machines) for exactly these reasons.

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