{"id":7312,"title":"Tom DeWitt Ditto","kind":"bio","url":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/tom-dewitt-ditto","version":"db88b899828452f3de727b787aa7b54631c721164739998a08e6cec7160598ee","modified":"2011-06-17T23:59:41+00:00","credits":[],"authorKeys":[],"subjects":["bio"],"metadata":[{"label":"First name","value":"Tom","url":null},{"label":"Last name","value":"DeWitt Ditto","url":null}],"citations":{"page":"\u0022Tom DeWitt Ditto.\u0022 Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/tom-dewitt-ditto.","publication":null,"risUrl":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/citation/7312.ris"},"links":[{"label":"https://www.dewittbros.com","url":"https://www.dewittbros.com","relationship":"record body link","contentType":null},{"label":"http://www.csu.ctsateu.edu/~MCCARNEY/fva/fva.html","url":"http://www.csu.ctsateu.edu/~MCCARNEY/fva/fva.html","relationship":"record body link","contentType":null}],"sections":[{"name":"body","source":"VHP record body","generated":false,"characters":17065},{"name":"summary","source":"existing VHP generated summary","generated":true,"characters":612}],"content":{"section":"body","source":"VHP record body","generated":false,"text":"I made my first video in 1968 while a student at San Francisco State College. The two inch quad tape was edited as a 16 mm kinescope and was released as The Leap in 1969. It was then released by Universal Pictures in 35 mm as part of their Kinetic Art program of collected shorts. Other video works edited in this manner include Fall, 1971; Outta Space (1978) and Off On, 1968 made with Scott Bartlett and others. The soundtrack for Fall was made at the Electronic Music Studio of SUNY/Albany (Joel Chadabe, Director) in 1971, and I stayed on working there until 1978 using music synthesizers to produce abstract motion graphics as well as the university\u0027s regular media video for my brand of pantomime. The latter style is exampled by Multiple Identity Marathon which had a voice track recorded at the Synapse facilities in Syracuse and mime performed by members of Electronic Body Arts, the dance company in Albany -- my umbrella organization from 1978-83. In 1972 I was teaching at the Media Study Center in Buffalo when I met Vibeke Sorensen who today heads the USC Dept. of Animation. With our primary base of operations in Albany, we were collaborators for the next decade. In 1978 we met Dean Winkler at R.P.I. in Troy where we set up the Video Synthesis Laboratory. Later the three of us formed the working group, WTV and realized a series of music video and abstract pieces using facilities at Teletronics, EUE-Video, and R.P.I. Today Dean is President of Post Perfect in NYC. Along with my work as an artist, I was interested in the development of technology. In 1975 I built an interface for a PDP-11 that was able to read musical scores in skyline notation. This led to development of a tracking chroma key system in 1977 which I dubbed Pantomation. Today it would be called motion capture. First developed on a PDP-8L, Pantomation was ported to an Apple II platform in 1983. It was then used with the Raytel Laser Light Show and The KoMotion pantomime company in live performances through 1987. At that time I received a method patent in optics which became my chief preoccupation and has led to development of a unique 3D scanner based on diffraction. I teach as an adjunct at Dutchess Community College in the Art and Communications programs. I have been living for the past 11 years in Ancramdale, NY in the south east corner of Columbia County. My wife, Beverly, is a native of Buffalo, received her MFA in Computer Graphics from R.I.T. and met me as a laser light show animator in Troy, NY. Our little Ditto, David, was born in 1996. THOMAS DITTO Artist/Inventor/Teacher Born: Thomas David DeWitt August 1944, New York City (NYC) Changed surname to Ditto at marriage. Married the former Beverly J. Botto on July 14, 1994 One child, David DeWitt Ditto, born October 27, 1996 Formal Education *1958-62 Oakwood School, Poughkeepsie, NY (Diploma) *1962-64 Columbia College, NYC *1966-68 San Francisco State College (B.A., Industrial Design) Professional Employment *1984-87 Vice-President for Research, Raytel, Inc., Troy, NY *1987-93 Research Associate, DeWitt Brothers Tool Co, Inc., NYC *1993- Vice-President for Research, DeWitt Brothers Tool Co, Inc., NYC Academic Affiliations *1975-82 Adjunct Research Associate, Electronic Music Studio, State University of NY at Albany (SUNYA) *1982-87 Adjunct Research Associate, Image Processing Laboratory, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Trade