125-451: Tron is a 1982 science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions. Tron may also refer to: Tron Tron (stylized as TRON ) is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird . The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer and video game developer who
250-406: A Votrax speech synthesizer. BYTE wrote: "Although this film is very much the personal expression of Steven Lisberger's vision, nevertheless [it] has certainly been a group effort". More than 569 people were involved in the post-production work, including 200 inkers and hand-painters, 85 of them from Taiwan's Cuckoo's Nest Studio . Unusual for an English-language production, in the end credits
375-519: A gain medium , a mechanism to energize it, and something to provide optical feedback . The gain medium is a material with properties that allow it to amplify light by way of stimulated emission. Light of a specific wavelength that passes through the gain medium is amplified (power increases). Feedback enables stimulated emission to amplify predominantly the optical frequency at the peak of the gain-frequency curve. As stimulated emission grows, eventually one frequency dominates over all others, meaning that
500-471: A lens system, as is always included, for instance, in a laser pointer whose light originates from a laser diode . That is possible due to the light being of a single spatial mode. This unique property of laser light, spatial coherence , cannot be replicated using standard light sources (except by discarding most of the light) as can be appreciated by comparing the beam from a flashlight (torch) or spotlight to that of almost any laser. A laser beam profiler
625-429: A 73% rating based on the reviews of 71 critics, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus states: "Though perhaps not as strong dramatically as it is technologically, TRON is an original and visually stunning piece of science fiction that represents a landmark work in the history of computer animation." Metacritic gave the film a score of 58 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In
750-464: A broad spectrum of light or emit different wavelengths of light simultaneously. Certain lasers are not single spatial mode and have light beams that diverge more than is required by the diffraction limit . All such devices are classified as "lasers" based on the method of producing light by stimulated emission. Lasers are employed where light of the required spatial or temporal coherence can not be produced using simpler technologies. A laser consists of
875-478: A bunch of programmers who were into all that. And they really inspired me, by how much they believed in this new realm." He was frustrated by the clique-like nature of computers and video games and wanted to create a film that would open this world up to everyone. Lisberger and his business partner Donald Kushner moved to the West Coast in 1977 and set up an animation studio to develop Tron . They borrowed against
1000-504: A chain reaction. The materials chosen for lasers are the ones that have metastable states , which stay excited for a relatively long time. In laser physics , such a material is called an active laser medium . Combined with an energy source that continues to "pump" energy into the material, it is possible to have enough atoms or molecules in an excited state for a chain reaction to develop. Lasers are distinguished from other light sources by their coherence . Spatial (or transverse) coherence
1125-413: A chilly reception because they "tackled the nerve center – the animation department . They saw us as the germ from outside. We tried to enlist several Disney animators, but none came. Disney is a closed group." As a result, they hired Wang Film Productions for the animation. Because of the many special effects, Disney decided in 1981 to film Tron completely in 65-mm Super Panavision (except for
1250-436: A coherent beam has been formed. The process of stimulated emission is analogous to that of an audio oscillator with positive feedback which can occur, for example, when the speaker in a public-address system is placed in proximity to the microphone. The screech one hears is audio oscillation at the peak of the gain-frequency curve for the amplifier. For the gain medium to amplify light, it needs to be supplied with energy in
1375-419: A device lacks the spatial and temporal coherence achievable with lasers. Such a device cannot be described as an oscillator but rather as a high-gain optical amplifier that amplifies its spontaneous emission. The same mechanism describes so-called astrophysical masers /lasers. The optical resonator is sometimes referred to as an "optical cavity", but this is a misnomer: lasers use open resonators as opposed to
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#17328376964981500-508: A gain medium must have a gain bandwidth sufficiently broad to amplify those frequencies. An example of a suitable material is titanium -doped, artificially grown sapphire ( Ti:sapphire ), which has a very wide gain bandwidth and can thus produce pulses of only a few femtoseconds duration. Such mode-locked lasers are a most versatile tool for researching processes occurring on extremely short time scales (known as femtosecond physics, femtosecond chemistry and ultrafast science ), for maximizing
1625-480: A given pulse energy, this requires creating pulses of the shortest possible duration utilizing techniques such as Q-switching . The optical bandwidth of a pulse cannot be narrower than the reciprocal of the pulse width. In the case of extremely short pulses, that implies lasing over a considerable bandwidth, quite contrary to the very narrow bandwidths typical of CW lasers. The lasing medium in some dye lasers and vibronic solid-state lasers produces optical gain over
1750-399: A higher energy level with energy difference ΔE, it will not stay that way forever. Eventually, a photon will be spontaneously created from the vacuum having energy ΔE. Conserving energy, the electron transitions to a lower energy level that is not occupied, with transitions to different levels having different time constants. This process is called spontaneous emission . Spontaneous emission is
1875-904: A laser beam to stay narrow over great distances ( collimation ), a feature used in applications such as laser pointers , lidar , and free-space optical communication . Lasers can also have high temporal coherence , which permits them to emit light with a very narrow frequency spectrum . Temporal coherence can also be used to produce ultrashort pulses of light with a broad spectrum but durations as short as an attosecond . Lasers are used in optical disc drives , laser printers , barcode scanners , DNA sequencing instruments , fiber-optic and free-space optical communications, semiconductor chip manufacturing ( photolithography , etching ), laser surgery and skin treatments, cutting and welding materials, military and law enforcement devices for marking targets and measuring range and speed, and in laser lighting displays for entertainment. Semiconductor lasers in
