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<h2 id="how-it-works">How it works</h2> <p>A special high-resolution (around 945 lines) monochrome camera records high-contrast artwork. The image is then displayed on a high-resolution screen. Unlike a normal monitor, its deflection signals are passed through a special analog computer that enables the operator to bend the image in a variety of ways. The image is then shot from the screen by either a film camera or a video camera. In the case of a video camera, this signal is then fed into a colorizer, a device that takes certain shades of grey and turns it into color as well as transparency. The idea behind this is that the output of the Scanimate itself is always monochrome. Another advantage of the colorizer is that it gives the operator the ability to continuously add layers of graphics. This makes possible the creation of very complex graphics. This is done by using two video recorders. The background is played by one recorder and then recorded by another one. This process is repeated for every layer. This requires very high-quality video recorders (such as both the <a href="/facts/Ampex/xkhpGCzF">Ampex</a> <a href="/facts/Quadruplex_videotape/Sb2vBfcv">VR-2000</a> or <a href="/facts/International_Video_Corporation/Uo2UF5cY">IVC</a>'s <a href="/facts/IVC_videotape_format/kh1p82Ht">IVC-9000</a> of Scanimate's era, the IVC-9000 being used quite frequently for Scanimate composition due to its very high generational quality between re-recordings). </p> <h2 id="current-usage">Current usage</h2> <p>Two of the Scanimates are still in use at ZFx studios in Asheville, NC. The original "Black Swan" R&D machine has been updated with more modern power supplies and can produce material in standard or 1080P high definition video. The "white Pearl" machine is the last one produced and is being kept in its original configuration for historical purposes by David Sieg at ZFx inc. The machines are installed in a working production environment with <a href="/facts/Grass_Valley_(company)/ehRye4Q0">Grass Valley</a> switchers, Kaleidoscope digital video effects systems and Accom digital disk recorders for layering. </p> <h2 id="use-in-television-music-and-films">Use in television, music and films</h2> <h3>Music videos</h3> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Let%27s_Groove/x23u9cKn">Let's Groove</a> by <a href="/facts/Earth,_Wind_%26_Fire/Bfqwtm9v">Earth, Wind & Fire</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Get_Down_on_It/nscftS7w">Get Down on It</a> by <a href="/facts/Kool_%26_the_Gang/kvbHspno">Kool & the Gang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Blame_It_on_the_Boogie/0dDgtIMm">Blame It on the Boogie</a> by <a href="/facts/The_Jackson_5/pMAVrKL8">The Jacksons</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Knock_on_Wood_(Eddie_Floyd_song)/6CxV0Hxt">Knock on Wood</a> by <a href="/facts/Amii_Stewart/PpW2hLXH">Amii Stewart</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/DVNO/2EMWRGSp">DVNO</a> by <a href="/facts/Justice_(band)/gqz1XTqP">Justice (band)</a></li></ul> <h3>TV programs/movies</h3> <ul><li><i>Aerobicise</i> (opening sequence)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Network_Stars/lq0Xp2Rb">Battle of the Network Stars</a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Battlestars_(game_show)/0GYJuoSX">Battlestars</a></i> (1981 opening sequence)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Be_Forever_Yamato/4dPctN2h">Be Forever Yamato</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/Final_Yamato/wKHf44m4">Final Yamato</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Beat_the_Clock/8aDMKKYH">Beat the Clock</a></i> (1979 opening sequence)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Bowling_for_Dollars/9blcQHby">Bowling for Dollars</a></i> (1978-1981 opening sequence)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Braingames/x7Gnlxjm">Braingames</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Community_(TV_series)/Ynltqg7Y">Community</a></i> season 5, episode 11, "<a href="/facts/G.I._Jeff/HRBkvEwn">G.I. Jeff</a>"</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/David_Cassidy:_Man_Undercover/10SJlrdE">David Cassidy: Man Undercover</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Demon_Seed/rF63LYyg">Demon