The earliest films produced on the SC4020 were trials to see what was possible. Paul Nelson completed a 7-minute film called FOCUS describing the SCFOR Fortran software for the SC4020 which included a zoom from outer space that eventually arrived at the front of the Atlas Building. It also had an early attempts at a computer-generated sound track. Bob Hopgood produced a 10-minute film describing the features of the GROATS Algol software.
Later, other software systems were added (including ANTICS, CAMP/CAMPER, Polygraphics) that allowed Atlas and 1906A users to produce films initially on the Stromberg-Carlson SC4020 and later the III FR80. Films were also produced on the 360/195 using Polygraphics and CAMPER. Many of the films are no longer available, particularly those produced by Atlas users. University users could generate the films themselves and the reliability of the FR80 meant that little interaction with the support staff was necessary.
Below is the set of films currently available on the site. Most have some associated documentation. The year of production is approximate. The time, in some cases early on, was over a year between starting and completing the project. Producing a final release copy of a film could take as much as 6 months if the SC4020 system was having an off period.
Name | Authors | Length (min:sec) |
Year | Recorder | Short Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Focus | Nelson | 6:51 | 1969 | SC4020 | Describes FORTRAN SCFOR System |
GROATS | Hopgood | 9:52 | 1969 | SC4020 | Describes Algol GROATS System |
Change & Chance 1 | Black, Ogborn, Hopgood | 2:29 | 1969 | SC4020 | Nuffield A Level Physics, Introduction |
Change & Chance 2 | Black, Ogborn, Hopgood | 0:52 | 1969 | SC4020 | Shows Random Motion of Energy Quantums |
Change & Chance 3 | Black, Ogborn, Hopgood | 0:58 | 1969 | SC4020 | Independent of size of board |
Change & Chance 4 | Black, Ogborn, Hopgood | 1:33 | 1969 | SC4020 | Follows a single position |
Change & Chance 5 | Black, Ogborn, Hopgood | 0:52 | 1969 | SC4020 | Different starting position makes no difference to steady state |
Change & Chance 6 | Black, Ogborn, Hopgood | 1:38 | 1969 | SC4020 | Heat flows from hot to cold by chance alone |
Syntactic Dominoes | Stapley, Hopgood | 6:50 | 1970 | SC4020 | Explains various syntax analysis approaches |
Demo Reel | Nelson, Hadingham | 2:30 | 1970 | SC4020 | Experiments with colour output and synchronisation with existing film images. |
Open University Maths | Asbury, England, Hopgood | 2:04 | 1970 | SC4020 | Open University First Maths Course with Computer Animation |
First Order Reactions | Groves | 5:46 | 1971 | SC4020 | Explains chemical reactions |
Linear Hash, Random Keys | Hopgood | 2:47 | 1971 | SC4020 | Demonstrates the linear hash technique; the Version with synthesised soundtrack produced in 1974 |
Linear Hash, User Keys | Hopgood | 4:25 | 1971 | SC4020 | Shows effect of non-random data |
Galaxy Evolution | Hockney | 2:56 | 1971 | SC4020 | Simulation of galaxy evolution |
Tomorrows World | 6:25 | 1971 | SC4020 | Shows how computer animation is achieved | |
Quadratic Hash, Random Keys | Hopgood | 1:45 | 1972 | SC4020 | Demonstrates the quadratic hash technique |
Quadratic Hash, User Keys | Hopgood | 3:34 | 1972 | SC4020 | Shows effect of non-random data |
Physex 1 | Various | 5:53 | 1972 | SC4020 | Aerial Synthesis, Boltzmann Distribution, Jet Flow |