2000-471: A laser beam, it is highly collimated : the wavefronts are planar, normal to the direction of propagation, with no beam divergence at that point. However, due to diffraction , that can only remain true well within the Rayleigh range . The beam of a single transverse mode (gaussian beam) laser eventually diverges at an angle that varies inversely with the beam diameter, as required by diffraction theory. Thus,
2125-471: A laser is normally a material of controlled purity, size, concentration, and shape, which amplifies the beam by the process of stimulated emission described above. This material can be of any state : gas, liquid, solid, or plasma . The gain medium absorbs pump energy, which raises some electrons into higher energy (" excited ") quantum states . Particles can interact with light by either absorbing or emitting photons. Emission can be spontaneous or stimulated. In
2250-418: A multi-level system as a method for obtaining the population inversion, later a main method of laser pumping. Townes reports that several eminent physicists—among them Niels Bohr , John von Neumann , and Llewellyn Thomas —argued the maser violated Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and hence could not work. Others such as Isidor Rabi and Polykarp Kusch expected that it would be impractical and not worth
2375-467: A nearby printer proves that Dillinger had plagiarized Flynn's creations. The next morning, Dillinger enters his office to find the MCP deactivated and the proof of his theft publicized. Flynn is subsequently promoted to CEO of ENCOM and is happily greeted by Alan and Lora as their new boss. The inspiration for Tron occurred in 1976 when Steven Lisberger, then an animator of drawings with his own studio, looked at
2500-475: A parallel game world was also inspired by the classic tale Alice in Wonderland . Lisberger had already created an early version of the character 'Tron' for a 30 second long animation which was used to promote both Lisberger Studios and a series of various rock radio stations. This backlit cel animation depicted Tron as a character who glowed yellow; the same shade that Lisberger had originally intended for all
2625-441: A process called pumping . The energy is typically supplied as an electric current or as light at a different wavelength. Pump light may be provided by a flash lamp or by another laser. The most common type of laser uses feedback from an optical cavity —a pair of mirrors on either end of the gain medium. Light bounces back and forth between the mirrors, passing through the gain medium and being amplified each time. Typically one of
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#17328376964982750-462: A quantum-mechanical effect and a direct physical manifestation of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle . The emitted photon has a random direction, but its wavelength matches the absorption wavelength of the transition. This is the mechanism of fluorescence and thermal emission . A photon with the correct wavelength to be absorbed by a transition can also cause an electron to drop from the higher to
2875-470: A reverse (positive) image. Clear cels were laid over each sheet and all portions of the figure except the areas that were exposed for the later camera passes were manually blacked out. Next the Kodalith sheets and cel overlays were placed over a light box while a VistaVision camera mounted above it made separate passes and different color filters. A typical shot normally required 12 passes, but some sequences, like
3000-437: A sample reel from a computer firm called MAGI and saw Pong for the first time. He was immediately fascinated by video games and wanted to do a film incorporating them. According to Lisberger, "I realized that there were these techniques that would be very suitable for bringing video games and computer visuals to the screen. And that was the moment that the whole concept flashed across my mind". The film's concept of entering
3125-432: A seminar on this idea, and Charles H. Townes asked him for a copy of the paper. In 1953, Charles H. Townes and graduate students James P. Gordon and Herbert J. Zeiger produced the first microwave amplifier, a device operating on similar principles to the laser, but amplifying microwave radiation rather than infrared or visible radiation. Townes's maser was incapable of continuous output. Meanwhile, in
3250-508: A showing of Tron . Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also awarded four out of four stars, calling it "a trip, and a terrifically entertaining one at that...It's a dazzler that opens up our minds to our new tools, all in a traditional film narrative." Each gave the film two thumbs up. Tron was also featured in Siskel and Ebert's video pick of the week in 1993. InfoWorld's Deborah Wise
3375-431: A small volume of material at the surface of a workpiece can be evaporated if it is heated in a very short time, while supplying the energy gradually would allow for the heat to be absorbed into the bulk of the piece, never attaining a sufficiently high temperature at a particular point. Other applications rely on the peak pulse power (rather than the energy in the pulse), especially to obtain nonlinear optical effects. For
3500-496: A tank, has yellow circuit lines, and all of Sark's tank commanders are blue (but appear green in some presentations). Also, the light-cycle sequence shows the heroes driving yellow (Flynn), orange (Tron), and red (Ram) cycles, while Sark's troops drive blue cycles; similarly, Clu's tank is red, while tanks driven by crews loyal to Sark are blue. Because of all the personal information about citizens which exist inside computer networks, such as social security number and driver's license,
3625-504: A test reel which involved a flying disc champion throwing a rough prototype of the discs used in the film. It was a chance to mix live-action footage with back-lit animation and computer-generated visuals. It impressed the executives at Disney and they agreed to back the film. MacBird and Lisberger's script was subsequently re-written and re-storyboarded with the studio's input. At the time, Disney rarely hired outsiders to make films for them, and Kushner found that he and his group were given
3750-516: A visionary technological achievement without vision". Colin Greenland reviewed the home video release of Tron for Imagine magazine, and stated that "three plucky young programmers descend into the micro-world to battle the Master Control Program with a sacred frisbee. Loses much of its excitement on the little screen." On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds
3875-430: A wide bandwidth, making a laser possible that can thus generate pulses of light as short as a few femtoseconds (10 s). In a Q-switched laser, the population inversion is allowed to build up by introducing loss inside the resonator which exceeds the gain of the medium; this can also be described as a reduction of the quality factor or 'Q' of the cavity. Then, after the pump energy stored in the laser medium has approached
