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25-768: EVL represents one of the oldest art and engineering collaborations in the United States. It was founded in 1973 by Tom DeFanti (then of the UIC Chemistry Department, later Computer Science) and Dan Sandin (of the Art Department). The lab was originally known as the Circle Graphics Habitat , in reference to the then-name of UIC, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle . DeFanti and Sandin served as Co-Directors of

50-590: A Vector General 3D connected to a PDP-11/45 computer to make the computer animations shown during the briefing scene near the end of the film Star Wars . George Lucas wanted to use computer animation to show the Death Star blueprints during this scene. He asked Ben Burtt , the film's sound designer, to get bids on the project. Cuba won the contract after he showed Lucas footage from his 1974 short film First Fig and mentioned that he had recently worked with famed animator John Whitney Sr. Cuba produced

75-686: A Ph.D. in Computer Information Science from Ohio State University, studying under Charles Csuri in the Computer Graphics Research Group. For his dissertation, he created the GRASS programming language , a three-dimensional, real-time animation system usable by computer novices. In 1973, he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and with Daniel J. Sandin , he founded

100-695: Is a computer-animation artist who became active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Born in 1950 in Atlanta , Georgia, he received A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1972 and his Master's Degree from California Institute of the Arts which includes parallel schools of Dance, Music, Film, Theater, Fine Arts, and Writing. The Cal Arts faculty included abstract animator Jules Engel , Expanded Cinema critic Gene Youngblood , and special effects artist Pat O'Neill . In 1975, John Whitney, Sr . invited Cuba to be

125-709: The University of Illinois at Chicago , and a research scientist at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). Born September 18, 1948, in Queens , New York City, New York and attended Stuyvesant High School . In 1969, DeFanti received a B.A. in Mathematics from Queens College , and in 1970 he received a M.S. in Computer Information Science from Ohio State University. In 1973 he received

150-758: The American Film Institute and The National Endowment for the Arts and was awarded a residency at the Center for Art and Media Technology Karlsruhe ( ZKM ). He has served on the juries for the Siggraph Electronic Theater, the Montpellier Festival of Abstract Film, The Ann Arbor Film Festival and Ars Electronica . Cuba currently serves as the director of the iotaCenter in Los Angeles, California. Cuba used

175-650: The Circle Graphics Habitat, now known as the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL). At UIC, DeFanti further developed the GRASS language, and later created an improved version, ZGRASS, implemented on the low-cost Datamax UV-1 . The GRASS and ZGRASS languages have been used by a number of computer artists, including Larry Cuba , in his film 3/78 and the animated Death Star sequence for Star Wars , created within

200-730: The EVL. Later significant work done at EVL includes development of the graphics system for the Bally Technologies home computer, invention of the first data glove , co-editing the 1987 NSF -sponsored report Visualization in Scientific Computing that outlined the emerging discipline of scientific visualization, invention of PHSColograms , and invention of the CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment . DeFanti's current work includes heading

225-779: The TransLight/StarLight international multi-gigabit networking project and co-directing the OptIPuter optical networking and visualization project. DeFanti contributed greatly to the growth of the SIGGRAPH organization and conference. He co-organized early film and video presentations (which became the Electronic Theatre) beginning in 1973, started the SIGGRAPH Video Review archive of computer graphics research in 1979, and served as chair of

250-552: The code so that every time a point was entered on the tablet it would ask for a Z value to be entered on the keyboard, thereby producing a 3D point set. This was used to digitize the six characteristic features visible in the matte paintings he had been provided. Using the GRASS system, these shapes were loaded and moved to produce sections of the U-shaped trench. Since the VG3D terminal was not able to calculate perspective internally,

275-476: The computer footage and added six months later. The first part of the animation, showing the exterior of the Death Star, was created programmatically. Working from an early matte painting , GRASS's internal system for creating arcs and circles was used to produce the drawing. The 3D terminal's own transformation system was then used to automatically zoom into the image and rotate it on the display. The image

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300-408: The film had to be delivered on Monday. Cuba turned down the air conditioning before going to sleep on a bed in the computer room. On a lark, he ran it one last time and then went to sleep. That time it managed to run through the night and completed successfully. It was later realized the air conditioning had been too high. Of the two minutes of film produced on the system, about 40 seconds appear in

325-667: The group from 1981 to 1985. DeFanti is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery . He has received the 1988 ACM Outstanding Contribution Award, the 2000 SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award, and the UIC Inventor of the Year Award. In 2018 DeFanti's work and contribution were included in the Chicago New Media 1973-1992 exhibition, curated by jonCates. Larry Cuba Larry Cuba (born 1950)