Seed</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Electric_Company/BgVzE2UR">The Electric Company</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Face_the_Music_(American_game_show)/rg8nruzE">Face the Music</a></i> ("Sandy Frank Presents" opening animation)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Flying_High_(TV_series)/wER0huWh">Flying High</a></i></li> <li><a href="/facts/Grammy_Awards/2bxYJjPV">Grammy Awards</a> (1978)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Krofft_Supershow/mwdULQ59">Krofft Supershow</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Lamb_Chop%27s_Play_Along/gjqaxoIq">Lamb Chop's Play Along</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Lancelot_Link,_Secret_Chimp/45fuxGu4">Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Legends_of_the_Superheroes/Rqf8PH4v">Legends of the Superheroes</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Letter_People/jUtvMbW2">The Letter People</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Logan%27s_Run_(film)/5RcczPh4">Logan's Run</a></i> (Carousel sequence)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Monday_Night_Baseball/vIt80GWJ">Monday Night Baseball</a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Monday_Night_Football/zg4UvAhU">Monday Night Football</a></i> (1973-1978 intro)</li> <li><a href="/facts/NBC_Sports/6ndBIfVR">NBC Sports</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/New_Edition/nEb7fv40">New Edition</a>'s "<a href="/facts/Popcorn_Love/2zA0VTFb">Popcorn Love</a>" music video</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Next_Step_Beyond/RzfFoxCx">The Next Step Beyond</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Phynx/EfTCTUpj">The Phynx</a></i></li> <li><a href="/facts/Graham_Media_Group/fF18PMm8">Post-Newsweek Stations</a> (ID's, 1974)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Read_All_About_It!/Gk1epooS">Read All About It!</a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Sesame_Street/kejrLUeG">Sesame Street</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Square_One_Television/eItzGREC">Square One Television</a></i></li> <li><a href="/facts/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band_(film)/16eecPMI">Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Star_Wars/9Y5j3IPP">Star Wars</a></i> (tactical display in Death Star war room)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Pay_Cards!/MDETVlLY">Super Pay Cards!</a></i> (opening logo animation)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Villa_Alegre_(TV_series)/lnlzTpjb">Villa Alegre</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Willy_Wonka_%26_the_Chocolate_Factory/UkjUH6cS">Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory</a></i> (Oompa Loompa musical numbers for Augustas Gloop and Veruca Salt)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/You_and_Me_Kid/xnbvzSVK">You and Me Kid</a></i> (show's opening sequence)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Zoom_(1972_TV_series)/UTS81IzA">Zoom</a></i> (Season 4, 1975)</li></ul> <h3>TV channels/home video/TV productions</h3> <ul><li><a href="/facts/American_Broadcasting_Company/WGxg4vRX">ABC</a> (various idents and break bumpers)</li> <li><a href="/facts/ABS-CBN/jWvxlxS7">ABS-CBN</a> (break bumper, March 1, 1987 – October 30, 2005)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Banahaw_Broadcasting_Corporation/cNS6PHx6">City 2/Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation</a> (main ID 1980–1984)</li> <li><a href="/facts/CBC_Television/K8VcSAdJ">CBC</a> (for its "Exploding Pizza" ID, 1975–1985)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Disney_Channel/Xgoss0JR">Disney Channel</a> (only for its launch)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Field_Communications/wItxJMGw">Field Communications</a> (3D ID)</li> <li><a href="/facts/TV_Globo/WYWyoVJr">TV Globo</a> (for main IDs from 1976 to 1982)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Hanna-Barbera/hI750v8v">Hanna-Barbera</a> (for its "Swirling Star" logo in 1979)</li> <li><a href="/facts/HBO/gGSPvEEu">HBO</a> (May 1, 1975 – June 30, 1976 Feature Presentation ID, May 1, 1975 – September 19, 1982 Special ID)</li> <li>IBC-13/<a href="/facts/DZTV-TV/t1EcmVFr">DZTV-TV</a> ID (IDs from 1978 to 1987)</li> <li><a