Dykstraflex
The Dykstraflex was the second digital motion control photography camera system, named after its primary developer John Dykstra. Numerous people actually created the camera, with the critical electronics being created by Alvah J. Miller and Jerry Jeffress.
In 1975 Doug Trumbull, along with Jerry Jeffress and Alvah Miller developed what popularly known as the IceBox MoCo system. Its name earned from the icebox shape of its cabinet ...
It could record live action pan, tilt, focus, and dolly moves in real 24fps time ...
And then play it back later at motion control speeds ...
The IceBox also included the ability to add additional moves on top of the recorded live action, to then incorporate the models moves ...
Due to Columbia's financial situation, Star Wars was released first ...
And the year's delay in releasing Close Encounters, moved Al and Jerry's SciTech recognition earlier to sync with the Star Wars release.
The camera was developed in 1976 specifically for complex special effects shots in Star Wars. Using old VistaVision cameras (for their high image resolution), created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954, and hand wire wrapped TTL chips, the all-digitally controlled system allowed for 7 axes of motion: roll, pan, tilt, swing, boom, traverse, track, lens focus, motor drive, shutter control, and their duplication in multiple takes.
Dykstra's development of this first digital motion control camera system earned himself, Al Miller, and Jerry Jeffress Academy Awards in 1978.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
 | This film technology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |