As we saw in the previous post, the 1980s brought about a huge change in TV idents and presentation, as many broadcasters embraced computer graphics, leaving behind cell animation, mechanical models and sometimes, a static caption card, which had been the tried and trusted methods of on-screen branding since transmissions began.
In the 1980s, computer animation was starting to advance to a degree in which it was of a broadcast standard and although it still wasn't cheap, it was possible to produce short, high-quality pieces of animation for a reasonable price.
When Channel 4 burst onto UK screens in 1982, the highly impressive computer-animated idents had to be animated in the USA, as at the time, no computer animation company in the UK had the processing power to produce such smooth-flowing images with believable texture and lighting. Computer animation has always been a rapidly-evolving medium and this was especially true during these early days, as by 1983, the BBC had started work on creating a new ident for BBC 1 - their first computer-generated symbol.
The outcome of their research and hard work finally made it's debut at 7pm on the 18th February 1985 - 30 years ago this week, heralding a new era for the channel in more ways than one...
