RIP Syd Mead

[thollandpe]

He came up with these tron-type motorcycles like 40 years ago.






And these imperial walker things in 1969.

[lumpy]

He came up with these tron-type motorcycles like 40 years ago.

I hate to say it, buddy, but like 40 years ago? Tron was in production.

We're old.

[thollandpe]

I hate to say it, buddy, but like 40 years ago? Tron was in production.

We're old.

Next you're going to tell me that Blade Runner was way back when too?

[lumpy]

Next you're going to tell me that Blade Runner was way back when too?

Blade Runner that was set in 2019? I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

[Mabouya]

Blade Runner that was set in 2019? I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

Going by memory for Batty's Peroration:

Attack ships on fire on the shoulder of Orion
:
...some stuff I can't remember...
:
I've seen C-beams glitter at the Tannhauser Gate (or something like that)
:
...more stuff I can't remember...
:
All will be lost, like tears in the rain.

Time to die.

OK - I looked it up:

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

[ides1056]

I fell for the robot too.

[johnmdesigner]

When I was in design school in the 80's we were all a little crazy for Syd Mead's rendering techniques.
I had a vehicle styling project in senior year. Syd paid us a visit and made some drawings while we all stood around with our mouths open.
I was lucky to work with two Art Center designers from the automotive industry. They taught me some of his marker and gouache techniques.
Of course the fun is all gone now with computer renderings.

[thollandpe]

The future was shiny, Syd Mead HotWheels

[johnmdesigner]

His gouache and airbrush techniques were superb.I never managed to handle the brush like that.
At the auto studio we used to get this interesting vellum paper from an art store in Detroit. To make chrome you used your Prisma pencils and markers on both sides of the paper. The effect was tremendous.
That was such an interesting time for me. We worked on all kinds of vehicles; mining equipment, airport crash vehicles, we even worked on that VW pick up truck from the 80s.

[johnmdesigner]

There was a course at Art Center at the time where you had to calculate all the highlights on a cars skin when it passed under a street lamp at a certain time of the evening. That's how crazy they were.

[Mabouya]

There was a course at Art Center at the time where you had to calculate all the highlights on a cars skin when it passed under a street lamp at a certain time of the evening. That's how crazy they were.

Unless we're talking about a total slab sided rectangular box car, I'd think that for any "normal" looking vehicle that would be impossible to do by hand. You'd need a model of the OML and use a computer to crunch the numbers for a given light position and the path of the vehicle and the observer (if moving).

Ray tracing (graphics) - Wikipedia

[johnmdesigner]

Well that was the legend and I didn't go to school there. I was a runny nosed kid from nowhere but I ate it up.

[lumpy]

The future was shiny, Syd Mead HotWheels

The stuff at that link is solid gold.