Tron (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-492: A wide range of technologies addressing many different motivations. Some lasers are pulsed simply because they cannot be run in continuous mode. In other cases, the application requires the production of pulses having as large an energy as possible. Since the pulse energy is equal to the average power divided by the repetition rate, this goal can sometimes be satisfied by lowering the rate of pulses so that more energy can be built up between pulses. In laser ablation , for example,
4125-441: A workload even greater than that of a conventional cel-animated feature. The Kodalith was specially produced as large sheets by Kodak for the film and came in numbered boxes so that each batch of the film could be used in order of manufacture for a consistent image. However, this was not understood by the filmmakers and, as a result, glowing outlines and circuit traces occasionally flicker as the film speed varied between batches. After
4250-404: Is a transition between energy levels that match the energy carried by the photon or phonon. For light, this means that any given transition will only absorb one particular wavelength of light. Photons with the correct wavelength can cause an electron to jump from the lower to the higher energy level. The photon is consumed in this process. When an electron is excited from one state to that at
4375-477: Is also required for three-level lasers in which the lower energy level rapidly becomes highly populated, preventing further lasing until those atoms relax to the ground state. These lasers, such as the excimer laser and the copper vapor laser, can never be operated in CW mode. In 1917, Albert Einstein established the theoretical foundations for the laser and the maser in the paper " Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung " ("On
4500-413: Is called an optical amplifier . When an optical amplifier is placed inside a resonant optical cavity, one obtains a laser. For lasing media with extremely high gain, so-called superluminescence , light can be sufficiently amplified in a single pass through the gain medium without requiring a resonator. Although often referred to as a laser (see, for example, nitrogen laser ), the light output from such
4625-449: Is deleted. Within ENCOM, programmer Alan Bradley and his girlfriend, engineer Lora Baines, discover that the MCP has closed off their access to projects. When Alan confronts the senior executive vice president, Ed Dillinger, he asserts the security measures are an effort to stop outside hacking attempts. However, when Dillinger privately questions the MCP through his computerized desk, he realizes
4750-462: Is emitted by stimulated emission is identical to the photon that triggered its emission, and both photons can go on to trigger stimulated emission in other atoms, creating the possibility of a chain reaction . For this to happen, many of the atoms or molecules must be in the proper excited state so that the photons can trigger them. In most materials, atoms or molecules drop out of excited states fairly rapidly, making it difficult or impossible to produce
4875-421: Is formed by single-frequency quantum photon states distributed according to a Poisson distribution . As a result, the arrival rate of photons in a laser beam is described by Poisson statistics. Many lasers produce a beam that can be approximated as a Gaussian beam ; such beams have the minimum divergence possible for a given beam diameter. Some lasers, particularly high-power ones, produce multimode beams, with
5000-443: Is frequently used in the field, meaning "to give off coherent light," especially about the gain medium of a laser; when a laser is operating, it is said to be " lasing ". The terms laser and maser are also used for naturally occurring coherent emissions, as in astrophysical maser and atom laser . A laser that produces light by itself is technically an optical oscillator rather than an optical amplifier as suggested by
5125-421: Is impossible. In some other lasers, it would require pumping the laser at a very high continuous power level, which would be impractical, or destroying the laser by producing excessive heat. Such lasers cannot be run in CW mode. The pulsed operation of lasers refers to any laser not classified as a continuous wave so that the optical power appears in pulses of some duration at some repetition rate. This encompasses
Tron (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-405: Is not the result of random thermal processes. Instead, the release of a photon is triggered by the nearby passage of another photon. This is called stimulated emission . For this process to work, the passing photon must be similar in energy, and thus wavelength, to the one that could be released by the atom or molecule, and the atom or molecule must be in the suitable excited state. The photon that
5375-481: Is sensational and brainy, stylish and fun". However, near the end of his review, he noted (in a positive tone), "This is an almost wholly technological movie. Although it's populated by actors who are engaging (Bridges, Cindy Morgan) or sinister (Warner), it's not really a movie about human nature. Like Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back but much more so, this movie is a machine to dazzle and delight us". Ebert closed his first annual Overlooked Film Festival with
5500-489: Is to heat an object; some of the thermal energy being applied to the object will cause the molecules and electrons within the object to gain energy, which is then lost through thermal radiation , that we see as light. This is the process that causes a candle flame to give off light. Thermal radiation is a random process, and thus the photons emitted have a range of different wavelengths , travel in different directions, and are released at different times. The energy within
5625-504: Is to pump the laser material with a source that is itself pulsed, either through electronic charging in the case of flash lamps, or another laser that is already pulsed. Pulsed pumping was historically used with dye lasers where the inverted population lifetime of a dye molecule was so short that a high-energy, fast pump was needed. The way to overcome this problem was to charge up large capacitors which are then switched to discharge through flashlamps, producing an intense flash. Pulsed pumping
5750-550: Is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape. It also stars Bruce Boxleitner , David Warner , Cindy Morgan , and Barnard Hughes . Tron , along with The Last Starfighter , was one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive computer-generated imagery (CGI). The inspiration for Tron dates back to 1976, when Lisberger became intrigued with video games after seeing Pong . He and producer Donald Kushner set up an animation studio to develop Tron with
5875-441: Is typically expressed through the output being a narrow beam, which is diffraction-limited . Laser beams can be focused to very tiny spots, achieving a very high irradiance , or they can have a very low divergence to concentrate their power at a great distance. Temporal (or longitudinal) coherence implies a polarized wave at a single frequency, whose phase is correlated over a relatively great distance (the coherence length ) along