When Polar Bears Swam The Thames | Emmett | 3:22 | 1972 | SC4020 | Excerpt from Horizon Programme on BBC |
Physex 2 | Various | 14:20 | 1973 | SC4020 | Solitons and Bions, Wind Tunnell Testing, Stratospheric Temperature Fields over the Southern Hemisphere |
Solitons and Bions in Nonlinear Optics | Eilbeck | 3:55 | 1973 | SC4020 | Shows the main features of solitons and bions |
Antics Demo Reel | Kitching | 4:26 | 1973 | SC4020 | Examples of ANTICS in action |
HPD Queue | Bell | 7:39 | 1973 | SC4020 | Buffering between the 360/195 and the Hewlett-Packard Front End and the Hough-Powell Scanner |
Orbits in a Hyperbolic Well | Mendoza | 6:45 | 1974 | SC4020 | Motion in a frictionlesss hyperbolic well |
Expanding Universe | Aarseth | 10:43 | 1975 | SC4020 | Demonstrates galaxy clustering |
PIGS | Shaw | 2:07 | 1974 | PDP15 | Interactive animation system on the PDP15 |
Magnet Design | Trowbridge | 7:43 | 1975 | SC4020 | Explains interactive magnet design at RAL |
Finite Elements | Kitching, Crow | 11:40 | 1975 | SC4020 | Explains the Finite Element technique using bridges, estuary flow and air flow as examples |
Numerical Solutions of the Regularized Long Wave Equation | Eilbeck | 1:53 | 1975 | SC4020 | Showing that they exhibit true soliton behaviour |
Boomerons | Eilbeck | 6:03 | 1977 | FR80 | Shows particles oscillating and boomeranging back |
Zoomerons | Eilbeck | 4:31 | 1977 | FR80 | Similar to the Boomeron film |
Two Dimensional Solitons | Eilbeck | 1:52 | 1978 | FR80 | Shows solitons in two-dimensions |
Pulse Evolution on Single and Coupled Nerve Fibres | Eilbeck | 3:15 | 1979 | FR80 | Pulses travelling along nerve fibres |
Davydov Solitons on the Alpha-Helix | Eilbeck | 3:54 | 1980 | FR80 | Solitons travelling along the three spines of the protein |
Nonlinear Evolution Equations | Eilbeck | 9:27 | 1981 | FR80 | Film for ICF Open Day |
Sine-Gordon Solitons | Eilbeck and Lomdahl | 13:31 | 1982 | FR80 | Solutions of the perturbed and unperturbed sine-Gordon equations |
Kink-kink Interactions in the Phi4 Model | Eilbeck | 4:35 | 1982 | FR80 | 2-kink and 3-kink collisions for different velocities |
Computer animation from other early systems | |||||
Force, Mass & Motion | Sinden | 9:29 | 1965 | SC4020 Bell Labs | One of the earliest computer animations using an SC4020 |
The Mark Of Man | Stromberg-Carlson | 11:20 | 1967 | SC4020 | Explains the importance of the SC4020 |
CAMPER Example | Anderson | 0:41 | 1968 | SC4020 | Woody Anderson's CAMPER System |
Conic Sections | Schey, Schwartz | 1:41 | 1970 | SC4020 MIT | Excellent series from Harper & Row |
Moving Charges Excerpt | Schey, Schwartz | 1:17 | 1970 | SC4020 MIT | Also Harper & Row |
Scanimate | Computer Image | 0:04 | 1970 | Scanimate | First Computer Image System |
Scanimate | Computer Image | 0:23 | 1970 | Scanimate | Demonstrates system |
Caesar System | Computer Image | 3:10 | 1971 | CAESAR | Computer Animated Episodes with Single Axis Rotation |
Quartetus Caesar | Computer Image | 3:10 | 1971 | CAESAR | First CAESAR Demo Film |
Coyote & Lizard | Computer Image | 2:01 | 1971 | CAESAR | One of a series produced by Computer Image |
Laser Separation | Livermore | 0:47 | 1975 | FR80 | Sound drawn on the cine film |
Los Alamos Colour | Los Alamos | 1:01 | 1975 | SC4020 | Showing colour output on SC4020 from a white phosphor tube with filters |