href="/facts/KCOP-TV/Nd1XNbNf">KCOP-TV</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/NBC/zyfTYCvW">NBC</a> (for their flashing marquee in their second "Let's All Be There!" promo/ident from 1985 to 1986, complimented with an <a href="/facts/Evans_%26_Sutherland/NpWsJWGJ">Evans & Sutherland</a> graphical mainframe)</li> <li><a href="/facts/New_York_State_Education_Department/MVbuxvbJ">New York State Education Department</a> (TV Production logo)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Radio_Philippines_Network/1yrRCfDC">RPN</a>/<a href="/facts/CNN_Philippines/VQybrydF">CNN Philippines</a> (1982–1986)</li> <li><a href="/facts/RecordTV/c2kBsBzl">RecordTV</a> (IDs from 1979 to 1986)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rede_Tupi/muB9E1D5">Rede Tupi</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Sistema_Brasileiro_de_Televis%C3%A3o/AtBeWHB3">SBT</a> (main IDs from 1981 to 1988)</li> <li><a href="/facts/South_Carolina_Educational_Television/V2xbq9sJ">South Carolina ETV</a> (ID)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Television_South_West/rcA0VyEd">Television South West</a> (1982–1985 ID)</li> <li><a href="/facts/TF1/vHXqknKp">TF1</a> (for its 1976–1985 Startup/Shutdown IDs and 1977 <i>Le Cinéma du Dimanche Soir</i> ID by Robert Abel and Associates)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Televisi%C3%B3n_Nacional_de_Chile/HXTvu4bw">Televisión Nacional de Chile</a> (for main IDs made from 1982 until 1988 and complemented with an Ampex AVA-1 machine)</li> <li><a href="/facts/USA_Network/lgQGjABY">USA Network</a> (1987 ID and other idents)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Walt_Disney_Studios_Home_Entertainment/2d7ffqpN">Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment</a> (for 1978 Neon Mickey logo)</li> <li><a href="/facts/WFLD/130sUxJN">WFLD</a> (3D ID)</li> <li><a href="/facts/WGN-TV/SJYskdkE">WGN-TV</a> (for <i>The WGN 8:00 Movie</i> opening)</li> <li><a href="/facts/WKBD-TV/VkzxzLJ9">WKBD-TV</a> (3D ID)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Nick_Jr./db3MBQQG">Nick Jr.</a> (Face bumpers from 2000 to 2003)</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Rutt/Etra_Video_Synthesizer/y9B3TIrv">Rutt/Etra Video Synthesizer</a></li></ul> <ul><li>Carlson, Wayne (2003). Section 12: Analog approaches, non-linear editing, and compositing (from <i>A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation</i>). Retrieved March 13, 2004 from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070328205521/http://accad.osu.edu/~waynec/history/lesson12.html">https://web.archive.org/web/20070328205521/http://accad.osu.edu/~waynec/history/lesson12.html</a></li> <li>Sieg, David W. (2003). Scanimation in the Analog Days by David Sieg Retrieved June 23, 2017 from <a href="http://scanimate.com/article.html">http://scanimate.com/article.html</a></li> <li>Sieg, David W. (2017). The Scanimate Site Everything Scanimate Retrieved June 23, 2017 from <a href="http://scanimate.com">http://scanimate.com</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://scanimate.com/">The Scanimate Site</a></li> <li><a href="http://scanimate.com/article.html">Scanimation in the Analog Days</a> (An explanation of the Scanimate system)</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wxc3mKqKTk">Meet the Engineer Preserving The Last Analog Motion Graphics Machine</a>, Viceland</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Sturman, David (1 February 1998). "The state of computer animation". Computer Graphics. 32 (1). ACM SIGGRAPH: 57. doi:10.1145/279389.279467. Retrieved 9 January 2025. <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/279389.279467" target="_blank">https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/279389.279467</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Computers for Imagemaking <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=yIKLBQAAQBAJ&dq=Computer+Image+Corporation+Animac+Scanimate+Caesar&pg=PA84" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=yIKLBQAAQBAJ&dq=Computer+Image+Corporation+Animac+Scanimate+Caesar&pg=PA84</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>http://www.scanimate.com/article.html <a href="http://www.scanimate.com/article.html" target="_blank">http://www.scanimate.com/article.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>