Making of the Computer Graphics for Star Wars (Episode IV)
(1977) The computer graphics for the first Star Wars film was created by Larry Cuba in the 1970s at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) (at the time known as the Circle Graphics Habitat) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. For more information on the lab, visit our website — www.evl.uic.edu and Larry Cuba at www.well.com/user/cuba
March 8th, 2010 at 3:14 am
I noticed that the computer model of the Death Star shows the beam array dish astride the equator, rather than at the 45º position it actually is.
March 8th, 2010 at 3:52 am
How wrong you are…! U.S. Patent #2 455 992, 1947(!!): a computer game, designed by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. 1952: tic-tac-toe, by A.S. Douglas, 1958: Tennis for two, by Willy Higginbotham, 1961: 3 MIT students, Martin Graetz, Stephen Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen, created a videogame called Galactic War where 2 spaceships were shooting at each other. 1966: Chase Game, by Ralph Bear. 1972: Magnavox and Atari released their first home video games. Read your history books, pal !
March 8th, 2010 at 4:49 am
I was eating a booger when i saw this and like wow how can they do this in the 70’s.
Computers couldn’t even do more than text until 1980
March 8th, 2010 at 5:09 am
amazing work back in 76/77…groundbreaking!
March 8th, 2010 at 6:03 am
Don’t forget Stanly Kubrick’s computer displays in 2001: Space Odyssey, from almost a decade earlier.
March 8th, 2010 at 6:51 am
wow dude, i was not putting this down at all, i was actually worshipping this by saying, “THAT WAS AWESOME”. I think the caps and the use of the word “awesome” explained that well enough, gosh!
March 8th, 2010 at 6:56 am
@FirebirdDude
when people think of the 70’s, they don’t think of good computer graphics, but then again the 60’s had 2 moon landings and the 70s had 4, 3 had lunar rovers. technology evolves.
PS: for those that think moon landings are fake, dont post that shit on me. WE REALLY WENT
March 8th, 2010 at 7:16 am
THAT WAS AWESOME!!! I think it’s amazing that the technology was around back in ‘77 to even make this!!! I wonder what was the first movie to use computer generated sequences…
March 8th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Well, there was just one other scene that I remember that used computers. It’s when Luke and Solo are in the Millenium Falcon fighting against some Imperial TIE Fighters. The “targeting computer” screen of the MF was CG’ed. Maybe the X-Wing fighters’ was also? I’m not sure.
The rest of the movie is all miniatures filmed against blue screen with the help of a (computer controlled) motion camera, matte paintings and such. Except for indoor and outdoor shots, of course.
And lots of optical effects.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Mind blowing! And painful to think a man spent hours spinning dials and entering code ect, when today modeling is so much quicker! Is this how they made the other graphics or was everything else physical models and stop motion filming?
March 8th, 2010 at 9:20 am
George does talk a bit about this on the Dvd commentary in detail. Praising Larry Cuba’s early work.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:26 am
The first film is timeless. Even though I saw it at the time, it’s still difficult to believe they could pull off something like that in 1977. These graphics still look impressive.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Larry Cuba’s effort is impressive, especially when you consider the tools he had to work with. Anyone that touched Maya or a similar package probably shrieks in terror at the thought of having to input data all the time and use real analogue dials to rotate objects.
State of the art back in ‘77 is stone age today.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:01 am
then or today?… Just kidding.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:45 am
How is the title misleading? It cleary says making of the computer graphics for starwars. It in now way implies that the rest, or even majority of the special effects from the movie are cgi. You having a bad hair day or something?
March 8th, 2010 at 11:40 am
right. If he had to actually surface the models, you’d see all sorts of gaps. Luckily it was all wireframe — and no triangles required
March 8th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
How is this misleading? The whole video is about the computer graphics used in the first star wars movie, as the title says.
March 8th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
slightly misleading with the title, star wars and early sfx movies had very little “cgi” and were mostly done using small live minature model work. still cool video. props.
March 8th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Geez, how could he get any work done with those noisy Jawas next to his cube…:)
March 8th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
@moviefact1 lol everyone knows that, perhaps one a starwars fan page is not the best place to say it.
March 8th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
This should be on the DVDs
March 8th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
star wars is ggaaaaaaay
March 8th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Bravo… awsome
March 8th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Haven’t you seen the old SW films with the new cgi?
March 8th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
the z coordinates would be a bitch to enter for every fucking coordinate. wow