Apprenticeships *1965 Apprentice to Stan Vanderbeek, artist *1969 Motion Picture Film Technician, Columbia College *1971 Optical Printer Technician, Film Strip Lab, NYC Teaching Experience *1971 Central Michigan University, \u0022Minority Workshop in Radio, Television \u0026 Film,\u0022 with Dr. Robert Manning * 1972 Northern Michigan University, \u0022Video Production,\u0022 * Antioch/Center for Understanding Media, \u0022Advanced Film Production,\u0022 with Dr. Gerald O\u0027Grady *State University of NY at Buffalo/ Media Study, \u0022Introduction to Video\u0022 * 1973 Danmarks Radio/TV Byen, Copenhagen, \u0022Video Synthesis Workshop,\u0022 with Ronald Nameth *1976-7 State University of NY at Albany (SUNYA), School of General Studies, \u0022Video Art,\u0022 with Vibeke Sorensen * 1979 RPI, Dept. of Language, Literature and Communications, \u0022Video Art,\u0022 with Dr. George Barnett * 1981 RPI, Dept of the Arts, \u0022Principles of Motion Media\u0022 * 1985 RPI, Dept. of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering, \u0022Image Recording Laboratory\u0022 *1991- D.C.C., Dept. of Communication, Performing and Visual Arts; Animation, Digital Photo Compositing \u0026 Advanced Video Production Lectures with Media Presentation since 1971 Anthology Film Archives ? Art Center College of Design ? Art Institute of Chicago ? Bard College ? Belgian Film Archive ? Berks Filmmakers ? Boston Film and Video Foundation ? California College of Arts and Crafts ? California Institute of the Arts ? Calumet College (Indiana) ? Catskill Center for Photography ? Central Michigan University ? The Cinematheque (San Francisco) ? City University of NY (CUNY) ? Columbia University ? Contemporary Media Study Center (Dayton) ? Cooper Union ? Danish Royal College of Art and Architecture ? Films and Art School/UCLA ? Global Village ? Henie-Onstad Museum ? Hotchkiss School ? Ithaca College ? The Kitchen ? Long Beach State University ? Media Study, Inc. ? Millenium ? Mills College ? M.I.T. ? The Museum of Modern Art (NYC) ? National Association of Media Educators ? National Film Theater (London) ? New York State Library Association ? Pacific Film Archives ? Paul Smith\u0027s College ? Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Carnegie Art Museum ? Pratt Institute ? Public Libraries of NYC, New Paltz, Woodstock, Poughkeepsie, and Port Washington ? RPI ? San Francisco Art Institute ? San Francisco State University ? State University of NY (Albany \u0026 Buffalo) ? Syracuse University ? The Tech Museum of Innovation ? Tyler School of the Arts ? University of Cincinnati ? University of Iowa ? University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) ? University of New Mexico ? University of Rochester ? Upstate Films ? Utica College ? Vassar College ? Video Free America ? Virginia Commonwealth University ? Walnut Street Theater (Phila.) ? Washington State University ? Yale University Grants and Fellowships 1974 Creative Artist Public Service (CAPS), Video Art Fellowship * Peg Santvoord Foundation, Video Production * New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), WNET/TV Lab residency 1975 * American Film Institute, Film Production * NYSCA, WNET/TV Lab residency * National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Public Media, Fellowship to study electronic technology 1976 * NEA Public Media, WNET/TV Lab residency * NYSCA, Construction of computer vision system for video systems (Pantomation) 1978 * Guggenheim Foundation, Video Fellowship * NEA Media Arts, Video Fellowship 1979 * NEA Media Arts, Workshops in Pantomation at RPI 1980 * CAPS, Video Fellowship 1981 * NEA Media Arts \u0026 NYSCA, Research into new methods of image processing and computer animation at RPI 1982 * NYSCA, Festival of Visual Music at New York State Capitol and RPI 1987 * NYSCA, Demonstrations of use of laser art in the instruction of pantomime 1993 * National Science Foundation (NSF), Diffraction Range Finding for 3-D Machine Vision 1994 * New York State Science and Technology Foundation. Range Finder for Occlusions and Cavities 1995 *Experimental Television Center, Finishing Funds Festivals 1966 * 10th San Francisco International Film Festival, Zellerbach Award, AtmosFear 1967 * Cinethon, Toronto, AtmosFear 1968 * 3rd Independent Filmmakers Competition, Award of Merit, TheLeap 1969 * 8th Foothill Film Festival, 2nd Prize, The Leap * 13th San Francisco International Film Festival, Gund Award for Best Short Film, The Leap 1970 * The Kinetic Art, Lincoln Center, The Leap 1971 * 5th Independent Filmmakers Competition, 