6000-430: Is used to measure the intensity profile, width, and divergence of laser beams. Diffuse reflection of a laser beam from a matte surface produces a speckle pattern with interesting properties. The mechanism of producing radiation in a laser relies on stimulated emission , where energy is extracted from a transition in an atom or molecule. This is a quantum phenomenon that was predicted by Albert Einstein , who derived
6125-477: The Disney Channel 's first day of programming, on April 18, 1983, at 7:00PM (ET). Tron was originally released on VHS , Betamax , LaserDisc , and CED Videodisc on December 1, 1982. As with most video releases from the 1980s, the film was cropped to the 4:3 pan and scan format. The film saw multiple re-releases throughout the 1990s, most notably an "Archive Collection" LaserDisc box set, which featured
6250-577: The London Philharmonic Orchestra (hired at the insistence of Disney, which was concerned that Carlos might not be able to complete her score on time). Two additional musical tracks ("1990's Theme" and "Only Solutions") were provided by the American band Journey after British band Supertramp pulled out of the project. An album featuring dialogue, music and sound effects from the film was also released on LP by Disneyland Records in 1982. Tron
6375-570: The Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for his invention of Perlin noise for Tron . The film, considered groundbreaking, has inspired several individuals in numerous ways. John Lasseter , head of Pixar and Disney 's animation group, described how the film helped him see the potential of computer-generated imagery in the production of animated films, stating "without Tron , there would be no Toy Story ." The two members of
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#17328376964986500-410: The phase of the emitted light is 90 degrees in lead of the stimulating light. This, combined with the filtering effect of the optical resonator gives laser light its characteristic coherence, and may give it uniform polarization and monochromaticity, depending on the resonator's design. The fundamental laser linewidth of light emitted from the lasing resonator can be orders of magnitude narrower than
6625-421: The transverse modes often approximated using Hermite – Gaussian or Laguerre -Gaussian functions. Some high-power lasers use a flat-topped profile known as a " tophat beam ". Unstable laser resonators (not used in most lasers) produce fractal-shaped beams. Specialized optical systems can produce more complex beam geometries, such as Bessel beams and optical vortexes . Near the "waist" (or focal region ) of
6750-497: The "pencil beam" directly generated by a common helium–neon laser would spread out to a size of perhaps 500 kilometers when shone on the Moon (from the distance of the Earth). On the other hand, the light from a semiconductor laser typically exits the tiny crystal with a large divergence: up to 50°. However even such a divergent beam can be transformed into a similarly collimated beam employing
6875-511: The ENCOM gaming grid. There, computer programs are living entities appearing in the likeness of the human "Users" (programmers) who created them. The space is ruled by the MCP and its second-in-command, Sark, who coerce programs to renounce their belief in the Users and force those who resist to compete in deadly games. Flynn is put into the games and plays well; between matches, he befriends two other captured programs, Ram and Tron. The three escape into
7000-570: The French house music group Daft Punk , who scored the sequel and also had a cameo appearance in it, have held a joint, lifelong fascination with the film. Also, in Gorillaz ' music video for the song " Feel Good Inc .", Russel, the fictional drummer of the band, can be seen wearing an Encom hat. Tron developed into a cult film and was ranked as 13th in a 2010 list of the top 20 cult films published by The Boston Globe . The film heavily inspired
7125-551: The MCP has expanded into a powerful virtual intelligence and has been illegally appropriating personal, business, and government programs to increase its own capabilities. As Dillinger rose to the top of ENCOM by presenting Flynn's games as his own, the MCP blackmails Dillinger by threatening to expose his plagiarism if he does not comply with its directives. Lora deduces that Flynn is the hacker, and she and Alan go to his arcade to warn him. Flynn reveals that he has been trying to locate evidence proving Dillinger's plagiarism. Together,
7250-670: The Quantum Theory of Radiation") via a re-derivation of Max Planck 's law of radiation, conceptually based upon probability coefficients ( Einstein coefficients ) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. In 1928, Rudolf W. Ladenburg confirmed the existence of the phenomena of stimulated emission and negative absorption. In 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant predicted using stimulated emission to amplify "short" waves. In 1947, Willis E. Lamb and R. C. Retherford found apparent stimulated emission in hydrogen spectra and effected
7375-503: The Soviet Union, Nikolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov were independently working on the quantum oscillator and solved the problem of continuous-output systems by using more than two energy levels. These gain media could release stimulated emissions between an excited state and a lower excited state, not the ground state, facilitating the maintenance of a population inversion . In 1955, Prokhorov and Basov suggested optical pumping of
7500-738: The Taiwanese personnel were listed with their names written in Chinese characters . This film features parts of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ; the multi-story ENCOM laser bay was the target area for the SHIVA solid-state multi-beamed laser. Also, the stairway that Alan, Lora, and Flynn use to reach Alan's office is the stairway in Building 451 near the entrance to the main machine room. The cubicle scenes were shot in another room of
7625-614: The acronym. It has been humorously noted that the acronym LOSER, for "light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiation", would have been more correct. With the widespread use of the original acronym as a common noun, optical amplifiers have come to be referred to as laser amplifiers . Modern physics describes light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as the group behavior of fundamental particles known as photons . Photons are released and absorbed through electromagnetic interactions with other fundamental particles that carry electric charge . A common way to release photons
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#17328376964987750-473: The anticipated profits of their 90-minute animated television special Animalympics to develop storyboards for Tron with the notion of making an animated film. But after Variety mentioned the project briefly during its early phase, it caught the attention of computer scientist Alan Kay . He contacted Lisberger and convinced him to use him as an adviser on the movie, then persuaded him to use real CGI instead of just hand-animation. Bonnie MacBird wrote
