Fairlight CVI (Computer Video Instrument) BBC 1985

[Sniffy20]

holy haircut batman

[EnglanEOfficial]

It's from 1984!

[1981analog]

Watched this religiously as a kid, wish they'd bring it back.

[InsertName125]

Now you can get the same results with your laptop - in only several weeks.

[transplants125]

she is the 80s personified

[hatlawyer1]

Looks like the same effects you seen on a load of 80s music videos, i wonder if they used this system.

[unriselyrical]

...hows about that!

[bonzo874]

i dunno , maggie would do for me lol

[trac376]

My girl has got a ps2 with eyetoy camera. She also has the eyetoy games 1-3, and Im sure on one of these she has showed me her waving her arms and body about with all the colour effects going on. I love the eyetoy, even after all these years. Much better than a wii.

[waheex]

this stuff is still cooler than a lot of modern digital effects IMO

[gunteman]

Wow, what a beautiful accent!

[alen209]

lol having these things were like having a 60' HDTV in your house

[stuzaza]

not bad hey!?

[peshozmiata]

Hey, does anybody know the name of the song at the beginning? Not the Art of Noise track, but the one that starts at the very beginning.

[fedupx5900]

So THAT is what all those shitty '90s dance music videos were made on.

[OllieStench]

is there any software for Final Cut that can replicate these effects?

[coldstoragevideo]

Mmmmmmm ....Maggie... ;O)

[peppepop]

Mmmmmmm ....art of noise....

[plainlazy2097]

i don't know what's more impressive, the special effects or her hair cut! ;o)

[allhalematt]

why does she keep referring to herself in the 3rd person! Classic though!

[jezstevens23]

seeing oneself on a screen until very recently was still a rare thing - maggie can still perceive the difference between herself and a representation of herself - this distinction is now taken for granted - what is on the screen is perhaps now more real than it once was.

[DarkAndMartyr]

WOW! that was 1985... project natal 24 years earlier... looks awesome! shouldnt these be about 5 quid from a carboot by now?

[MalteSer001]

heh, your a funny man .,... they dont cost as much as they did when they came out (dont know the price of this but the CMI did cost 100,000 australian dollars ) but you wont find it cheap ....say around 5000-> 10000 dollars depending on who owned it :) its still modern technology for 2010 and it was made in the 80's .

[DarkAndMartyr]

haha ye i was kind of praying that they would be £5 from a car boot. If i found one for that price or at all i'd probably cry. I bet there hard to program aswell.

[Triursaighead]

Btw: the CVI was priced US$ 5400 in 1985. Rather cheap for a video effect box!

[HappiWho2]

Wow! Thats awesome! Still looks more futuristic than the stuff today :)

[donottakethisname]

Now, I'm looking to create a video with effects similar to these. Is there any way of making them aside from buying an Amiga w/Video Toaster or the Fairlight CVI? Preferably software, I guess.

[k8fan]

Not that I've seen. There are plenty of programs for Windows and Mac to create sound-driven visuals, but for some reason the programs the Amiga had like Mandela and Invision's "Live" that allowed you to manipulate live, incoming video haven't appeared again. A good programmer could fully emulate a Fairlight CVI easily enough, but for some reason nobody has done it.

[donottakethisname]

Ah, well, damn. Thanks for the info though, I've been looking for a while. Maybe one day I'll get lucky at a garage sale or a dumpster :P

[BNCA70]

yeah in the 80s I was always amazed at the new technology in TV ads and music videos. Seems daft and pretty normal now. Wait til the first 3D projectors start getting in to homes, that'll be the next big thing.

[NiGhtMarEs0nWax]

well i think we can all learn from this video that practicality and not shear entertainment value is what makes products a winner, the fact is you could do this kind of think on a home pc now, spractical. few people would have bought a system like this.

[elvisthedj]

Is that the Weakest Link lady?

[justinlawes1987]

no! definitely not anne robinson

[NiGhtMarEs0nWax]

no its not but i did think she sounds a lot like her

[chrisbean247]

Maggie Philbin I think.....

[UncleFeedle]

This thing was done to death during the 80's - you could spot the same effects again and again, especially in music videos. It wasn't really until the Amiga and the Video Toaster that this stuff really began to take off.

[morry27]

Ah tomorows world ! brings back memories, of the past, when they looked into the future, now its here we can look back, so is tomorrows world of the past the present or the future? and if this programme came back would they look at the things they said would exist and say it was a prediction of the present or even further into the future?? Im as confused as Marty McFly !

[domharrington]

AHa this is basically the background to most 80's music videos!

[thesnake383]

Wow! This is state of the art stuff!

[Olphus]

Maggie is cute!

[W3bbo2]

Oh dang, does anyone know what the name of the background music is?

[jakeschrock]

"moments in love" by art of noise

[Keijz74]

One of the most often used TV background tracks of the eighties? When it had to be mysterious, the'd have this handy. And maybe a few other tracks.

[jimmyass]

hahaha o dear

[wisteela]

That is fantastic!

[okee9]

Anyone remember when they demonstrated Cd's If i remember they spread butter on the cd and hit it with a hammer and then cleaned it and put it into the cd player and played it lol

[Gary190tube]

I remember that one (although I thought the bloke spread honey on it and then wiped it off). I remember thinking "how can that CD play with honey in the grooves?"

[Gary190tube]

...just remembered the hammer bit as well on TW.

Mel Smith and Griff Jones took that bit off on one of their shows..."these new CD's are amazing - you can hit them with hammers, stamp on them, throw them across the room and you still can't get them out of the the case."

[jmm1233]

now a days we have this stuff on our laptop , flash anyone?

[politirel]

Keith Chegwins wife.

[Joe7946]

wouldnt it be great to go back to 1985 and show them digital cameras and playstations 3 etc

[BetaboyBuffet]

no it wouldn't

[tenseman08]

yes it would

[marknpeyton]

"on sophisticated computer driven instruments you can afford to waste time"

How times have changed.

[cullyvan]

sigh

[leviterande]

does anyone have the episode from 1983 about the hoverplane

[funkisbetterthanjazz]

Best Mullet Ever. ;-)

[kenjigarland]

Not bad, eh?!

[bmcr104]

yeah, that's a fucking funny line.

"how's about that ?"

[SynaMax]

ROFL, Moments in Love: one of the best song written on a Fairlight.

[leolodreamland]

Maggie Philbin was definitely thinking man's crumpet...

[Ineedacig]

nah, definatly felicity kendal.

[MooBoo1979]

Yes, most definitely. No one like Felicity Kendall. Now, or ever again.

[marknpeyton]

Felicity Kendall all the way!