Retrotechtacular: Computer generated video in the style of 1968!

[Classic Microcomputers] read in a book that there was a computer-generated film made in the late 1960s and knew he had to watch it. He found it and shared it along with some technical information in the video below.

Modern audiences are unlikely to be impressed by the film “Permutations,” which looks like an electronic spirograph. But for 1968, this was about as high-tech as you could get. The computer used was an IBM mainframe, which would have cost a fortune to purchase or rent for the hours spent producing this short film. Of course, now you can easily replicate it on your oldest PC. In fact, we’re surprised we haven’t seen any replicas in the demo scene.

The credits list [John Whitney] worked as a writer on the film as part of an IBM research grant. The programming was done by [Jack Citron]and it was apparently compiled at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Accordingly [Classic Microcomputers]the display was static and black and white, but animations on 16mm film and color filters made it more interesting.

Was that the birth of the demo scene? When we watch old IBM videos, it’s usually about the data center, not the data!