7875-476: The beam. A beam produced by a thermal or other incoherent light source has an instantaneous amplitude and phase that vary randomly with respect to time and position, thus having a short coherence length. Lasers are characterized according to their wavelength in a vacuum . Most "single wavelength" lasers produce radiation in several modes with slightly different wavelengths. Although temporal coherence implies some degree of monochromaticity , some lasers emit
8000-425: The blue to near-UV have also been used in place of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to excite fluorescence as a white light source; this permits a much smaller emitting area due to the much greater radiance of a laser and avoids the droop suffered by LEDs; such devices are already used in some car headlamps . The first device using amplification by stimulated emission operated at microwave frequencies, and
8125-411: The command ship and orders its deresolution, but Flynn keeps it intact by manipulating the system again. Sark reaches the MCP's core on a shuttle carrying captured programs deemed powerful or useful. While the MCP attempts to absorb these programs, Tron, who is still alive, confronts Sark and critically injures him, prompting the MCP to give Sark all its functions. Realizing that his ability to manipulate
8250-456: The computer-generated layers, which were shot in VistaVision ; and both anamorphic 35mm and Super 35 , which were used for some scenes in the "real" world, and subsequently "blown up" to 65 mm). Three designers were brought in to create the look of the computer world. French comic book artist Jean Giraud (also known as Moebius) was the main set and costume designer for the film. Most of
8375-561: The effect of nonlinearity in optical materials (e.g. in second-harmonic generation , parametric down-conversion , optical parametric oscillators and the like). Unlike the giant pulse of a Q-switched laser, consecutive pulses from a mode-locked laser are phase-coherent; that is, the pulses (and not just their envelopes ) are identical and perfectly periodic. For this reason, and the extremely large peak powers attained by such short pulses, such lasers are invaluable in certain areas of research. Another method of achieving pulsed laser operation
8500-585: The film was meant to use white backgrounds like in THX 1138 inside the Grid, but it would require such huge amounts of lights that it was decided to use black backgrounds instead. The computers used at the time could not perform animation, so the frames had to be produced one by one. In some of the more complex sequences, like the Solar Sailer moving through metal canyons, each frame could take up to six hours to produce. There
8625-518: The film while working for Robert Abel before going on to found Wavefront Technologies . The work was not a collaboration, resulting in very different styles used by the firms. Tron was one of the first films to make extensive use of any form of computer animation , and it is celebrated as a milestone in the industry, although only fifteen to twenty minutes of such animation were used (mostly scenes that show digital "terrain" or patterns, or include vehicles such as light-cycles, tanks and ships). Because
8750-441: The film's visual effects: "They're loud, bright and empty, and they're all this movie has to offer". The Washington Post ' s Gary Arnold wrote, "Fascinating as they are as discrete sequences, the computer-animated episodes don't build dramatically. They remain a miscellaneous form of abstract spectacle". In his review for The Globe and Mail , Jay Scott wrote, "It's got momentum and it's got marvels, but it's without heart; it's
8875-595: The first demonstration of stimulated emission. In 1950, Alfred Kastler (Nobel Prize for Physics 1966) proposed the method of optical pumping , which was experimentally demonstrated two years later by Brossel, Kastler, and Winter. In 1951, Joseph Weber submitted a paper on using stimulated emissions to make a microwave amplifier to the June 1952 Institute of Radio Engineers Vacuum Tube Research Conference in Ottawa , Ontario, Canada. After this presentation, RCA asked Weber to give
9000-478: The first drafts of Tron with extensive input from Lisberger, basing the original personality of Alan on Alan Kay. As a result of working together, Kay and MacBird became close and later married. She also created Tron as a character (rather than a visual demo) and Flynn. Originally, MacBird envisioned Flynn more comedically, suggesting the then 30-year-old Robin Williams for the role. Besides many story changes after
9125-450: The first release of the film in its original widescreen 2.20:1 format. By 1993, Tron had grossed $ 17 million in video rentals . Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation . The word laser is an anacronym that originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation . The first laser
9250-488: The gross and merchandise sales, it was seen as a financial disappointment, and the studio wrote off some of its $ 17 million budget. The film was well received by critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and described it as "a dazzling movie from Disney in which computers have been used to make themselves romantic and glamorous. Here's a technological sound-and-light show that
9375-476: The heroic characters developed for the feature-length Tron . This was later changed to blue for the finished film (see Pre-production below). The prototype Tron was bearded and resembled the Cylon Centurions from the 1978 TV series Battlestar Galactica . Also, Tron was armed with two "exploding discs", as Lisberger described them on the 2-Disc DVD edition ( see Rinzler ). Lisberger elaborates: "Everybody
9500-465: The idea to Walt Disney Productions , which was interested in producing more daring productions at the time. Tom Wilhite, Disney's vice president for creative development, watched Lisberger's test footage and convinced Ron Miller to give the movie a chance. However, Disney executives were uncertain about giving $ 10–12 million to a first-time producer and director using techniques which, in most cases, had never been attempted. The studio agreed to finance
9625-608: The idea was that each real world person has a digital counterpart inside the Grid based on information about them, which is why it was decided to use some of the same actors in both worlds. Budgeting the production was difficult by reason of breaking new ground in response to additional challenges, including an impending Directors Guild of America strike and a fixed release date. Disney predicted at least $ 400 million in domestic sales of merchandise, including an arcade game by Bally Midway and three Mattel Intellivision home video games. The producers also added Easter eggs : during
9750-481: The intention of making it an animated film. To promote the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring the first appearance of the title character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to include live-action elements with both backlit and computer animation for the actual feature-length film. Various studios had rejected the storyboards for the film before Walt Disney Productions agreed to finance and distribute Tron . There, backlit animation
