mike@rice.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (07/15/84)
From: Mike Caplinger <mike@rice.ARPA> This is the first movie I can remember that has a credit for a supercomputer; the Cray X-MP of Digital Productions. And the special effects are pretty good, even startling at some points. But they're marred in a few places. The most objectionable is a strobing effect when an object flies right by the "camera" while moving at high speed, as nearly everything does in TLS. Because there was apparently no attempt to blur for motion, objects appear unnaturally jerky. This is a great example of why blurring is important in computer graphics. Less obvious is the Mach band effect as cylindrical objects are seen to be built up out of rectangles. This is usually well-hidden, but look for it on munitions in the Gunstar's bays, and on the Ko-Dan fighters. Finally, things just aren't dirty and bumpy enough; nearly everything is a smooth, metallic, Phong-shaded surface. A bit more random texturing might have been appropriate. Certainly the asteroid (fractal surface?) was a little too regular. None of this detracts from the film as a whole, and the graphics themselves are great fun to watch; there are lots of bits here that simply couldn't be done with models. Also, There's a good article on the SFX in the June CINEFEX, along with GHOSTBUSTERS. - Mike ps. Watch for the DR. STRANGELOVE reference during the Starfighter briefing session!