Tron: Legacy Designer Talks Digital Art & Gooey Holograms

Whether you were disappointed or otherwise with Tron: Legacy, it's hard to argue with the movie's blend of CGI graphics and human actors. Digital designer Joshua Nimoy was responsible for much of the software art, and he's shared some of his tips & tricks, as well as how he used authentic UNIX commands so as to avoid cringeworthy Hackers-style gimmicks.

Instead, he recorded himself using legitmate posix kill commands in an emacs eshell. There are also icosahedron and dodecahedron fireworks, tweaking exponential functions for make for "gooey" holographic heads, and more.

Apps used included various Adobe tools, Cinema 4D, and then custom code in C++ using OpenFrameworks and wxWidgets. If you've ever wondered about the processes behind CGI then it makes for an interesting read – even if you didn't particularly like Tron:Legacy itself.

[via spurgeonblog]