9875-566: The interior of the electronic tank, could need as many as 50 passes. About 300 matte paintings were made for the film, each photographed onto a large piece of Ektachrome film before colors were added by gelatin filters in a similar procedure as in the Kodaliths. The mattes, rotoscopic and CGI were then combined and composed together to give them a "technological" appearance. With multiple layers of high-contrast, large format positives and negatives, this process required truckloads of sheet film and
10000-451: The lab. At the time, Tron was the only film to have scenes filmed inside this lab. The original script called for "good" programs to be colored yellow and "evil" programs (those loyal to Sark and the MCP) to be colored blue. Partway into production, this coloring scheme was changed to blue for good and red for evil, but some scenes were produced using the original coloring scheme: Clu, who drives
10125-422: The laser power inside the cavity; this equilibrium determines the operating point of the laser. If the applied pump power is too small, the gain will never be sufficient to overcome the cavity losses, and laser light will not be produced. The minimum pump power needed to begin laser action is called the lasing threshold . The gain medium will amplify any photons passing through it, regardless of direction; but only
10250-501: The lasing medium or pumping mechanism, then it is still classified as a "modulated" or "pulsed" continuous wave laser. Most laser diodes used in communication systems fall into that category. Some applications of lasers depend on a beam whose output power is constant over time. Such a laser is known as a continuous-wave ( CW ) laser. Many types of lasers can be made to operate in continuous-wave mode to satisfy such an application. Many of these lasers lase in several longitudinal modes at
10375-414: The latter case, the photon is emitted in the same direction as the light that is passing by. When the number of particles in one excited state exceeds the number of particles in some lower-energy state, population inversion is achieved. In this state, the rate of stimulated emission is larger than the rate of absorption of light in the medium, and therefore the light is amplified. A system with this property
10500-503: The linewidth of light emitted from the passive resonator. Some lasers use a separate injection seeder to start the process off with a beam that is already highly coherent. This can produce beams with a narrower spectrum than would otherwise be possible. In 1963, Roy J. Glauber showed that coherent states are formed from combinations of photon number states, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics . A coherent beam of light
10625-402: The literal cavity that would be employed at microwave frequencies in a maser . The resonator typically consists of two mirrors between which a coherent beam of light travels in both directions, reflecting on itself so that an average photon will pass through the gain medium repeatedly before it is emitted from the output aperture or lost to diffraction or absorption. If the gain (amplification) in
10750-522: The lower level, emitting a new photon. The emitted photon exactly matches the original photon in wavelength, phase, and direction. This process is called stimulated emission. The gain medium is put into an excited state by an external source of energy. In most lasers, this medium consists of a population of atoms that have been excited into such a state using an outside light source, or an electrical field that supplies energy for atoms to absorb and be transformed into their excited states. The gain medium of
10875-412: The maximum possible level, the introduced loss mechanism (often an electro- or acousto-optical element) is rapidly removed (or that occurs by itself in a passive device), allowing lasing to begin which rapidly obtains the stored energy in the gain medium. This results in a short pulse incorporating that energy, and thus a high peak power. A mode-locked laser is capable of emitting extremely short pulses on
11000-498: The medium is larger than the resonator losses, then the power of the recirculating light can rise exponentially . But each stimulated emission event returns an atom from its excited state to the ground state, reducing the gain of the medium. With increasing beam power, the net gain (gain minus loss) reduces to unity and the gain medium is said to be saturated. In a continuous wave (CW) laser, the balance of pump power against gain saturation and cavity losses produces an equilibrium value of
11125-403: The movie independently by approaching several computer companies but had little success. However, one company, Information International Inc. , was receptive. He met with Richard Taylor, a representative, and they began talking about using live-action photography with back-lit animation in such a way that it could be integrated with computer graphics. At this point, there was a script and the film
11250-433: The movie. In the same year, Disney Senior Staff Publicist Michael Bonifer authored a book entitled The Art of Tron which covered aspects of the pre-production and post-production aspects of Tron . A nonfiction book about the making of the original film, The Making of Tron: How Tron Changed Visual Effects and Disney Forever , was written by William Kallay and published in 2011. Tron made its television debut as part of
11375-590: The music video for Danish pop / dance group Infernal 's 2006 hit single " From Paris to Berlin ". The music video for Australian rock band Regurgitator 's 1997 song " Everyday Formula " was also heavily inspired by the film and recreates several scenes. In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Science Fiction Films list . A novelization of Tron was released in 1982, written by American science fiction novelist Brian Daley . It included eight pages of color photographs from
11500-404: The object is not random, however: it is stored by atoms and molecules in " excited states ", which release photons with distinct wavelengths. This gives rise to the science of spectroscopy , which allows materials to be determined through the specific wavelengths that they emit. The underlying physical process creating photons in a laser is the same as in thermal radiation, but the actual emission
11625-451: The order of tens of picoseconds down to less than 10 femtoseconds . These pulses repeat at the round-trip time, that is, the time that it takes light to complete one round trip between the mirrors comprising the resonator. Due to the Fourier limit (also known as energy–time uncertainty ), a pulse of such short temporal length has a spectrum spread over a considerable bandwidth. Thus such
11750-473: The other hand, Variety disliked the film and said in its review, " Tron is loaded with visual delights but falls way short of the mark in story and viewer involvement. Screenwriter-director Steven Lisberger has adequately marshalled a huge force of technicians to deliver the dazzle, but even kids (and specifically computer game geeks) will have a difficult time getting hooked on the situations". In her review for The New York Times , Janet Maslin criticized
