The Quantel Mirage, or DVM8000/1 "Digital Video Manipulator", was a

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

real-time

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

effects processor introduced by

Quantel Quantel was a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designed and manufactured digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries. They were headquartered in Newbury, ...

in 1982. It was capable of warping a live video stream by

texture mapping Texture mapping is a method for mapping a texture on a computer-generated graphic. Texture here can be high frequency detail, surface texture, or color. History The original technique was pioneered by Edwin Catmull in 1974. Texture mapping ...

it onto an arbitrary three-dimensional shape, around which the viewer could freely rotate or zoom in real-time. It could also interpolate, or

morph Morph may refer to: Biology * Morph (zoology), a visual or behavioral difference between organisms of distinct populations in a species * Muller's morphs, a classification scheme for genetic mutations * "-morph", a suffix commonly used in tax ...

, between two different shapes. It was considered the first real-time 3D video effects processor. The Mirage was programmable - new shapes could be created by writing programs in the

Pascal programming language Pascal is an Imperative programming, imperative and Procedural programming, procedural programming language, designed by Niklaus Wirth as a small, efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming an ...

on an attached

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

computer. This made the device extremely flexible, but such programming was difficult and it became a highly specialized skill known by few. The programming of the HP mini computer was so complex that only basic canned effects would be practically used by video editors in productions. Physically, the Mirage was a large device whose processing equipment filled a full-height

19-inch rack A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...

, weighed 400 kilograms and consumed over 4 kilowatts of electrical power. The Quantel Mirage did never-before seen effects, but required heavy math/geometrical programming via the HP computer to define the basic shapes that real-time video would be mapped onto. One of the effects shown on the National Association of Broadcasters trade-show floor to introduce the Mirage was a flattened Coke soft-drink can on video. The Mirage in real-time re-assembled the can on a tube, then allowed you to tumble or travel within it while it rotated with partial transparency - allowing you to see the Coke logo in reverse on the opposite side of the can as it would turn. One famous Mirage user was

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, who purchased one for his extensive home music studio and video production facility. Signature Mirage effects can be seen in the ''Wind Chimes'' video album, in the form of rotating spiky spheres and granulated morphing effects. A common spinning globe effect can be seen on the opening of USA for Africa's "We Are The World," and the Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" music videos.

External links

U.S. Patent 5,103,217

Mirage demonstration
''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

'', BBC, 30 December 1982. via YouTube.
Mirage demonstration showreel
The

Moving Picture Company The Moving Picture Company (MPC) is a multinational company providing visual effects, CGI, animation, motion design and other services for the film, TV, brand experience and advertising industries. Their artists have produced Academy Award W ...

for

, circa 1982; via YouTube.
Feature-Based Image Metamorphosis

Film and video technology Quantel {{video-tech-stub