Z-Axis Corporation - A history of 3D animation
Stargazer54
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As promised, (in this thread) here is the link to the history of one of the longest running computer animation companies in the US -Z-Axis Corporation. I worked there for 10 years in the '90's and wish I had never left. I started there in 1990 at the outset of the transformation from analog to digital video production.
The fact that this company survived is due in no small part to it's founder, Dr. Steve Cohen. He was not only a scientist, he was also an artist. A very potent combination. He never quit striving for his vision. This is his story.
I shot and produced this in circa 1999. The interviews were shot on my Canon XL-1 in DVCAM format and edited in DV. I scrubbed this through HF, fixed some interlacing issues and up-scaled to 1080P leaving the 4x3 format view with black bars at the sides.
Right after Scanimate, came the Bosch FGS 4000 - a real time 3D animation system. Z-Axis would get unit 001 and the rest is history.
Comments
@Stargazer54 You tease, you. Build up my expectations and the video is private... 😂I suspect you meant to make it unlisted, no?
@Stargazer54 Yup, both videos are private. I would love to see them!
@tddavis @FilmSensei Sorry about that. The link is fixed.
👍
@Stargazer54 That was a really good video. Having lived in Colorado Springs for 50 years, it was cool to see all of the building in the Denver metro area as they looked back in the day!
@FilmSensei Thanks, Jay. I lived in the Springs and worked at Windstar Studios before moving to Denver. Whenever I go back I am always amazed at how much has grown up around the Tech Center. Time flies!