11875-418: The photons in a spatial mode supported by the resonator will pass more than once through the medium and receive substantial amplification. In most lasers, lasing begins with spontaneous emission into the lasing mode. This initial light is then amplified by stimulated emission in the gain medium. Stimulated emission produces light that matches the input signal in direction, wavelength, and polarization, whereas
12000-409: The power output is essentially continuous over time or whether its output takes the form of pulses of light on one or another time scale. Of course, even a laser whose output is normally continuous can be intentionally turned on and off at some rate to create pulses of light. When the modulation rate is on time scales much slower than the cavity lifetime and the period over which energy can be stored in
12125-662: The properties of the emitted light, such as the polarization, wavelength, and shape of the beam. Electrons and how they interact with electromagnetic fields are important in our understanding of chemistry and physics . In the classical view , the energy of an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus is larger for orbits further from the nucleus of an atom . However, quantum mechanical effects force electrons to take on discrete positions in orbitals . Thus, electrons are found in specific energy levels of an atom, two of which are shown below: An electron in an atom can absorb energy from light ( photons ) or heat ( phonons ) only if there
12250-455: The reason was discovered, this was no longer a problem as the batches were used in order and "zinger" sounds were used during the flickering parts to represent the computer world malfunctioning as Lisberger described it. Lisberger later had these flickers and sounds digitally corrected for the 2011 restored Blu-ray release as they were not included in his original vision of the film. Due to its difficulty and cost, this process of back-lit animation
12375-457: The relationship between the A coefficient , describing spontaneous emission, and the B coefficient which applies to absorption and stimulated emission. In the case of the free electron laser , atomic energy levels are not involved; it appears that the operation of this rather exotic device can be explained without reference to quantum mechanics . A laser can be classified as operating in either continuous or pulsed mode, depending on whether
12500-410: The same time, and beats between the slightly different optical frequencies of those oscillations will produce amplitude variations on time scales shorter than the round-trip time (the reciprocal of the frequency spacing between modes), typically a few nanoseconds or less. In most cases, these lasers are still termed "continuous-wave" as their output power is steady when averaged over longer periods, with
12625-592: The scene where Tron and Ram escape from the Light Cycle arena into the system, Pac-Man can be seen behind Sark (with the corresponding sounds from the Pac-Man arcade game being heard in the background), while a " Hidden Mickey " outline (located at time 01:12:29 on the re-release Blu-ray) can be seen below the solar sailer during the protagonists' journey. The film set also included the arcade games Space Invaders (1978), Asteroids (1979) and Pac-Man (1980). Tron
12750-457: The script went to Disney, including giving it "a more serious tone with quasi religious overtones", and removing most of the scientific elements, none of her dialogue remains in the final film, and there was a "rather bitter credits dispute." The film was eventually conceived as an animated film bracketed with live-action sequences. The rest involved a combination of computer-generated visuals and back-lit animation. Lisberger planned to finance
12875-417: The system during a round of Light Cycle (an arcade game Flynn created and is skilled at), but Flynn and Ram become separated from Tron by an MCP pursuit party. While attempting to help a badly injured Ram, Flynn learns that he can manipulate portions of the system by accessing his programmer knowledge. Just before Ram "derezzes" (dies), he recognizes Flynn as a User, and encourages him to find Tron and free
13000-445: The system might give Tron an opening, Flynn leaps into the beam of the MCP, distracting it. Seeing a break in the MCP's shield, Tron attacks through the gap and destroys the MCP and Sark, ending the MCP's control over the system and allowing the captured programs to communicate with users again. Flynn reappears in the real world, rematerialized at the terminal. Tron's victory in the system has released all lockouts on computer access, and
13125-460: The system. Using his newfound ability, Flynn rebuilds a broken vehicle and disguises himself as one of Sark's soldiers. Tron enlists help from Yori, a sympathetic program, and at an I/O tower receives information from Alan necessary to destroy the MCP. Flynn rejoins them, and the three board a hijacked solar sailer to reach the MCP's core. However, Sark's command ship destroys the sailer, capturing Flynn and Yori and presumably killing Tron. Sark leaves
13250-541: The technology to combine computer animation and live action did not exist at the time, these sequences were interspersed with the filmed characters. One of the computers used had only 2 MB of memory and no more than 330 MB of storage. This put a limit on detail of background; and at a certain distance, they had a procedure of mixing in black to fade things out, a process called "depth cueing". The film's Computer Effects Supervisor Richard Taylor told them "When in doubt, black it out!", which became their motto. Originally
13375-414: The three form a plan to break into ENCOM and unlock Alan's "Tron" program, a self-governing security measure designed to protect the system and counter the functions of the MCP. Once inside ENCOM, the three split up, and Flynn comes into direct conflict with the MCP through a laboratory terminal. Before Flynn can get the information he needs, the MCP uses an experimental laser to digitize and upload him into
13500-425: The two mirrors, the output coupler , is partially transparent. Some of the light escapes through this mirror. Depending on the design of the cavity (whether the mirrors are flat or curved ), the light coming out of the laser may spread out or form a narrow beam . In analogy to electronic oscillators , this device is sometimes called a laser oscillator . Most practical lasers contain additional elements that affect
13625-407: The vehicle designs (including Sark's aircraft carrier, the light cycles, the tank, and the solar sailer) were created by industrial designer Syd Mead . Peter Lloyd , a high-tech commercial artist, designed the environments. Nevertheless, these jobs often overlapped, leaving Giraud working on the solar sailer and Mead designing terrain, sets and the film's logo. The original 'Program' character design
13750-410: The very high-frequency power variations having little or no impact on the intended application. (However, the term is not applied to mode-locked lasers, where the intention is to create very short pulses at the rate of the round-trip time.) For continuous-wave operation, the population inversion of the gain medium needs to be continually replenished by a steady pump source. In some lasing media, this
