Quantel Paintbox
Encyclopedia
The Quantel
Paintbox was a dedicated computer graphics
workstation
for composition of broadcast television video
and graphics. Its design emphasizes the studio workflow
efficiency required for live news production. Following its initial launch in 1981, it revolutionised the production of television
graphics.
The first generation Paintbox was principally custom-designed hardware
, while the second generation V-Series introduced in 1989 was able to take advantage of general purpose computer hardware combined with custom hardware elements. In 2002, the generationQ series of products introduced the last stand-alone Paintbox and the QPaintbox software for PCs. Eventually, Paintbox became a feature of Quantel's other, more powerful editing, media management and post-production products.
In the late 1980s Quantel embarked on lawsuits against the Adobe
"Photoshop" software package and the Spaceward Graphics "Matisse" system in an attempt to protect patented aspects of the Paintbox system. They won the initial case against Spaceward in 1990, but finally lost the case against Adobe in 1997 following depositions and demonstrations by a number of Computer Graphics pioneers including Alvy Ray Smith
and Dick Phillips. Richard Shoup ported his 1973 paint program Superpaint
to Windows for demonstration purposes, and was able to demonstrate that Superpaint had particular features before Quantel's Paintbox. Shoup's port is available for download from his personal website.
The cover for The Miracle, rock band Queen
's studio album was created on a Quantel Paintbox in 1989. It was used by six artists and designers, including David Hockney
and Richard Hamilton
, to create original artwork in the 1986 BBC
series Painting with Light.
Quantel
Quantel is a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designs and manufactures digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries...
Paintbox was a dedicated computer graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
for composition of broadcast television video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
and graphics. Its design emphasizes the studio workflow
Workflow
A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work...
efficiency required for live news production. Following its initial launch in 1981, it revolutionised the production of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
graphics.
The first generation Paintbox was principally custom-designed hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
, while the second generation V-Series introduced in 1989 was able to take advantage of general purpose computer hardware combined with custom hardware elements. In 2002, the generationQ series of products introduced the last stand-alone Paintbox and the QPaintbox software for PCs. Eventually, Paintbox became a feature of Quantel's other, more powerful editing, media management and post-production products.
In the late 1980s Quantel embarked on lawsuits against the Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
"Photoshop" software package and the Spaceward Graphics "Matisse" system in an attempt to protect patented aspects of the Paintbox system. They won the initial case against Spaceward in 1990, but finally lost the case against Adobe in 1997 following depositions and demonstrations by a number of Computer Graphics pioneers including Alvy Ray Smith
Alvy Ray Smith
Alvy Ray Smith III is an American engineer and noted pioneer in computer graphics. He is a co-founder of the animation studio Pixar.- Life and career :...
and Dick Phillips. Richard Shoup ported his 1973 paint program Superpaint
SuperPaint
SuperPaint was a pioneering graphics program and framebuffer computer system developed by Richard Shoup at Xerox PARC. The system was first conceptualized in late 1972 and produced its first stable image in April 1973...
to Windows for demonstration purposes, and was able to demonstrate that Superpaint had particular features before Quantel's Paintbox. Shoup's port is available for download from his personal website.
The cover for The Miracle, rock band Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's studio album was created on a Quantel Paintbox in 1989. It was used by six artists and designers, including David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
and Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton (artist)
Richard William Hamilton, CH was a British painter and collage artist. His 1956 collage, Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, is considered by critics and historians to be one of the...
, to create original artwork in the 1986 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Painting with Light.
External links
- Alvy Ray Smith - Digital Paint Systems. Includes information about the Quantel/Adobe lawsuit.
- Computer Graphics in Court: The Adobe/Quantel Case
- A history of the Quantel paintbox