1st Prize, Fall 1972 * 4th Yale Film Festival, Honorable Mention, Fall * Berkeley Film Festival, 2nd Prize, Fall 1974 * Computer Arts Festival, CUNY, Philharmonia * 11th Avant Garde Art Festival, NYC, Philharmonia * 5th International Experimental Film Competition Knukke-Heist, Belgium, Philharmonia and Zierot 1975 * Refocus 75, University of Iowa, 1st Prize, Zierot * Urban Focus, Columbia University, AtmosFear * 12th Annual Avant Garde Festival, NYC, Zierot 1976 * 2nd Ithaca Video Festival, excerpts from CRT * Computer Arts Exhibition, Tokyo, Philharmonia * VideoExpo, Woodstock, NY, Multiple Identity * Hudson Valley Film and Video Festival, CRT 1977 * 7th Open Encounter on Video, Barcelona, CRT * 13th Annual Avant Garde Arts Festival, CRT * Electronic Visions, New Orleans, CRT 1978 * TV South/Sinking Creek, Tenn., This Is TV Hometown USA, National Federation of Local Cable Programmers (NFLCP), Tour Selection, This Is TV America * Vermont Community Video Festival, This Is TV America * National Conference on Public Access Cable TV, San Diego, This Is TV America 1979 * Global Village Documentary Festival, This is TV America * Video 79, Rome, Cathode Ray Theater * Public Access Festival, Seattle, This Is TV America 1980 * Video Shorts, Seattle, Dancing on Lakes Unknown, with Vibeke Sorensen * 15th Avant Garde Art Festival, NYC, My Mime * VideoRoma 80, My Mime * CAPS Video Festival, My Mime 1981 * Atlanta Film and Video Festival, Aquarelles * Infinity Forum, Oakland, Koan * Video Shorts II, Seattle, Aquarelles 1982 * AFI National Video Festival, Little Wing * International Visual Music Festival, UCLA, First Prize, Tempest * VideoRoma, Collected WTV works 1983 * World-Wide Video Festival, The Hague, Little Wing * Video Culture, Toronto, Collected WTV works and Pantomation 1996 * Viper Film Festival, Austria, \u0022True Hallucinations\u0022, DeWitt Retrospective 1997 * Video Shorts, Seattle, Forevermore 1999 * Shake the Nation, SF MoMA, Fall and OFF ON * The American Century, Whitney Museum, Fall Festivals Distributed Films 1966 * AtmosFear, 6 min., Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 1967 * OFF ON, 10 min, with Scott Bartlett, MoMA 1968 * The Leap, 8 min., Canyon Cinema 1971 * Fall, 16 min., NY Filmmakers Co-operative Telecast Videotapes 1969 * \u0022An Intraview\u0022, 28 min., Camera Three, CBS 1971 * \u0022Fall\u0022, 28 min., Camera Three, CBS 1973 * Zierot, 30 min., Brooklyn College series, WNYC 1974 * What is TV?, 25 min., Public Access, London Weekend 1975 * Cathode Ray Theater, 28 min., VTR, PBS 1976 * CRT, 28 min., VTR, WNET 1979 * This Is TV - America, 28 min., NALCP series, cable 1980 * My Mime, 28 min., CAPS Video Festival, cable 1981 * Koan, 3 min., WTV (Dean Winkler, Tom DeWitt, Vibeke Sorensen), Night Flight, USA Cable * Tempest, 5 min., WTV, USA Cable * Voyage, 8 min., WTV, USA Cable, CBS Cable 1982 * Little Wing, Jimi Hendrix, 4 min., WTV, USA Cable 1990 Steel Wheels Tour, \u00222000 Light Years from Home\u0022 \u0026 \u0022Paint It Black\u0022, Rolling Stones Special, 8 min., with Gerald Marks, Fox Gallery Exhibits of Computer Graphics Gallery Exhibits of Computer Graphics 1985 * Art Show, ACM SIGGRAPH, \u0022Quake\u0022 * Hamm-Brickman Gallery, Albany, NY, \u0022Valentine\u0022 1986 * Art Show, ACM SIGGRAPH, \u0022Vassar\u0022 * Landscape Competition, Rensselaer County Council for the Arts, \u0022Birches on the Verge\u0022 * Computer Art, Catskill Center for Photography 1988 * \u0022DeWitt ex Machina,\u0022 The Hotchkiss School Gallery 1990 * CyberPunk, Suzan Cooper Gallery, Woodstock, NY 1999 *Programmed Art, D.C.C., \u0022Hurt,\u0022 \u0022Homage to Redon,\u0022 and \u0022Escher Ipso Ditto\u0022 Interactive Installations 1984 * \u0022Pantomation/Painter Power,\u0022 Electra, Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris 1986 * \u0022Pantomation,\u0022 with Alan Jackson (laserist), Art Show, ACM SIGGRAPH * \u0022Laser/Pantomation,\u0022 with Image Engineering, Surrealist Ball, Computer Museum, Boston 1987 * \u0022Finger Space,\u0022 Art Show, ACM SIGGRAPH 1991 * \u0022Die Fledermaus\u0022, SCAN 1997 * \u0022Moly a hand held 3-D scanner\u0022, Technology 2007, Boston, SBIR Sensor and Instrumentation Technology of the Year Gallery Exhibits of Videotapes and Videographics 1975 * The Video Show, Serpentine Gallery, London, Zierot and Philharmonia 1976 * Artists\u0027 Video, Biddick Farm Art Centre, England, Cathode Ray Theater 1979 * Th","offset":0,"nextOffset":12000,"totalCharacters":17065,"complete":false},"rightsUrl":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/terms-service"}