350-411: The lab, joined by Maxine D. Brown as Associate Director 1987. In 2001, Sandin retired from teaching, but continued to co-direct the lab with DeFanti until his retirement in 2004. EVL PhD graduate, Jason Leigh took the helm from 2004 through 2014, after which Brown became EVL Director joined by longtime collaborator and computer science professor Andrew Johnson as Director of Research. Work at EVL over

375-458: The mid '80s to present. At SIGGRAPH '92, EVL organized the "Showcase" event, where researchers demonstrated 35 projects in state-of-the-art computational science and scientific visualization . At SIGGRAPH '94, EVL organized the VROOM event, demonstrations of the state of virtual reality technology. In 1998, Brown received the first ever SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award for her contributions to

400-814: The movie, back projected into the scene. As of 2017, the original system was still operational. First Fig (1974) Created at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory using borrowed mainframe time. Arabesque (1975) Collaborative project with John Whitney, Sr. 3/78 (Objects and Transformations) (1978). 6 minutes. Created in Chicago with Tom DeFanti 's Graphic Symbiosis System GRASS , consists of sixteen "objects", each composed of 100 points of light, some of them geometric shapes like circles and squares, others more organic shapes resembling gushes of water. Each object performs rhythmic choreography, programmed by Cuba to satisfy mathematic potentials. In 2018 it

425-437: The organization, and 1979 conference chair. Brown has served as Vice Chair for Operations (1985-1987) and Secretary (1981-1985), and chaired the 1992 conference. According to Jim Blinn , the popular Electronic Theatre "started out as a bunch of people crowding into Dan Sandin’s dorm room to watch videotapes." In 1979, DeFanti established the SIGGRAPH Video Review, which has been edited and administered by EVLer Dana Plepys since

450-515: The organization. In 2000, DeFanti and EVL alumna Copper Giloth also received the Outstanding Service Award. Thomas A. DeFanti Thomas Albert "Tom" DeFanti (born September 18, 1948) is an American computer graphics researcher and pioneer. His work has ranged from early computer animation , to scientific visualization , virtual reality , and grid computing . He is a distinguished professor of Computer Science at

475-493: The portions of the animation showing the view along the trench had to be rendered on the host computer and then composited into the resulting frame. Each frame took about two minutes to create on the PDP-11/45 host, which then triggered the camera as before. The animation as a whole was expected to take a total of 12 hours to render, but it invariably crashed after about 30 minutes. Eventually, they gave up late on Saturday before

500-496: The programmer on one of his films. The result of this collaboration was Arabesque . Subsequently, Cuba produced three more computer-animated films: 3/78 (Objects and Transformations) , Two Space , and Calculated Movements . Cuba also provided computer graphics for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977. His animation of the Death Star is shown to pilots in the Rebel Alliance . Cuba received grants for his work from

525-451: The sequences using the GRASS programming language at the University of Illinois, Chicago 's Circle Graphics Habitat. There are two main sequences in the resulting animation. The first shows the Death Star as a whole, while the second shows a series of views of the flight down the equatorial trench. The final few seconds of the animation, showing the proton torpedo flying into the Death Star's reactor core, were drawn by hand to look similar to

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550-531: The years has included: Highlights of the electronic art work done at EVL include: EVL was featured in the Chicago New Media 1973-1992 exhibition centering the artwork that was created with the EVL and a demonstration of CAVE 2 was held during the time of the exhibition. The exhibition was held at UIC's gallery 400, and curated by Jon Cates. The members of EVL have been involved with the SIGGRAPH organization and conference ever since its inception. DeFanti has served as Secretary (1977-1981) and Chair (1981-1985) of

575-448: Was copied to film frame-by-frame using a Mitchell Camera whose motor was stepped by wiring it to one of the terminal's register-controlled indicator lamps. The sequence was filmed by having the GRASS program send new values to the zoom and rotation hardware in the terminal, then setting the register value that would turn on the lamp, thereby taking one image. The entire system was covered by cloth to reduce stray light. The second segment

600-532: Was displayed in Chicago New Media 1973-1992 exhibition. Two Space (1979). 8 minutes. Full-screen image- patterns which parallel the layered continuities of classical gamelan music. Using a programming language called RAP at the Los Angeles firm Information International Inc. (III), Larry was able to systematically explore the classic 17 symmetry groups, a technique used by Islamic artists to create abstract temple decorations. Calculated Movements (1985). 6 minutes. Cuba programmed solid areas and volumes instead of

625-439: Was much more difficult to produce. The physical model used during filming was constructed by making many copies of six key shapes and then arranging them in different ways to produce a more random-looking trench. The completed model was over 40 feet (12 m) long. Cuba had previously used the GRASS system to create a program that allowed freehand drawings to be digitized manually on the graphics tablet. For this project he modified

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