Movie Project with HYDRA
AndreL
Posts: 1,004
Everyone,
Get ready for the most unclear post you have ever seen [noparse]:)[/noparse]
There is a new movie being developed, sorta, but I didn't say anything.
This new movie is about the history of gaming, or maybe not.
I have some "friends" in hollywood from CAA that are involved in this and they need something for a scene in the movie that will show some "engineers" working on a vector graphics system.
We are potentially going to use the HYDRA for the scene, but I just don't have time to do this. However, I hate to let the opportunity slip by. Of course, hollywood pays nothing, but credit and to be involved.
What is needed is a plug in card for the HYDRA to generate an X-Y color display on a Vector monitor, this is a very easy project, about a couple weeks of work, but I am so swamped, I have no time for "fun" stuff. All you need is a couple buffers, D/A, latches, and then you send a display list to the interface that generates the voltages on the display using one COG as the display list manager and state control. You need to convert the 0-5V or 0-3.3V analog channels into a compatible signal for the vector monitor which likes -12 to +12, thus op amps are needed and other analog stuff. Also high voltage work is needed with the monitor, you might have to rig a transformer to get the right voltages for it, etc.
More or less if you google for the Atari battlezone vector display hardware, that's what we need to emulate with the prop and an expansion card.
So what I am looking for is someone very skilled in digital, analog, the propeller, games, graphics, has maybe worked with vector displays or at least done it on a oscope. I will act as the project lead and give ideas and how this should be done, just need someone to do it that has time and wants to get involved in something.
If the movie is made, I am sure we will get our names on the credits and you will be famous at least to the group of nerds that watch it [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Remember, this is hollywood, no promises, no guarantees, no nothing. But, I have lots of contacts in these areas due to my game development and now and then something cool drops on my lap, but they always want you to work for free, that's just how it works. And normally, I would do it if I had any time, but 120+ hours a week I already work.
If you're interested, PM me and we can talk on the phone, I would send you a vector monitor, you provide the hydra and built the interface, write a demo, document your driver. This way another programmer will make the "demo" for the movie. And it would be great to port Michael Parks battlezone demo to the card as a proof of concept to give the "demo" coder for the movie something to see as a complete example.
Anyway, I want someone serious since the monitor is a couple hundred bucks and it can't take much more transport [noparse]:)[/noparse] This isn't a 24/7 kind of thing, but they need it asap, so if someone thinks this sounds like a cool project to do and would do it anyway then give me a buzz.
Think "Pirates of Silicon Valley", but with video games.
That's all I can say.
Andre'
Get ready for the most unclear post you have ever seen [noparse]:)[/noparse]
There is a new movie being developed, sorta, but I didn't say anything.
This new movie is about the history of gaming, or maybe not.
I have some "friends" in hollywood from CAA that are involved in this and they need something for a scene in the movie that will show some "engineers" working on a vector graphics system.
We are potentially going to use the HYDRA for the scene, but I just don't have time to do this. However, I hate to let the opportunity slip by. Of course, hollywood pays nothing, but credit and to be involved.
What is needed is a plug in card for the HYDRA to generate an X-Y color display on a Vector monitor, this is a very easy project, about a couple weeks of work, but I am so swamped, I have no time for "fun" stuff. All you need is a couple buffers, D/A, latches, and then you send a display list to the interface that generates the voltages on the display using one COG as the display list manager and state control. You need to convert the 0-5V or 0-3.3V analog channels into a compatible signal for the vector monitor which likes -12 to +12, thus op amps are needed and other analog stuff. Also high voltage work is needed with the monitor, you might have to rig a transformer to get the right voltages for it, etc.
More or less if you google for the Atari battlezone vector display hardware, that's what we need to emulate with the prop and an expansion card.
So what I am looking for is someone very skilled in digital, analog, the propeller, games, graphics, has maybe worked with vector displays or at least done it on a oscope. I will act as the project lead and give ideas and how this should be done, just need someone to do it that has time and wants to get involved in something.
If the movie is made, I am sure we will get our names on the credits and you will be famous at least to the group of nerds that watch it [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Remember, this is hollywood, no promises, no guarantees, no nothing. But, I have lots of contacts in these areas due to my game development and now and then something cool drops on my lap, but they always want you to work for free, that's just how it works. And normally, I would do it if I had any time, but 120+ hours a week I already work.
If you're interested, PM me and we can talk on the phone, I would send you a vector monitor, you provide the hydra and built the interface, write a demo, document your driver. This way another programmer will make the "demo" for the movie. And it would be great to port Michael Parks battlezone demo to the card as a proof of concept to give the "demo" coder for the movie something to see as a complete example.
Anyway, I want someone serious since the monitor is a couple hundred bucks and it can't take much more transport [noparse]:)[/noparse] This isn't a 24/7 kind of thing, but they need it asap, so if someone thinks this sounds like a cool project to do and would do it anyway then give me a buzz.
Think "Pirates of Silicon Valley", but with video games.
That's all I can say.
Andre'
Comments
www.gamearchive.com/Video_Games/Manufacturers/Atari/monitor.html
Andre, will the +/- 12 volts be driving the deflection coils directly (e.g., requiring a bit of current capability), or are they just high impedance inputs to the monitor?
Edit: Of particular interest on the site I linked to, for anyone inclined to try this project, would be the pdf file of the Wells-Gardner Quadrascan service manual. It is not the same monitor, but should be similar enough. It lists the input impedances:
"X" = 2.5K
"Y" = 2.8K
"Z" = 1.0K'
I was not clear whether those inputs are resistive loads or inductive loads.
Also, the voltages are not all 12 (for that monitor):
"X" = 16V peak to peak (+/- 8 volts)
"Y" = 12V peak to peak (+/- 6 volts)
"Z" = 4V max brightness, 1V black level
I would assume the X requires more voltage than the Y to reach maximum scan because the X axis is wider!
Also something to note is the writing rate, which will limit how quickly you can possibly move the beam across the screen, and may impact your choice of "framerate" vs. number of objects on screen. This limit is:
X = .05 inches per microsecond
Y = .0375 inches per microsecond
Since Andre said it would require a high voltage source as well, I'm wondering if maybe the display he has is little more than a bare CRT tube without a transformer and driver board, or what? If so, why not just steal the entire transformer/driver board from a regular VGA monitor to get your high voltage and your coil drivers.
Post Edited (Dennis Ferron) : 10/6/2007 5:05:53 AM GMT
And yes, there are all kinds of little gotchas like how fast the beam will move etc.
Finally, by "high voltage", I mean you are going to be messing with 120V, transformers, and interfacing stuff to the HYDRA. And these monitors are open case and dangerous. So 120V isnt going to kill most people, it will definitely raise your hair and put some people into cardiac arrest, so just saying this isn't TTL stuff, you have to respect the AC on the other end and be careful.
Andre'
Post Edited (AndreL) : 10/9/2007 1:12:18 AM GMT