13875-533: The year it was released, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences refused to nominate Tron for a special-effects Academy Award because, as director Steven Lisberger puts it, "The Academy thought we cheated by using computers". The film did, however, earn Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Costume Design ( Elois Jenssen and Rosanna Norton ) and Best Sound ( Michael Minkler , Bob Minkler , Lee Minkler , and James LaRue ). In 1997, Ken Perlin of
14000-421: Was built in 1960 by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories , based on theoretical work by Charles H. Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow . A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light that is coherent . Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling applications such as optical communication, laser cutting , and lithography . It also allows
14125-598: Was called a maser , for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". When similar optical devices were developed they were first called optical masers , until "microwave" was replaced by "light" in the acronym, to become laser . Today, all such devices operating at frequencies higher than microwaves (approximately above 300 GHz ) are called lasers (e.g. infrared lasers , ultraviolet lasers , X-ray lasers , gamma-ray lasers ), whereas devices operating at microwave or lower radio frequencies are called masers. The back-formed verb " to lase "
14250-486: Was doing backlit animation in the 70s, you know. It was that disco look. And we thought, what if we had this character that was a neon line, and that was our Tron warrior – Tron for electronic. And what happened was, I saw Pong , and I said, well, that's the arena for him. And at the same time I was interested in the early phases of computer generated animation, which I got into at MIT in Boston, and when I got into that I met
14375-434: Was entirely storyboarded , with some computer animation tests completed. He had spent approximately $ 300,000 developing Tron and had also secured $ 4–5 million in private backing before reaching a standstill. Lisberger and Kushner took their storyboards and samples of computer-generated films to Warner Bros. , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , and Columbia Pictures – all of which turned them down. In 1980, they decided to take
14500-412: Was finally combined with the 2D computer animation and the live action. Tron was released on July 9, 1982. The film was a moderate success at the box office, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised its groundbreaking visuals and acting but criticized its storyline as being incoherent. Tron received nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Sound at the 55th Academy Awards . It
14625-522: Was followed by the XD animated series Tron: Uprising in 2012, set between the two films. A third installment, Tron: Ares , is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2025. Kevin Flynn is a leading software engineer , formerly employed by large technology corporation ENCOM. He now runs a video game arcade , and attempts to hack into ENCOM's system system with a program called CLU. However, ENCOM's Master Control Program (MCP) halts his progress and CLU
14750-636: Was however disqualified from the Best Visual Effects category because at the time the Academy felt that using computer animation was "cheating". Tron spawned multiple video games (including an arcade tie-in released shortly after the film), and as it became a cult film , a multimedia franchise including comic books. A sequel titled Tron: Legacy , directed by Joseph Kosinski , was released in 2010, with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles and Lisberger acting as producer. A commercial success, it
14875-456: Was impressed, writing that "it's hard to believe the characters acted out the scenes on a darkened soundstage... We see characters throwing illuminated Frisbees , driving 'lightcycles' on a video-game grid, playing a dangerous version of jai alai and zapping numerous fluorescent tanks in arcade-game-type mazes. It's exciting, it's fun, and it's just what video-game fans and anyone with a spirit of adventure will love—despite plot weaknesses." On
15000-571: Was inspired by Lisberger Studios' logo of a glowing bodybuilder hurling two discs . To create the computer animation sequences of Tron , Disney turned to the four leading computer graphics firms of the day: Information International, Inc. of Culver City, California , who owned the Super Foonly F-1 (the fastest PDP-10 ever made and the only one of its kind); MAGI of Elmsford, New York ; Robert Abel and Associates of California; and Digital Effects of New York City. Bill Kovacs worked on
15125-607: Was no way to digitally print them on film , either; rather, a motion picture camera was placed in front of a computer screen to capture each individual frame. Most of the scenes, backgrounds, and visual effects in the film were created using more traditional techniques and a unique process known as "backlit animation". In this process, live-action scenes inside the computer world were filmed in black-and-white on an entirely black set, placed in an enlarger for blow-ups and transferred to large format Kodalith high-contrast film. These negatives were then used to make Kodalith sheets with
15250-403: Was not repeated for another feature film. Sound design and creation for the film was assigned to Frank Serafine, who was responsible for the sound design on Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. “There were over 750 units [separate tape segments] in the picture," said Serafine. At one point in the film, a small entity called "Bit" advises Flynn with only the words "yes" and "no" created by
15375-622: Was originally meant to be released during the Christmas season of 1982, but when chairman of the Disney board Card Walker found out the release date of Don Bluth 's film The Secret of NIMH was in early July, he rushed it into a summer release to be able to compete with Bluth, and it ended up competing with films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Blade Runner and Poltergeist . The soundtrack for Tron
15500-479: Was released on July 9, 1982, in 1,091 theaters in the United States and Canada grossing USD $ 4 million on its opening weekend. It went on to gross $ 33 million in the United States and Canada and $ 17 million overseas, for a worldwide gross of approximately $ 50 million, which was Disney's highest-grossing live action film for 5 years. In addition, the film had $ 70 million in wholesale merchandise sales. Despite
15625-584: Was written by pioneer electronic musician Wendy Carlos , who is best known for her album Switched-On Bach and for the soundtracks to many films, including the Stanley Kubrick -directed films A Clockwork Orange and The Shining . The music, which was the first collaboration between Carlos and her partner Annemarie Franklin, featured a mix of an analog Moog synthesizer and Crumar 's GDS digital synthesizer (complex additive and phase modulation synthesis ), along with non-electronic pieces performed by
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