A few days ago, I posted links to a couple of videos that used fractal rendering techniques. One was the Genesis effect of Star Trek 2, Wrath of Khan, the other, a 4KB demo contest entry. My intent was to show how computer graphics have evolved over the past 25 or so years. But the reason I chose the Genesis effect was that I couldn’t find an online copy of a work called Vol Libre, Loren Carpenter’s 1980 film. I bump into Loren occasionally at lunch here at Pixar and mentioned it in passing.

I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but today on facebook, he announced that he had uploaded a copy of it to Vimeo. Thanks a bunch Loren! Sit back and enjoy the vintage computer graphics from a true CG pioneer, and you’ll probably be shocked to find out how similar it is to stuff you’d see in the modern “demo scene”.

Vol Libre from Loren Carpenter on Vimeo.