CompuServe Thread

# 3DS on Prime Time CBS!

10 messages in this thread
#33126From: Jan 23, 1993 12:06 AM
3D Studio used on CBS Prime Time Special! Best spot in Ratings Week! Animations depicting the creation of the earth and flood all created by The Pyros Partnership, mastered to laser disk, dubbed to Beta SP, edited on 1". Excerpt from the official CBS announcement: "THE INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY OF NOAH'S ARK" A CBS Television Network World Premier Two-Hour Special Hosted by Darren McGavin Airing in the U.S. and Canada on the evening of Friday, February 12, 1993 (Check your local television guide for program time.) A great mystery lies hidden high on a permanently snow-covered mountaintop in Eastern Turkey. This 5,000-year-old mystery has influenced all the civilizations of the world and is reflected in their literature throughout the ages. A man-made artifact – the object of this mystery – has attracted the attention of the CIA and the Russian KGB. Both Russian and United States spy satellites have secretly photographed this mysterious object protruding from the snow-capped summit of Mt. Ararat. The photographs remain "top secret" and are stored in underground military vaults. What is this mysterious artifact explorers risk their lives trying to find? Could it really be the biblical Ark of Noah that rests on Mt. Ararat? The evidence will challenge your understanding of our past and stimulate your thinking about our future as we journey along thepath to the incredible discovery of Noah's Ark.
#33152From: Angelo Guarino [DTI Inc]Jan 23, 1993 11:38 AM
>> Noah arc, Greg, Well now … Pyros and Noah's Ark …. Heston and The Ten Commandments … associations that have become part of the American experience. <g> All seriousness aside … _CONGRADULATIONS_!!!! Ang
#33153From: Yost GroupJan 23, 1993 11:40 AM
It's on my calendar, Greg! – G
#33158From: Jan 23, 1993 12:13 PM
Gary: Great! The only thing to remember is that the show was completed _before_ IPAS, now knowing all the new stuff we could have added… You know what it's like to view something 6 months after you created it in this fast-changing animation world? <g> Can't complain, though – the reason CBS held it this long was to save it for the best time slot in ratings week! I hope they spelled my name right in the credits… <really big g> Greg Pyros PS – I didn't mention it in my original posting, but we did all the title sequences and head credits (in 3DS, of course), also! And rendered out the matts for them to composite over live video, for whoever was questioning if anyone did this technique that long ago!
#33166From: Ken Loss-CutlerJan 23, 1993 2:05 PM
Greg: Congratulations. This is a very important credit and you have every reason to be proud! We'll be sure to watch it here in Dallas. How about uploading a short fli file? Ken Loss-Cutler
#33168From: Jan 23, 1993 4:11 PM
Ken: The project was completed 6 months ago, so I don't have any output still on computer disk. It consists of 7 or so individual pieces, plus all the titles and head credits – about four minutes of 'pure' animation. What I'll do is capture a handful of representative frames from the laser disk and combine them into a slow-playback fli and upload it this week. If people are _really_ interested in a true fli file, I could rotoscope it all back in from the laser and run it through numpic in Ani Pro. Pretty easy to do, just 'computer' time consuming – but still a lot quicker than re-rendering! Greg Pyros
#33191From: Ken Loss-CutlerJan 23, 1993 10:36 PM
I assume that you keep all your project files. We have all our script files back to 1988. Believe it: there are times that we pull stuff up and reuse it; usually not even for the same client. As for the fli files, don't go to any major lengths; it was just an idea. We enjoy showing off stuff that other's do with 3DS. It's a good sales point to be able to say "we can do stuff like this on our system". Alec Jason's Mitchell fli files, for example, were important in helping us land our own murder recreation cases. In return, we forwarded fli files of _our_ case to Autodesk for further dissemination and we hope that our work might help others to get their own projects, too. Congratulations, again. Ken Loss-Cutler
#33226From: Jan 24, 1993 12:50 PM
Ken: Of course, all files (shapes, lofts, 3DS, maps, and PRJ) used to create the images are always saved and double-backed up for posterity. Just the targas and flis are tossed when project is complete and on laser disk. Greg Pyros
#33187From: Dirk GastaldoJan 23, 1993 9:56 PM
Greg, Congratulations! Can you tell me more about The Pyros Partnership? I'm working on animating astronomical phenomena for an educational documentary. Gary has helped me understand some techniques for multiple-orbital simulations. I'm really looking forward to seeing your work. It sounds like it will have exactly some of the stuff that I want to do for my video. Thanks, Dirk
#33415From: Jan 26, 1993 9:42 AM
Dear ALL: Oh Boy! Just when I wait a month to make sure it is finalized, the next working day CBS changes their lineup! DATE CHANGE for the "Amazing Discovery of Noah's Ark" special! The latest date will be Saturday, February 20, 1993! Please reset your VCRs! <g> Greg (always at the whim of the networks) Pyros